THE MIND LIKE FIRE UNBOUND

The Mind like Fire Unbound An Image in the Early Buddhist Discourses Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) COPYRIGHT Copyright © 1993 Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Fourth Edition, Revised 2010)

Part One: The Abstract “Released…with unrestricted awareness.” ACCORDING TO THE PALI CANON—the earliest extant record of the Buddha’s teachings—the fabrications of language

Part Two: The Essay INTRODUCTION “The enlightened go out like this flame.” THE DISCOURSES of the Pali Canon make a frequent analogy between

CHAPTER I “This fire that has gone out… in which direction from here has it gone?” THE DISCOURSES report two instances where brāhmans asked the Buddha about the nature of the goal

CHAPTER II “Fire burns with clinging, and not without clinging.” ALTHOUGH THE COMPILERS of the Pali Canon were not concerned with teaching the physical sciences, there are

CHAPTER III “Forty cartloads of timber.” UPĀDĀNA carries both of its meanings—clinging & sustenance—when applied to the mind. It refers on

CHAPTER IV “And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick.” A THEME recurrent in the passages we have been considering is that the abandonment of clinging/sustenance is

End Notes Becoming (bhava): States of sensuality, form, & formlessness that can develop from craving & clinging, and provide the condition for

Bibliography Blair, Chauncey J. Heat in the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda. (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1961.) Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya. The Path of