修習止觀坐禪法要 1.45

1.45

Fourth, abandoning the hindrance of restlessness and regret. There are three kinds of restlessness: First, restlessness of the body: the body likes to wander about, engage in various kinds of jesting, and cannot sit still for even a moment. Second, restlessness of speech: liking to chant and hum, disputing right and wrong, useless frivolous discourse, worldly talk, and the like. Third, restlessness of the mind: the mood is indolent, indulging the mind to grasp at conditions, pondering literature and arts, worldly skills, and various bad thoughts and investigations—these are called restlessness of the mind. Restlessness as a dharma ruins the mind of a renunciant. When one gathers the mind, one is still unable to achieve concentration; how much less when restless and scattered? A restless and scattered person is like a drunken elephant without a hook, or a camel with a pierced nose—impossible to control. As a verse says: