The Buddha teaches on shackles of the heart, presenting a ninefold teaching for disciples on the path.

AN 9.82 Shackles of the Heart

“Pañcime, bhikkhave, cetasovinibandhā. Katame pañca? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti …pe… ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca cetasovinibandhā.

Imesaṁ kho, bhikkhave, pañcannaṁ cetasovinibandhānaṁ pahānāya cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā. Katame cattāro? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anuppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ anuppādāya chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati; uppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāyaanuppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ uppādāyauppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ ṭhitiyā asammosāya bhiyyobhāvāya vepullāya bhāvanāya pāripūriyā chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati. Imesaṁ kho, bhikkhave, pañcannaṁ cetasovinibandhānaṁ pahānāya ime cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā”ti.

Dasamaṁ.

Sammappadhānavaggo tatiyo.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

“Pañcime, bhikkhave, cetasovinibandhā.

“Mendicants, there are these five shackles of the heart.

Katame pañca?

What five?

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti …pe…

Firstly, a mendicant isn’t free of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for sensual pleasures. …

ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca cetasovinibandhā.

These are the five shackles of the heart.

Imesaṁ kho, bhikkhave, pañcannaṁ cetasovinibandhānaṁ pahānāya cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā.

To give up these five shackles of the heart you should develop the four right efforts.

Katame cattāro?

What four?

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anuppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ anuppādāya chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati;

It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. …

uppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāya

so that unskillful qualities are given up …

anuppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ uppādāya

so that skillful qualities arise …

uppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ ṭhitiyā asammosāya bhiyyobhāvāya vepullāya bhāvanāya pāripūriyā chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati.

They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are completed by development.

Imesaṁ kho, bhikkhave, pañcannaṁ cetasovinibandhānaṁ pahānāya ime cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā”ti.

To give up these five shackles of the hearts you should develop these four right efforts.”

Dasamaṁ.

Sammappadhānavaggo tatiyo.

Qualities:

Craving

Craving

A driving ‘thirst’ that reaches out toward experiences, identities, or outcomes as the place to find satisfaction—“if only I had that.” It spins stories of lack, binds the mind to becoming, and invariably leads to suffering.

Also known as: wanting, yearning, longing, lit. thirst
Pāli: taṇha, abhijjhā
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Greed

Greed

A grasping mental quality of craving, possessiveness, or lustful wanting that clings to objects or experiences; it fuels attachment and obstructs renunciation and contentment

Also known as: acquisitiveness, avarice, covetousness, rapacity, money grabbing, grabbiness
Pāli: lobha, gedha
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Passion

Passion

Intense desire or lust that dyes the mind. It fixates on the features of objects, coloring perception with infatuation and making it difficult to see things as they truly are.

Also known as: burning fever, intense desire, strong emotion, infatuation, obsession, lust
Pāli: rāga
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Unwholesome

Unwholesome

Conducive to or suggestive of poor health and mental well-being.

Also known as: blameworthy, unhealthy, unskillful, unbeneficial, karmically unprofitable
Pāli: akusala
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Vigour

Vigour

Energetic effort and resilience in practice. It is the refusal to shrink back, the 'uphill' force that initiates and sustains wholesome actions against the gravity of habit.

Also known as: energy, effort, enthusiasm, zeal, application of will, persistence
Pāli: vīriya
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Wholesome

Wholesome

Conducive to or suggestive of good health and mental well-being.

Also known as: blameless, skillful, beneficial, good, useful, healthy, nourishing, sustaining
Pāli: kusala
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Last updated on July 27, 2026