Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Jetavana Monastery in connection with the novice Sānu. According to the story, Sānu was born into a devout family. After entering the monastic community, he practiced with great sincerity and lived virtuously. He fulfilled his duties toward the elder monks and had a beautiful chanting voice. Seeing his diligence and eagerness to learn, the other monks often encouraged him and enjoyed listening to him chant. Whenever they asked him to recite, he never refused. But as he grew older, his character changed. He became lazy and no longer lived with the dignity and discipline he once had. He wanted to leave the monastic life and return home to live with his parents. When his mother saw him come home alone, without other monks accompanying him, she asked the reason. Sānu said that he was dissatisfied and no longer wished to remain in the Sangha. Hearing this, his mother earnestly advised him and tried in every way to awaken and restrain him from that decision. At that time, a yakkha spirit—who had been Sānu’s mother in a former life—entered his body, causing him to tremble, struggle, and lose consciousness. The yakkha did not intend to harm him; she only wished to awaken him. Seeing this, his birth mother held him in her arms while others came to help revive him. Through verses exchanged between the birth mother and the yakkha, both of them indirectly urged Sānu to continue the path of practice and not return to household life, where he would have to endure much suffering. Moved by their sincere and compassionate words, Sānu finally gave up the idea of disrobing. His mother then offered him an alms bowl and the three robes so that he could receive full ordination. Thus Sānu was accepted by the Buddha into the Sangha, and the Buddha taught: “If a person allows the mind to wander far and long, following every kind of thought without making an effort to restrain it, that person cannot attain liberation. Therefore, one must make effort to discipline the mind, just as a mahout restrains a rutting elephant with a hook.” After hearing the Buddha’s teaching, both the assembly and Sānu attained the eye of Dharma. Later, Venerable Sānu became an excellent teacher, well-versed in the Three Baskets of the Dharma, and lived to the age of 120. Reflecting on this verse, we see that the Buddha used his own past experience to remind us not to let the mind run wild. A life of heedlessness and indulgence is a life that easily falls into decline, especially when heedlessness arises in the mind. The Buddha often emphasized the danger of carelessness in the three kinds of action: body, speech, and mind. A virtuous life is possible because one knows how to train the mind. The mind is the source of action; speech and bodily conduct are directed by it. The mind knows, calculates, and constructs. As a conditioned phenomenon, it is unstable and not ultimately real. It arises from the fundamental nature and is never separate from it, just as waves arise from water and are never separate from water. How could waves and water be divided into two opposing realities? Thus, when the Buddha teaches us to discipline the mind, he is teaching us to practice at the root. When delusive thought is stilled at the root, then speech and bodily action—the branches—no longer create harmful karma. Karma arises from the stirring of the deluded mind, from the thinking and calculating that direct human action. On the relative level, the Buddha teaches Buddhists to think wholesome thoughts. When the mind thinks wholesome thoughts, the mouth speaks wholesome words, and the body performs wholesome deeds; this is the path of goodness leading gradually toward awakening. To cultivate the three kinds of action is to build one’s life upon the foundation of awakening and liberation. When body, speech, and mind are purified, one is already liberated in this very life. This is the shortest path leading to the peace of nirvana. This world is filled with suffering because people do not know how to restrain body, speech, and mind. They become slaves to desire. Whatever the mind wants, they follow, even when they know the result will be harmful. Though they know this, they still act without mindfulness or restraint. People drift along with unwholesome mental currents and fail to stop them even for a moment. From this, countless sufferings are created for one another. The Buddha advises us not to seek practice in distant places first, but to practice directly with body, speech, and mind. This is the simplest and most effective way of cultivation. Peace and happiness are what all people truly desire, except those who have lost their humanity. It is because ambition becomes excessive that some people promote war. War is humanity’s greatest disaster. Anyone who is truly human should naturally feel weary of war. The shared aspiration of human beings is to live together in peace. Yet upon deeper reflection, this often remains only an ideal, difficult to realize in practice, because human beings still carry too much ambition, attachment, delusion, and ego. Each person tends to see themselves as the center of the world. With such a mind, how can shared peace and happiness truly be achieved? Therefore, the saying “when the mind is peaceful, the world is peaceful” is often still a distant aspiration, though its meaning is true. The Buddha reminds everyone that if we want a relatively peaceful and happy life, each person must train the three kinds of action, just as a skilled elephant trainer disciplines a fierce elephant. Only then can one be called a truly skillful trainer. The story of Sānu gives us a lesson about the mind that becomes lax and unrestrained. This is a common illness among practitioners. At first, Sānu was diligent and energetic in practice, but only for a short time. Later, that initial zeal gradually declined, and his aspiration for awakening weakened. A new practitioner can be like a tightly stretched string on a lute. After some time, the string gradually loosens. At first, when plucked, it gives a clear and beautiful sound; but after a while, the sound is no longer pleasing. In the same way, Sānu was praised at first for his diligence, but as he grew older, his practice became lazy and careless. Finally, he lost heart and wanted to give up. Fortunately, his mother loved him deeply and awakened him in every possible way so that he would continue practicing. Then, with the Buddha’s guidance and encouragement, Sānu fulfilled his aspiration. He became a model monk and a master of the Three Baskets—the discourses, discipline, and doctrinal teachings. This is truly an exemplary lesson that warns and awakens us.