Chapter 28: A thought is as a horse, don’t indulge it.

(Chapter 28) A Brief Talk about The Scripture of Forty-Two Chapters Said by Buddha 

Co-translators in the time of Eastern Han Dynasty, China(A.D. 25 - 200) : 

Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan (Who translated the said Scripture from Sanskrit into Chinese. )

Translator in modern time (A.D.2018: Tao Qing Hsu (Who translated the said Scripture from Chinese into English.)

Teacher and writer for explaining the said Scripture: Tao Qing Hsu

  

Chapter 28: A thought is as a horse, don’t indulge it.     

The Buddha said,” Don’t trust your thought. Your thought is un-trusty. Be cautious not to meet the erotic. Meeting the erotic would instantly incur the disasters. Having gained the Arhathood, you thus can trust your thought.    

Each day and each moment, from our senses such as eyes, ears, nose, tongue or body, we absorbing stimuli from various situations and information from the outside world, everything of this kind will inspire our thoughts. At this time, each of the thoughts is like a wild and untrained horse galloping around and it is difficult for us to control it.

When we have not yet trained our thoughts well, most of our thoughts are some kind of illusion, and we indulge it and dream it. This does not allow us to recognize the facts. Meanwhile, a lot of misunderstanding and harmful things is thus incurred. Unfortunately, the person may not necessarily have such awareness.

For people who are hungry for the emotions of men and women, when they meet the object they like in their hearts, their inner thoughts will begin to speculate on the other's thoughts, and start some fantasies of love between men and women. Unfortunately, the other party may not have this thought. If at this time, we ourselves cannot control our thoughts and feelings, not only will we have troubles ourselves, but we may also involuntarily hurt each other physically or verbally. The worse would make us crime.

Some people greed for the erotic. However, some people greed for the money. No matter greed for erotic or money, their thoughts are not controlled by themselves. All illusion is occupied on their mind. For instance, they will feel good about themselves and think that they will have the great power to control everything. Such unreal feeling would make them bully others, seize the interests of others, and finally make them into the crime.

Mostly, the erotic and money would lead us to the crime, if we let ourselves indulge it. That is why the Buddha said,” Don’t trust your thought. Your thought is un-trusty. Be cautious not to meet the erotic. Meeting the erotic would instantly incur the disasters.”

Some evil people would use erotic or money to lure you into crime, which are generally existed in some evil organizations. They even wash your brain so as to make you be agreed with their evil ideology. Under the circumstance, you even think what your thought is right and you have the faith about it. But, in fact, your thought is un-trusty.

So, we should be cautious not to meet the erotic. Meeting the erotic would instantly incur the disasters, which we have seen a lot in the news and movies.

In the chapter 27, we have mentioned how to train our thought and mind by some convenient methods. The most important is to understand the reason. Why we should train and control our mind and thought, which have mentioned a lot in the sutra of 42 chapters said by Buddha. The essence of Buddhism is to control our own inner thoughts and desires and not to indulge them. This is the best protection for everyone. Meanwhile, it is not only to make us peaceful in mind, but is to make the society and world peace.

“Having gained the Arhathood, you thus can trust your thought.” Arhat is Sanskrit and means that a person experiences the long-term practice to train and control its heart and mind to be steady and make its heart and mind very clear, clean and pure. Meanwhile, there aren't any un-pure desire and illusion in their heart and mind. At the same time, their Bodhi heart is established well. Bodhi heart means the heart of becoming Buddha.

In the status of Arhathood, their hearts are not affected and turned by the outside world. Meanwhile, they can generate any positive, right and good thoughts on the basis of no-thought. At the same time, any negative, wrong and evil thoughts would be naturally eliminated and turned into the positive, right and good thoughts by their own power.

Therefore, when we learn Buddhism and achieve the Arhathood, we thus can trust our thought. It also means that we will really do any positive, right and good thing to benefit self and others, when we are in such status.   

Supplementary note: Dao is transliterated from Chinese, meaning way and method, deeper meaning as a system of learning or religion. Dao is Tao, which is transliterated from Chinese. The original meaning of Dao is the way and path, and it is extended to be the truth of life that we can learn and practice in our lives.