Rhys Davids (trans.), Mahāli Sutta (DN 6), Sutta Central; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Before Ananda did the job for 25 years, other monks served as the Buddha's personal attendant. One of them was Ven. Nāgita Thera (D.i.151; DA.i.310; A.iii.31, 341; iv.341; J.iv.95, etc.). He was the maternal uncle of the novice Sīha, who is said to have addressed him by the name of Kassapa, his lineage (gotta) name. He was lazy and fat and, therefore, had Sīha do most of his work.
Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once staying at Vesālī at the Gabled Hall in the Great Wood. Now at that time a number of Brahmins, who had been sent on pressing business of one kind or another from Kosala and Magadhā, were residing in Vesālī.
They heard the news: “They say that the wanderer Gautama (Samaṇa Gotama) of the Sākya (Scythian) clan, who went out from a Sākya family to adopt the spiritual life, is now staying at Vesālī at the Gabled Hall in the Great Wood.
“Now regarding that Venerable Gautama, such is the high reputation that has been spread abroad: ‘That Blessed One is an arahant, a fully awakened one, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, who knows all worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to persons willing to be led, a teacher for devas and humans, a Blessed One, a buddha.
“‘He himself directly and thoroughly knows and sees this universe — including the worlds above of the devas, the brahmās, and the māras, and the world below with its recluses and Brahmins, its princes and peoples — and having known it, he makes his knowledge known to others.
“‘The truth, lovely in its origin, lovely in the middle, lovely in its consummation, he proclaims, both in spirit and letter, the supreme life he makes known in all its fullness and all its purity. Good is it to pay visits to enlightened ones like that.’”
So those Brahmins from Kosala and Magadhā went out to the Great Wood, and to the Gabled Hall. Now at that time Venerable Nāgita was the personal attendant of the Blessed One. So they went to him and said: “Nāgita, where is it that Venerable Gautama is now residing? We wish to see him.”
“Sirs, it is not a fitting time to call upon the Blessed One. He has retired into solitude.”
Then they sat down saying, “We will not go away without seeing Ven. Gautama.”
Hare-lip the Licchavi, too, came to the Great Wood, to the Gabled Hall, with a retinue of his clan and going up to Ven. Nāgita, he saluted him, and reverently standing apart, he said to him: ”Where, Ven. Nāgita, is the Blessed One now residing, the arahant, the buddha? We wish to see him.” And on receiving a similar reply he, too, sat down at a respectful distance, saying: ‘I will not go till I have seen the August One, the arahant, the buddha.”
The novice Sīha came up to Ven. Nāgita and saluted him. And standing reverently at a distance, he said to him: “These envoys of Brahmins from Kosala and Magadhā, many of them, have come, O Kassapa [Nagita], to call upon the Blessed One. And Hare-lip the Licchavi, too, with a retinue of his clan, has come to do the same. It would be good, O Kassapa, that all this folk should be allowed to see the Blessed One.”
“Very well, then, Sīha. Tell the Blessed One yourself.”
“Very well, sir,” said Sīha the novice in assent to Ven. Nāgita. He went to the Blessed One and saluted him, and standing at a reverential distance, he said to him what he had said to Nāgita.
“Very well, Sīha. Spread out a mat for me in the shade in front of the house.”
Sīha did so. The Blessed One came from the house and sat down. And the Brahmins from Kosala and Magadhā exchanged greetings and compliments of politeness and courtesy with him and took their seats respectfully to one side. Hare-lip the Licchavi also, with the retinue of his clan, bowed and respectfully seated himself to one side of the Blessed One. When he was seated he addressed the Blessed One:
“A few days ago, sir, Sunakkhatta of the Licchavis came to me and said: ‘It is only three years, Mahāli, since I first came to study under the Blessed One, and I can see heavenly forms, pleasant to behold, fitted to satisfy all one’s desires, exciting longing in one’s heart. But I cannot hear heavenly sounds like that.’
“Now, sir, are there such heavenly sounds that he cannot hear, or have they no existence?”
“They are real, those heavenly sounds, pleasant, fitted to satisfy one’s desires, exciting longing in one’s heart that he could not hear. They are not nothing.”
“What then is the proximate and the ultimate cause why he cannot hear them, they being real and not nothing?”
“Suppose a recluse, Mahāli, practiced one-sided concentration of mind with the object of seeing such heavenly forms in any single direction — in the East, or the South, or the West, or the North, or above, or below, or across — but not with the object of hearing such heavenly sounds. Then since he has practiced one-sided concentration with only this single objective in view, he only sees sights but hears no sounds. Why? This is the nature of his self-concentration (samādhi).
“So also, Mahāli, if he practiced one-sided concentration with the object of hearing in any single direction heavenly sounds. Then for the same reason he hears the sounds but does not see the sights.
“But suppose, Mahāli, he has practiced self-concentration with the dual objective of seeing and hearing in any single direction those heavenly sights and sounds. Then since he has practiced self-concentration with the dual objective, he both sees the sights and hears the sounds. Why? That is the nature of his self-concentration.”
“Then, sir, is it for the sake of attaining to the practice of such self-concentration that the monastics lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One?”
“No, Mahāli. There are things, higher and sweeter than that, for the sake of which they do so.”
“And what, sir, might those other things be?”
“In the first place, Mahāli, a monastic by the complete destruction of the Three Bonds (the delusions of self, doubt, and belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals to bring about enlightenment) becomes a stream-enterer [first stage of enlightenment], one who cannot be reborn in any state of woe and is assured of attaining insight (into the stages higher stages). That, Mahāli, is a condition, higher and sweeter, for the sake of which monastics lead the spiritual life under me.
“Then further, Mahāli, a monastic by the complete destruction of those Three Bonds, and by reducing lust, ill-will, and dullness, becomes a once-returner, one who returning once more to this world shall make an end of all suffering. That, Mahāli, is a condition higher still and sweeter, for the sake of which monastics lead the spiritual life under me.
“Then further, Mahāli, a monastic by the complete destruction of the Five Bonds that bind living beings to this world becomes an inheritor of the highest heavens, there to pass away, never to return to this world. That, Mahāli, is a condition higher still and sweeter, for the sake of which monastics lead the spiritual life under me.
“Then further, Mahāli, when a monastic by the destruction of the Deadly Floods (or intoxicating biases of lust, becoming, delusion, and ignorance) has, by himself, known and realized and continues to abide here, in this visible world, in that emancipation of mind, that emancipation of heart, which is full enlightenment — that, Mahāli, is a condition higher still and sweeter still, for the sake of which monastics lead the spiritual life under me.
“Such, Mahāli, are the conditions higher and sweeter (than seeing heavenly sights and hearing heavenly sounds), for the sake of which monastics lead the spiritual life under me.”
“But is there, sir, a path, is there a method, for the realization of these conditions?”
“Yes, Mahāli, there is.”
“And what, sir, might that path be? What is that method?”
“It is this very Noble Eightfold Path, which is to say:
- right views,
- right aspirations (intentions),
- right speech,
- right action,
- right livelihood,
- right effort,
- right mindfulness,
- right ecstasy in self-concentration (samadhi).
“One day, Mahāli, I was staying at Kosambī, in the Ghosita pleasance. There two recluses, Maṇḍissa the wandering ascetic and Jāliya the pupil of Dārupattika (the man with the wooden bowl), came to me.
“They exchanged greetings and compliments of politeness and courtesy with me and stood reverently to one side. So standing they said to me:
Is the soul distinct from the body?
“How is it then, O Venerable Gautama, is the soul the same thing as the body? Or is the soul one thing and the body another?”
“Listen then, sirs, give heed attentively, and I will speak.”
“Very well, sir” said those two mendicants in assent, and I said the following:
- [The next section in the Pali text is greatly abbreviated. This is a fully re-expanded version, based on the text of the Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), "The Fruits of Recluseship," as translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Note that it is not always possible to determine exactly how a re-expansion should be done.
“Herein [within this Dhamma-Vinaya, this Doctrine and Discipline], sirs, a Tathāgata [a Buddha] arises in the world, a worthy one, perfectly enlightened, endowed with clear knowledge and conduct, accomplished, a knower of the world, unsurpassed trainer of persons to be tamed, teacher of devas and men, enlightened and exalted.
“Having realized by his own direct knowledge this world with its devas, its māras, and its brahmās, this generation with its recluses and Brahmins, its rulers and people, he makes it known to others. He teaches the Doctrine that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, possessing meaning and phrasing; he reveals the supreme life that is fully complete and purified.
“A householder, or a householder’s child, or one born into some other family [caste], hears the Doctrine. Having heard the Doctrine, one gains confidence in the Tathāgata. Endowed with such confidence, one reflects:
“‘The household life is crowded, a path of dust. Going forth is like the open air. It is not easy for one dwelling at home to lead the perfectly complete, perfectly purified supreme life, bright as a polished conch. Let me then shave off my hair, put on saffron robes, and go forth from home to homelessness.’
“After some time one abandons one’s accumulation of wealth, be it large or small, one abandons one’s circle of relatives, be it large or small, one shaves off one’s hair, puts on saffron robes, and goes forth from home to homelessness.
“When one has thus gone forth, one lives restrained by the restraint of the Path to Liberation (Pātimokkha), possessed of proper behavior and resort. Having taken up the rules of training, one trains oneself in them, seeing danger in the slightest faults.
“One comes to be endowed with wholesome bodily and verbal action, one’s livelihood is purified, and one is possessed of skillful conduct. One guards the doors of one’s sense faculties, is endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension, and is content.
Small Section on Moral Discipline
“And how, sirs, is the monastic possessed of moral discipline? Herein, sirs, having abandoned the destruction of life, the monastic abstains from the destruction of life. One has laid down the rod and weapon and dwells conscientious, full of kindness, sympathetic for the welfare of all living beings.
“Having abandoned taking what is not given, one abstains from taking what is not given. Accepting and expecting only what is given, one lives in honesty with a pure mind.
“Having abandoned incelibacy, one leads the supreme life of celibacy. One dwells aloof and abstains from the vulgar practice of sexual intercourse.
“Having abandoned false speech, one abstains from falsehood. One speaks only the truth, one lives devoted to truth; trustworthy and reliable, one does not deceive anyone in the world.
“Having abandoned slander, one abstains from slander. One does not repeat elsewhere what one has heard here in order to divide others from the people here, nor does one repeat here what one has heard elsewhere in order to divide these from the people there. Thus one is a reconciler of those who are divided and a promoter of friendships. Rejoicing, delighting, and exulting in concord, one speaks only words that are conducive to concord.
“Having abandoned harsh speech, one abstains from harsh speech. One speaks only such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, endearing, going to the heart, polite, amiable, and agreeable to the manyfolk.
“Having abandoned idle chatter, one abstains from idle chatter. One speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual and beneficial, speaks on the Doctrine and the Discipline. One’s words are worth treasuring; they are timely, backed by reasons, measured, and connected with the good.
“One abstains from damaging seed and plant life.
“One eats only in one part of the day, refraining from food at night and from eating at improper times [after noon].
“One abstains from dancing, singing, instrumental music, and from watching unsuitable shows.
“One abstains from wearing garlands, embellishing oneself with scents, and beautifying himself with creams.
“One abstains from high and luxurious beds and seats.
“One abstains from accepting gold and silver.
“One abstains from accepting uncooked grain, raw meat, women and girls, male and female slaves, goats and sheep, fowl and swine, elephants and cattle, horses and mares.
“One abstains from accepting fields and lands.
“One abstains from running messages and errands.
“One abstains from buying and selling.
“One abstains from dealing with false weights, false metals, and false measures.
“One abstains from the crooked ways of bribery, deception, and fraud.
“One abstains from mutilating, executing, imprisoning, robbery, plunder, and violence.
“This, too, pertains to one’s moral discipline.
Intermediate Section on Moral Discipline
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, continually cause damage to seed and plant life — to plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buds, and seeds — one abstains from damaging seed and plant life.
“Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, enjoy the use of stored-up goods, such as stored-up food, drinks, garments, vehicles, bedding, scents, and comestibles — one abstains from the use of stored-up goods.
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, attend unsuitable shows, such as:
- shows featuring dancing, singing, or instrumental music;
- theatrical performances;
- narrations of legends
- music played by hand-clapping, cymbals, and drums;
- picture houses;
- acrobatic performances;
- combats of elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, goats, rams, cocks and quails;
- stick-fights, boxing, and wrestling;
- sham-fights, roll-calls, battle-arrays, and regimental reviews
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, indulge in the following games and recreations:
- aṭṭhapada (a game played on an eight-row chessboard);
- dasapada (a game played on a ten-row chessboard);
- ākāsa (played by imagining a board in the air);
- parihārapatha (“hopscotch,” a diagram is drawn on the ground and one has to jump in the allowable spaces avoiding the lines);
- santika (“spillikins,” assembling the pieces in a pile, removing and returning them without disturbing the pile);
- khalika (dice games);
- ghaṭika (hitting a short stick with a long stick);
- salākahattha (a game played by dipping the hand in paint or dye, striking the ground or a wall, and requiring the participants to show the figure of an elephant, a horse, etc.);
- akkha (ball games);
- paṅgacīra (blowing through toy pipes made of leaves);
- vaṅkaka (ploughing with miniature ploughs);
- mokkhacika (turning somersaults);
- ciṅgulika (playing with paper windmills);
- pattāḷaka (playing with toy measures);
- rathaka (playing with toy chariots);
- dhanuka (playing with toy bows);
- akkharika (guessing at letters written in the air or on one’s back);
- manesika (guessing others’ thoughts);
- yathāvajja (games involving mimicry of deformities)
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, enjoy the use of high and luxurious beds and seats, such as:
- spacious couches;
- thrones with animal figures carved on the supports;
- long-haired coverlets;
- multi-colored patchwork coverlets;
- white woollen coverlets
- woollen coverlets embroidered with flowers;
- quilts stuffed with cotton;
- woollen coverlets embroidered with animal figures;
- woollen coverlets with hair on both sides or on one side;
- bedspreads embroidered with gems;
- silk coverlets;
- dance-hall carpets;
- elephant, horse, or chariot rugs;
- rugs of antelope-skins;
- choice spreads made of kadali-deer hides;
- spreads with red awnings overhead;
- couches with red cushions for head and feet
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, enjoy the use of such devices for embellishing and beautifying themselves as the following:
- rubbing scented powders into the body
- massaging with oils
- bathing in perfumed water
- kneading the limbs
- mirrors
- ointments
- garlands
- scents
- creams
- face-powders
- make-up
- bracelets
- head-bands
- decorated walking sticks
- ornamented medicine-tubes
- rapiers
- sunshades
- embroidered sandals
- turbans
- diadems
- yaktail whisks
- and long-fringed white robes
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, engage in frivolous chatter, such as:
- talk about kings, thieves, and ministers of state
- talk about armies, dangers, and wars
- talk about food, drink, garments, and lodgings;
- talk about garlands and scents;
- talk about relations, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, and countries;
- talk about women and talk about heroes;
- street talk and talk by the well;
- talk about those departed in days gone by;
- rambling chit-chat;
- speculations about the world and about the sea;
- talk about gain and loss
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, engage in wrangling argumentation (saying to one another):
- ‘You don’t understand this Doctrine and Discipline. I understand this Doctrine and Discipline.’
- ‘How can you understand this Doctrine and Discipline?’
- ‘You’re practicing the wrong way. I’m practicing the right way.’
- ‘I’m being consistent. You’re being inconsistent.’
- ‘What should have been said first you said last, and what should have been said last you said first.’
- ‘What you took so long to think out has been refuted.’
- ‘Your doctrine has been refuted. You’re defeated. Go on, try to save your doctrine or disentangle yourself now if you can’
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, engage in running messages and errands for kings, ministers of state, nobles (khattiyas), Brahmins, householders, or youths (who tell them): ‘Go here, go there, take this, bring that from there’ — one abstains from running such messages and errands.
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, engage in scheming, talking, hinting, belittling others, and pursuing gain with gain, one abstains from such kinds of scheming and talking.
Large Section on Moral Discipline
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as:
- prophesying long life, prosperity etc., or the reverse, from the marks on a person’s limbs, hands, feet, etc.;
- divining by means of omens and signs;
- making auguries on the basis of thunderbolts and celestial portents;
- interpreting ominous dreams;
- telling fortunes from marks on the body;
- making auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice;
- offering fire oblations;
- offering oblations from a ladle;
- offering oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee and oil to the gods;
- offering oblations from the mouth;
- offering blood-sacrifices to the gods;
- making predictions based on the fingertips;
- determining whether the site for a proposed house or garden is propitious or not;
- making predictions for officers of state;
- laying demons in a cemetery;
- laying ghosts;
- knowledge of charms to be pronounced by one living in an earthen house;
- snake charming;
- the poison craft, scorpion craft, rat craft, bird craft, crow craft;
- foretelling the number of years that a man has to live;
- reciting charms to give protection from arrows;
- reciting charms to understand the language of animals
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as interpreting the significance of the color, shape, and other features of the following items to determine whether they portend fortune or misfortune for their owners: gems, garments, staffs, swords, spears, arrows, bows, other weapons, women, men, boys, girls, slaves, slave-women, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, cows, goats, rams, fowl, quails, lizards, earrings (or house-gables), tortoises, and other animals —
“one abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as making predictions to the effect that:
- the ruler will march forth;
- the ruler will return;
- our ruler will attack and the enemy ruler will retreat;
- the enemy ruler will attack and our ruler will retreat;
- our ruler will triumph and the enemy ruler will be defeated;
- the enemy ruler will triumph and our ruler will be defeated;
- thus there will be victory for one and defeat for the other
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting:
- there will be an eclipse of the moon, an eclipse of the sun, an eclipse of a constellation
- the sun and the moon will go on their proper courses
- there will be an aberration of the sun and moon
- the constellations will go on their proper courses
- there will be an aberration of a constellation
- there will be a fall of meteors
- there will be a skyblaze
- there will be an earthquake
- there will be an earth-roar
- there will be a rising and setting, a darkening and brightening of the moon, sun, and constellations
- such will be the result of the moon’s eclipse, such the result of the sun’s eclipse (and so on down to) such will be the result of the rising and setting, darkening and brightening of the moon, sun, and constellations
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting:
- there will be abundant rain
- there will be a drought
- there will be a good harvest
- there will be a famine
- there will be security
- there will be danger
- there will be sickness
- there will be health
“or they earn their living by accounting, computation, calculation, the composing of poetry, and speculations about the world — one abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as:
- arranging auspicious dates for marriages, both those in which the bride is brought home and those in which she is sent out
- arranging auspicious dates for betrothals and divorces
- arranging auspicious dates for the accumulation or expenditure of money
- reciting charms to make people lucky or unlucky
- rejuvenating the fetuses of abortive women
- reciting spells to bind a person’s tongue, to paralyze the jaws, to make one lose control over one’s hands, or to bring on deafness
- obtaining oracular answers to questions by means of a mirror, a girl, or a deva
- worshipping the sun
- worshipping Mahā Brahmā
- bringing forth flames from the mouth
- invoking the Goddess of Luck
“— one abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.
“Whereas some recluses and Brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as:
- promising gifts to deities (devas) in return for favors
- fulfilling such promises
- demonology
- reciting spells after entering an earthen house
- inducing virility and impotence
- preparing and consecrating sites for a house
- giving ceremonial mouthwashes and ceremonial bathing
- offering sacrificial fires
- administering emetics, purgatives, expectorants, and phlegmagogues
- administering medicines through the ear and through the nose, administering ointments and counter-ointments, practicing fine surgery on the eyes and ears, practicing general surgery on the body, practicing as a children’s doctor
“— one abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.
“Sirs, the monastic who is thus possessed of moral discipline sees no danger anywhere in regard to one’s restraint by moral discipline.
“Just as a head-anointed noble warrior who has defeated enemies sees no danger anywhere from those enemies, so the monastic who is thus possessed of moral discipline sees no danger anywhere in regard to one’s restraint by moral discipline. Endowed with this noble aggregate of moral discipline, one experiences within a blameless happiness. In this way, sirs, the monastic is possessed of moral discipline.
Restraint of the Sense Faculties
“And how, sirs, does the monastic guard the doors of the sense faculties? Herein, sirs, having seen a form with the eye, the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the eye, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the eye, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the eye.
“Having heard a sound with the ear the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the ear, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the ear, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the ear.
“Having smelled a scent with the nose the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the nose, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the nose, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the nose.
“Having tasted a flavor with the tongue the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the tongue, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the tongue, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the tongue.
“Having touched a tangible object with the body the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the body, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the body, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the body.
Having cognized a mind-object with the mind, the monastic does not grasp at the sign or the details. Since, if one were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the mind, harmful unskillful states such as covetousness and grief might assail one, one practices restraint, guards the faculty of the mind, and achieves restraint over the faculty of the mind. Endowed with this noble restraint of the sense faculties, one experiences within an unblemished happiness.
“In this way, sirs, the monastic guards the doors of the sense faculties.
Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension
“And how, sirs, is the monastic endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension? Herein, sirs, in going forward and returning, the monastic acts with clear comprehension.
“In looking ahead and looking aside, one acts with clear comprehension. In bending and stretching the limbs, one acts with clear comprehension. In wearing one’s robes and cloak and using the alms-bowl, one acts with clear comprehension.
“In eating, drinking, chewing, and tasting, one acts with clear comprehension. In defecating and urinating, one acts with clear comprehension. In going, standing, sitting, lying down, waking up, speaking, and remaining silent, one acts with clear comprehension.
“In this way, sirs, the monastic is endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension.
Contentment
“And how, sirs, is the monastic content? Herein, sirs, a monastic is content with robes to protect one’s body and almsfood to sustain one’s belly; wherever one goes one sets out taking only (one’s requisites) along.
“Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden, in the same way a monastic is content with robes to protect the body and almsfood to sustain the belly; wherever one goes one sets out taking only (one’s requisites) along. In this way, sirs, the monastic is content.
Abandoning the Hindrances
“Endowed with this noble aggregate of moral discipline, this noble restraint over the sense faculties, this noble mindfulness and clear comprehension, and this noble contentment, one resorts to a secluded dwelling — a forest, the foot of a tree, a mountain, a glen, a hillside cave, a cremation ground, a jungle grove, the open air, a heap of straw.
“After returning from one’s alms-round, following one’s meal, one sits down, crosses legs, holds body erect, and sets up mindfulness in front.
“Having abandoned covetousness for the world, one dwells with a mind free from covetousness; one purifies one’s mind from covetousness.
“Having abandoned ill will and hatred, one dwells with a benevolent mind, sympathetic for the welfare of all living beings; one purifies one’s mind from ill will and hatred.
“Having abandoned dullness and drowsiness, one dwells perceiving light, mindful and clearly comprehending; one purifies one’s mind from dullness and drowsiness.
“Having abandoned restlessness and worry, one dwells at ease within, with a peaceful mind; one purifies one’s mind from restlessness and worry.
“Having abandoned doubt, one dwells as one who has passed beyond doubt, unperplexed about wholesome states; one purifies one’s mind from doubt.
“Sirs, suppose a person were to take a loan and apply it to one’s business, and one’s business were to succeed so that one could pay back one’s old debts and would have enough money left over to maintain a spouse. One would reflect on this, and as a result one would become glad and experience joy.
“Again, sirs, suppose a person were to become sick, afflicted, gravely ill so that one could not enjoy one’s food and one’s strength would decline. After some time one would recover from that illness and would enjoy one’s food and regain one’s bodily strength. One would reflect on this, and as a result one would become glad and experience joy.
“Again, sirs, suppose a person were locked up in a prison. After some time one would be released from prison, safe and secure, with no loss of one’s possessions. One would reflect on this, and as a result one would become glad and experience joy.
“Again, sirs, suppose a person were a slave, without independence, subservient to others, unable to go where one wants. After some time one would be released from slavery and gain one’s independence; one would no longer be subservient to others but a free man able to go where one wants. One would reflect on this, and as a result one would become glad and experience joy.
“Again, sirs, suppose a person with wealth and possessions were travelling along a desert road where food was scarce and dangers were many. After some time one would cross over the desert and arrive safely at a village which is safe and free from danger. One would reflect on this, and as a result one would become glad and experience joy.
“In the same way, sirs, when a monastic sees that these Five Hindrances are unabandoned within, one regards that as a debt, as a sickness, as confinement in prison, as slavery, as a desert road.
“But when one sees that these Five Hindrances have been abandoned within, one regards that as freedom from debt, as good health, as release from prison, as freedom from slavery, as a place of safety.
“When one sees that these Five Hindrances have been abandoned within, gladness arises. When one is gladdened, rapture arises. When one’s mind is filled with rapture, one’s body becomes tranquil; tranquil in body, one experiences happiness; being happy, one’s mind becomes concentrated.
The First Absorption (Jhāna)
“Quite secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption (jhāna), which is accompanied by applied and sustained attention and filled with the rapture and happiness born of seclusion.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
The Second Absorption
“Further, sirs, with the subsiding of applied and sustained attention, the meditator enters and dwells in the second jhāna, which is accompanied by internal confidence and unification of mind, is without applied and sustained attention, and is filled with the rapture and happiness born of concentration.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
The Third Absorption
“Further, sirs, with the fading away of rapture, the meditator dwells in equanimity, mindful and clearly comprehending, and experiences happiness with the body. Thus one enters and dwells in the third jhāna, of which the noble ones declare: ‘One dwells happily with equanimity and mindfulness.’
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
The Fourth Absorption
“Further, sirs, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and grief, the meditator enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which is neither pleasant nor painful and contains mindfulness fully purified by equanimity.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Insight Knowledge
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to knowledge and vision. One understands thus: ‘This is my body, having material form, composed of the Four Primary Elements, originating from father and mother, built up out of rice and gruel, impermanent, subject to rubbing and pressing, to dissolution and dispersion. And this is my consciousness, supported by it and bound up with it.’
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of the Mind-Made Body
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to creating a mind-made body. From this body one creates another body having material form, mind-made, complete in all its parts, not lacking any faculties.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
‘“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of the Modes of Supernormal Power
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the modes of supernormal power.
“One exercises the various modes of supernormal power: having been one, one becomes many and having been many, one becomes one; one vanishes and reappears; one goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space; one dives in and out of the earth as if it were water; one walks on water without sinking as if it were earth; sitting cross-legged one travels through space like a winged bird; with one’s hand one touches and strokes the sun and the moon, so mighty and powerful; one exercises mastery over the body as far as the brahma-world.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of the Divine Ear
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the divine ear-element. With the divine ear-element, which is purified and surpasses the human, one hears both kinds of sound, the divine and the human, those which are distant and those which are near.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge Encompassing the Minds of Others
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the knowledge of encompassing the minds (of others).
“One understands the minds of other beings and persons, having encompassed them with one’s own mind. One understands a mind with lust as a mind with lust and a mind without lust as a mind without lust; one understands a mind with hatred as a mind with hatred and a mind without hatred as a mind without hatred; one understands a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion; one understands a contracted mind as a contracted mind and a distracted mind as a distracted mind; one understands an exalted mind as an exalted mind and an unexalted mind as an unexalted mind; one understands a surpassable mind as a surpassable mind and an unsurpassable mind as an unsurpassable mind; one understands a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind and an unconcentrated mind as an unconcentrated mind; one understands a liberated mind as a liberated mind and an unliberated mind as an unliberated mind.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of Recollecting Past Lives
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the knowledge of recollecting past lives.
“One recollects one’s numerous past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three, four, or five births; ten, 20, 30, 40, or 50 births; 100 births, 1,000 births, 100,000 births; many aeons (kalpas) of world contraction, many aeons of world expansion, many aeons of world contraction and expansion (recollecting):
“‘There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance; such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my span of life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There, too, I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance; such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my span of life. Passing away from that state I re-arose here.’ Thus one recollects ones numerous past lives in their modes and their details.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of the Divine Eye
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings.
“With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, one sees beings passing away and reappearing — inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate — and one understands how beings fare according to their karma, thus:
“‘These beings — who were endowed with unskillful conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views, and undertook actions governed by wrong views — with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in the plane of misery, the bad (unfortunate) destinations, the lower realms, even in hell(s).
“‘But these beings — who were endowed with skillful conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, held right views, and undertook actions governed by right views — with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in the good (fortunate) destinations, even in heavenly world(s).’
“Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, one sees beings passing away and reappearing — inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate — and one understands how beings fare in accordance with their karma.
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Knowledge of the Destruction of the Cankers
“When one’s mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the destruction of the cankers.
“One understands as it really is: ‘This is suffering.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the origin of suffering.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the cessation of suffering.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ One understands as it really is: ‘These are the cankers.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the origin of the cankers.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the cessation of the cankers.’ One understands as it really is: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of the cankers.’
“Knowing and seeing thus, one’s mind is liberated from the canker of sensual desire, from the canker of craving for eternal existence, and from the canker of ignorance. When it is liberated, the knowledge arises: ‘It is liberated.’
“One understands: ‘Destroyed is rebirth, the supreme life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further beyond this.’
“Now, sirs, when a meditator knows thus and sees thus, would that make one ready to take up the subject: ‘Is the soul the same thing as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?’”
“Yes, it would, sir.”
“But I, sirs, know thus and see thus, and nevertheless I do not say either the one or the other.”
Thus said the Blessed One, and Hare-lip the Licchavi, pleased at heart, exalted the words of the Blessed One [never directly getting his question about whether the soul and body are the same thing or different but perhaps understanding that this knowledge does not pertain to enlightenment and liberation, to the end of suffering or the finding and traversing of the spiritual path to nirvana].
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