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Basic Laws for Training the Mind

The mind is a collection of four aggregates:

  1. The aggregate of perception,

  2. The aggregate of feeling,

  3. The aggregate of mental formations, and

  4. The aggregate of consciousness.

Training the mind is based on three interdependent components:

  1. Morality

  2. Concentration

  3. Wisdom

Morality (sila)

Very often people get into an argument about what is right and what is wrong, and to prove the point they have a debate. This arises due to confusion, because each one sees the right or wrong from his/her perspective. Thus, right or wrong seems to be very relative depending on the cultural and social background from which the individual comes from. To put it in simple terms: any action mental, vocal or physical, which does not harm oneself and others, is a moral act. Let us understand this in simple terms as the five laws of nature, which are:

  1. Refrain from killing or harming other living beings,

  2. Refrain from stealing,

  3. Refrain from lying,

  4. Refrain from sexual misconduct,

  5. Refrain from intoxication.

These are not social moralities but laws of nature that are necessary for social harmony. Let us understand the first one: refrain from killing or harming other living beings. At the surface level of understanding, would you like someone harming you or your dear ones? We would not like anyone harming or killing our near and dear ones. Then how can we do an act that would harm other living beings. This same understanding can be applied to the other four laws. We will not like anyone stealing from us or lying to us, or committing sexual misconduct with us or any of our dear ones.

If we probe this deeper, we see that before we harm or kill other beings, we are generating negativity and anger towards them at the mental level before harming them at the physical level. Only a tremendous amount of anger and hatred can lead to the act of harming or killing others. This mental negativity simultaneously arises with its effect at the physical level, where the stress manifests depending on the intensity of the mental defilement.

Let us understand by a simple example: Many times an unruly driver swerves his vehicle in front of your vehicle in flowing traffic. You jam on your brakes and out of anger use abusive language. The driver of the other vehicle responds with abuse. Both of you get out of your respective vehicles, an argument ensues, and if the situation is not resolved, which leads to a physical fight. If we see the situation from an observer’s point of view, we will see that the anger arises first at the mental level, which manifests at the level of speech and finally, the physical fight is the gross manifestation of what started at the mental level.