The five meditation for settling the mind
A man who had great pain and discomfort because he had pustules all over his body. One day, when he was going through a thicket full of climbers and bushes, a thorny stem pricked him, and sent him doubling up in pain. He instantly bred anger and hatred, and raised his voice swearing at the wood.
The Buddha happened to be walking nearby, and addressed his followers when he saw this: " Do you think this man's behaviour is stupid and ludicrous?"
They all replied: " Yes, Buddha! Trees and plants are mindless. How could he blame them for his bodily pain?"
The Buddha said: " That is correct! This man has bred hatred and anger because of his physical ailment. This only tells us that he is not only sick in his body, but also in his mind!"
The Buddha continued: " Bikshus! Some people breed craving for beautiful women, nice smells, pleasing words and sweet taste; but in times of adversity, they breed hatred and anger. This situation is similar to this man with the pustules who is sick in both mind and body."
The followers asked: " Has the Buddha any method of healing this kind of people?"
The Buddha therefore pronounced the five methods of practice to cure craving, resentment and delusion:
1 Meditate on the impure to cure craving.
2 Meditate on compassion to cure resentment.
3 Meditate on conditional causation to cure delusion.
4 Meditate on the Buddha to cure attachment to the ego.
5 Meditate on breathing to cure distraction.
The above five are known as 'the five meditations on settling the mind'.
'The five meditations on settling the mind' are the five ways to deal with
the defilements of the mind. Conquering the five deluded thoughts with the
five right mindfulness constitutes the demolition of the illusion of worries
and trouble, leaving us unattached to delusions. This is analogous to the
man with the pustules who would not have blamed the plantations had he realised
that they were mindless.
