Train Our Mind to Find True Happiness

The wise person should guard the mind, which is difficult to perceive, extremely subtle, and prone to wandering towards whatever it desires. For a guarded mind brings true happiness.

The wise man straightens his unsteady and wavering mind, which is difficult to guard and hard to restrain, just as a fletcher straightens an arrow. This mind, when pulled away from the attachment of the five sensual pleasures and cast into the practice of Vipassana (insight meditation) to abandon the realm of Evil, quivers like a fish taken from its watery home and thrown onto dry land.

Those who restrain the mind—which wanders far, travels alone, is formless, and dwells in the cave (of the four primary elements/the physical body)—shall be free from the bonds of Evil.

Taming the mind, which is difficult to restrain, swift, and prone to follow its desires toward any object, is beneficial. A well-trained mind brings forth happiness.

Wisdom does not reach fullness in one whose mind is unsteady, who does not understand the True Dhamma, and whose faith is wavering. There is no fear for one whose mind is not soaked by lust, whose mind is not overwhelmed by hatred, and who has gone beyond both merit and demerit (evil)—one who is ever-watchful and awake.