A Commentary Literature on ‘Faith in Mind’

Chapter 27 : On How Not to be Entangled

By Wong Weng Hon

The Wise have no motives ;
The fool put themselves in bondage.

Seeking concentration is motive; seeking wisdom is motive; seeking Buddhahood is motive; seeking emancipation is motive ; ……… and so forth.

Seeking for anything with the notion of Iness or Mineness is  attachment . Attachment is anti-enlightenment. When there is a motive seeking  something with the notion of Iness or Mineness, the action is volitional. When the action is volitional, it is either attachment or aversion rooted in greed and hatred respectively.  Greed and hatred are  rooted in ignorance or delusion. ‘Sākyamuni Buddha instructs mankind  to seek concentration, wisdom, Buddhahood and emancipation without any personal motive or selfishness. When there is a personal motive, there is the notion of I or Mine. Iness and Mineness give rise to attachment or aversion manifested in terms of the unwholesome emotions of greed and hatred.

Concentration, wisdom,  Buddhahood, and emancipation  are to be sought  selflessly without attachment or aversion. The worldlings seek them with attachment or aversion. Thus, they are called the fool who are entangled  in the bondage of saṃsāra (karmic bondage). Personal motive defiles the mind; motivelessness purifies  the  mind. The wise seek without personal motive and are thus not entangled; the fool seek  with personal motive and are therefore entangled.

‘Sākyamuni Buddha never admonishes  that we cease  seeking worthy goals  in life righteously and most importantly equanimously, that is  without attachment and aversion. Enlightenment  is a worthy goal to be achieved  by mankind. Economic wealth  is a worthy goal to be attained by the lay Buddhists  as the Buddha preaches in  the Aṅguttara Nikāya that  a laity experiences happiness in owning economic wealth and enjoying wealth.