uddhacca: restlessness, mental agitation, the ninth fetter.
This is a state of mind which is agitated and scattered. The image is of a layer of dust which has been stirred up or a bowl of still water into which more water is poured so that ripples go out in all directions.
Whenever the mind is working, it is moving. This in itself is not a problem. What creates the fetter is when it is out of control. As one discovers when one tries to stop it. Since "mind comes first" and everything which is to be done starts with the mind, one cannot overestimate the seriousness of this.
When one says it is "out of control", one usually means it is out of one's control. The dust doesn't stir itself up. Nor does the water agitate itself. So what does control it? Associative thoughts (one thing leading to another); feelings, memories, desires, sense objects appearing at the sense doors (one hears something or sees something or smells something or one's body itches or hurts) - the list is endless.
This is why one so rarely moves smoothly towards an intended goal. It is as though one sets off to drive somewhere but other people keep trying to grab the steering wheel and steer off in different directions.
Uddhacca is also listed as a hindrance to meditation. One can't progress in meditation if one can't control the mind and keep it on the meditation object.
So, whether one is a meditator or just someone who wants to bring his mind under control in ordinary everyday life, it is essential to deal with this problem.
There are two ways of doing this; both equally difficult. One forces the mind to focus on a single, chosen object. With the other, one patiently undertakes the task of observing the mind and its workings in order to thoroughly understand how it operates. One then uses one's growing understanding to gradually bring it under control. Both methods require patience and perseverance. But the rewards of success are enormous.
One can see that some people find this easier than others. This is because the more one has neglected one's mind, the harder it is to put it to rights. If a gardener goes off for a couple of years, what he finds when he comes back will appear daunting. "Nature" has taken over. Neglect of one's mind may have lasted much longer than a couple of years! Karma is perfect.
New Project: The Tenth Sanyojana
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