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Restraint and the Meal Designator: Four Efforts and a Fair Distributor
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Restraint and the Meal Designator: Four Efforts and a Fair Distributor

Saṃvaro ca pahānañca bhāvanā anurakkhanā

Four kinds of effort from the Cara Vagga — restraining, abandoning, developing and guarding — and the meal designator who, if biased, is as if placed in hell, and if unbiased, as if placed in heaven.

6 points

The Cara Vagga of the Book of Fours in the Aṅguttara Nikāya contains ten short discourses in a row. The Saṃvara Sutta names four efforts (padhāna): the effort of restraint, of abandoning, of developing and of guarding. It is another way of describing the four-sided effort, differing from the neighbouring Padhāna Sutta in that it gives a concrete example of each.

Restraint is guarding the six sense faculties; abandoning is not tolerating thoughts of sensuality, ill will and harming; developing is cultivating the seven factors of awakening; and guarding is protecting a good concentration sign that has arisen. The closing verse says that a monk who strives with these four efforts reaches the end of suffering.

The last discourse of the chapter, the Bhattuddesaka Sutta, concerns the monk appointed to designate meals for the Saṅgha. If he is biased through desire, hatred, delusion or fear, he is as if carried off and placed in hell; if unbiased, as if placed in heaven.

  1. 1

    Restraint: guarding the entrances Saṃvarappadhānaṃ

    Having seen a form with the eye, heard a sound, smelled an odour, tasted a flavour, felt a touch, or cognised a mental object with the mind, one does not grasp at its signs or features, and guards the faculty so that covetousness and displeasure, unwholesome states, do not flow in.

    Applying it in daily life

    Scroll past posts you know will spark craving or irritation, without stopping to look at the details.

  2. 2

    Abandoning: not letting it stay Pahānappadhānaṃ

    When a thought of sensuality, ill will or harming, or any other unwholesome state, has arisen, one does not tolerate it, but abandons it, dispels it, ends it and brings it to nothing.

    Applying it in daily life

    When a resentful thought comes up before sleep, don't continue the argument in your head; return to the breath or to something neutral instead.

  3. 3

    Developing: growing the factors of awakening Bhāvanāppadhānaṃ

    One develops the seven factors of awakening — mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration and equanimity — based on seclusion, dispassion and cessation, maturing in release.

    Applying it in daily life

    Train one at a time: this week, mindfulness while eating; next week, calming the body before answering an important message.

  4. 4

    Guarding: cherishing the good already gained Bhaddakaṃ samādhinimittaṃ anurakkhati

    One protects a good concentration sign that has arisen. The discourse gives as examples the perceptions of a corpse at various stages: a skeleton, a worm-infested corpse, a livid corpse, a festering corpse, a fissured corpse and a bloated corpse.

    Applying it in daily life

    After a time when the mind is calm, don't rush into commotion. Leave a little space, and note what helped the mind become that way.

  5. 5

    A biased distributor is as if placed in hell Bhattuddesako

    A meal designator who goes astray through desire, hatred, delusion or fear is as if carried off and placed in hell. One who does not go astray in these four ways is as if placed in heaven.

    Applying it in daily life

    Before assigning work or sharing things out, set your criteria first, then ask whether anyone is getting more or less because of liking, dislike, missing information, or deference.

  6. 6

    The dregs or the cream of the assembly Parisāya maṇḍo

    The closing verse says that those unrestrained in sensual pleasures, not established in or respecting the Dhamma, and led by bias are called the dregs of the assembly. Those established in the Dhamma, who do no evil through bias, are good people worthy of praise, called the cream of the assembly.

    Applying it in daily life

    Small acts of fairness in daily work, like dividing shifts or giving credit for results, are what make a group trust you.

Try it in daily life

These four efforts can be used to care for the mind every day: choosing what to take in through eyes and ears, not feeding a hostile thought that pops up, cultivating good qualities of mind, and protecting a calm you have gained so it doesn't slip away easily.

The Bhattuddesaka Sutta is about a monk's duty, but the same principle applies to anyone who has to share out things, tasks or opportunities: team leaders, teachers, parents of several children, or anyone managing a budget. Small biases are felt by the whole group, and they disturb the distributor's own peace of mind.

For the effort of guarding, the discourse gives perceptions of a corpse as examples; that is a meditation best practised under a knowledgeable teacher. For ordinary life, the usable point is to cherish good states of mind once they have arisen.

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