Mental Peace and Meditation  /  An AI creation

Mental Harmony and Buddhism

Introduction

When mental concentration is maintained consistently in life, it provides tremendous support for conducting daily activities correctly. However, in today's busy modern lifestyle, maintaining mental focus requires significant effort, and the inability to preserve mental tranquility and psychological balance exposes people to various mental stresses.

During daily work in hectic environments, engaging in business professions, pursuing higher education, and especially due to mental fatigue, numerous problems arise even in domestic and married life. The Vitakka Santhana Sutta from the Majjhima Nikaya of Buddhism provides excellent psychological guidance for establishing mental harmony.




Identifying Thoughts That Disturb Mental Harmony

When any thought or intention in the mind continuously torments a person—whether it be a thought filled with greed, a hostile thought filled with hatred, or a deceptive thought filled with delusion—to free oneself from these harmful and unwholesome thoughts and intentions, one must stop spending time dwelling on them continuously. Instead, one should shift to another thought that does not distress the mind.

How to Remove Unwholesome Thoughts?

                       Carpenter Analogy - Mind Control / An AI creation

Method 01: Through Another Thought

Analogy: Just as a skilled carpenter removes a large wooden peg from a wooden surface by placing a small peg on top of it and hammering it out, one should establish the mind in some thought or intention free from greed, hatred, and delusion, thereby removing the distressing thought.

Method 02: Through Reflecting on Consequences

If the first method is unsuccessful, the second method should be attempted. If these thoughts and intentions that distress the mind, cause stress, and destroy mental concentration continue persistently, these unwholesome consequences may arise. This thinking is harmful and unwholesome. Through such thinking, greed, anger and hatred, delusion and deception may continue to exist in one's mind. It brings stress to the mind. Therefore, one should not continue thinking this way.

Method 03: Through Non-Engagement with the Thought

If the second method also fails, Analogy: Just as a person with eyes, when an unpleasant sight comes before them, closes both eyes or looks in another direction, one should abandon the harmful, unwholesome, bad thought and establish the mind on another object.

Method 04: Through Examining the Root Cause

If the third method also fails, Analogy: A person who is walking quickly, thinking "Why am I walking quickly? It would be better to walk slowly," walks slowly; the person walking slowly thinks "Why am I walking even slowly? It would be better to stop," and stops; the standing person thinks sitting would be better and sits; the sitting person accepts lying down. In this way, through examining the initial causes, transforming the more gross and forceful thoughts into gentle thoughts, one stops the harmful unwholesome thoughts.

Method 05: Through Forcefully Controlling the Thought

If the fourth method also fails, Analogy: Just as a strong person grabs a weak person by the head or shoulders, pushes them to the ground and firmly restrains them, one should forcefully control thinking about the harmful unwholesome thought that has arisen in the mind by clenching teeth with teeth—that is, gritting one's teeth—pressing the tongue against the palate, crushing that thought, condemning oneself, and forcefully controlling contemplation of that thought.

                     Three Poisons Symbolic Representation / An AI creation

The Nature of Unwholesome Thoughts

According to Buddhist philosophy, the cause of unwholesome and harmful thoughts is a certain pattern of thoughts existing in the mind. These are called the unwholesome roots (akusala mula). There are three unwholesome roots:

i. Greed (Lobha) - The word greed refers to intense desire for various things in the mind, intense liking, intense attachment, reluctance to let go, and the greed to experience it again and again.

ii. Hatred (Dosa) - While greed is attachment to things in the world, hatred is aversion to things in the world. Anger, hostility, rage, revenge, fear, and other unwholesome mental states are included in hatred.

iii. Delusion (Moha) - Not knowing the true nature, that is, confusion and deception.

Forms of Unwholesome Thought Patterns

I. Thoughts arising from greed are called sensual thoughts (kama sankappa).

II. Thoughts arising from hatred are called thoughts of ill-will (vyapada sankappa).

III. Thoughts arising within ill-will are called thoughts of cruelty (vihimsa sankappa). (Cruelty means thoughts of reacting harmfully)

                               Mental Harmony Visualization / An AI creation
 

Conclusion

What is accomplished through these methods and techniques shown in Buddhism is preventing harm to oneself and others through the active, harmful, unwholesome thoughts that arise in one's own mind, and stopping the generation of mental attitudes that create mental stress and restless dispositions. Through regular practice of these techniques, good mindfulness and mental concentration develop, and it also becomes an excellent strategy against the occurrence of mental disturbances.


References

  1. Majjhima Nikaya - Vitakka Santhana Sutta (MN 20)
  2. Tripitaka - Buddhist Canonical Literature
  3. Abhidhamma Pitaka - Description of Unwholesome Roots
  4. Visuddhimagga - by Buddhaghosa
  5. Sutta Pitaka - Teachings on Mental Development