Ven. Sujato (Sutta Central), Dhr. Seven (ed.), "Followed by Ear" (AN 4.191), Wisdom Quarterly
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| American monks chant in Pali (abhayagiri.org) |
1. “Take a monastic who memorizes the Teaching — statements, songs, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and classifications.
“That person has followed the Teaching by ear, reinforced it by recitation (chanting), examined it by mind, and well comprehended it theoretically. But say one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the [fortunate planes of existence, in one of the] orders of devas.
“Being happy there, passages of the Teaching come back to one. Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction [gains one of the noble paths which are the four stages of enlightenment].
“This is the first benefit one can expect when the Teaching has been followed by ear, reinforced by recitation, examined by mind, and well comprehended theoretically.
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| Dhammakaya monks, Bangkok, Thailand |
“One has followed those Teachings by ear, reinforced them by recitation, examined them by mind, and well comprehended them theoretically. But one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.
“Though one is happy there, passages of the Teaching do not come to mind. However, a monastic with psychic powers, who has achieved mastery of the mind, teaches Dharma to that assembly of devas.
“One thinks: ‘I used to live the spiritual life in this same Teaching and Training.’ Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction.
“Suppose one were skilled in the sound of drums. And while traveling along a road that person heard the sound of drums. One would not have any doubt or uncertainty about whether or not that was the sound of drums. One would just conclude, ‘That’s the sound of drums.’
“In the same way, take another monastic who memorizes the teaching… But that person passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.… Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction.
“This is the second benefit one can expect when the Teaching has been followed by ear, reinforced by recitation, examined by mind, and well comprehended theoretically.
3. Take another monastic who memorizes the Teaching — statements, songs, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and classifications.
“One has followed those Teachings by ear, reinforced them by recitation, examined them by mind, and well comprehended them theoretically. But one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.
“But passages of the Teaching do not come back when one is happy, nor does a monastic with psychic powers… teach Dharma to that assembly of devas. However, a deva teaches Dharma to the assembly of devas.
“One thinks: ‘I used to live the spiritual life in this same Teaching and Training.’ Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction.
“Suppose a person were skilled in the sound of horns. While traveling along a road one hears the sound of horns. One would have no doubt about whether or not that was the sound of horns.
“One would just conclude, ‘That’s the sound of horns.’ In the same way, take another monastic who memorizes the Teaching… But one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.…
“Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction. This is the third benefit one can expect when the Teachings have been followed by ear, reinforced by recitation, examined by mind, and well comprehended theoretically.
4. “Take another monastic who memorizes the Teaching — statements, songs, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and classifications.
“One has followed those Teachings by ear, reinforced them by recitation, examined them by mind, and well comprehended them theoretically. But one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.
“But passages of the Teaching do not come back when one is happy, and neither a monastic with psychic powers… nor does a deva teach Dharma to that assembly of devas. But a being who has been reborn spontaneously reminds another such being:
“‘Good person, do you remember? Do you remember where we used to live the spiritual life?’ That one says: ‘I remember, good friend, I remember!’ Memory comes up slowly, but then that being quickly reaches distinction.
“Suppose there were two friends who had played together in the sand. Some time or other they would meet. And one friend would say to the other: ‘Do you remember this, friend? Do you remember that, friend?’ The friend would say: ‘I remember, friend, I remember!’
“In the same way, take another monastic who memorizes the Teaching… But one passes away unmindful and is reborn in one of the orders of devas.…
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| Mahayana monks chanting (JSK/muarts.org.uk) |
“One can expect these four benefits when the Teaching has been followed by ear, reinforced by recitation, examined by mind, and well comprehended theoretically.” Source
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