Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

immediately judge and react to just about everything we
experience. Pleasant experiences lead us to chase after
them, unpleasant experiences lead us to become angry and
upset. Both cause us to lose sight of the essence of the
experience. For this reason, the Buddha taught that it is
important for us to guard our senses carefully, only letting
experiences in one-by-one, in a way that allows us see them
as they are. A dedicated meditator should avoid sights,
sounds, smells and tastes that one knows will give rise to
lust and anger, only letting them in one by one, and only
when one is well-guarded and ready to see them as they are.
In order to progress in the practice, we must keep ourselves
from indulging in pleasure or displeasure that will dull and
weaken the mind, rendering it impotent in the cultivation of
insight.
The Buddha likened sensual addiction to the sap in green
wood that renders it unfit for lighting on fire. Only wood that
is well-dried with all the sap removed can be lit and provide
heat and light – which can be understood as metaphors for
goodness and wisdom. When the mind is full of greed, anger
and delusion, clear vision of things as they are is impossible
and true goodness and wisdom are thus unattainable. For
this reason, we must guard our senses day and night, not
letting in the slightest thing that would take us off-guard and
cause our minds to become sodden with defilements.
It is easy to see how cluttered one’s mind becomes after
many years of leaving one’s senses unguarded, greedily
devouring every sense pleasure one can find, never finding
peace, never satiating the terrible masters of greed and
aversion. New meditators will often lament that they were
unaware of how sensitive the mind really is to experience.
Had they known, they would have done more to guard their
senses, indulging only in those activities that were conducive
to true peace and contentment. For this reason, we
encourage sense-restraint for everyone, even those living
ordinary lives outside of a monastery or meditation centre.
Walking down the street, for example, one should imitate the
behaviour of the Buddha himself, not letting oneself become
distracted by the many exciting, stimulating things around,
focusing instead on the single activity of walking. The
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