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A Mind Like the Four Elements
Training the mind

A Mind Like the Four Elements

Paṭhavīsamaṃ bhāvanaṃ

How to hold the mind when struck, from the instructions to Rāhula — make the mind like earth, water, fire and wind.

4 points

In the Mahārāhulovāda Sutta the Buddha told Rāhula to develop a mind like each of the four elements, because the earth is not troubled or repelled whether people throw clean things or filth upon it — and water, fire and wind are the same.

This is not training to be unfeeling. It is training the mind to be wide enough that what strikes it cannot overturn the whole of it — when the mind is large, what arrives is smaller by comparison.

  1. 1

    Like earth — receiving without being shaken Paṭhavīsamaṃ

    Earth is not troubled by whatever is thrown on it. A mind trained this way can receive what strikes it without having to change itself every time.

    Applying it in daily life

    When harsh words come, breathe and recall that you are earth, not a glass that a single word can break.

  2. 2

    Like water — washing without keeping the stain Āposamaṃ

    Water washes the clean and the filthy alike and keeps nothing. A mind like water lets what is finished flow on.

    Applying it in daily life

    Close the day by reviewing and then releasing. What cannot be fixed today need not be carried overnight.

  3. 3

    Like fire — burning without favouritism Tejosamaṃ

    Fire burns the beautiful and the ugly alike without partiality. A mind like fire is a mind not bent by liking or disliking.

    Applying it in daily life

    When judging a matter involving both someone you like and someone you don't, hold both to exactly the same standard.

  4. 4

    Like wind — passing through without holding Vāyosamaṃ

    Wind moves through everything and grasps none of it. A mind like wind does not store old matters to chew over as a burden.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you catch the third loop of the same thought, genuinely put it down and go do something else — not merely tell yourself to stop.

Try it in daily life

Use it as an image when you are struck: before replying, picture the earth receiving both the fragrant and the foul without changing its nature, and then choose your reply.

In the same discourse he goes on to prescribe loving-kindness, compassion, gladness, equanimity, contemplation of unattractiveness, perception of impermanence and mindfulness of breathing alongside it — because a wide mind needs both coolness and understanding.

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