The Tortoise's Guide: How to Guard Your Senses for Better Well-Being

0:00 { Helvetica; **Speaker A**: Hi, this is Margaret Meloni, and welcome to the Death Dhamma Podcast. In a series I used to read, occasionally one character would say to the other, may you live in interesting times. It was understood that this was a curse where interesting times meant chaos and difficulty. Well, we do live in interesting times. I mean, don't we always? So this season together, we will explore equanimity and chaos, recognizing that many aspects of life are beyond our control. Let's find a sense of balance and peace amid external chaos.

0:03 Greetings, everybody. Today, a sutta or story about a tortoise. And why? Well, you'll see, or I hope you'll see. Once upon a time, a hard shelled tortoise was foraging for food in the evening along the shore of a lake. And a jackal was also foraging for food in the evening. The tortoise saw the jackal from afar, and so it took its four legs and its neck and withdrew into its shell and was perfectly quiet and still. But the jackal had already seen the tortoise and so it went and then just kind of hovered around it thinking, you know, as soon as that tortoise stretches out one of its legs or its neck, I'm going to grab it, tear it off and eat it.

0:03 But when the tortoise didn't stretch out any of its, you know, arms or legs or its neck, the jackal lost interest and left. And the Buddha uses that to continue. And by the way, this is from the Kuma sutta, which is called the tortoise. In the same way, monks, Mara. Okay, so Mara, some of you are aware, maybe some of you, this might be new to you. Mara, Mara is the tempter. Mara is the one who came when the Buddha was meditating and, you know, reaching enlightenment, and tried to tempt him with all kinds of things to get him distracted and off the path.

0:03 So Mara is tempting us. Okay, so the Buddha says, in the same way monks, Mara is continually, ceaselessly hovering around you, thinking, perhaps I'll get an opportunity by means of the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body. Perhaps I'll get an opportunity by means of the intellect. Thus you should dwell with the doors to your senses well guarded. On seeing a form with the eye, do not grasp at any theme or details by which if you were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the eye, evil, unskillful qualities such as greed or distress might assail you.

0:03 Practice for it. Restraint. Guard the faculty of the eye. Secure your restraint with regard to the faculty of the eye. Unsurprising to those of you listening and those of you who have listened before or have spent time in the suttas, this thought is repeated, same thing about you know, what you hear with your ear, the aromas you smell with your nose, what you taste with your tongue and tactile sensations with your body, right? And also our intellect. On cognizing an idea with the intellect, do not grasp at any theme or details, but by which, if you were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the intellect, evil, unskillful qualities such as greed or distress might assail you.

0:03 Practice for its restraint, guard the faculty of the intellect, secure your restraint with regard to the faculty of the intellect. When you dwell with the doors to your senses well guarded, Mara, not getting any opportunity, will lose interest and leave. Just as the jackal left the tortoise, so like a tortoise with its limbs withdrawn into its shell, so the monk, or you and I also, whether we're not monks or nuns, but so you and I, the thoughts of the heart, not dependent, harming no others, totally unbound, he would berate no one.

0:03 Why should we be guarding what comes to us, right? What do we see, what do we hear, what do we smell, what do we taste, what do we know? Sense, what do we, where do we put our bodies and sense things? What do we, what ideas do we allow to come to us? I mean, a first obvious comparison is, you know, social media and the challenges that can come with too much social media. Also with any kind of media these days and being careful with what you're surrounding yourself with, what are you seeing, what are you hearing?

0:03 Everything. And guard your senses and guard yourself. And in this way, the bad stuff, Mara. So if you, you know, evil will lose interest and if you don't believe that, you know, there's Mara or somebody or a being that's surrounding you, trying to feed you with evil. Just know that when you guard your senses, keep yourself locked down, be aware of what you're consuming. This is how you will maintain your peace, move forward in your practice and maintain your equanimity. In times where there's lots of stories and there's lots of going back and forth and arguing and dissension and maybe real news and fake news and all kinds of things going on.

0:03 So, yes, guard what you are consuming and take good care of, of what you are processing. And in that way you can move forward during times of, you know, if we say of during these interesting times, right, remember our quote, May you live in interesting times. And we are during these interesting times. You can take care of yourself and by taking care of yourself in this way, you can also make a difference. And overall, remember, take care of yourself and your loved ones and protect the unprotected.

0:03 You've been listening to the Death Dhamma Podcast with your host, Margaret Maloney. Thank you so much for being here. Come find me on margaretmaloni.com M A R G A R E T M E L o n I.com and until we meet again. May you be well, may you be happy, may you be at ease, and may you be free from suffering. Bye for now.