The Buddha on meditative absorption

Ego (buddhism podcast) The Buddha attained [temporary mental purification and permanent] enlightenment (bodhi) from developing the meditative absorptions (jhana), not in them

• Enlightenment in Buddhism
• Jhana (Sanskrit dhyana) in Buddhism

Disenchanted w/ mundane world: Beth Upton

• Beth Upton update: Wildflowers and Wanderings

Disenchantment with the Mundane World: Conversation with former Theravada Buddhist nun

Disenchantment: Untold Tales

(The Theory of Samsara) Jan. 8, 2026: In this in-depth conversation on Ultimate Meaning: The Theory of Samsara, I speak with British Buddhist meditation teacher Beth Upton, a former fully ordained Theravāda Buddhist nun (Sayalay Anuttara) in Burma who spent nearly ten years training under Pa Auk Sayadaw (Ven. Bhaddanta Āciṇṇa) in the Burmese forest meditation tradition.

 

She shares her journey from ordination at age 25, through years of rigorous monastic training in calm-and-insight (samatha-vipassanā), to her decision to disrobe and teach as a lay practitioner in the West.

Together, we explore some of the most misunderstood questions in contemporary Buddhism, including:

• 

  Let go until success then go teach the world.

  What truly leads someone to renounce samsaric life
• Disenchantment vs. curiosity on the path to liberation
• Whether Buddhist enlightenment is possible for lay Buddhist practitioners
• The lived meaning of renunciation beyond philosophy
• Tranquility versus insight (samatha vs. vipassanā) — and why “vipassanā” is often a misused term
• Ultimate reality, momentariness (moment-to-moment presence), and non-self
• Why deep meditation can feel fragile outside the context of monastic life
• The role of community, wise friends, and authentic teachers
• Commercialization of Dharma vs. teaching by donation
• Sectarianism between Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism
• Why liberation is not just for “other cultures” or monastics

Canadian interviewer Lama Choga

This dialogue is not about spiritual abstract beliefs or spiritual ideals, but about what actually works when confronting disappointment (dukkha, suffering), impermanence, and the [impersonal] realities of samsara in modern life.

Chapters/Timestamps

• 00:00 – Intro: Beth Upton and Path [to End] Samsara
• 02:18 – Why she chose ordination as a British Buddhist nun at age 25
• 05:10 – Meeting authentic Buddhist teachers and the power of sangha [community]
• 08:32 – Experimenting with life and early renunciation
• 12:45 – Discovering liberation as a real possibility
• 16:40 – Is enlightenment possible for lay practitioners?
• 19:55 – Stream entry, arahantship, and Theravāda views
• 24:10 – Did Beth Upton meet enlightened beings?
• 27:05 – Why she disrobed after 10 years as a forest nun
• 33:40 – Fragility of meditation outside monastic life
• 37:55 – Teaching the Dharma authentically in the West
• 41:50 – Disenchantment with samsara: knowing it in the bones
• 47:30 – Cycles of renunciation and returning to the world
• 52:15 – Creating long-term retreat communities in Europe
• 56:40 – Teaching by donation rather than selling the Dharma
• 1:01:30 – Can deep meditation be practiced while working?
• 1:06:55 – Permanent retreatants and Western monastic models
• 1:10:40 – Environmental ethics in Buddhist practice
• 1:15:25 – Sectarianism: Southeast Asian Theravāda vs. Tibetan [Vajrayana] Buddhism
• 1:21:10 – Personal liberation vs. compassion for all beings
• 1:26:30 – Shamatha vs. vipassanā: clearing the confusion
• 1:33:10 – Ultimate reality and momentariness explained
• 1:39:45 – Causality, impermanence, and non-self
• 1:45:20 – Reflexive awareness and observing mind moments
• 1:52:10 – How to find wise friends and authentic teachers
• 1:57:30 – Final advice for Western practitioners
• 2:00:10 – Closing reflections and future conversations

Lama Choga and a Canadian Buddhist Sangha

If serious about meditation, renunciation, and understanding liberation beyond romantic [New Age] spirituality, this conversation offers rare clarity and lived insight.

🙏 Keep wise friends. Beth Upton's YouTube channel: @beth.upton.meditation

• Beth Upton's website: bethupton.com
• Previous videos about Beth Upton's backstory: About Me
• Episode 138: Trained as a Nun - Beth Upton
• Canadian Lama Choga: ultimatemeaning.org
• Meditációs elvonulások (Gánti Bence)
• Disenchantment: Untold Tales, Vol. 1 (book by Matt Groening)

How this was made: Auto-dubbed. Audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. #DharmaTalk #Samsara #Buddhism #Theravada #Vipassana #MeditationPractice #Renunciation #Liberation #Enlightenment #BuddhistNun #PaAuk #NonSelf #FourNobleTruths #EightfoldPath #SpiritualPractice #Mindfulness #Jhanna #EasternPhilosophy #ultimatemeaning

• Host Lama Choga (The Theory of Samsara, Jan. 2026), guest Beth Upton; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Art of dying: How Zen masters face death

(Buddha's Wisdom) Zen wisdom on death: Why Buddhist masters die smiling

How to develop Four Elements Meditation

How to develop Four-Elements Meditation

Full of practical info, not theory

In the Pali language texts, there are two ways for developing the Four Elements Meditation, in brief and in detail.

The brief method explained here is meant for those of quick understanding. The detailed method is meant for those who have difficulty with the brief method.

The Buddha taught the brief method in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (the “Greater Discourse on Setting Up the Four Foundations of Mindfulness”): A meditator reviews this very body however it is positioned or placed as consisting of just elements: “There are in this body just the earth-element, the water-element, the fire-element, and the air-element” (The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga, Ch.XI, para. 41–43) explains further:

First, one of quick understanding who wishes to develop this meditation should go to a solitary place. Then one should advert [turn attention towards] one's entire material body and discern the elements in brief in this way:

Western (British) Sayalay now Beth Upton

“In this body

1. what is hard or rough is [to be regarded as] 'earth element,'
2. what is flowing or cohesive is 'water-element,'
3. what is maturing (ripening) or heat [temperature] is 'fire-element,'
4. what is pushing or supporting is 'air-element.'”

One should advert and give attention to it and review it again and again as [simply] “earth-element, water-element, fire-element, air-element,” that is to say, as mere elements [components, qualities, characteristics], not as a being but as selfless.

 

As one applies attention in this way, in no long time, concentration [stillness] arises, which is reinforced by understanding that illuminates the classification [labelling] of the elements.

 

This is only access-concentration* and does not reach absorption [a fully absorbed or concentrated condition] because it has states with individual essences as its object.

• [*“Neighborhood or access-concentration” (upacāra-samādhi) is the degree of concentration (stillness, centeredness, mental-settling, focus) just before entering the absorptions or jhānas.]

Alternatively, there are these four [bodily] parts mentioned by Ven. Sariputta for the purpose of showing the absence of any self in the Four (great primary) Elements:

“When a space is enclosed with bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, there comes to be the term 'material form' (rupa)” (M. I. p. 190). And one should resolve each of these, separating them out by the hand of knowledge, then discern in the way already stated (above): “In these what is hardness…as its objects.”

 

This is the method taught at Burma's Pa-Auk Meditation Centre. Discern in the body:

• 1. Earth-element: hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, lightness.
• 2. Water-element: flowing, cohesion.
• 3. Fire-element: heat, coldness.
• 4. Air-element: supporting, pushing [for a total of 12 characteristics lumped into four categories called the Four Elements, the dhatu or maha-bhuta].

To learn this meditation, one must begin by learning how to discern each of the 12 qualities or characteristics of the Four Elements one at a time.

Usually, the beginner must first be taught the characteristics that are easier [more obvious] to discern then the more difficult [subtle] ones later. The “Four” Elements are therefore usually taught in this order:

1. pushing,
2. hardness,
3. roughness,
4. heaviness,
5. supporting,
6. softness,
7. smoothness,
8. lightness,
9. heat,
10. coldness,
11. flowing,
12. cohesion.

Each characteristic must be discerned first in one place in the body then one must try discerning that same characteristic throughout the body.

1. To discern “pushing”...  More

I don't get it. Help!

Author Shaila Catherine

Fortunately for us in the United States, Americans have gone to Burma, practiced under Pa Auk Sayadaw, succeeded in attaining the absorptions and insight and on occasion written books about it. They are in America. They teach. We can recommend these seven:

1. Beth Upton (British)
2. Shaila Catherine
3. Stephen Snyder
4. Dr. Tina Rasmussen
5. Dr. Nikki Mirghafori
6. Katie Kalyani (Midwest Samsara)
7. Thomas Dhammadipa (Czech polyglot).

There are also successful monastic disciples of the Great Pa Auk Sayadaw:

1. Ven. Sayadaw U Aggañña (now permanently stationed in Los Angeles)
2. Sayalay Susila (abbess of Appamada Vihari Meditation Center, Penang, Malaysia)
3. Sayalay Dipankara (Burmese traveling nun)
4. Ven. Revata (Pa Auk Forest Monastery, Burma)
5. Ven. Mahinda (Pa Auk Forest Monastery, Burma).

• Pa Auk Sayadaw, Four Elements (Pt. 2, p. 19) re-edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Sutra: How the Buddha's 'warriors' practice

Standing in the face of adversity

"Meditators, there are five types of warriors found existing in the world. What are these five?

"There is a warrior who, on seeing a cloud of dust [stirred up by an enemy army], falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the first type of warrior found existing in the world.

"There is also the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, but on seeing the top of the enemy's banner, falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the second type of warrior found existing in the world.

"There is also the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust and the top of the enemy's banner, but on hearing the tumult [of approaching forces], falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the third type of warrior found existing in the world.

"There is also the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, and the tumult, but in hand-to-hand combat is struck and falls wounded. This is the fourth type of warrior found existing in the world. 

"There is also the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, the tumult, and hand-to-hand combat. Winning the battle, victorious, one comes out ahead. This is the fifth type of warrior found existing in the world.

"These are these five types of warriors found existing in the world.

The Buddha's "warriors"

"In the same way, meditators, there are five warrior individuals found existing among monastics. What are these five? [1]

"There is the monastic who, seeing a cloud of dust, falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high [pure] life. Declaring such weakness in regard to fulfilling the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life.

"What is the cloud of dust for that person? There is the monastic who hears, 'In that place over there, there is a [person] who is shapely, goodlooking, charming, endowed with a lotus-like complexion.'

"On hearing this, one falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high life. Declaring such weakness in regard to the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life. That is the cloud of dust. This individual, I say, is like the warrior who, on seeing a cloud of dust, falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the first type of warrior-like individual found existing among monastics [2].

"There is the monastic who can handle the cloud of dust, but on seeing the top of the enemy's banner, one falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high life. Declaring such weakness in regard to the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life.

"What is the top of the banner? The monastic who not only hears that, 'In that place over there, there is a [person] who is shapely, goodlooking, charming, endowed with a lotus-like complexion,' one sees it for oneself. On seeing [that person], one falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high life. Declaring such weakness in the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life. That is the top of the banner.

"This individual, I say, is like the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, but on seeing the top of the enemy's banner, falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the second type of individual found existing among the monastics [3].

"There is the monastic who can handle the cloud of dust and the top of the enemy's banner, but on hearing the tumult [of approaching forces], falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high life. Declaring such weakness in the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life. What is the tumult?

"The monastic who has gone into the wilderness, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty building. A [beauty] approaches and giggles, calls out, laughs aloud, and teases [flirts]. On being giggled at, called out, laughed at, and teased by [a beauty], one falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot continue in the high life. Declaring such weakness in the training, one leaves and returns to the lower life. That is the tumult.

"This individual, I say, is like the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust and the top of the enemy's banner, but on hearing the tumult, falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the third type of individual found existing among the monastics [4].

"There is the monastic who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, and the tumult, but when in hand-to-hand combat is struck and falls wounded. What is hand-to-hand combat? The monastic who has gone into the wilderness, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty building is approached by [a beauty] who sits nearby, lies down nearby, throws [him or herself] all over the person.

"When doing so, one — without renouncing the training, without declaring one's weakness — engages in sexual intercourse. This is hand-to-hand combat. This individual, I say, is like the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, and the tumult, but when in hand-to-hand combat is struck and falls wounded. This is the fourth type of individual found existing among the monastics [5].

"There is the monastic who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, the tumult, and hand-to-hand combat. Winning the battle, victorious, one comes out ahead. What is victory in the battle? The monastic who has gone into the wilderness, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty dwelling is approached by [a beauty] who sits nearby, lies down, throws [him or herself] all over the person.

"When doing so, one extricates oneself, frees oneself, and goes off. "One resorts to a secluded dwelling: the wilderness, the foot of a tree, a mountain, a glen, a hillside cave, a charnel ground, a forest grove, the open air, a haystack.

The warrior practice

Prayer flags: meditation ahead

"Having gone into the wilderness, the foot of a tree, or an empty building, one sits down, crosses one's legs, holds the body erect, and brings mindfulness to the fore.

"Abandoning covetousness (greed, lust, craving) with regard to the world, one dwells free of covetousness. One cleanses the mind/heart of covetousness. Abandoning ill will and anger, one dwells free of ill will, with sympathy for the welfare of all living beings. One cleanses the heart/mind of ill will and anger.

"Abandoning sloth-and-torpor (listlessness-and-drowsiness), one dwells free of sloth-and-torpor, mindful, alert (vigilant), perceiving [inner] light. One cleanses the mind of sloth-and-torpor. Abandoning restlessness-and-worry, one dwells undisturbed, the mind/heart inwardly stilled. One cleanses the heart/mind of restlessness-and-worry.

"Abandoning skeptical doubt (uncertainty), one dwells having crossed over doubt, free of perplexity with regard to skillful mental states. One cleanses the mind of doubt.

"Having [temporarily] abandoned these Five Hindrances, corruptions of mind that weaken insight, then — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful [mental] states — one enters and remains in the first meditative absorption (jhana) with rapture (piti) and pleasure (sukha, happiness) born of withdrawal [of the senses], accompanied by applied and sustained attention.

"With the stilling of applied and sustained attention, one enters and remains in the second meditative absorption with rapture and pleasure born of stillness (concentration), unification of mind free of applied and sustained attention — self-assured.

"With the fading of rapture (piti), one remains equanimous, mindful, vigilant, and experiences pleasure (sukha) in the body. One enters and remains in the third meditative absorption, of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, one experiences a pleasant abiding.'

"With the transcending of both pleasure and pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — one enters and remains in the fourth meditative absorption with purity of equanimity and mindfulness, free of pleasure and pain.

"With heart/mind thus stilled (concentrated), purified, and bright, free of blemishes, free of defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, one directs and inclines the mind to the knowledge of the ending of the mental defilements.

"One discerns just as it is that

1. 'This is disappointment (dukkha)...
2. This is the origin of disappointment...
3. This is the cessation of disappointment...
4. This is the way leading to the cessation of disappointment...

"These are mental defilements... This is the origin of the defilements... This is the cessation of defilements... This is the way leading to the cessation of the defilements.'

"One's heart/mind, directly knowing-and-seeing, is released from the snare of sensuality, the snare of becoming, the snare of ignorance.

"With release come knowledge of being released. One knows-and-sees that 'rebirth is ended, the high life has been fulfilled, the task is done. There is nothing more for this world.'

"This is victory in the battle. This individual, I say, is like the warrior who can handle the cloud of dust, the top of the enemy's banner, the tumult, and hand-to-hand combat. Winning the battle, victorious, one comes out ahead. This is the fifth type of individual found existing among the monastics.

"These are the five individuals found existing among the monastics."

• Dhr. Seven (ed.) based on original translation by Ven. Thanissaro, Yodhajiva Sutta: 'The Warrior' (1), Wisdom Quarterly

Samadhi and Absorptions (English Monk)

• The right honorable Venerable has perhaps misunderstood the meaning of "momentary" concentration, which is not so-called because it comes and goes (vacillates) but for its continuity on a moving object: Khanika samadhi - Meditation - Classical Theravāda. See also Bhikkhu Bodhi, "Meditation"
• What is samādhi? Three kinds of mindfulness | Pure Dhamma
• What are khanika, upacara, and appana samadhi? (Q&A)

Samādhi: "concentration," literally "the (mental) state of being firmly fixed" (sam+ā+√ hā). It is fixing the mind (attention) on a single object.

"One-pointedness of mind (cittass' ekaggatā), Ven. Visakha, this is called concentration" (MN 44).

Concentration -- though often very weak -- is one of the seven mental concomitants (cetasikas) inseparably associated with all consciousness. Compare with nāma, cetanā.

"Right concentration" (sammā-samādhi), as the last link of the Ennobling Eightfold Path (magga), is defined as the four meditative absorptions (jhānas).

In a wider sense, comprising also much weaker states of concentration, it is associated with all karmically wholesome (kusala) consciousness(es). "Wrong concentration" (micchā-samādhi) is concentration associated with all karmically unwholesome (akusala) consciousness(es).

Wherever in the texts this term is not distinguished by "right" or "wrong," there "right concentration" is meant.

In concentration one may distinguish three grades of intensity:

• (1) "Preparatory concentration" (parikamma-samādhi) existing at the beginning of the mental exercise.
• (2) "Neighborhood concentration" (upacāra-samādhi), that is, concentration "approaching" but not yet attaining the first absorption (jhāna), which in certain mental exercises is marked by the appearance of the so-called "counter-image" (patibhāga-nimitta).
• (3) "Attainment concentration" (appanā-samādhi), that is, concentration present during the absorptions.

(Appendix) For further details, see bhāvana, Path of Purification (Vis.M. III and Fund. IV.)

Concentration connected with the four noble path-moments (magga), and fruition-moments (phala) [which results in awakening/enlightenment], is called supermundane (lokuttara), having Nirvana (Nibbāna) as object.

xxx

Any other concentration, even that of the sublimest absorptions (jhanas) is merely mundane (lokiya). 

According to DN 33, the cultivation of stillness (development of concentration, samādhi-bhāvanā) may bring about a fourfold blessing:

1. present happiness through the four (material) absorptions;
2. (2) knowledge and vision (knowing and seeing, ñāna-dassana), here probably identical with the "divine eye" (see abhiññā) through perception of light (kasina);
3. mindfulness and clear comprehension (sati-sampajana) through the clear knowledge of the arising, persisting and vanishing of feelings, perceptions and thoughts;
4. extinction of all cankers (āsava-kkhaya) through understanding the arising and passing away of the Five Aggregates clung to as self (khandha).

Concentration is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga), one of the Five Spiritual Faculties and Five Powers (bala), and the last link of the Noble (Ennobling/Enlightening) Eightfold Path.

In the threefold division (virtue, concentration, and wisdom) of the Noble Eightfold Path, concentration is a collective name for the three last factors of the path (sikkhā).

• Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, samādhi, English Buddhist Monk (video); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Learn to meditate this spring (How to)

Beginning meditators are babies in white, so go easy. Meditation may make one sleepy at first.

.

An outfit just for practice helps.

It's spring. This is a good time, maybe the best time, to begin a regular meditation practice,. Well, actually the best time would have been seven years ago, but the second-best time is right now. Sitting can graduate to walking meditation, mindfulness in nature, then deep stillness and clarity to see things (vipassana) as they truly are.

Do the basics: Put on all white. Find a quiet spot apart from distractions. Use this spot over and over again. It becomes powerful. Set down a mat and cushion (a bundle of leaves or grass is enough to get the tailbone higher than the knees). Sit. Inhale deeply. Release. Do it again a few times, without forcing the air out. It's just about letting go completely, so completely that the body hangs as if held up by a clothing hanger, not stiff, not slack.

Straighter is more comfortable, even though it doesn't seem like it at first. Posture is important to attention. Bring (advert) the attention to the present moment, this moment, and to stay in just this moment, remain aware of the breath. Which breath? This breath, just the one happening now all by itself. Become the watcher (not the commenter, fixer, improver, slowdowner, or anything else), just the watcher. This is mindfulness -- clear awareness of the present without evaluation.

Whoa, what a trip! What was that? I want that again!

Set a time limit in advance and keep it. Even if it would be nice to go longer because it is going so well, know the time of rising. Even if it is going horribly with raving lunatic thoughts of a psychopath with lurid fantasies and wrath, lust and revenge, delusion and a lightshow, know the time of rising. The mind will thank you later.

Ten minutes is a good start time, slowly working up to an hourlong sit. That seems impossible now, but in time, whaddyaknow, it suddenly is possible. What changed? I'dunno. This practice is about persistence. It does itself and then there is no effort. The enemies of that are expectations, unsettled greed or desire for achieving something, and the Five Hindrances. They will come to hinder. They are already present. They can be overcome. But whether or not they have been overcome, persist. This is spring. This is the beginning. Have "beginner's mind" in place of the "monkey mind" that usually rules the cage. Smile. It helps.

Instructions are confusing because it's so simple.

It is easy to say that "meditation is NOT about thinking." That's clear. That's easy to see. Don't indulge thought; just let them be by turning your attention to this subtle breath that keeps changing. What is difficult to grasp is that "meditation is NOT about not-thinking." Not-thinking may happen. It doesn't matter. As that is not the goal, if it doesn't happen, it's okay. Giving attention to one object and bringing attention back and back again and again ("Begin again" as Sharon Salzberg says) is what is important.

The mind like a petulant and insolent child will resist. Let it. Bring it back. Do not scold it or become upset. Let it be. Surrender completely to this moment, whatever is in this moment, not being moved to do anything no matter what the mind says it must do. See what happens. Could the mind be wrong no matter what it feels or demands or insists is true?

How did Siddhartha Gautama do it?

We'll never see things as they really are so long as we keep believing that we already are seeing them that way. We have never been seeing them that way. If we had, we'd awaken. We'd be enlightened, which is to say, Dependent Origination would make sense. And it doesn't, does it? (Hint: It's a practice, not a theory). That's a whole different kind of meditation called insight (vipassana) after getting good at this kind, which is called serenity (samatha). Don't jump ahead. Let it go. (If all else fails, sign up for a free 10-day Goenka retreat. Everyone should do at least one in life).

• Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen Bradford, Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha: Progress of the Disciple

German born author Ven. Nyanatiloka

The Buddha taught not sudden enlightenment (satori) but gradual development of the Noble (Ennobling) Eightfold Path to bodhi:

In many discourses or sutras there occurs an identical passage that outlines the gradual course of development in the progress of the disciple. There it is shown how this development takes place gradually, in conformity with natural laws or fixed regularities of the universe, from the very first hearing of the Dharma (the Enlightened One's Doctrine), to germinating confidence/faith (saddha) and dim comprehension, up to the final realization (bodhi) of liberation (nirvana) from all suffering.

"After hearing the Dharma, one is filled with confidence, and one thinks: 'Full of hindrances is household life, a refuse heap. But the left-home life (of a Buddhist monastic) is like the open air. It is not easy, when one lives at home, to fulfill in all points the rules of the supreme life. How now if I were to cut off hair, put on saffron robes, and go forth from home to the left-home life?'

"And after a short time, having let go of one's possessions, whether they be great or small, having forsaken a circle of relations, small or large, one cuts off hair, puts on saffron robes, and goes forth from home to the left-home life.

Having thus left the world, one fulfills the monastic rules:

1. One abstains and avoids killing living beings, having abandoned cudgel and knife, conscientious, full of sympathy, desiring the welfare of all living beings.
2. One avoids stealing (taking what is not given)...
3. One avoids unchastity...
4. One avoids lying...
5. One avoids tale-bearing...
6. One avoids harsh speech...
7. One avoids idle chitchat.
8. One abstains from destroying vegetal seeds and plants.
9. One eats only at one time of day [after dawn but before noon].
10. One keeps aloof from dance, song, music, and visiting unseemly shows.
11. One rejects floral adornments, perfumes, ointments, as well as any other kind of embellishments. 
12. One avoids using high and luxurious beds and seats.
13. One avoids accepting gold and silver...
14. One keeps aloof from buying and selling....
15. One contents oneself with the robe that protects one's body and with the alms bowl with which one keeps oneself alive: Wherever one goes, one is provided with these two things, just as a winged bird in flying carries along its two wings.

"By fulfilling this noble domain of virtue (sīla) one feels in one's heart an irreproachable happiness."

In what follows thereafter it is shown how the disciple watches over the five senses and the mind and by this noble restraint of the senses (indriya-samvara) feels at heart an unblemished happiness.

It is shown how in all one's actions one is ever mindful and clearly conscious and how, being equipped with this lofty virtue and with this noble restraint of the senses, and with mindfulness and clear comprehension (sati-sampajañña), one chooses a secluded dwelling.

Freeing the mind from the Five Hindrances (nīvarana), one reaches full absorption (samādhi).

Thereafter, by developing insight (vipassanā, lit. "clear seeing") with regard to the radical

1. impermanence (anicca),
2. disappointment (dukkha), and
3. impersonal (anattā) nature of all phenomena of existence [summarized as the Five Aggregates clung to as self],

one finally realizes liberation from all cankers and defilements, and this certainty and assurance arises:

"Forever is liberation achieved,

This is the last time I am reborn,

No new rebirth awaits me."

Cf. D.1, 2f; M. 27, 38, 51, 60, 76; A. IV, 198; X, 99: Pug. 239, etc.

• Ven. Nyanatiloka (Anton Gueth), Buddhist Dictionary, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The king comes to see the Buddha

Seated Buddha of the Future depicted as Central Asian king: Bodhisattva Maitreya (wiki)

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SUTRA: Kosala (2)

The forest-dwelling Buddha

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Sāvatthī at Jeta’s Grove, in The multi-millionaire’s Park. On that occasion King Pasenadi of Kosala [the capital of which is Savatthi] was returning from the war front, victorious in battle, his purpose achieved. The king set out for the park.

He traveled by carriage as far as the ground allowed then dismounted and entered the park by foot. On that occasion a number of monks were engaged in walking meditation in the open air.

King Pasenadi approached them and asked: “Venerable sirs, where is the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Supremely Enlightened One dwelling? For I wish to see him.”

“Great king, that is his dwelling, the one with the closed door. Approach it quietly. Without hurrying, enter the porch, clear your throat, and tap lightly on the bolt. The Blessed One will open the door for you.”

King Pasenadi did so, and the Blessed One opened the door. Then he entered, bowed at the Blessed One’s feet, and covered them with kisses and caresses, pronouncing his name:

The happy king meets the Buddha.

“I am King Pasenadi of Kosala, venerable sir, I am King Pasenadi of Kosala!”

“Great king, what reason do you have for showing such honor to this body, displaying such an offering of love and kindness?”

“Venerable, it is out of gratitude and thankfulness that I show supreme honor toward the Blessed One and display such an offering of love and kindness to him.

(1) “For, venerable, the Blessed One is practicing for the benefit of many, for the happiness of many; he has established many in the ennobling (enlightening) method, that is, in the way of the good Dhamma (Doctrine), in the way of the wholesome Dhamma. This is one reason I show supreme honor toward the Blessed One and display such an offering of love and kindness to him.

Buddha as Central Asian king

(2) “Venerable, the Blessed One is virtuous, of mature conduct (behavior), of noble (enlightened and royal) conduct, of wholesome conduct, possessing wholesome conduct. This is another reason….

(3) “Venerable, for a long time the Blessed One has been a forest-dweller who resorts to remote lodgings in forests and jungle groves. Since that is so, this is another reason….

(4) “Venerable, the Blessed One is content with any kind of robe, alms food, lodging, and medicines and provisions for the sick. This is another reason….

(5) “Venerable, the Blessed One is [enlightened and therefore] worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world. This is another reason….

(6) “Venerable, the Blessed One gets to hear at will, without trouble or difficulty, talk concerned with the austere life that leads to the elimination of defilements, that is conducive to opening up the heart, that is, talk on fewness of desires, on contentment, on solitude (withdrawal), on not getting bound up with others, on arousing energy, on virtuous conduct, on concentration (stillness), on wisdom, on liberation, on direct knowledge and vision of liberation. This is another reason….

(7) “Venerable, the Blessed One gains at will, without trouble or difficulty, the four meditative absorptions (jhānas) that constitute the 'higher mind' and are pleasant abodes in this very life. This is another reason….

Death behind rebirth, even in heaven

(8) “Venerable, the Blessed One recollects manifold rebirths (past lives, abodes), that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, 20 births, 30 births, 40 births, 50 births, 100 births, 1,000 births, 100,000 births, many aeons of world-dissolution, many aeons of world-evolution, many aeons of world-dissolution and world-evolution thus: ‘There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifespan; passing away from there, I was reborn (reappeared) elsewhere, and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifespan; passing away from there, I was reborn here.’ Thus he recollects his manifold rebirths with their aspects and details. Since that is so, this is another reason….

When the 31 Planes of Existence are condensed into just six categories, we get this depiction

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Countless worlds in 31 general categories

(9) “Venerable, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, the Blessed One sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings fare in accordance with their karma (deeds) thus: ‘These beings who engaged in misconduct by body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views, and undertook karma based on wrong views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hells, whereas these beings who engaged in skillful conduct by body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views, and undertook karma based on right views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in a fortunate destination, even in a heavenly world.’ Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings fare in accordance with their karma. Since that is so, this is another reason….

(10) “Venerable, with the destruction of the taints, the Blessed One has realized for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, he dwells in it. Since that is so, this is another reason I show supreme honor toward the Blessed One and display such an offering of love and kindness to him.

“Now, venerable, we must be on our way. We are busy and have much to do.”

“As you see fit, great king, and at your own convenience.”

Then King Pasenadi of Kosala rose from his seat, paid homage to the Blessed One, circumambulated him, keeping his right side toward him in a mark of respect, and departed.

• Source: suttacentral.net
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans), Dutiyakosala Sutta (AN 10.30); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly