The mind likened to the earth — for the minds of most people do not resemble the earth at all, but rather resemble wax held over a flame: soft and yielding. The Sammāsambuddha once spoke to the Venerable Rāhula on the matter of a mind like the earth, saying:
“This earth — if one were to pour fragrant water upon it, would it rejoice? It would not. It remains unmoved. If one were to pour upon it something foul and malodorous, would it suffer? It would not. It remains unmoved. Rāhula — cultivate your mind to be thus. Whatever others may do, do not take issue with them. Fix your intention upon the practice of Dhamma, and you will be freed from defilement with all the greater swiftness.”
If one can make the mind like the earth in this way, the various qualities of Dhamma that will take root and flourish within it are well within reach. Yet because the minds of most people lack firmness — when another scolds or speaks ill of them, even for a moment, the heart is wounded — though it is nothing more than air meeting the ear, lighter even than the breeze of a fan. The merest breath of words, and — such pain of heart! If this is so, one will surely know hurt and anguish throughout the whole of one’s life.
Therefore, whoever can make the mind firm and steadfast like the earth will possess a foundation upon which the various virtues and wholesome qualities can take root and flourish ever more exaltedly within the heart, bringing the mind to a state of peace and tranquility — constituting the fourth level — and carrying it onward to ever deeper states of peace and stillness.
In whatever family where both husband and wife, or parents and children, uphold this principle together, conflict and friction will not arise, and each member will attain a mind of ever greater elevation. And if every family throughout the Kingdom of Thailand were to practice in this manner, the problem of divorce would diminish accordingly.
Source: Warm-Hearted Family, pp. 30–31
