"The mind is like the untrained elephant. When it is bound with the cord of mindfulness to the firm post of the previously discussed meditative object, [even] if it is unwilling to remain there, it is gradually brought under control, goaded by the hook of awareness."
— Wayman, Alex
Author
Date
1978, 1979
Metaphor
"The mind is like the untrained elephant. When it is bound with the cord of mindfulness to the firm post of the previously discussed meditative object, [even] if it is unwilling to remain there, it is gradually brought under control, goaded by the hook of awareness."
Metaphor in Context
The discipline tying mind in that way to the meditative object is expressed by the simile of training an elephant, for example, a wild elephant is tied with many massive cords to a trunk or a post. However the elephant [may] stamp as he has learned ot do, he is indeed unable to do anything (about it), and being more and more enmeshed with the sharp hooks, is defeated and subdued ("broken in"). The mind is like the untrained elephant. When it is bound with the cord of mindfulness to the firm post of the previously discussed meditative object, [even] if it is unwilling to remain there, it is gradually brought under control, goaded by the hook of awareness. [...]
(p. 119)
(p. 119)
Provenance
Searching Google Books
Citation
Alex Wayman, Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real: Buddhist Meditation and the Middle View. (1978; Reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1979).
Date of Entry
07/08/2014
