With Destruction of Excitement The Mind is Liberated

Seeing rightly, he experiences the fading away of strong feelings.

With the destruction of excitement, comes destruction of craving;

With the destruction of craving, comes destruction of excitement.

With the destruction of excitement and craving, the mind is said to be well liberated.

(Reference: SN 22.51)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Practitioner who is “seeing rightly” “experiences the fading away of strong feelings”.

Seeing rightly, he experiences the fading away of strong feelings: “Seeing rightly” is to have acquired wisdom through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to eradicate ignorance (unknowing of true reality). It is through eliminating ignorance (unknowing of true reality) that a Practitioner can see the true cause of all discontentedness as craving/desire/attachment and through practice of these Teachings, one can “experience the fading away of strong feelings” associated with the unEnlightened mind.

With the destruction of excitement, comes destruction of craving: Through eliminating pleasant feelings (i.e. excitement) from the mind, a Practitioner can eliminate the cravings/desires/attachments that are causing all discontentedness in the mind. Eliminating the primary problem of the unEnlightened mind chasing after pleasant feelings will thus, eliminate painful feelings and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant. It is through the “destruction of craving” that the mind is liberated to experience Enlightenment.

With the destruction of craving, comes destruction of excitement: Through eliminating craving/desire/attachment from the mind, a Practitioner will eliminate pleasant feelings based on impermanent conditions, thus, experiencing liberation of mind.

With the destruction of excitement and craving, the mind is said to be well liberated: When a Practitioner has eliminated the condition of craving/desire/attachment which causes discontentedness in the mind (i.e. pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant), then the mind will no longer experience discontentedness and the mind is well liberated.

All of The Ten Fetters need to be completely eliminated to experience Enlightenment and eliminating the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as “sensual desire” is a significant fetter that is a hindrance to Enlightenment. Eliminating sensual desire will drastically reduce discontentedness but it is only when all ten (10) of the fetters are eliminated that the mind will experience complete liberation from discontentedness. The mind will be freed from the constant cycle of repeated and continuous discontentedness arising in the mind.

Detailed explanation of The Ten Fetters is available in this same book series found in Chapter 3 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).