Wednesday, 10/28/2026
The Story of the Doorman.
Update: 31/12/2021
Reading the story above, we might secretly chuckle at the foolishness of the servant. But we soon realize that sometimes each of us is just like that foolish servant. The house filled with precious possessions represents the pure mind of each person. That house has six doors, which are the six senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind. The six thieves are none other than the six external objects: form, sound, odor, taste, tangible objects, and mental phenomena. They are always ready to invade and pollute the mind, making it unwholesome. In daily life, when the six senses come into contact with the six external objects, if the mind lacks sufficient mindfulness and awareness, we easily succumb to these external objects, giving rise to greed, anger, delusion, pride, doubt, wrong views, and countless other afflictions. When the mind is disturbed by external objects, ignorance and craving are present, and the cycle of birth and death continues to revolve endlessly. Cultivating and guarding the six senses is a fundamental practice for any practitioner in the Mahayana or Theravada tradition, regardless of the school—whether Zen, Pure Land, or Tantra.
In the scriptures, the Buddha frequently reminded the monks to guard their senses. He taught:
"What does it mean for a monk to guard his senses? Dear Great King, when the eye sees a form, the monk does not cling to its general signs nor its specific details. Whatever causes the eye sense to become uncontrolled, giving rise to craving, sorrow, evil, and unwholesome states, the monk restrains those causes, guards the eye sense, and practices restraint over the eye sense.
When the ear hears sounds... the nose smells fragrances... the body feels sensations... the mind perceives phenomena, he does not cling to general signs nor specific details. Whatever causes the mind sense to become uncontrolled, giving rise to craving, sorrow, evil, and unwholesome states, the monk restrains those causes, guards the mind sense, and practices restraint over the mind sense. Through this noble guarding of the senses, he enjoys inner bliss, untainted by defilement." Thus, dear Great King, a monk guards his senses.
(Sutta on the Fruits of the Ascetic Life, Digha Nikaya)
Protecting the senses does not mean preventing them from contacting external objects, blinding the eyes, stopping up the ears, or refraining from eating, drinking, smelling, or tasting. Protecting them means using mindfulness and wisdom to see through the true nature of the senses, external objects, and consciousness. Normally, when we look at an object, we immediately judge it as beautiful or ugly; when we hear a sound, we judge it as pleasant or unpleasant; when we smell a scent, we judge it as fragrant or foul. From these judgments, two reactions arise: liking and disliking. When things are pleasing and agreeable, we give rise to greed. When things don't suit our preferences, we give rise to anger. And when we lack mindfulness, if we are neither greedy nor angry—when things are just neutral—we give rise to delusion. All three states of mind—greed, anger, and delusion—are unwholesome mental states.
Therefore, the Buddha taught that one should not cling to the appearances of things and phenomena. The general appearance is comprehensive, while the specific appearance is detailed. For example, when looking at someone, the general characteristics are height, weight, and whether they are male or female; the specific characteristics are double eyelids, heart-shaped lips, a straight nose, etc. Don't cling to general or specific characteristics, but examine your own mind, seeing what causes your mind to waver, giving rise to suffering, sorrow, or unwholesome thoughts. Then, abandon those characteristics and contemplate them all as illusory dreams, bubbles, arising and ceasing, impermanent, and unsatisfying.
Depending on each person's karma, their attachment and clinging to worldly things vary. Those who crave beauty enjoy fragrant flowers and exotic plants, and admire beautiful people and things. They spend lavishly on travel to admire the magnificent scenery of the world. Some are heavily attached to worldly odors, readily spending millions on expensive perfumes. Their bodies and living spaces must always be fragrant with essential oils and aromatic herbs. Others are heavily attached to worldly tastes, always striving for delicious food, willing to kill animals for the sake of sustenance, spending hours preparing meals, seeking out the best restaurants, and trying every means to enjoy the most delicious dishes. Some people are inclined towards auditory pleasures, spending a lot of time listening to beautiful music, enjoying sweet praise, preferring gentle, soothing sounds, and being lulled to sleep by sweet, pleasant words. Others prefer warm blankets and soft mattresses, wearing only expensive clothes; these are the people dominated by tactile experiences. Some spend their entire lives immersed in lofty thoughts, philosophy, and mystical theories—profound ideas—but are unable to apply these concepts to real life and the path to liberation. Sentient beings remain perpetually immersed in the six senses, swept away in the flow of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental phenomena.
The Buddha is the One who has transcended the torrent of existence; He stands on the shore of enlightenment and has taught us methods of practice to avoid being controlled by the six senses and six objects of perception.
In the Sutta on the Six Living Creatures (in the section on the Poisonous Snake in the Samyutta Nikaya), the Buddha uses the image of six animals as metaphors for the six senses of humankind:
Imagine, dear monks, someone catching six creatures of different kinds from different habitats and tying them together with a strong rope. After catching a snake, he ties it with a strong rope. After catching a crocodile, he ties it with a strong rope. After catching a bird... a dog... a jackal... a monkey, he ties each with a strong rope. After tying them together, he ties a knot in the middle and lets them go.
"These six creatures, of different species and seeking different foods, will each pull toward its own habitat and food source. The snake will pull, thinking, 'I will go into the anthill.' The crocodile will pull, thinking, 'I will go into the water.' The bird will pull, thinking, 'I will fly into the sky.' The dog will pull, thinking, 'I will go into the village.' The jackal will pull, thinking, 'I will go into the cemetery.' The monkey will pull, thinking, 'I will go into the forest.' When these six creatures become weary, whichever creature is stronger than the others will draw the rest along, obeying and submitting to it." Likewise, monks, with a monk whose mindfulness of the body is not cultivated or perfected, the eye will be drawn to pleasant forms and repelled by unpleasant forms… The mind will be drawn to pleasant phenomena and repelled by unpleasant phenomena.
Thus, monks, this is a lack of restraint.
Through this sutra, the Buddha teaches monks how to guard their senses as follows:
Here, dear monks, when a monk sees a form with his eyes, he does not cling to pleasant forms nor reject unpleasant forms, but dwells in mindfulness of the body with a boundless mind. He truly understands the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom; it is here that evil and unwholesome states that arise are eradicated without residue… when the ear hears sounds… when the nose smells fragrances… when the tongue tastes flavors… when the body feels sensations… when the mind knows phenomena, he does not cling to pleasant phenomena nor reject unpleasant phenomena, but dwells in mindfulness of the body with a boundless mind. He truly understands the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom; it is here that those evil and unwholesome states that arise are eradicated without residue.
Thus, monks are true restraint.
The strong pillar or solid foundation, monks, is synonymous with mindfulness of the body. Therefore, monks learn as follows: "We will cultivate mindfulness of the body, making it complete, making it like a vehicle, making it like a foundation, establishing it, consolidating it, and diligently striving." Thus, dear monks, you should learn.
When diligently practicing meditation—observing the breath, reciting the Buddha's name, etc.—we close the five sense doors and focus solely on observing the mind. Like a house with six doors, five of which are closed, the practitioner acts like a gatekeeper standing at the gate of the mind, observing those who enter. A thought of greed arises, and they clearly recognize it as greed; anger, doubt, negligence, forgetfulness, distraction, regret, laziness, fatigue, discouragement… all these are observed with mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness is paying close, continuous, and constant attention. Awareness is knowing clearly how afflictions and mental states arise and cease—knowing them without identifying with them. Through such practice, morality, concentration, and wisdom grow. The five spiritual faculties and five spiritual powers are refined. Good deeds arise, and evil deeds gradually subside.
In the Sutta of the Buddha's Last Teachings, the Buddha taught:
"Dear Monks, having observed the precepts, you must restrain the five senses, preventing them from indulging in the five sensual pleasures. You must be like a herdsman holding a stick to guard his cattle, preventing them from straying and damaging the crops of others. Indulging the five senses will not only lead to sensual pleasures, but may know no limits whatsoever, becoming uncontrollable. Like a wild horse untamed by reins, it will carry its rider into a pit. Robbers cause harm for only one lifetime, but the bandits of the senses bring calamity for many lifetimes: the harm is immense, so you must be careful. Therefore, a wise person restrains them and does not succumb to them, guarding them as if guarding against bandits and not allowing them to run unrestrained. If you indulge the five senses, before long you will see them destroy everything.
Bhikkhus, the five senses are governed by the mind; therefore, you must carefully control your mind. The mind is more fearsome than venomous snakes, wild beasts, enemies, or raging fires; even a raging fire is insufficient to describe the mind. Like someone carrying a bowl of honey while running and jumping around, seeing only the bowl of honey and not the deep pit, it is no different from a mad elephant without a goad, or a monkey without a tree in the forest; they will leap and jump wildly, impossible to restrain. You must quickly restrain your mind; do not let it run wild. A wild mind will destroy all good deeds. Uncontrolled, the mind accomplishes nothing. Therefore, Bhikkhus, strive diligently to subdue your mind."
Guarding the six senses is upholding the precepts. That is why Buddhaghosa, in his classification of precepts in The Path of Purification, grouped the restraint of the senses into four categories of purity: precepts of restraint regarding the fundamental monastic code, precepts for restraint of the sense faculties, precepts for purity of livelihood, and precepts regarding the four requisites of life. Practicing the guarding of the senses is practicing the precepts, practicing concentration, and when mindful awareness is present in each moment of sensory contact, it is also wisdom—the fruit of practice.
The story of the Doorman teaches us a valuable lesson about one of the most important practices in the Buddha's teachings: guarding the senses. Behind the subtle humor in the story lies a profound lesson that the Buddha taught his disciples. We should not hastily laugh at the foolish man in the story. When we live in forgetfulness, allowing external worldly things to control our minds, we are no different from that doorman—chasing after worldly pleasures, clinging to gain and loss, praise and blame, joy and sorrow, success and failure, and losing our precious spiritual possessions. The torrent of life will cause us to sink into the ocean of birth, old age, sickness, and death. The winds of life will blow away our fragile Bodhi mind. The profound teachings of the Buddha are like a warning bell, reminding each person to be vigilant. The harbor of life is full of troubles and turbidity; we must skillfully navigate this world with the boat of wisdom. Mindfulness and awareness in every moment of life.
Mountain town in winter, 2021.
Tâm Biện
Translated into English by Huynh Thi Khanh Phung