Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Fetter of the Mind


Suppose, friend, a black ox and a white ox were yoked together by a single harness. Would one be speaking rightly if one were to say, "The black ox is the fetter of the white ox; the white ox is the fetter of the black ox?"

No, friend. The black ox is not the fetter of the white ox nor is the white ox the fetter of the black ox, but rather the single harness by which the two are yoked together: that is the fetter there.

So too, friend, the eye is not the fetter of forms, nor are mental phenomena the fetter of the mind, but rather desire and lust that arise there in dependence on both: that is the fetter there.

---The Buddha---

No comments:

Post a Comment