As much as suffering arises out of sensuality, contact, and attachment, as Buddhist practitioners we should think about the dangers of the six senses and the actions and reactions of the mind, which can easily lead us away from the path and into trouble.
In this context, I shall first quote from a little-known dialogue translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi and that appears in In the Buddha’s Words (2005 Wisdom Publications).
Concerning the pitfalls of fever for sensual pleasure, the Buddha is reported to have explained to a householder:
“. . . formerly, when I lived the household life, I enjoyed myself, provided and endowed with the five cords of sensual pleasure: with forms cognizable to the eye . . . with sounds cognizable to the ear . . . with odors cognizable to the nose . . . with flavors cognizable to the tongue . . . with tactile contacts cognizable to the body that are wished for, desired, agreeable and likable connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. I had three palaces; one for the rainy season, one for the winter, and one for the summer. I lived in the rains palace for the four months, enjoying myself with musicians, none male, and I did not go down to the lower palace.
“On a later occasion having understood as they really are, the origin and passing away, the gratification, the danger and the escape in the case of sensual pleasures, I abandoned the craving for sensual pleasures, I removed the fever of sensual pleasures, and I dwell without thirst, with a mind inwardly at peace. I see other people who are not free from lust for sensual pleasures being devoured by craving for sensual pleasures, burning up with fever of sensual pleasures, indulging in sensual pleasures, and I do not envy them, nor do I delight therein. Why is that? Because there is . . . a delight apart from sensual pleasures, apart from unwholesome states, which surpasses even divine bliss. Since I take delight in that, I do not envy what is inferior, nor do I delight therein.” (MN 75)
Obviously, there is something higher than the fulfillment of sensual desire, otherwise the influence of the Buddha’s teaching and the existence of the sangha would have died out long ago. Once a monk has experienced higher states through diligent practice, he will not crave for lower ones. As one of my own teachers, Venerable Sri Rahula Ampitiya, was fond of saying: “As long as there is a group of monks practicing the Dhamma as it was practiced at the time of the Buddha, Buddhism will never die.”
In connection to the six senses, the Thai master Ajahn Chah once asked his monks a question based on the Pali texts:
“What is the most dangerous smell?”
The monks looked perplexed and were unsure what to answer.
“So let us ask that question here and now again. What is the most dangerous smell? Does anybody know?”
Ajahn Chah then revealed: “The smell of a woman.”
“Now why? That is a good question, isn’t it? Does anyone want to tell me about it? Well, yes that’s alright. I think we all know.
“And what is the most dangerous sound? The alluring sound of a woman’s voice, and once more we don’t have to explain why.
“And what is the most dangerous sight? The sight of an attractive and evocative woman.
“And what is the most dangerous taste? Is it the sweet taste of a woman’s mouth? Well, let’s not get into that here.
“And what is the most dangerous thought in this connection? Is it the thought of a beautiful woman to love, care, and look after you, and the thought that she will do anything you want her to do for all the rest of your life?
“Women might rightly say that this question does not apply to them because they’re not monks, but there are also some who might say that the most dangerous smell is the natural scent of the man whom they love and desire.”
Let’s look at another analogy from the texts that compares the form of a man’s head to a fortress with six doors or gates. In order for the fortress to be safe, each of the doors must be closely guarded at all times so that no enemy may gain entry.
The sense of the analogy is that one must guard oneself from falling victim to the wiles and strategies of the senses. The six doors are the nose, the ear, the eye, the mouth, the tactile feel of sensation, and the resultant cravings of mind as the sixth sense. These can go wild when the six gates are opened so that all the senses can rush together and leave one totally defenseless and vulnerable in the face of an army of sensations that can totally overwhelm, trampling the disciplined part of one’s mind like a herd of cattle.
Once one falls under the rule of the senses, one will do whatever the senses urge for the rest of one’s life, unless one is able to escape such bondage. We are all in danger of being overwhelmed by the invading horde of the senses, and that is why we must at all times continue to arouse, with a sense of urgency, the energy to safely guard the senses and the mind against intruders.
This is not intended as an amusing analogy, applicable only to lustful laypeople, because this is also an integral part of monastic discipline: guarding the six doors of the mind against the harmful effects of sense consciousness craving, which might distract even a monk’s mind from his concentration and meditation, and which he must practice relentlessly if he is determined and self-disciplined enough to make his mind an island unto itself and keep it free from the rule of sensuality.
Countless island refuges, which have been left insufficiently guarded, have suddenly been flooded by the senses and washed away, along with the foolish person who has been drowned in his own senses and desires.
Before concluding, another point we must remember and carefully consider is that the sixth sense of the mind nourishes itself on what it can find within the physical-sensual realm. The dragon of mental craving is always seeking to consume whatever it can to nourish its neverending appetite, craving for ever more mental objects being spawned as desires and memories of the senses, which arise only in the mind as fantasies even without any stimulus of external contact.
How does this affect you? Is your mind sufficiently guarded? Could the dragon of the mind overcome and conquer you?
References
Bhikkhu Bodhi. 2005. In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
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Hindering the Hindrances
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