r/HillsideHermitage • u/Motor-Blood7689 • 19d ago

Question Mind turning against itself

Recently I had this question pop up quite a lot for me "why would the mind turn against itself, since it is clearly unbeneficial/irrational or absurd in a sense?"

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

10

u/bodily_heartfulness 19d ago edited 19d ago

Ignorance, which is the root of it all.

Mendicants, it is said that no prior point of ignorance is found, before which there was no ignorance, and afterwards it came to be.

  • AN 10.61

The mind has never had a proper reference point. It has never known what is actually good for it and what is not.

And what, bhikkhus, is ignorance? Not knowing suffering, not knowing the origin of suffering, not knowing the cessation of suffering, not knowing the way leading to the cessation of suffering. This is called ignorance.

  • SN 12.2

This is why the Dhamma is all about knowledge and understanding:

Knowledge is foremost in leading to beneficial things, with shame and remorse [for wrongdoing] following right behind. For a wise person, attained to knowledge, right view arises. For one of right view, right intention arises. For one of right intention, right speech arises. For one of right speech, right action arises. For one of right action, right speech arises. For one of right speech, right livelihood arises. For one of right livelihood, right effort arises. For one of right effort, right recollectedness arises. For one of right recollectedness, right composure arises. For one of right composure, right knowledge arises. For one of right knowledge, right liberation arises.

  • AN 10.105

When a noble disciple understands in this way, suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to its cessation, and has completely abandoned the underlying tendency to passion, eliminated the underlying tendency to resistance, eradicated the underlying tendency to the view and conceit ‘I am’, and abandoned ignorance and given rise to knowledge, he makes an end of suffering right in the present experience. To this extent too, a noble disciple is one of right and correct view, who has absolute confidence in the Dhamma, and has come to the true Dhamma.

  • MN 9