an3.40:1.1 “There are, mendicants, these three things to put in charge.
an3.40:1.2 What three?
an3.40:1.3 Putting oneself, the world, or the teaching in charge.
an3.40:1.4 And what, mendicants, is putting oneself in charge?
an3.40:1.5 It’s when a mendicant has gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, and reflects like this:
an3.40:1.6 ‘I didn’t go forth from the lay life to homelessness for the sake of a robe,
an3.40:1.7 almsfood, lodgings, or rebirth in this or that state.
an3.40:1.8 But I was swamped by rebirth, old age, and death; by sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. I was swamped by suffering, mired in suffering.
an3.40:1.9 And I thought, “Hopefully I can make an end to this entire mass of suffering.”
an3.40:1.10 But it would not be appropriate for me to seek sensual pleasures like those I abandoned when I went forth, or even worse.’
an3.40:1.11 Then they reflect:
an3.40:1.12 ‘My energy shall be roused up and unflagging, mindfulness shall be established and lucid, my body shall be tranquil and undisturbed, and my mind shall be immersed in samādhi.’
an3.40:1.13 Putting themselves in charge, they give up the unskillful and develop the skillful, they give up the blameworthy and develop the blameless, and they keep themselves pure.
an3.40:1.14 This is called putting oneself in charge.
