Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant unable to read another's mind should train to read their own, checking it as one checks a reflection in a mirror against ten paired qualities — covetous or not, malicious or not, dull or not, restless or not, doubtful or not, irritable or not, corrupted or not, disturbed or not, lazy or energetic, unsettled or immersed — and responding with urgency if anything is found wanting.
A fallback skill, named first
The discourse opens by naming a harder skill it is not actually about: reading another's mind (paracitta). Only a mendicant who lacks that ability is instructed to fall back on the more accessible skill this discourse actually teaches — reading one's own.
The mirror, checked without vanity
The simile deliberately borrows an image of ordinary vanity — a young person fond of adornments checking a mirror for blemishes — and repurposes it for ethical self-examination: the same habitual, unselfconscious act of checking, redirected from appearance to the state of one's own mind.
Urgency modeled on catching fire
Should the check turn up any of the five bad qualities, the response demanded is not measured effort but the same extraordinary urgency one would apply to extinguishing a fire on one's own clothes or head — one of this canon's most physical images of spiritual urgency.
Key terms
The text
Setting, and the fallback principle
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Mendicants, if a mendicant isn’t skilled in encompassing another’s mind, then they should train themselves: ‘I will be skilled in encompassing my own mind.’
The mirror simile
§2And how is a mendicant skilled in encompassing their own mind? Suppose there was a woman or man who was young, youthful, and fond of adornments, and they check their own reflection in a clean bright mirror or a clear bowl of water. If they see any dirt or blemish there, they’d try to remove it. But if they don’t see any dirt or blemish there, they’re happy with that, as they’ve got all they wished for: ‘How fortunate that I’m clean!’ In the same way, checking is very helpful for a mendicant’s skillful qualities. ‘Am I often covetous or not? Am I often malicious or not? Am I often overcome with dullness and drowsiness or not? Am I often restless or not? Am I often doubtful or not? Am I often irritable or not? Am I often corrupted in mind or not? Am I often disturbed in body or not? Am I often energetic or not? Am I often immersed in samādhi or not?’
Two branching responses
§3Suppose that, upon checking, a mendicant knows this: ‘I am often covetous, malicious, overcome with dullness and drowsiness, restless, doubtful, irritable, defiled in mind, disturbed in body, lazy, and not immersed in samādhi.’ In order to give up those bad, unskillful qualities, they should apply extraordinary enthusiasm, effort, zeal, vigor, perseverance, mindfulness, and situational awareness. Suppose your clothes or head were on fire. In order to extinguish it, you’d apply extraordinary enthusiasm, effort, zeal, vigor, perseverance, mindfulness, and situational awareness. In the same way, in order to give up those bad, unskillful qualities, that mendicant should apply extraordinary enthusiasm … But suppose that, upon checking, a mendicant knows this: ‘I am often content, kind-hearted, free of dullness and drowsiness, calm, confident, loving, pure in mind, undisturbed in body, energetic, and immersed in samādhi.’ Grounded on those skillful qualities, they should practice meditation further to end the defilements.”
Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.