Mettagū: Where Does So Much Suffering Come From?
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Training the mind
The Discourse on Enlightenment Factors: Choosing Them Like Clothes from a Chest
Bojjhaṅgakathā
The enlightenment factors lift a sluggish mind, restrain an agitated one, and let calm and insight work together. Venerable Sāriputta says he can dwell in whichever factor he wishes, like a king choosing garments from a chest full of cloths of many colours, and knows when a factor stays and when it slips away, and why.
7 points
The Discourse on Enlightenment Factors (Bojjhaṅgakathā) in the Chapter on Pairs of the Paṭisambhidāmagga, Khuddaka Nikāya, opens with the Buddha's words on the seven enlightenment factors: mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration and equanimity. It then explains at length the senses in which they are called enlightenment factors.
The Paṭisambhidāmagga is a text of the Khuddaka Nikāya that explains topics of the Dhamma systematically. By tradition it is attributed to Venerable Sāriputta, while most scholars consider it a later compilation.
The second half quotes Sāriputta himself saying that he can dwell in whichever enlightenment factor he wishes in the morning, at midday or in the evening, like the chest of a king or royal minister full of cloths of various colours. It then explains his words phrase by phrase.
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1
Called enlightenment factors because they lead to awakening Bodhiyaṃ saṃvattantīti bojjhaṅgā
The discourse explains that they are called enlightenment factors because they lead to awakening, because they awaken, awaken accordingly, awaken individually and awaken fully, and because they cause awakening; and also because they awaken to what is a root, a cause, a condition, purity, blamelessness, renunciation, release, freedom from taints, seclusion and relinquishment. This point is for overall understanding.
Applying it in daily lifeWhen developing mindfulness or effort, remember that the aim is understanding and letting go, not collecting pleasant feelings.
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2
Calm and insight share one function Samathavipassanānaṃ ekarasaṭṭhaṃ
They are called enlightenment factors because they awaken to the non-distraction of calm, the contemplation of insight, the single function of calm and insight together, and the non-excess of paired states.
Applying it in daily lifeDon't strictly divide your practice into "today I train for calm" or "today I train for insight". A calm mind helps you see clearly, and seeing clearly makes the mind calmer still.
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3
Lifting a sluggish mind, restraining an agitated one Līnassa cittassa paggahaṭṭhaṃ
They are called enlightenment factors because they awaken to the lifting up of a sluggish mind, the restraining of an agitated mind, and looking on with equanimity at a mind purified in both respects.
Applying it in daily lifeOn a morning when you feel drained, lift the mind by getting up and walking or doing something that needs attention. When the mind is racing, slow it with long breaths and resting your eyes. Once it's balanced, there's nothing more to add.
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4
Sāriputta dwells in whichever factor he wishes Pubbaṇhasamayaṃ viharāmi
Sāriputta tells the monks that among these seven enlightenment factors, whichever one he wishes to dwell in during the morning, he dwells in that one; and likewise at midday and in the evening.
Applying it in daily lifeNotice which times of day suit which kind of practice, for example energy and investigation in the morning, calm and equanimity in the evening.
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5
The king's chest of many-coloured cloths Dussakaraṇḍako
Sāriputta compares it to the chest of a king or royal minister full of cloths of various colours: whichever pair of cloths he wishes to wear in the morning, at midday or in the evening, he wears that pair. In the same way Sāriputta uses the seven enlightenment factors as he wishes.
Applying it in daily lifeBuild a "wardrobe" for the mind with several outfits, such as slow breathing, walking meditation, reasoned reflection and wishing others well, and choose one that fits the state of your mind at the time.
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6
Knowing it stays, and knowing it slips because of this condition Idappaccayā me cavatīti pajānāmi
Sāriputta says that if he has the mindfulness enlightenment factor, he knows it is immeasurable and well undertaken; while it stays he clearly knows that it stays, and if it slips away he clearly knows that it slips away because of this condition. He says the same of each factor up to the equanimity enlightenment factor.
Applying it in daily lifeWhen your focus breaks during work, instead of getting irritated ask "What broke it?" A notification, hunger or worry, for example, and then deal with that cause.
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7
The oil lamp, and the ways a factor stays or slips Telappadīpassa jhāyato
The discourse explains that as far as cessation appears, so far the enlightenment factor is present, just as with a burning oil lamp the light extends as far as the flame and the flame as far as the light. It also explains that the mindfulness enlightenment factor stays in eight ways, such as attending to non-arising, not attending to arising, attending to cessation and not attending to formations, and slips away in the eight opposite ways. This point is for overall understanding.
Applying it in daily lifeAt the level of everyday life, a mind resting on something peaceful settles more easily than a mind that keeps chasing each new thing that comes up.
Try it in daily life
The image of the clothes chest says that training the mind is not using one method all day. A sluggish mind needs one thing, a restless mind needs another, and a well-trained person knows what to reach for right now.
What applies at once is noticing whether your mindfulness or calm is "staying" or "slipping", and what made it slip. Knowing the cause lets you come back faster, without blaming yourself.
Some of the explanations in this discourse concern cessation and nibbāna directly and belong to advanced practice. For general readers, the principle of balancing the mind is enough to start with.
Sources in the Tipiṭaka
Tap to read the actual passage on the page cited.
- Bojjhaṅgakathā Thai Royal Edition · Volume 31 · page 265 The meaning of the enlightenment factors and Sāriputta's simile of the chest of many-coloured cloths
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