Learning how to put thoughts into buckets: good or bad.
This is the Buddha talking to mendicants (followers subsisting on food and essentials obtained via begging)
This is Sujato's translation. I have edited for brevity.
Mendicants, before my awakening — when I was still unawakened but intent on awakening — I thought:
"Why don’t I meditate by continually dividing my thoughts into two classes?"
- I assigned sensual, malicious, and cruel thoughts to one class.
- I assigned thoughts of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness to the second class.
v1.1 - Last edit 16-May-2025
This is work dedicated to the Public Domain via CC0 1.0.