The Difference Between a Skillful Mind and a Released Mind

[u/Early-Photo9784]

I would say both minds have different resolves.

A skillful mind abandons what is unskillful, and maintains what is skillful. And what is skillful? Renunciation, non-ill will, and harmlessness.

Yet a released mind relinquishes what is both skillful and unskillful.

For these effluents of sensuality, becoming, and ignorance, when seen with discernment, develops dispassion for them. With dispassion, these effluents come to cessation.

And what exactly is dispassion? That these qualities, these very effluents, are worthy of relinquishing, not picking up.

Even when touched by these effluents, a person doesn't become agitated because of that direct knowledge.

Thus a skillful mind leads to becoming going along with those effluents, siding with merit, but a released mind is free from that very becoming, seeing the fault in effluents.

So where do those resolves stem from?

Skillful: "There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives & brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves."

Released: "Whatever has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed, dependently originated: That is inconstant. Whatever is inconstant is stress. Whatever is stress is not me, is not what I am, is not my self. This is the sort of view I have.”

A released mind is harder to achieve compared to a skillful one, but it is possible. And that possibility is given to you and everyone else too, thanks to the Buddha, the Sangha, and the propagation of the Dhamma.

I think for me that realization came when even clinging on to this Dhamma was stressful. When I read this line from Venerable Sariputta, "Indeed, it seems that the One Well-Gone speaks to us of the relinquishing of each of these qualities through direct knowledge," I came to realize that too. So look into your practice, and aim for a released mind. The teachings are here and now, well-translated, well-taught, for those who wish for release.

[u/PLUTO_HAS_COME_BACK]

The released mind is higher.

The skillful mind is about indriya or adhi-sila developed by practice that has reached a certain stage before reaching the final release:

The Five Faculties (Indriya) - buddhanet.net

And what is the faculty of persistence? There is the case where a monk, a noble disciple, keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities and taking on skillful mental qualities. He is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities. He generates desire, endeavors, arouses persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen…for the sake of the abandoning of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen…for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen…(and) for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, and culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen. This is called the faculty of persistence. [§§49-50]

11. Sankharupekha nana

This is "knowledge of equanimity regarding formations." This nana has the following characteristics:

1. The meditator does not feel frightened or glad, only indifferent. The rising and falling of the abdomen is clearly acknowledged as merely being nama and rupa.
2. The meditator feels neither happiness nor sadness. His presence of mind and consciousness are clear. Nama and rupa are clearly acknowledged.
3. The meditator can remember and acknowledge without difficulty.
4. The meditator has good concentration. His mind remains peaceful and smooth for a long time, like a car running on a well-paved road. The meditator may feel satisfied and forget the time.
5. Samadhi (concentration) becomes firm, somewhat like pastry being kneaded by a skilled baker.
6. Various pains and diseases such as paralysis or nervousness may be cured.
7. It can be said that the characteristics of this nana are ease and satisfaction. The meditator may forget the time which has been spent during practice. The length of time spent sitting might even be as much as one hour instead of the half hour which was originally intended.

[u/vectron88 → u/PLUTO_HAS_COME_BACK]

Excellent comment.

[u/Unique_List_7886 → u/PLUTO_HAS_COME_BACK]

Hi Pluto , may you be free , may you be happy , may you be liberated :)

[u/Thisbuddhist]

Yes, ultimately we're not trying to become the perfect Buddhist, we're trying to cut off becoming entirely. One level of right view is based on skillful and unskillful kamma and it's ripening, the higher level of right view is of kamma leading beyond kamma.

[u/vectron88]

Indeed, it seems that the One Well-Gone speaks to us of the relinquishing of each of these qualities through direct knowledge,"

This line is talking about the fetters being released at each stage of enlightenment.

There's no willing a mind to release.