Equanimity Through Sense Restraint

One of the key ways the Buddha recommended we aim towards an equanimous outlook on life was through sense restraint, otherwise known as "guarding the sense doors". What was that practice? We will discuss it in this video.
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Suttas mentioned:
All the Defilements: suttacentral.n...
Untamed, Unguarded: suttacentral.n...
Sāriputta and the Pupil: suttacentral.n...
With Bhāradvāja: suttacentral.n...
Interesting online discussion:
discourse.sutt...
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[@powpow9560]

There's something about how you explain things that just make more sense. Thanks AGAIN Doug.

[@DougsDharma]

Very welcome!

[@stevevest7206]

This is reminding me of how I have changed my view of dealing with others. In short, it is to always look at interactions with others as an opportunity to be more skillful. In other words, what the interaction may be is secondary to dealing with things skillfully.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes it's a hard practice dealing with other people sometimes! 😄

[@mykldean]

@@stevevest7206How can we better actively listen to each other and actually correct each others delusions with truth?

[@killuasleftfist3612]

The community of people trying to better themselves and the world always warms my heart, it’s beautiful thay so many people believe in the healing of life

[@DougsDharma]

Yes it does ease the mind a little to see that there are others around! 😄

[@powpow9560]

It truly is. have a wonderful day

[@kzrolf]

This is a hugely important discussion on turning the mind.Thank You!

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure!

[@n.p.mackenzie]

I’ve noticed there is some parallel between the teaching on the guarding of the sense doors and what psychotherapists would call ‘boundary setting’. I think the buddhist teaching encapsulates the broader meaning since it includes internal and external boundaries and the understanding of the senses as ‘fields’. I always had a bit of confusion of how boundary setting sat within the Buddhist teachings, particularly as it relates to interdependence, and I think the sense doors teaching explains why boundary setting is important. It’s why we can say ‘no’ in a compassionate and skilful way without this giving rise to negative forms of aversion. Great video 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Yes good points, I'm not familiar with boundary setting but it sounds similar.

[@robinbrowne6702]

I appreciate your high standards for informing us, and I Love that your caring and thoughtfulness are evident! Metta

[@DougsDharma]

I appreciate that. Thanks, Robin. 🙏

[@lmansur1000]

Good teaching specially to those who do not want to study Buddhism because they take it as a religion. I don't but many people do. The way you are teaching still preservers the integrity of the Dharma. Thank you!

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure LJM! 🙏

[@uliuli201]

Golden counsel. My Tai Chi Chuan instructor told me...When your in a hole...stop digging. The one thing I can DELUSIONALLY control is...what I bring in my Life. Easy say...Hard do. But at least I can move forward in Mindfulness.

[@joeicity]

Thank you for the clarity. Excellent talk.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful, Joe!

[@aronmindfulman7727]

As you were reading SN 35.120 about seeing features and details, I was reminded of my sales training at the beginning of my sales career. One of the first things one learns in order to make more sales is to understand most people are not interested much in features of a product. To be really effective at making the sale, the sales person needs to emphasize both the feature and benefit to the customer. I believe we, as individuals, are quite capable of doing this for ourselves (consciously or unconsciously) when it comes to craving anything with our "six sense doors."

[@DougsDharma]

Great point Aron, we are always looking at objects for their benefits, which we usually consider in terms of sense pleasures.

[@joltee9317]

I think your videos brilliant. I've read a lot about Buddhism but you have really helped me to connect the dots.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@michelledunford7718]

This is so helpful! Thank you for explaining this. Be well!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome, Michelle. Glad you found it useful!

[@dudeabideth4428]

What a gem of a channel.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Sandeep, very kind of you to say. 🙏

[@smilebot484]

Another very helpful practice is to counter or balance pleasant details with unpleasant ones. This is particularly helpful when obsessing about the details of beautiful bodies. It’s actually more factually accurate to consider the disgusting parts too which can help break the hold such thoughts can have. This practice of challenging unhelpful mental states with a counter force is at the heart of the Buddha’s innovation and isn’t just useful for the sense realm.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes that can also be a skillful practice SmileBot, of course it’s more critical for monastics than for laypeople who have spouses and families but it can also be useful for us sometimes. 🙏

[@sammavaca5714]

Thanks Doug for making this general guideline clear again. I have studied the Suttas in relation to the process of becoming ensnared (papanca) but how exactly can I protect myself from audiovisual manipulation when I am as an empathic person trying to understand a message and its presentation, for example, when I am exposed to subliminal stimuli, to advertising, or to other methods like nudging, or when I am entering the labyrinth of YT in general? I am now tending towards cutting out all these fast and complex stimuli by not using the Internet at all, by going against the stream of ever deeper entanglement. As consumers we are really in a hopeless struggle against an army of psychologists who are always ahead of us trying to find subtler ways of conditioning our behaviour.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, I think one should have clear guidelines for oneself about what sorts of material one wants to consume, and try to avoid the rest. It's not possible to do it 100% but every little bit counts.

[@markmalinowski6975]

Excellent Video. Well Done. I will need to watch several times.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Mark, glad you found it helpful!

[@VickieGotARawDeal]

I just finished reading Bhikkhu Analayo's chapter on the Sense Spheres in his "Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization" and this video was the perfect follow-up! Both cast a whole new light on things that seemed so automatic to me: perception and the mental associations triggered by it. Your highlight of the "features and details" which we get caught up with was especially insightful since I think it also points to the non-self nature of these objects. Definitely one of my favorite videos in your channel and very helpful too!

[@DougsDharma]

Glad to hear it Vic, yes I also like this topic a lot, it's subtle but incisive!

[@janets.5947]

This is my first time on your site, Doug, and my first exposure to this concept of developing an equanimous outlook . Also this episode is fairly old. So I don't expect a reply ..but just maybe somebody will spot me here. Often I am profoundly affected by beauty. --- Photos of nature, children, land and seascapes. The sound of neighborhood children playing and laughing; a particularly warm, helpful, or humorous encounter with a stranger, even the nice man at the gas station. Are we supposed to put a lid on those kinds of reactions/feelings, too? What I usually feel is big gratitude. I know, I know...listen to more presentations for a more complete explanation, right? You can be SURE that I will.

[@DougsDharma]

Exactly so Janet! 😄 I’ll be doing a video in a few weeks on a similar sort of topic though so just wait a bit!

[@janets.5947]

@@DougsDharma Thank you, Doug.

[@jennifermattson6189]

Thank you so much, Doug! I’ve been focused on equanimity for a few weeks and found this video to be delightful, yet succinct explanation for a profound concept. As a meditator and HSP, this video on sense restraint is useful and it’ll be easy to add right into my practice.

[@DougsDharma]

That’s wonderful to hear Jennnifer! I’m so glad you’re finding it worthwhile. 🙏

[@danmantena4676]

thanks Doug! this was a great video and i learned a lot to put into my practice!

[@DougsDharma]

You’re very welcome Dan! Glad to hear it has helped your practice. 🙏

[@scoutmockingbird3833]

Excellent. Thankyou :)

[@DougsDharma]

You're most welcome!

[@brandon637]

Love the video! Can you make a video on the six paramitas and early buddhism? What’s the utility the paramitas have for us today?

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the suggestion Brandon, it's something that I've thought about for awhile. One snag is that the Paramitas are not part of early Buddhism. They stem from the late canonical phase, and really only gained popularity in the Mahāyāna. That said, I may do something about them eventually. 🙂

[@uliuli8997]

People...Places ...and Things...DO NOT make you Happy...Smarter... or Brighter. YOU make it all happen. My mantra... Balance in All that you do...including Balance.

[@DougsDharma]

Well yes, it depends on what goes on inside most of all. But external things can sometimes help, at least temporarily. 😄

[@fernandoorozco5968]

Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure Fernando.

[@brianreeves]

Wow, again, very helpful. Thank you!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Brian!

[@ericmichael7975]

Great teachings

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks! 🙂

[@xiaomaozen]

I fear _sense restraint_ might often be understood as a kind of escapism: _Shut the doors and nothing seducing can come in._ I'm glad early Buddhist texts show that that's not meant here. But the most life-affirming interpretations of _sense restraint_ can be found in many Zen texts. Thanks for the splendid video! 😊

[@DougsDharma]

Yes it can definitely be a kind of escapism xiao mao. This is one danger. I think though if practiced correctly it's a skillful means to make practice flow more easily.

[@jan_kala]

Hi, Doug! I've learned a lot from your videos on my path through Buddhism, so thank you very much! I did have a question maybe you could answer that's been on my mind: In Zen Buddhism, it seems that they really place a lot of value in spending time in nature or learning from things like this (probably a lot from its Daoist influences). For example, they say the realization of Buddhahood and whatnot can be seen in a grain of sand or the leaves of a tree. Zen practitioners / monastics also seem to have enjoyed calming arts such as writing poetry, listening to music, etc. Where does this fall in regards to the six sense desires? Would spending time observing nature or writing poems and music be indulging too much in the context of Early Buddhism? Thanks again!

[@DougsDharma]

Hi jKala and thanks for the question! I did an earlier video on Buddhist art where I discussed some related issues: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5W8fYuPq99ppaM . In general though in the context of early Buddhism monastics weren't to listen to music or really indulge themselves in any sense pleasures. Writing poems might be a different matter; many of the early suttas are themselves poems. That said, laypeople were free to indulge how they liked. The main problem is that this indulgence is dangerous: it produces dukkha in the long run.

[@luizr.5599]

It's all interesting as history. We shoul feel normal emotions as by modern psychology. It's healthier.

[@aquababy2012]

Cognition is part of sense contact as sense consciousness. We sense and imagine then feel very quickly in construal. Sense consciousness isn't the best term for consciousness of concepts and images derived from sensation but sense contact, seen as a unity of sensation, cognition and consciousness as a neurophysiological state, does some of the heavy lifting. This sense contact is felt affectively resulting in arousal. I think of assimilation in Piaget's model of cognitive development as an excellent example of proliferation with respect sense consciousness.

[@DougsDharma]

Usually in early Buddhism the cognitive part of sensation is referred to as "perception" rather than "consciousness".

[@aquababy2012]

That makes sense but sense consciousness as part of perception is the conscious awareness of what exactly in relation to the bare sensation of organ detecting some stimulus? Sense Consciousness has to a) make sense of what's merely sensed and b) be conscious of that sense making for there to be sense contact. This would suggest a memory system at work. Kahneman ably characterizes this mental activity as System 1 but this is vague so I prefer recognition memory.

[@aquababy2012]

@@DougsDharma What's your understanding of sense consciousness?

[@alakso777]

🙏🏽

[@robertcalamusso4218]

Doug. I’m having trouble on the Eight Fold path. Right Speech is the problem. Help. ☮️

[@snthilakarathna4196]

Sense restraint : : : everyone are consisted with five things. The fourth one is the mass of feelings. There are 51 feelings within that and these are things that today everyone think. Through the six sense doors, these every feelings are spreaded out as you cannot controle. Therefore you cannot see the reality of everything. That is why somone should have a sense restraint if he uncover the hidden reality of everything. But it is hard, for every second, humans make dozen of feelings. So the main purpose of meditation is to restraint mind from that without getting anything through sense doors. Therefor the first state of improved mind consists only 5 feelings. At the fourth state of mind, only 2 feelings and he or she therefore can have the five special abilities. There are names of every feelings that we have but i dont know where it is in thripitaka.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes I think you are talking about the abhidhamma, which is a bit later than the suttas I was discussing. Interesting nonetheless! 🙏

[@snthilakarathna4196]

Yeah it is.

[@ZoranRadakovic84]

Maybe u already make this video, but maybe a video about physical exercise and is it important in Buddism

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Zoran that’s a good question. I dealt a little bit with it in my video on celibacy in Buddhism: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXyuqoCPdrh_jNU

[@djmuscovy7525]

2500 years ago, monks everyday walked into and round towns and villages for almfood. That's a lot of exercise.

[@victorroux493]

The practice of vipassana

[@SaveriusTianhui]

people talks about fasting (diet) Buddha has taught fasting (of all senses) for thousands of years !

[@DougsDharma]

😄 Remember though that the Buddha’s path is a “middle way” between indulgence and asceticism or “fasting”!

[@bsways]

@19:14 how does one "not have it come up in your mind". It just comes up whether I want it to or not

[@DougsDharma]

Right I misspoke there, corrected during the following sentence: the practice is to let it go when it does come up. Over a long period of time you may find that by simply letting such thoughts go they come up less and less often.

[@uliuli8997]

As the Dalai Lama said...What you Think...you become. To which I add...Be Mindful of what you think.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, this is why practice is so important. Thanks Uli.

[@austinthornton3407]

In our living room, there is a beautiful painting, and also a patch of mould in a corner. I need to sort out the patch of mould. But I have no plan to take down the painting. A literal reading of some suttas might question that: “Because anyone dwelling with the eye-faculty uncontrolled could be overwhelmed by cupidity and dejection, evil and unwholesome states of mind” But it’s important to distinguish between a temporary method of practice intended to control compulsive thinking and the choices of the equanimous state of mind that is sought. I think the the dharma allows us to beautify the world. Otherwise the doctrine of sense restraint could result in a kind of anti art, life denying Puritanism, which branches of the major religions have all seemed to advocate from time to time. Being equanimous as between the mould and the art, does not mean that one cannot choose between them.

[@DougsDharma]

Right, yes indeed Austin. Even the Buddha himself recommended the “pleasant abiding” of jhāna. The point though is to see through beauty as only a passing phase.

[@austinthornton3407]

Doug: maybe you should do a video on Buddhist aesthetics - there does seem to be such a thing as there are many buildings, figures and paintings and also music.

[@DougsDharma]

I did, awhile back actually! 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5W8fYuPq99ppaM

[@markbrad123]

If you look at people in the eyes too much you sense their opinionated shallow judgmental behavior and hence loose equanimity through creating an imaginary nama and rupa that feels it has to defend its reputation even though opinions and judgements are shallow and fickle and pass anyway. Best to avoid stares into the imaginary world of interpersonal fallacy then

[@Zekearus53]

It would be easier to pay attention if you didn’t flail your hands around the whole time.

[@DougsDharma]

Yeah it’s kinda how I talk ... 🤓