Freed From Discontentedness

Monks, one who does not seek excitement in form, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in feeling, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in perception, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in volitional formations (choices/decisions), does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in consciousness, does not seek excitement in discontentedness.

One who does not seek excitement in discontentedness, I say, is freed from discontentedness.

(There are discourses spoken in the case of ‘One who seeks excitement…’ in contrast of ‘One who does not seek excitement…’)

Monks, one who does not seek excitement in the eye, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in the ear, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in the nose, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in the tongue, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in the body, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in the mind, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in discontentedness, I say, is freed from discontentedness.

(There are discourses spoken in the case of ‘One who seeks excitement…’ in contrast of ‘One who does not seek excitement…’)

One who does not seek excitement in forms, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in sounds, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in odors, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in flavors, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in physical objects, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in mental objects, does not seek excitement in discontentedness;

One who does not seek excitement in discontentedness, I say, is freed from discontentedness.

(Reference: SN 35.19)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how to free the mind from discontentedness by not seeking excitement (i.e. pleasant feelings) in The Five Aggregates (form, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations, an consciousness), The Six Internal Sense Bases (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind), or The Six External Sense Bases (forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, and mental objects).

A Practitioner who does not seek excitement (i.e. pleasant feelings) means all craving/desire/attachment has been eliminated and is freed from discontentedness.