Lzh Mu Bu Pm Sk 21Lowered Eyes
Pāli / Sanskrit:Okkhittacakkhu
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Lowered Eyes Sutta (Okkhittacakkhu)
Context
The Lowered Eyes Sutta (Okkhittacakkhu) is part of the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha and his disciples established rules of practice to cultivate mindfulness and develop ethical conduct. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not merely a collection of prohibitions, but also profound guidance on how to control the sense faculties, the root by which human beings become mired in suffering.
In the context of monastics and bhikkhunīs in the East, the management of one’s gaze became a practical matter in worldly interaction. The Buddha understood that the eye is the first door through which sensual desire, hatred, and delusion enter the mind. For this reason, “lowering the eyes” (okkhittacakkhu), that is, lowering the gaze to a certain distance while walking, became a basic practice in the Vinaya Piṭaka.
Main Content
The Lowered Eyes Sutta specifically teaches that practitioners should keep their eyes directed downward, usually about one yoke-length ahead, when walking or going about daily activities. This is not an extreme repression, but a wise method of practice. By lowering the eyes, practitioners reduce stimulation from the external world, attractive sights and unintended movements, thereby protecting the mind from distraction.
In the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka, this sutta belongs to the system of training in sense restraint (indriyasaṁvara), which the Buddha regarded as a prerequisite for cultivating concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). Controlling the gaze is not fear or withdrawal from the world, but an expression of self-mastery and clear awareness. The practitioner knows that each glance may lead to delight, from which desire arises, and finally suffering.
The Buddha also emphasized that this applies at all times: morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night, and every other time.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.