SN35.246 — The Vīṇopama Sutta - The Simile of the Lute
Disciples, if any disciple or nun experiences desire, lust, aversion, delusion, or mental resistance towards forms cognizable by the eye, they should restrain their mind from them. This path is fraught with danger, fear, thorns, and is dense, a wrong path, a false path, and harmful. It is a path followed by unworthy people, not by the noble ones. You are not worthy of this path. Therefore, restrain the mind from forms cognizable by the eye.
Similarly, if any disciple or nun experiences desire, lust, aversion, delusion, or mental resistance towards tastes cognizable by the tongue, or towards phenomena cognizable by the mind, they should restrain their mind from them. This path is fraught with danger, fear, thorns, and is dense, a wrong path, a false path, and harmful. It is a path followed by unworthy people, not by the noble ones. You are not worthy of this path. Therefore, restrain the mind from phenomena cognizable by the mind.
Just as a well-tended field with a negligent guard allows a cow to enter and indulge as it pleases, so too does an uninstructed ordinary person, unrestrained in the six sense bases, indulge in the five strands of sensual pleasure, leading to heedlessness. Conversely, just as a well-tended field with a vigilant guard prevents a cow from entering, by holding it firmly by the nose, restraining it with a strong grip, and striking it with a stick, so too does a disciple, whose mind is well-restrained in the six sense bases, remain inwardly settled, composed, unified, and concentrated.
Thus when a disciple's mind is well-restrained in the six sense bases, it remains inwardly settled, composed, unified, and concentrated, just as a cow, remembering the previous blows, does not enter the field again, whether in the village or the forest, whether standing or sitting. This translation aims to capture the essence of the original Pali text, emphasizing the importance of mental restraint and vigilance in the practice of the Dhamma, using vivid imagery to illustrate the consequences of heedlessness and the benefits of mindfulness.
Just as, Disciples, if a sound from a lute, previously unheard by a king or a royal minister, were to be heard, they might say, Friends, whose sound is this, so enchanting, so captivating, so intoxicating, so entrancing, so binding? They would be told, Revered sir, this is the sound of a lute, which is indeed so enchanting, so captivating, so intoxicating, so entrancing, so binding. Then they might say, Bring me that lute. And it would be brought to them. They would be told, Revered sir, this is the lute from which that sound, so enchanting, so captivating, so intoxicating, so entrancing, so binding, emanates. They might then say, Enough of this lute for me, bring me just the sound. They would be told, Revered sir, this lute is a composite of many parts, a great assembly.
It produces sound by being assembled from many components, such as the body, the leather, the stick, the bridge, the strings, the peg, and the effort of a person. Thus, revered sir, this lute is a composite of many parts, a great assembly.
It produces sound by being assembled from many components. They might then break the lute into ten or a hundred pieces, and having broken it into pieces, they might burn it with fire, and having burned it, reduce it to ashes, and scatter the ashes in a strong wind or let them be carried away by a swift river. They might then say, Indeed, there is no such thing as a lute, and yet people are exceedingly heedless and deluded about it.
In the same way, Disciples, a disciple investigates form to the extent of form's reach, investigates feeling to the extent of feeling's reach, investigates perception to the extent of perception's reach, investigates formations to the extent of formations reach, investigates consciousness to the extent of consciousness's reach. As they investigate form to the extent of form's reach, feeling... perception... formations... consciousness to the extent of consciousness's reach, whatever notion of I am or mine or I exist that arises, even that does not occur to them.