sn.45.27 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

The Pot

At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, just as a pot without a stand is easily knocked over, while one with a stand is difficult to knock over, so the mind without a stand is easily knocked over, while the mind with a stand is difficult to knock over.

“And what, bhikkhus, is the stand of the mind? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration. This is the stand of the mind.

“Bhikkhus, just as a pot … so the mind without a stand is easily knocked over, while the mind with a stand is difficult to knock over.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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Pots

At Sāvatthī.
“A pot without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.
In the same way, a mind without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.
And what’s the stand for the mind?
It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is:
right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.
This is the stand for the mind.
A pot without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.
In the same way, a mind without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.”