How to control sense faculties?

                                                            NAMO BUDDHAYA !.
                                    Namo  Tassa  Bhagavato  Arahato  Samma  Sambuddhassa !
                     Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One !

​                                          Discourses of Self-Reproach   AN4:121
 
                    "Bhikkhus, there are these four perils. What four? The peril of self-reproach, the peril of reproach by others, the peril of punishment, and the peril of a bad destination.
 

1. "And what, bhikkhus, is the peril of self-reproach? Here, someone reflects thus: ‘If I were to engage in bodily, verbal, or mental misconduct, wouldn’t I reprove myself because of my behavior?’ Afraid of the peril of self-reproach, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the peril of self-reproach.

(2)         "And what is the peril of reproach by others?  Here, someone reflects thus: ‘If I were to engage in bodily, verbal, or mental misconduct, wouldn’t others reprove me because of my behavior?’ Afraid of the peril of reproach by others, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the peril of reproach by others.
 
(3)         "And what is the peril of punishment? Here, someone sees that when kings arrest a thief who has committed a crime, they subject him to various punishments: they have him flogged with whips, beaten with canes, beaten with clubs; they have his hands cut off, his feet cut off, his hands and feet cut off; his ears cut off, his nose cut off, his ears and nose cut off; they have him subjected to the ‘porridge pot,’ to the ‘polished-shell shave,’ to the ‘Rāhu's mouth,’ to the ‘fiery wreath,’ to the ‘flaming hand,’ to the ‘blades of grass,’ to the ‘bark dress,’ to the ‘antelope,’ to the ‘meat hooks,’ to the ‘coins,’ to the ‘lye pickling,’ to the ‘pivoting pin,’ to the ‘rolled-up palliasse’; and they have him splashed with boiling oil, and they have him devoured by dogs, and they have him impaled alive on a stake, and they have his head cut off with a sword.
 
              "It occurs to him: ‘When kings have arrested a thief who has committed a crime, they subject him to various punishments because of such bad deeds: they have him flogged with whips … they have his head cut off with a sword. Now if I were to commit such an evil deed, and if kings were to arrest me, they would subject me to the same punishments. They would have me flogged with whips … they would have my head cut off with a sword.’ Afraid of the peril of punishment, he does not go about plundering the belongings of others. This is called the peril of punishment. 
       
(4.)             "And what is the peril of a bad destination? Here, someone reflects thus: ‘Bodily misconduct has bad results in future lives; verbal misconduct has bad results in future lives; mental misconduct has bad results in future lives. Now if I were to engage in misconduct with body, speech, and mind, then with the breakup of the body, after death, I would be reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell.’ Afraid of the peril of a bad destination, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the peril of a bad destination. "These, bhikkhus, are the four perils."                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                      "THE  NUMERICAL  DISCOURSES  OF  THE  BUDDHA. "
 
  
                                                        MN61:  Ambalaṭṭhikarāhulovāda  sutta
 
     "What do you think, Rāhula? What is the purpose of a mirror?"
             "For the purpose of reflection, venerable sir."
                "So too, Rāhula, an action with the body should be done after repeated reflection; an action by speech should be done after repeated reflection; an action by mind should be done after repeated reflection.

 (1)        "Rāhula, when you wish to do an action with the body, you should reflect upon that same bodily action thus: ‘Would this action that I wish to do with the body lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I wish to do with the body would lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you definitely should not do such an action with the body.  But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I wish to do with the body would not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome bodily action with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may do such an action with the body.
(2)           "Also, Rāhula, while you are doing an action with the body, you should reflect upon that same bodily action thus: ‘Does this action that I am doing with the body lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I am doing with the body leads to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should suspend such a bodily action. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I am doing with the body does not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome bodily action with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may continue in such a bodily action
(3)            "Also, Rāhula, after you have done an action with the body, you should reflect upon that same bodily action thus: ‘Did this action that I did with the body lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Was it an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I did with the body led to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was an unwholesome bodily action with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should confess such a bodily action, reveal it, and lay it open to the Teacher or to your wise companions in the holy life. Having confessed it, revealed it, and laid it open,  you should undertake restraint for the future. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I did with the body did not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was a wholesome bodily action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results,’ you can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states
(4)              "Rāhula, when you wish to do an action by speech, you should reflect upon that same action by speech thus: ‘Would this action that I wish to do by speech lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action by speech that I wish to do would lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you definitely should not do such an action by speech.  But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action by speech that I wish to do would not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome action by speech with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may do such an action by speech.
(5)              "Also, Rāhula, while you are doing an action by speech, you should reflect upon that same action by speech thus: ‘Does this action that I am doing by speech lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I am doing by speech leads to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should suspend such a action by speech. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I am doing with the body does not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome action by speech with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may continue in such a action by speech.
(6)              "Also, Rāhula, after you have done an action by speech, you should reflect upon that same action by speech thus: ‘Did this action that I did with the body lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Was it an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I did with the body led to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was an unwholesome action by speech with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should confess such a action by speech, reveal it, and lay it open to the Teacher or to your wise companions in the holy life. Having confessed it, revealed it, and laid it open, you should undertake restraint for the future. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action that I did by speech did not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was a wholesome action by speech with pleasant consequences, pleasant results,’ you can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states.
(7)        "Rāhula, when you wish to do an action by mind, you should reflect upon that same action by mind thus: ‘Would this action that I wish to do by mind lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome action by mind with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This action by mind that I wish to do would lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome action by mind with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you definitely should not do such an action by mind. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This action by mind that I wish to do would not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome action by mind with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may do such an action by mind.
(8)            "Also, Rāhula, while you are doing an action by mind, you should reflect upon that same mental action thus: ‘Does this mental action that I am doing lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unwholesome mental action with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This mental action that I am doing with the body leads to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is an unwholesome mental action with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should suspend such a mental action. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This mental action that I am doing does not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it is a wholesome mental action with pleasant consequences, with pleasant results,’ then you may continue in such a mental action.
(9)              "Also, Rāhula, after you have done a mental action, you should reflect upon that same mental action: ‘Did this mental action that I did lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both? Was it an unwholesome mental action with painful consequences, with painful results?’ When you reflect, if you know: ‘This mental action that I did led to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was an unwholesome mental action with painful consequences, with painful results,’ then you should be repelled,humiliated, and disgusted by that mental action. Having become repelled, humiliated, and disgusted by that action. Having confessed it, revealed it, and laid it open, you should undertake restraint for the future. But when you reflect, if you know: ‘This mental action did not lead to my own affliction, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both; it was a wholesome mental action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results,’ you can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states
(10.)               "Rāhula, whatever recluses and brahmins in the past purified their bodily action, their verbal action, and their mental action, all did so by repeatedly reflecting thus. Whatever recluses and brahmins in the future will purify their bodily action, their verbal action, and their mental action, all will do so by repeatedly reflecting thus. Whatever recluses and brahmins in the present are purifying their bodily action, their verbal action, and their mental action, all are doing so by repeatedly reflecting thus. Therefore, Rāhula, you should train thus: ‘We will purify our bodily action, our verbal action, and our mental action by repeatedly reflecting upon them.’"  
                                                                                                           "The middle length discourses of the Buddha". 
 
                                                               Sadu!. Sadu!!.. Sadu!!!...
 
(Translated by Rev Bhikku Bhodhi, Wisdom publications)

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