Excitement to be Abandoned in All Acts

Monks, if, while he walks such (sensual or harmful or cruel) thoughts arise; and he does not welcome them, but rejects, expels, makes an end of them, drives them out of renewed existence, a Monk who while walking becomes one who is called dedicated, diligent, always and forever strong in energy and determined.

If, while he stands such (sensual or harmful or cruel) thoughts arise; and he does not welcome them, but rejects, expels, makes an end of them, drives them out of renewed existence, a Monk who while standing becomes one is called dedicated, diligent, always and forever strong in energy and determined.

If, while he sits such (sensual or harmful or cruel) thoughts arise; and he does not welcome them, but rejects, expels, makes an end of them, drives them out of renewed existence, a Monk who while sitting becomes one is called dedicated, diligent, always and forever strong in energy and determined.

If, while he lies awake such (sensual or harmful or cruel) thoughts arise; and he does not welcome them, but rejects, expels, makes an end of them, drives them out of renewed existence, a Monk who while lying awake becomes one is called dedicated, diligent, always and forever strong in energy and determined.

(Reference: AN 4.11)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that a Practitioner will need to not welcome sensual desire, harmful, or cruel thoughts but instead, “reject, expel, make an end of them, drive them out of renewed existence” while walking, standing, sitting, and lying.

Driving them out of renewed existence involves eliminating them from the root, the mind, so that they will no longer arise in the future.

A Practitioner will need to be watchful over the mind cutting off and letting go of any arising thoughts of sensual desire, harming, or cruelty.

With Right Mindfulness of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness well established, a Practitioner can observe these unwholesome qualities of mind arising as just bodily sensations then cut them off and let them go so that they do not pollute the mind through feelings nor arise at any time in the future.

Keep in mind that this is accomplished through gradual training and gradual practice to experience gradual progress. There is no way to force the mind to eliminate these in an instance but instead, through consistent dedication and diligence, the mind can be transformed to eliminate these unwholesome qualities of mind.

A Practitioner who does not tolerate the arising of unwholesome qualities eliminating them upon observation can be considered to be “dedicated, diligent, always and forever strong in energy and determined”. A Practitioner who has developed these aspects of their life practice can be predicted to attain Enlightenment in this life.

Detailed explanation of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness is available in this same book series found in Chapter 5 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).