And how has a mendicant awakened to a way of conduct and a way of living such that, when they live in that way, bad, unskillful qualities of covetousness and displeasure don’t overwhelm them? Suppose a person was to enter a thicket full of thorns. They’d have thorns before and behind, to the left and right, below and above. So they’d go forward mindfully and come back mindfully, thinking, ‘May I not get any thorns!’ In the same way, whatever in the world seems nice and pleasant is called a thorn in the training of the Noble One. Understanding that this is a thorn, they should understand restraint and lack of restraint.

And how is someone unrestrained? Take a mendicant who sees a sight with their eyes. If it’s pleasant they hold on to it, but if it’s unpleasant they dislike it. They live with mindfulness of the body unestablished and their heart stunted. And they don’t truly understand the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where those arisen bad, unskillful qualities cease without remainder. They hear a sound … smell an odor … taste a flavor … feel a touch … know an idea with their mind. If it’s pleasant they hold on to it, but if it’s unpleasant they dislike it. They live with mindfulness of the body unestablished and their heart stunted. And they don’t truly understand the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where those arisen bad, unskillful qualities cease without remainder. This is how someone is unrestrained.