AN 11.9 Sandha-sutta
A teaching to Sandha
At one time the Buddha was staying in the brick rest-house at Nādika when the venerable Sandha visited him.
Having arrived and greeted the Buddha, Sandha sat to one side. Then the Buddha said to Sandha:
Simile of the thoroughbred and unruly horses
Sandha, meditate like a thoroughbred (horse), not like an unruly (horse).
The unruly horse
And what is the meditation of an unruly (horse)? An unruly horse, tied to his trough, thinks, “Fodder, fodder”. Why is that? To the unruly horse tied to the feeding trough, does he (think): “What task will the horse-trainer want me to do today? What can I do for him?” Tied to his trough he thinks (only), “Fodder, fodder”.
The meditation of an unruly man, under the power of five hindrances
In the same way, Sandha, some unruly man, even if gone to the wilderness, gone to the foot of a tree, gone to an empty building, (yet) he lives with a mind obsessed with sexual pleasure, overwhelmed by sexual pleasure; he does not know for real the escape from sexual desire and from its arising. He meditates having created internalised sexual desire, he over-meditates, he under-meditates, he mis-meditates.
He lives with a mind obsessed with ill-will …
He lives with a mind obsessed with lethargy and sluggishness …
He lives with a mind obsessed with agitation and restlessness …
He lives with a mind obsessed with uncertainty, overwhelmed with uncertainty; he does not know for real the escape from uncertainty and from its arising. He meditates having created internalised uncertainty, he over-meditates, he under-meditates, he mis-meditates.
Also he meditates dependent on various meditational objects
He meditates moreover dependent on earth, dependent on water, dependent on fire, dependent on air;
he meditates dependent on the perception of infinite space, dependent on the perception of infinite consciousness, dependent on the perception of nothingness, dependent on the perception of neither-perception-nor-nonperception;
he meditates dependent on this world, dependent on the other world;
he meditates dependent on whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognised, encountered, sought for, pondered by the mind – he meditates dependent even on that.
This, Sandha, is the meditation of an unruly man.
The thoroughbred horse
And what, Sandha, is the meditation of the thoroughbred (horse)? That good thoroughbred, Sandha, when tied to the feeding trough, surely does not think “Fodder, fodder”. Why is that? To the thoroughbred horse tied to the feeding trough, he (thinks): “What task will the horse-trainer want me to do today? What can I do for him?” Tied to his trough he does not think, “Fodder, fodder”. That good thoroughbred regards the threat of a whip like a debt, an imprisonment, a loss or a disaster.
The meditation of a ‘thoroughbred man’, who has overcome the five hindrances
In the same way, Sandha, a thoroughbred man, gone to the wilderness, gone to the foot of a tree or gone to an empty building, does not live with a mind obsessed with sexual pleasure or overcome by sexual pleasure; he knows for real the escape from sexual desire and from its arising.
He does not live with a mind obsessed with ill-will or overcome by ill-will; he knows for real the escape from ill-will and from its arising.
He does not live with a mind obsessed with lethargy and sluggishness or overcome by lethargy and sluggishness; he knows for real the escape from lethargy and sluggishness and from its arising.
He does not live with a mind obsessed with agitation and restlessness or overcome by agitation and restlessness; he knows for real the escape from agitation and restlessness and from its arising.
He does not live with a mind obsessed with uncertainty or overcome by uncertainty; he knows for real the escape from uncertainty and from its arising.
And he does not meditate dependent on any meditational object at all
Neither does he meditate dependent on earth, water, fire, or air;
he does not meditate dependent on the experience of infinite space, the experience of infinite consciousness,the experience of nothingness, or the experience of neither perception nor non-perception;
he does not meditate dependent on this world, or the other world; he does not meditate dependent on whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognised, encountered, sought for, or pondered by the mind – and yet he does meditate.
Moreover, Sandha, the gods including Indra, Brahma and Pajāpati honour that good, thoroughbred man from afar, (saying):
Honour to you, thoroughbred man,
Honour to you, ultimate man;
We do not know for ourselves
the basis on which you meditate.
Sandha's questions
Then Sandha said to the Buddha,
But sir, how does that good, thoroughbred man meditate not dependent on earth, water, fire or air;
not dependent on the experience of infinite space, the experience of infinite consciousness, the experience of nothingness, or on the experience of neither perception nor non-perception;
not dependent on this world, or the other world;
not dependent on whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognised, encountered, sought for, or pondered by the mind; he does not meditate dependent on that – and yet he does meditate?
And how, sir, do the gods, with Indra, Brahma and Pajāpati honour that good, thoroughbred meditator from afar?
Honour to you, thoroughbred man,
Honour to you, ultimate man;
We do not know for ourselves
the basis on which you meditate.
The Buddha's explanations
Sandha, for a good, thoroughbred man,
with regard to earth, water, fire and air, the perceptions of earth, water, fire and air do not exist; [that is, one does not focus on the four 'elements']
with regard to the experiences of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness and neither perception nor non-perception, the perceptions of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness and neither perception nor non-perception do not exist; [one does not focus on the four 'aruppas']
with regard to this world and the other world, the perceptions of this world and the other world do not exist;
whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognised, encountered, sought for, or pondered by the mind, the perception even of these does not exist. [even these perceptions ...]
It is indeed in this way, Sandha, that a good, thoroughbred meditator does not meditate dependent on earth, water, fire or air;
does not meditate dependent on infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness or neither perception nor non-perception;
does not meditate dependent on this world or the other world;
and he does not meditate dependent even on what is seen, heard, sensed, cognised, encountered, sought for or pondered by the mind, – and yet, he does meditate.
Moreover, Sandha, it is in this way that the gods, with Indra, Brahma and Pajāpati, honour that good, thoroughbred meditator from afar, (saying):
Honour to you, thoroughbred man,
Honour to you, ultimate man;
We do not know for ourselves
the basis on which you meditate.