The Motivation

Monks, an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is discontentedness;’ ‘This is the cause of discontentedness;’ ‘This is the elimination of discontentedness;’ ‘This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.’

Thus, Monks, I have taught you the destination and the path leading to the destination. Whatever should be done, Monks, by a compassionate Teacher out of compassion for his disciples, aspiring for their welfare, that I have done for you.

These are the feet of trees, Monks these are empty huts.

Meditate, Monks, do not be complacent, lest you regret it later.

This is my instruction to you.

Why is that?

Because he is out of the Evil One’s range.

(Reference: SN 56 & SN 43.44)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares encouraging words to motivate Students to learn, reflect, and practice The Four Noble Truths along with the entire Eight Fold Path.

He explains that he has taught “the destination” or “what is Enlightenment” and “the path leading to the destination” which is The Eight Fold Path.

The Buddha explains that all that he has shared and taught was done so out of compassion for his Students “aspiring for their welfare”.

He encourages Students to meditate and not to be complacent so that one can get out of range from Māra the Evil One.

When a Practitioner’s mind enters into the Jhānas, it is then protected from “Māra the Evil One”.

Māra the Evil One is an unwholesome being who roams the world influencing unskillful, unbeneficial, and negative conduct. Māra, and beings acting on its behalf, look for ways to entice and lure an individual into conduct that would result in unwholesome results.

Other traditions may refer to this entity as Satan, The Devil, or other names associated with a devilish being who is associated with the Realm of Hell looking to cause calamity for all beings here on earth attempting to influence human beings to create “hell on earth”.

Through training the mind in these Teachings, a Practitioner eventually gets to the Jhānas where the mind is protected and no longer influenced by Māra the Evil One. A mind that has entered the Jhānas “is said to have blindfolded Māra”. Māra is no longer able to influence a Practitioner as their mind has become more stable and steady through well developed wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline, yet, the mind is still not Enlightened. There is more work to do in order to fully protect the mind from discontentedness.

Can you explain complacency and how to eliminate it from the mind?

Complacency is a hindrance to Enlightenment and will obstruct an individual from attaining this mental state.

Complacency is experienced in the mind where it is dull, lethargic, and unmotivated, it will hinder a Practitioner from the attainment of Enlightenment.

Complacency includes: being disinterested to learn and practice The Teachings of The Buddha. This can be experienced as a disinterest to read books, come to classes, seek guidance from a Teacher, meditate, etc. The Buddha describes complacency to the point where, if the mind experiences an unwholesome thought/idea/feeling and the Practitioner does nothing about it, then the mind is complacent. What a Practitioner is taught to do on The Path to Enlightenment is to “cut off and let go” of all unwholesome thoughts/ideas/feelings, therefore, if one does nothing about an unwholesome thought/idea/feelings, the mind is complacent.

Again, this will hinder an individual from the attainment of Enlightenment, which is a purification of the mind.

If the mind is unEnlightened, then there is the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as ignorance (unknowing of true reality) still in the mind. A Practitioner does not understand things as they truly are, the mind lacks wisdom of The Natural Laws of Existence. This is an all encompassing pollution of mind and is the last one that will be eliminated from the mind prior to Enlightenment.

As long as one’s mind is unEnlightened, it does not have the needed wisdom to attain Enlightenment because it is not yet practicing The Teachings (i.e. The Natural Laws of Existence), thus, there is ignorance, confusion, misunderstanding, misperception, a lack of wisdom, or “the unknowing of true reality” still in the mind. Ignorance is eliminated through learning, reflecting (i.e. independently verifying), and practicing The Teachings of The Buddha to acquire wisdom. Wisdom is just the opposite of “the unknowing of true reality” and will eradicate the mind’s fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as ignorance.

While ignorance is involved in all the fetters/taints/pollutions, the fetters that are directly involved in complacency are “Doubt” and “Sensual Desire”.

The mind doubts The Teachings of The Buddha and their ability to guide an individual to Enlightenment. And, the mind is having sensual desire, in that, it is holding on to certain things with craving/desire/attachment being unmotivated to learn and practice The Teachings while also indulging in unwholesome thoughts/ideas/feelings.

Doubt (Elimination of doubts about The Teachings and the ability of them to attain Enlightenment. Confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, The Community, your Teacher, and your own ability to attain Enlightenment.)

Sensual desire (Elimination of the desire for pleasures from The Six Sense Bases: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and the mind.)

There is a remedy, or solution to eliminate complacency, that can be implemented to ensure the mind is able to overcome this obstacle and continue its journey to Enlightenment.

The solution is to practice The Eight Fold Path to include, the Enlightenment factors of investigation, energy, and joy from The Seven Factors of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment factors of investigation, energy, and joy are just the opposites of the dullness, lethargy, and lack of motivation that exists in the mind during the time of complacency. Some older texts use the phrase “sloth and torpor” for complacency but, “complacency” is a much better way to understand this aspect of the unEnlightened mind with language we use today.

Investigation: (Dedicated examination, exploration, research, study, and questioning to learn The Teachings.)

Energy: (Effort, determination, ambition, initiative, motivation, vigor, and enthusiasm; willingness to do something.)

Joy: (Pleased and delighted not associated with any specific object; unconditioned gladness; the Practitioner is not attaining it by craving/desire/attachment.)

Meditate, Monks, do not be complacent, lest you will regret it later. This is my instruction to you. (Reference: SN 43.1)

You can learn more about complacency and its remedy using these resources.

Volume 1 - Chapter 3 and the recorded classes where I teach The Five Hindrances, this is one of those.

Free Books - The Words of The Buddha

https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooks

The Five Hindrances & The Seven Factors of Enlightenment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t6VKPshUn0