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INTRODUCTION

The picture of the human condition that emerges from the Nikāyas, as sketched in the preceding chapter, is the background against which the manifestation of the Buddha in the world acquires a heightened and deepened significance. Unless we view the Buddha against this multi-dimensional background, extending from the most personal and individual exigencies of the present to the vast, impersonal rhythms of cosmic time, any interpretation we may arrive at about his role is bound to be incomplete. Far from capturing the viewpoint of the compilers of the Nikāyas, our interpretation will be influenced as much by our own presuppositions as by theirs, perhaps even more so. Depending on our biases and predispositions, we may choose to regard the Buddha as a liberal ethical reformer of a degenerate Brahmanism, as a great secular humanist, as a radical empiricist, as an existential psychologist, as the proponent of a sweeping agnosticism, or as the precursor of any other intellectual fashion that meets our fancy. The Buddha who stares back at us from the texts will be too much a reflection of ourselves, too little an image of the Enlightened One.

Perhaps in interpreting a body of ancient religious literature we can never fully avoid inserting ourselves and our own values into the subject we are interpreting. However, though we may never achieve perfect transparency, we can limit the impact of personal bias upon the process of interpretation by giving the words of the texts due respect. When we pay this act of homage to the Nikāyas, when we take seriously their own account of the background to the Buddha’s manifestation in the world, we will see that they ascribe to his mission nothing short of a cosmic scope. Against the background of a universe with no conceivable bounds in time, a universe within which living beings enveloped in the darkness of ignorance wander along bound to the suffering of old age, sickness, and death, the Buddha arrives as the “torchbearer of humankind” (ukkādhāro manussānaṃ) bringing the light of wisdom.1 In the words of Text II,1, his arising in the world is “the manifestation of great vision, of great light, of great radiance.” Having discovered for himself the perfect peace of liberation, he kindles for us the light of knowledge, which reveals both the truths that we must see for ourselves and the path of practice that culminates in this liberating vision.

According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha Gotama is not merely one unique individual who puts in an unprecedented appearance on the stage of human history and then bows out forever. He is, rather, the fulfillment of a primordial archetype, the most recent member of a cosmic “dynasty” of Buddhas constituted by numberless Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past and sustained by Perfectly Enlightened Ones continuing indefinitely onward into the future. Early Buddhism, even in the archaic root texts of the Nikāyas, already recognizes a plurality of Buddhas who all conform to certain fixed patterns of behavior, the broad outlines of which are described in the opening sections of the Mahāpadāna Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 14, not represented in the present anthology). The word “Tathāgata,” which the texts use as an epithet for a Buddha, points to this fulfillment of a primordial archetype. The word means both “the one who has come thus” (tathā āgata), that is, who has come into our midst in the same way that the Buddhas of the past have come; and “the one who has gone thus” (tathā gata), that is, who has gone to the ultimate peace, Nibbāna, in the same way that the Buddhas of the past have gone.

Though the Nikāyas stipulate that in any given world system, at any given time, only one Perfectly Enlightened Buddha can arise, the arising of Buddhas is intrinsic to the cosmic process. Like a meteor against the blackness of the night sky, from time to time a Buddha will appear against the backdrop of boundless space and time, lighting up the spiritual firmament of the world, shedding the brilliance of his wisdom upon those capable of seeing the truths that he illuminates. The being who is to become a Buddha is called, in Pāli, a bodhisatta, a word better known in the Sanskrit form, bodhisattva. According to common Buddhist tradition, a bodhisatta is one who undertakes a long course of spiritual development consciously motivated by the aspiration to attain future Buddhahood.2 Inspired and sustained by great compassion for living beings mired in the suffering of birth and death, a bodhisatta fulfills, over many eons of cosmic time, the difficult course needed to fully master the requisites for supreme enlightenment. When all these requisites are complete, he attains Buddhahood in order to establish the Dhamma in the world. A Buddha discovers the long-lost path to liberation, the “ancient path” traveled by the Buddhas of the past that culminates in the boundless freedom of Nibbāna. Having found the path and traveled it to its end, he then teaches it in all its fullness to humanity so that many others can enter the way to final liberation.

This, however, does not exhaust the function of a Buddha. A Buddha understands and teaches not only the path leading to the supreme state of ultimate liberation, the perfect bliss of Nibbāna, but also the paths leading to the various types of wholesome mundane happiness to which human beings aspire. A Buddha proclaims both a path of mundane enhancement that enables sentient beings to plant wholesome roots productive of happiness, peace, and security in the worldly dimensions of their lives, and a path of world-transcendence to guide sentient beings to Nibbāna. His role is thus much wider than an exclusive focus on the transcendent aspects of his teaching might suggest. He is not merely a mentor of ascetics and contemplatives, not merely a teacher of meditation techniques and philosophical insights, but a guide to the Dhamma in its full range and depth: one who reveals, proclaims, and establishes all the principles integral to correct understanding and wholesome conduct, whether mundane or transcendental. Text II,1 highlights this wide-ranging altruistic dimension of a Buddha’s career when it praises the Buddha as the one person who arises in the world “for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of devas and humans.”

The Nikāyas offer two perspectives on the Buddha as a person, and to do justice to the texts it is important to hold these two perspectives in balance, without letting one cancel out the other. A correct view of the Buddha can only arise from the merging of these two perspectives, just as the correct view of an object can arise only when the perspectives presented by our two eyes are merged in the brain into a single image. One perspective, the one highlighted most often in modernist presentations of Buddhism, shows the Buddha as a human being who, like other human beings, had to struggle with the common frailties of human nature to arrive at the state of an Enlightened One. After his enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, he walked among us for forty-five years as a wise and compassionate human teacher, sharing his realization with others and ensuring that his teachings would remain in the world long after his death. This is the side of the Buddha’s nature that figures most prominently in the Nikāyas. Since it corresponds closely with contemporary agnostic attitudes toward the ideals of religious faith, it has an immediate appeal to those nurtured by modern modes of thought.

The other aspect of the Buddha’s person is likely to seem strange to us, but it looms large in Buddhist tradition and serves as the bedrock for popular Buddhist devotion. Though secondary in the Nikāyas, it occasionally surfaces so conspicuously that it cannot be ignored, despite the efforts of Buddhist modernists to downplay its significance or rationalize its intrusions. From this perspective, the Buddha is seen as one who had already made preparations for his supreme attainment over countless past lives and was destined from birth to fulfill the mission of a world teacher. Text II,2 is an example of how the Buddha is viewed from this perspective. Here, it is said, the future Buddha descends fully conscious from the Tusita heaven into his mother’s womb; his conception and birth are accompanied by wonders; deities worship the newborn infant; and as soon as he is born he walks seven steps and announces his future destiny. Obviously, for the compilers of such a sutta as this, the Buddha was already destined to attain Buddhahood even prior to his conception and thus his struggle for enlightenment was a battle whose outcome was already predetermined. The final paragraph of the sutta, however, ironically hearkens back to the realistic picture of the Buddha. What the Buddha himself considers to be truly wondrous are not the miracles accompanying his conception and birth, but his mindfulness and clear comprehension in the midst of feelings, thoughts, and perceptions.

The three texts in section 3 are biographical accounts consistent with this naturalistic point of view. They offer us a portrait of the Buddha stark in its realism, bare in its naturalism, striking in its ability to convey deep psychological insights with minimal descriptive technique. In Text II,3(1) we read about his renunciation, his training under two famous meditation teachers, his disillusionment with their teachings, his solitary struggle, and his triumphant realization of the Deathless. Text II,3(2) fills in the gaps of the above narrative with a detailed account of the bodhisatta’s practice of self-mortification, strangely missing from the previous discourse. This text also gives us the classic description of the enlightenment experience as involving the attainment of the four jhānas, states of deep meditation, followed by the three vijjās or higher types of knowledge: the knowledge of the recollection of past lives, the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings, and the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. While this text may convey the impression that the last knowledge broke upon the Buddha’s mind as a sudden and spontaneous intuition, Text II,3(3) corrects this impression with an account of the Bodhisatta on the eve of his enlightenment reflecting deeply upon the suffering of old age and death. He then methodically traces this suffering back to its conditions by a process that involves, at each step, “careful attention” (yoniso manasikāra) leading to “a breakthrough by wisdom” (paññāya abhisamaya). This process of investigation culminates in the discovery of dependent origination, which thereby becomes the philosophical cornerstone of his teaching.

It is important to emphasize that, as presented here and elsewhere in the Nikāyas (see below, pp. 353-59), dependent origination does not signify a joyous celebration of the interconnectedness of all things but a precise articulation of the conditional pattern in dependence upon which suffering arises and ceases. In the same text, the Buddha declares that he discovered the path to enlightenment only when he found the way to bring dependent origination to an end. It was thus the realization of the cessation of dependent origination, and not merely the discovery of its origination aspect, that precipitated the Buddha’s enlightenment. The simile of the ancient city, introduced later in the discourse, illustrates the point that the Buddha’s enlightenment was not a unique event but the rediscovery of the same “ancient path” that had been followed by the Buddhas of the past.

Text II,4 resumes the narrative of Text II,3(1), which I had divided by splicing in the two alternative versions of the bodhisatta’s quest for the path to enlightenment. We now rejoin the Buddha immediately after his enlightenment as he ponders the weighty question whether to attempt to share his realization with the world. Just at this point, in the midst of a text that has so far appeared so convincingly naturalistic, a deity named Brahmā Sahampati descends from the heavens to plead with the Buddha to wander forth and teach the Dhamma for the benefit of those “with little dust in their eyes.” Should this scene be interpreted literally or as a symbolic enactment of an internal drama taking place in the Buddha’s mind? It is hard to give a definitive answer to this question; perhaps the scene could be understood as occurring at both levels at once. In any event, Brahmā’s appearance at this point marks a shift from the realism that colors the earlier part of the sutta back toward the mythical-symbolic mode. The transition again underscores the cosmic significance of the Buddha’s enlightenment and his future mission as a teacher.

Brahmā’s appeal eventually prevails and the Buddha agrees to teach. He chooses as the first recipients of his teaching the five ascetics who had attended on him during his years of ascetic practices. The narrative culminates in a brief statement that the Buddha instructed them in such a way that they all attained the deathless Nibbāna for themselves. However, it gives no indication of the specific teaching that the Buddha imparted to them when he first met them after his enlightenment. That teaching is the First Discourse itself, known as “The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Dhamma.”

This sutta is included here as Text II,5. When the sutta opens, the Buddha announces to the five ascetics that he has discovered “the middle way,” which he identifies with the Noble Eightfold Path. In the light of the preceding biographical account, we can understand why the Buddha should begin his discourse in this way. The five ascetics had initially refused to acknowledge the Buddha’s claim to enlightenment and spurned him as one who had betrayed the higher calling to revert to a life of luxury. Thus he first had to assure them that, far from reverting to a life of self-indulgence, he had discovered a new approach to the timeless quest for enlightenment. This new approach, he told them, remains faithful to the renunciation of sensual pleasures yet eschews tormenting the body as pointless and unproductive. He then explained to them the true path to liberation, the Noble Eightfold Path, which avoids the two extremes and thereby gives rise to the light of wisdom and culminates in the destruction of all bondage, Nibbāna.

Once he has cleared up their misunderstanding, the Buddha then proclaims the truths he had realized on the night of his enlightenment. These are the Four Noble Truths. Not only does he enunciate each truth and briefly define its meaning, but he describes each truth from three perspectives. These constitute the three “turnings of the wheel of the Dhamma” referred to later in the discourse. With respect to each truth, the first turning is the wisdom that illuminates the particular nature of that noble truth. The second turning is the understanding that each noble truth imposes a particular task to be accomplished. Thus the first noble truth, the truth of suffering, is to be fully understood; the second truth, the truth of suffering’s origin or craving, is to be abandoned; the third truth, the truth of the cessation of suffering, is to be realized; and the fourth truth, the truth of the path, is to be developed. The third turning is the understanding that the four functions regarding the Four Noble Truths have been completed: the truth of suffering has been fully understood; craving has been abandoned; the cessation of suffering has been realized; and the path has been fully developed. It was only when he understood the Four Noble Truths in these three turnings and twelve modes, he says, that he could claim that he had attained unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.

The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta illustrates once again the blending of the two stylistic modes I referred to earlier. The discourse proceeds almost entirely in the realistic-naturalistic mode until we approach the end. When the Buddha completes his sermon, the cosmic significance of the event is illuminated by a passage showing how the deities in each successive celestial realm applaud the discourse and shout the good news up to the deities in the next higher realm. At the same time, the entire world system quakes and shakes, and a great light surpassing the radiance of the gods appears in the world. Then, at the very end, we return from this glorious scene back to the prosaic human realm, to behold the Buddha briefly congratulating the ascetic Koṇḍañña for gaining “the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma.” In one split-second, the Lamp of the Doctrine has passed from master to disciple, to begin its journey throughout India and across the world.

II. THE BRINGER OF LIGHT

1. ONE PERSON

“Monks, there is one person who arises in the world for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of devas and humans. Who is that one person? It is the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One. This is that one person.

“Monks, there is one person arising in the world who is unique, without a peer, without counterpart, incomparable, unequalled, matchless, unrivalled, the best of humans. Who is that one person? It is the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One. This is that one person.

“Monks, the manifestation of one person is the manifestation of great vision, of great light, of great radiance; it is the manifestation of the six things unsurpassed; the realization of the four analytical knowledges; the penetration of the various elements, of the diversity of elements; it is the realization of the fruit of knowledge and liberation; the realization of the fruits of stream-entry, once-returning, nonreturning, and arahantship.3 Who is that one person? It is the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One. This is that one person.”

(AN 1: xiii, 1, 5, 6; I 22–23)

2. THE BUDDHA’S CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

2. Now a number of monks were sitting in the assembly hall, where they had met together on returning from their almsround, after their meal, when this discussion arose among them: “It is wonderful, friends, it is marvelous, how mighty and powerful is the Tathāgata! For he is able to know about the Buddhas of the past—who attained final Nibbāna, cut [the tangle of] proliferation, broke the cycle, ended the round, and surmounted all suffering—that for those Blessed Ones their birth was thus, their names were thus, their clans were thus, their moral discipline was thus, their qualities [of concentration] were thus, their wisdom was thus, their meditative dwellings were thus, their liberation was thus.”

When this was said, the Venerable Ānanda told the monks: “Friends, Tathāgatas are wonderful and have wonderful qualities. Tathāgatas are marvelous and have marvelous qualities.”4

However, their discussion was interrupted; for the Blessed One rose from meditation when it was evening, went to the assembly hall, and sat down on a seat made ready. Then he addressed the monks thus: “Monks, for what discussion are you sitting together here now? And what was your discussion that was interrupted?”

“Here, venerable sir, we were sitting in the assembly hall, where we had met together on returning from our almsround, after our meal, when this discussion arose among us: ‘It is wonderful, friends, it is marvelous … their liberation was thus.’ When this was said, venerable sir, the Venerable Ānanda said to us: ‘Friends, Tathāgatas are wonderful and have wonderful qualities. Tathāgatas are marvelous and have marvelous qualities.’ This was our discussion, venerable sir, that was interrupted when the Blessed One arrived.”

Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda: “That being so, Ānanda, explain more fully the Tathāgata’s wonderful and marvelous qualities.”

3. “I heard and learned this, venerable sir, from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘Mindful and clearly comprehending, Ānanda, the Bodhisatta appeared in the Tusita heaven.’5 That mindful and clearly comprehending the Bodhisatta appeared in the Tusita heaven—this I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

4. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘Mindful and clearly comprehending the Bodhisatta remained in the Tusita heaven.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

5. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘For the whole of his lifespan the Bodhisatta remained in the Tusita heaven.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

6. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘Mindful and clearly comprehending the Bodhisatta passed away from the Tusita heaven and descended into his mother’s womb.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

7. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta passed away from the Tusita heaven and descended into his mother’s womb, an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, with its devas and human beings. And even in those abysmal world intervals of vacancy, gloom, and utter darkness, where the moon and the sun, mighty and powerful as they are, cannot make their light prevail, there too an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared.6 And the beings reborn there perceived each other by that light: “So indeed, there are also other beings reborn here.” And this ten-thousand-fold world system shook, quaked, and trembled, and again an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

8. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta had descended into his mother’s womb, four young devas came to guard him at the four quarters so that no humans or nonhumans or anyone at all could harm the Bodhisatta or his mother.’7 This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

9. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta had descended into his mother’s womb, she became intrinsically virtuous, refraining from killing living beings, from taking what is not given, from sexual misconduct, from false speech, and from wines, liquors, and intoxicants, the basis of negligence.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.…

14. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘Other women give birth after carrying the child in the womb for nine or ten months, but not so the Bodhisatta’s mother. The Bodhisatta’s mother gave birth to him after carrying him in her womb for exactly ten months.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

15. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘Other women give birth seated or lying down, but not so the Bodhisatta’s mother. The Bodhisatta’s mother gave birth to him standing up.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

16. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, first devas received him, then human beings.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

17. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, he did not touch the earth. The four young devas received him and set him before his mother saying: “Rejoice, O queen, a son of great power has been born to you.”’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

18. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, he came forth unsullied, unsmeared by water, humors, blood, or any kind of impurity, clean and unsullied. Suppose there were a gem placed on fine cloth, then the gem would not smear the cloth or the cloth the gem. Why is that? Because of the purity of both. So too when the Bodhisatta came forth … he came forth clean and unsullied.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

19. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, two jets of water appeared to pour from the sky, one cool and one warm, for bathing the Bodhisatta and his mother.’ This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

20. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘As soon as the Bodhisatta was born, he stood firmly with his feet on the ground; then he took seven steps facing north, and with a white parasol held over him, he surveyed each quarter and uttered the words of the leader of the herd: “I am the highest in the world; I am the best in the world; I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth; now there is no renewed existence for me.”’8 This too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.

21. “I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips: ‘When the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, with its devas and human beings. And even in those abysmal world intervals of vacancy, gloom, and utter darkness, where the moon and the sun, mighty and powerful as they are, cannot make their light prevail—there too an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world. And the beings reborn there perceived each other by that light: “So indeed, there are also other beings reborn here.” And this ten-thousand-fold world system shook, quaked, and trembled, and there too an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world.’ That when the Bodhisatta came forth from his mother’s womb, an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world … this too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.”

22. “That being so, Ānanda, remember this too as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Tathāgata: Here, Ānanda, for the Tathāgata feelings are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear; perceptions are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear; thoughts are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear.9 Remember this too, Ānanda, as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Tathāgata.”

23. “Venerable sir, since for the Blessed One feelings are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear; perceptions are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear; thoughts are known as they arise, as they are present, as they disappear—this too I remember as a wonderful and marvelous quality of the Blessed One.”

That is what the Venerable Ānanda said. The Teacher approved. The monks were satisfied and delighted in the Venerable Ānanda’s words.

(MN 123: Acchariya-abbhūta Sutta, abridged; III 118–20; 122–24)

3. THE QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT

(1) Seeking the Supreme State of Sublime Peace

5. “Monks, there are these two kinds of search: the noble search and the ignoble search. And what is the ignoble search? Here someone being himself subject to birth seeks what is also subject to birth; being himself subject to aging, he seeks what is also subject to aging; being himself subject to sickness, he seeks what is also subject to sickness; being himself subject to death, he seeks what is also subject to death; being himself subject to sorrow, he seeks what is also subject to sorrow; being himself subject to defilement, he seeks what is also subject to defilement.

6–11. “And what may be said to be subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death; to sorrow and defilement? Wife and children, men and women slaves, goats and sheep, fowl and pigs, elephants, cattle, horses, and mares, gold and silver: these acquisitions are subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death; to sorrow and defilement; and one who is tied to these things, infatuated with them, and utterly absorbed in them, being himself subject to birth … to sorrow and defilement, seeks what it also subject to birth … to sorrow and defilement.10

12. “And what is the noble search? Here someone being himself subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, seeks the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to aging, having understood the danger in what is subject to aging, he seeks the unaging supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to sickness, having understood the danger in what is subject to sickness, he seeks the unailing supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, he seeks the deathless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to sorrow, having understood the danger in what is subject to sorrow, he seeks the sorrowless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to defilement, he seeks the undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna. This is the noble search.

13. “Monks, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened bodhisatta, I too, being myself subject to birth, sought what was also subject to birth; being myself subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, I sought what was also subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement. Then I considered thus: ‘Why, being myself subject to birth, do I seek what is also subject to birth? Why, being myself subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, do I seek what is also subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement? Suppose that, being myself subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, I seek the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna. Suppose that, being myself subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, I seek the unaging, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, and undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna.’

14. “Later, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, though my mother and father wished otherwise and wept with tearful faces, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the ochre robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness.

15. “Having gone forth, monks, in search of what is wholesome, seeking the supreme state of sublime peace, I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and said to him: ‘Friend Kālāma, I want to lead the spiritual life in this Dhamma and Discipline.’ Āḷāra Kālāma replied: ‘The venerable one may stay here. This Dhamma is such that a wise man can soon enter upon and dwell in it, realizing for himself through direct knowledge his own teacher’s doctrine.’ I soon quickly learned that Dhamma. As far as mere lip-reciting and rehearsal of his teaching went, I could speak with knowledge and assurance, and I claimed, ‘I know and see’—and there were others who did likewise.

“I considered: ‘It is not through mere faith alone that Āḷāra Kālāma declares: “By realizing it for myself with direct knowledge, I enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma.” Certainly Āḷāra Kālāma dwells knowing and seeing this Dhamma.’ Then I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and asked him: ‘Friend Kālāma, in what way do you declare that by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge you enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma?’ In reply he declared the base of nothingness.11

“I considered: ‘Not only Āḷāra Kālāma has faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. I too have faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. Suppose I endeavor to realize the Dhamma that Āḷāra Kālāma declares he enters upon and dwells in by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge?’

“I soon quickly entered upon and dwelled in that Dhamma by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge. Then I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and asked him: ‘Friend Kālāma, is it in this way that you declare that you enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge?’—‘That is the way, friend.’—‘It is in this way, friend, that I also enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge.’—‘It is a gain for us, friend, it is a great gain for us that we have such a venerable one for our fellow monk. So the Dhamma that I declare I enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge is the Dhamma that you enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge. And the Dhamma that you enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge is the Dhamma that I declare I enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge. So you know the Dhamma that I know and I know the Dhamma that you know. As I am, so are you; as you are, so am I. Come, friend, let us now lead this community together.’

“Thus Āḷāra Kālāma, my teacher, placed me, his pupil, on an equal footing with himself and awarded me the highest honor. But it occurred to me: ‘This Dhamma does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna, but only to rebirth in the base of nothingness.’12 Not being satisfied with that Dhamma, disappointed with it, I left.

16. “Still in search, monks, of what is wholesome, seeking the supreme state of sublime peace, I went to Uddaka Rāmaputta and said to him: ‘Friend, I want to lead the spiritual life in this Dhamma and Discipline.’ Uddaka Rāmaputta replied: ‘The venerable one may stay here. This Dhamma is such that a wise man can soon enter upon and dwell in it, himself realizing through direct knowledge his own teacher’s doctrine.’ I soon quickly learned that Dhamma. As far as mere lip-reciting and rehearsal of his teaching went, I could speak with knowledge and assurance, and I claimed, ‘I know and see’—and there were others who did likewise.

“I considered: ‘It was not through mere faith alone that Rāma declared: “By realizing it for myself with direct knowledge, I enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma.” Certainly Rāma dwelled knowing and seeing this Dhamma.’ Then I went to Uddaka Rāmaputta and asked him: ‘Friend, in what way did Rāma declare that by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge he entered upon and dwelled in this Dhamma?’ In reply Uddaka Rāmaputta declared the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception.13

“I considered: ‘Not only Rāma had faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. I too have faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. Suppose I endeavor to realize the Dhamma that Rāma declared he entered upon and dwelled in by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge.’

“I soon quickly entered upon and dwelled in that Dhamma by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge. Then I went to Uddaka Rāmaputta and asked him: ‘Friend, was it in this way that Rāma declared that he entered upon and dwelled in this Dhamma by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge?’—‘That is the way, friend.’—‘It is in this way, friend, that I also enter upon and dwell in this Dhamma by realizing it for myself with direct knowledge.’—‘It is a gain for us, friend, it is a great gain for us that we have such a venerable one for our fellow monk. So the Dhamma that Rāma declared he entered upon and dwelled in by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge is the Dhamma that you enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge. And the Dhamma that you enter upon and dwell in by realizing it for yourself with direct knowledge is the Dhamma that Rāma declared he entered upon and dwelled in by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge. So you know the Dhamma that Rāma knew and Rāma knew the Dhamma that you know. As Rāma was, so are you; as you are, so was Rāma. Come, friend, now lead this community.’

“Thus Uddaka Rāmaputta, my fellow monk, placed me in the position of a teacher and accorded me the highest honor. But it occurred to me: ‘This Dhamma does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna, but only to rebirth in the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception.’ Not being satisfied with that Dhamma, disappointed with it, I left.

17. “Still in search, monks, of what is wholesome, seeking the supreme state of sublime peace, I wandered by stages through the Magadhan country until eventually I arrived at Uruvelā near Senānigama. There I saw an agreeable piece of ground, a delightful grove with a clear-flowing river with pleasant, smooth banks and nearby a village for alms resort. I considered: ‘This is an agreeable piece of ground, this is a delightful grove with a clear-flowing river with pleasant, smooth banks and nearby a village for alms resort. This will serve for the striving of a clansman intent on striving.’ And I sat down there thinking: ‘This will serve for striving.’14

18. “Then, monks, being myself subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, seeking the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being myself subject to aging, having understood the danger in what is subject to aging, seeking the unaging supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the unaging supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being myself subject to sickness, having understood the danger in what is subject to sickness, seeking the unailing supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the unailing supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being myself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, seeking the deathless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the deathless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being myself subject to sorrow, having understood the danger in what is subject to sorrow, seeking the sorrowless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the sorrowless supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being myself subject to defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to defilement, seeking the undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna. The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘My liberation is unshakable. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence.’”

(from MN 26: Ariyapariyesana Sutta; I 160–67)

(2) The Realization of the Three True Knowledges

11. [Saccaka asked the Blessed One:]15 “Has there never arisen in Master Gotama a feeling so pleasant that it could invade his mind and remain? Has there never arisen in Master Gotama a feeling so painful that it could invade his mind and remain?”

12. “Why not, Aggivessana? Here, Aggivessana, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened bodhisatta, I thought: ‘Household life is crowded and dusty; life gone forth is wide open. It is not easy, while living in a home, to lead the holy life utterly perfect and pure as a polished shell. Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the ochre robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness.’

13–16. “Later, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life … [as in Text II,3(1) §§14–17] … And I sat down there thinking: ‘This will serve for striving.’

17. “Now these three similes occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. Suppose there were a wet sappy piece of wood lying in water, and a man came with an upper fire-stick, thinking: ‘I shall light a fire, I shall produce heat.’ What do you think, Aggivessana? Could the man light a fire and produce heat by taking the upper fire-stick and rubbing it against the wet sappy piece of wood lying in the water?”

“No, Master Gotama. Why not? Because it is a wet sappy piece of wood, and it is lying in water. Eventually the man would reap only weariness and disappointment.”

“So too, Aggivessana, as to those ascetics and brahmins who still do not live bodily withdrawn from sensual pleasures, and whose sensual desire, affection, infatuation, thirst, and fever for sensual pleasures has not been fully abandoned and suppressed internally, even if those good ascetics and brahmins feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are incapable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment; and even if those good ascetics and brahmins do not feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are incapable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment. This was the first simile that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before.

18. “Again, Aggivessana, a second simile occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. Suppose there were a wet sappy piece of wood lying on dry land far from water, and a man came with an upper fire-stick, thinking: ‘I shall light a fire, I shall produce heat.’ What do you think, Aggivessana? Could the man light a fire and produce heat by taking the upper fire-stick and rubbing it against the wet sappy piece of wood lying on dry land far from water?”

“No, Master Gotama. Why not? Because it is a wet sappy piece of wood, even though it is lying on dry land far from water. Eventually the man would reap only weariness and disappointment.”

“So too, Aggivessana, as to those ascetics and brahmins who live bodily withdrawn from sensual pleasures, but whose sensual desire, affection, infatuation, thirst, and fever for sensual pleasures has not been fully abandoned and suppressed internally, even if those good ascetics and brahmins feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are incapable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment; and even if those good ascetics and brahmins do not feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are incapable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment. This was the second simile that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before.

19. “Again, Aggivessana, a third simile occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. Suppose there were a dry sapless piece of wood lying on dry land far from water, and a man came with an upper fire-stick, thinking: ‘I shall light a fire, I shall produce heat.’ What do you think, Aggivessana? Could the man light a fire and produce heat by rubbing it against the dry sapless piece of wood lying on dry land far from water?”

“Yes, Master Gotama. Why so? Because it is a dry sapless piece of wood, and it is lying on dry land far from water.”

“So too, Aggivessana, as to those ascetics and brahmins who live bodily withdrawn from sensual pleasures, and whose sensual desire, affection, infatuation, thirst, and fever for sensual pleasures has been fully abandoned and suppressed internally, even if those good ascetics and brahmins feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are capable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment; and even if those good ascetics and brahmins do not feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, they are capable of knowledge and vision and supreme enlightenment.16 This was the third simile that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before. These are the three similes that occurred to me spontaneously, never heard before.

20. “I thought: ‘Suppose, with my teeth clenched and my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, I beat down, constrain, and crush mind with mind.’ So, with my teeth clenched and my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, I beat down, constrained, and crushed mind with mind. While I did so, sweat ran from my armpits. Just as a strong man might seize a weaker man by the head or shoulders and beat him down, constrain him, and crush him, so too, with my teeth clenched and my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, I beat down, constrained, and crushed mind with mind, and sweat ran from my armpits. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.17

21. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice the breathless meditation.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth and nose. While I did so, there was a loud sound of winds coming out from my ear holes. Just as there is a loud sound when a smith’s bellows are blown, so too, while I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my nose and ears, there was a loud sound of winds coming out from my ear holes. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

22. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice further the breathless meditation.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears. While I did so, violent winds cut through my head. Just as if a strong man were pressing against my head with the tip of a sharp sword, so too, while I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears, violent winds cut through my head. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

23. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice further the breathless meditation.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears. While I did so, there were violent pains in my head. Just as if a strong man were tightening a tough leather strap around my head as a headband, so too, while I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears, there were violent pains in my head. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

24. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice further the breathless meditation.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears. While I did so, violent winds carved up my belly. Just as if a skilled butcher or his apprentice were to carve up an ox’s belly with a sharp butcher’s knife, so too, while I stopped the in-breaths and outbreaths through my mouth, nose, and ears, violent winds carved up my belly. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

25. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice further the breathless meditation.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears. While I did so, there was a violent burning in my body. Just as if two strong men were to seize a weaker man by both arms and roast him over a pit of hot coals, so too, while I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears, there was a violent burning in my body. But although tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was overwrought and strained because I was exhausted by the painful striving. But such painful feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

26. “Now when deities saw me, some said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is dead.’ Other deities said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is not dead, he is dying.’ And other deities said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is neither dead nor dying; he is an arahant, for such is the way arahants dwell.’

27. “I thought: ‘Suppose I practice entirely cutting off food.’ Then deities came to me and said: ‘Good sir, do not practice entirely cutting off food. If you do so, we shall infuse heavenly food into the pores of your skin and this will sustain you.’ I considered: ‘If I claim to be completely fasting while these deities infuse heavenly food into the pores of my skin and this sustains me, then I shall be lying.’ So I dismissed those deities, saying: ‘There is no need.’

28. “I thought: ‘Suppose I take very little food, a handful each time, whether of bean soup or lentil soup or vetch soup or pea soup.’ So I took very little food, a handful each time, whether of bean soup or lentil soup or vetch soup or pea soup. While I did so, my body reached a state of extreme emaciation. Because of eating so little my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems. Because of eating so little my backside became like a camel’s hoof. Because of eating so little the projections on my spine stood forth like corded beads. Because of eating so little my ribs jutted out as gaunt as the crazy rafters of an old roofless barn. Because of eating so little the gleam of my eyes sank far down in their sockets, looking like the gleam of water that has sunk far down in a deep well. Because of eating so little my scalp shriveled and withered as a green bitter gourd shrivels and withers in the wind and sun. Because of eating so little my belly skin adhered to my backbone; thus if I touched my belly skin I encountered my backbone and if I touched my backbone I encountered my belly skin. Because of eating so little, if I defecated or urinated, I fell over on my face there. Because of eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell from my body as I rubbed.

29. “Now when people saw me, some said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is black.’ Other people said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is not black; he is brown.’ Other people said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is neither black nor brown; he is golden-skinned.’ So much had the clear, bright color of my skin deteriorated through eating so little.

30. “I thought: ‘Whatever ascetics or brahmins in the past have experienced painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, this is the utmost; there is none beyond this. And whatever ascetics and brahmins in the future will experience painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, this is the utmost; there is none beyond this. And whatever ascetics and brahmins at present experience painful, racking, piercing feelings due to exertion, this is the utmost; there is none beyond this. But by this racking practice of austerities I have not attained any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to enlightenment?’

31. “I considered: ‘I recall that when my father the Sakyan was occupied, while I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered and dwelled in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion.18 Could this be the path to enlightenment?’ Then, following on that memory, came the realization: ‘This is indeed the path to enlightenment.’

32. “I thought: ‘Why am I afraid of that happiness that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures and unwholesome states?’ I thought: ‘I am not afraid of that happiness that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures and unwholesome states.’

33. “I considered: ‘It is not easy to attain that happiness with a body so excessively emaciated. Suppose I ate some solid food—some boiled rice and porridge.’ And I ate some solid food—some boiled rice and porridge. Now at that time five monks were waiting upon me, thinking: ‘If our ascetic Gotama achieves some higher state, he will inform us.’ But when I ate the boiled rice and porridge, the five monks were disgusted and left me, thinking: ‘The ascetic Gotama now lives luxuriously; he has given up his striving and reverted to luxury.’

34. “Now when I had eaten solid food and regained my strength, then secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered and dwelled in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.19

35. “With the subsiding of thought and examination, I entered and dwelled in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and examination, and has rapture and happiness born of concentration. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

36. “With the fading away as well of rapture, I dwelled equanimous, and mindful and clearly comprehending, I experienced happiness with the body; I entered and dwelled in the third jhāna of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

37. “With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and displeasure, I entered and dwelled in the fourth jhāna, which is neither painful nor pleasant and includes the purification of mindfulness by equanimity. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

38. “When my mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of world-contraction, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion: ‘There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifespan; and passing away from there, I was reborn elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifespan; and passing away from there, I was reborn here.’ Thus with their aspects and particulars I recollected my manifold past lives.

39. “This was the first true knowledge attained by me in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who dwells diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

40. “When my mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings fare on according to their actions thus: ‘These beings who behaved wrongly by body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong view, and undertook actions based on wrong view, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell; but these beings who behaved well by body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right view, and undertook action based on right view, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.’ Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings fare on according to their actions.

41. “This was the second true knowledge attained by me in the middle watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who dwells diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

42. “When my mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. I directly knew as it actually is: ‘This is suffering. This is the origin of suffering. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ I directly knew as it actually is: ‘These are the taints. This is the origin of the taints. This is the cessation of the taints. This is the way leading to the cessation of the taints.’

43. “When I knew and saw thus, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of existence, and from the taint of ignorance. When it was liberated, there came the knowledge: ‘It is liberated.’ I directly knew: ‘Birth is destroyed, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’

44. “This was the third true knowledge attained by me in the last watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who dwells diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.”

(from MN 36: Mahāsaccaka Sutta; I 240–49)

(3) The Ancient City

“Monks, before my enlightenment, while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, it occurred to me: ‘Alas, this world has fallen into trouble, in that it is born, ages, and dies, it passes away and is reborn, yet it does not understand the escape from this suffering headed by aging-and-death. When now will an escape be discerned from this suffering headed by aging-and-death?’

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘When what exists does aging-and-death come to be? By what is aging-and-death conditioned?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is birth, aging-and-death comes to be; aging-and-death has birth as its condition.’

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘When what exists does birth come to be?… existence?… clinging?… craving?… feeling?… contact?… the six sense bases?… name-and-form? By what is name-and-form conditioned?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is consciousness, name-and-form comes to be; name-and-form has consciousness as its condition.’

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘When what exists does consciousness come to be? By what is consciousness conditioned?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is name-and-form, consciousness comes to be; consciousness has name-and-form as its condition.’20

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘This consciousness turns back; it does not go further than name-and-form. It is to this extent that one may be born and age and die, pass away and be reborn, that is, when there is consciousness with name-and-form as its condition, and name-and-form with consciousness as its condition.21 With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, contact…. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.’

“‘Origination, origination’—thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘When what does not exist does aging-and-death not come to be? With the cessation of what does the cessation of aging-and-death come about?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is no birth, aging-and-death does not come to be; with the cessation of birth comes cessation of aging-and-death.’

“It occurred to me: ‘When what does not exist does birth not come to be?… existence?… clinging?… craving?… feeling?… contact?… the six sense bases?… name-and-form? With the cessation of what does the cessation of name-and-form come about?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is no consciousness, name-and-form does not come to be; with the cessation of consciousness comes cessation of name-and-form.’

“It occurred to me: ‘When what does not exist does consciousness not come to be? With the cessation of what does the cessation of consciousness come about?’ Then, monks, through careful attention, there took place in me a breakthrough by wisdom: ‘When there is no name-and-form, consciousness does not come to be; with the cessation of name-and-form comes cessation of consciousness.’

“Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘I have discovered this path to enlightenment, that is, with the cessation of name-and-form comes cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness comes cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.’22

“‘Cessation, cessation’—thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“Suppose, monks, a man wandering through a forest would see an ancient path, an ancient road traveled upon by people in the past. He would follow it and would see an ancient city, an ancient capital that had been inhabited by people in the past, with parks, groves, ponds, and ramparts, a delightful place. Then the man would inform the king or a royal minister: ‘Sire, know that while wandering through the forest I saw an ancient path, an ancient road traveled upon by people in the past. I followed it and saw an ancient city, an ancient capital that had been inhabited by people in the past, with parks, groves, ponds, and ramparts, a delightful place. Renovate that city, sire!’ Then the king or the royal minister would renovate the city, and some time later that city would become successful and prosperous, well populated, filled with people, attained to growth and expansion.

“So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that ancient path, that ancient road? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. I followed that path and by doing so I have directly known aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation. I have directly known birth… existence … clinging … craving … feeling … contact … the six sense bases … name-and-form … consciousness … volitional formations, their origin, their cessation, and the way leading to their cessation.23 Having directly known them, I have explained them to the monks, the nuns, the male lay followers, and the female lay followers. This spiritual life, monks, has become successful and prosperous, extended, popular, widespread, well proclaimed among devas and humans.”

(SN 12:65; II 104–7)

4. THE DECISION TO TEACH

19. “I considered: ‘This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. But this population delights in attachment, takes delight in attachment, rejoices in attachment.24 It is hard for such a population to see this truth, namely, specific conditionality, dependent origination. And it is hard to see this truth, namely, the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna.25 If I were to teach the Dhamma, others would not understand me, and that would be wearying and troublesome for me.’ Thereupon there came to me spontaneously these stanzas never heard before:

Enough with teaching the Dhamma
That even I found hard to reach;
For it will never be perceived
By those who live in lust and hate.

Those dyed in lust, wrapped in darkness
Will never discern this abstruse Dhamma,
Which goes against the worldly stream,
Subtle, deep, and difficult to see.

“Considering thus, my mind inclined to inaction rather than to teaching the Dhamma.26

20. “Then, monks, the Brahmā Sahampati knew with his mind the thought in my mind and he considered: ‘The world will be lost, the world will perish, since the mind of the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One, inclines to inaction rather than to teaching the Dhamma.’ Then, just as quickly as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, the Brahmā Sahampati vanished in the brahma world and appeared before me. He arranged his upper robe on one shoulder, and extending his hands in reverential salutation toward me, said: ‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma, let the Sublime One teach the Dhamma. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are perishing through not hearing the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.’ The Brahmā Sahampati spoke thus, and then he said further:

‘In Magadha there have appeared till now
Impure teachings devised by those still stained.
‘Open the doors to the Deathless! Let them hear
The Dhamma that the stainless one has found.

‘Just as one who stands on a mountain peak
Can see below the people all around,
So, O wise one, all-seeing sage,
Ascend the palace of the Dhamma.

Let the sorrowless one survey this human breed,
Engulfed in sorrow, overcome by birth and old age.
‘Arise, victorious hero, caravan leader,
Debtless one, and wander in the world.

Let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma,
There will be those who will understand.’

21. “Then I listened to the Brahmā’s pleading, and out of compassion for beings I surveyed the world with the eye of a Buddha. Surveying the world with the eye of a Buddha, I saw beings with little dust in their eyes and with much dust in their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach, and some who dwelled seeing fear and blame in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses that are born and grow in the water thrive immersed in the water without rising out of it, and some other lotuses that are born and grow in the water rest on the water’s surface, and some other lotuses that are born and grow in the water rise out of the water and stand clear, unwetted by it; so too, surveying the world with the eye of a Buddha, I saw beings with little dust in their eyes and with much dust in their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach, and some who dwelled seeing fear and blame in the other world. Then I replied to the Brahmā Sahampati in stanzas:

‘Open for them are the doors to the Deathless,
Let those with ears now show their faith.
Thinking it would be troublesome, O Brahmā,
I did not speak the Dhamma subtle and sublime.’

“Then the Brahmā Sahampati thought: ‘The Blessed One has consented to my request that he teach the Dhamma.’ And after paying homage to me, keeping me on the right, he thereupon departed at once.

22. “I considered thus: ‘To whom should I first teach the Dhamma? Who will understand this Dhamma quickly?’ It then occurred to me: ‘Āḷāra Kālāma is wise, intelligent, and discerning; he has long had little dust in his eyes. Suppose I taught the Dhamma first to Āḷāra Kālāma. He will understand it quickly.’ Then deities approached me and said: ‘Venerable sir, Āḷāra Kālāma died seven days ago.’ And the knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Āḷāra Kālāma died seven days ago.’ I thought: ‘Āḷāra Kālāma’s loss is a great one. If he had heard this Dhamma, he would have understood it quickly.’

23. “I considered thus: ‘To whom should I first teach the Dhamma? Who will understand this Dhamma quickly?’ It then occurred to me: ‘Uddaka Rāmaputta is wise, intelligent, and discerning; he has long had little dust in his eyes. Suppose I taught the Dhamma first to Uddaka Rāmaputta. He will understand it quickly.’ Then deities approached me and said: ‘Venerable sir, Uddaka Rāmaputta died last night.’ And the knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Uddaka Rāmaputta died last night.’ I thought: ‘Uddaka Rāmaputta’s loss is a great one. If he had heard this Dhamma, he would have understood it quickly.’

24. “I considered thus: ‘To whom should I first teach the Dhamma? Who will understand this Dhamma quickly?’ It then occurred to me: ‘The monks of the group of five who attended upon me while I was engaged in my striving were very helpful.27 Suppose I taught the Dhamma first to them.’ Then I thought: ‘Where are the monks of the group of five now living?’ And with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw that they were living at Bārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana.

25. “Then, monks, when I had stayed at Uruvelā as long as I chose, I set out to wander by stages to Bārāṇasī. Between Gayā and the Bodhi, the Ājīvaka Upaka saw me on the road and said: ‘Friend, your faculties are clear, the color of your skin is pure and bright. Under whom have you gone forth, friend? Who is your teacher? Whose Dhamma do you profess?’ I replied to the Ājīvaka Upaka in stanzas:

‘I am one who has transcended all, a knower of all,
Unsullied among all things, renouncing all,
By craving’s ceasing freed. Having known this all
For myself, to whom should I point as teacher?

‘I have no teacher, and one like me
Exists nowhere in all the world
With all its devas, because I have
No person for my counterpart.

‘For I am the arahant in the world,
I am the teacher supreme.
I alone am a Perfectly Enlightened One
Whose fires are quenched and extinguished.

‘I go now to the city of Kāsi
To set in motion the wheel of Dhamma.
In a world that has become blind
I go to beat the drum of the Deathless.’

‘By your claims, friend, you ought to be the universal victor.’28

‘The victors are those like me
Who have won the destruction of taints.
I have vanquished all evil states,
Therefore, Upaka, I am a victor.’

“When this was said, the Ājīvaka Upaka said: ‘May it be so, friend.’ Shaking his head, he took a bypath and departed.

26. “Then, monks, wandering by stages, I eventually came to Bārāṇasī, to the Deer Park at Isipatana, and I approached the monks of the group of five. The monks saw me coming in the distance, and they agreed among themselves thus: ‘Friends, here comes the ascetic Gotama who lives luxuriously, who gave up his striving and reverted to luxury. We should not pay homage to him or rise up for him or receive his bowl and outer robe. But a seat may be prepared for him. If he likes, he may sit down.’ However, as I approached, those monks found themselves unable to keep their pact. One came to meet me and took my bowl and outer robe, another prepared a seat, and another set out water for my feet; however, they addressed me by name and as ‘friend.’29

27. “Thereupon I told them: ‘Monks, do not address the Tathāgata by name and as “friend.” The Tathāgata is an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One. Listen, monks, the Deathless has been attained. I shall instruct you, I shall teach you the Dhamma. Practicing as you are instructed, by realizing it for yourselves here and now through direct knowledge you will soon enter and dwell in that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness.’

“When this was said, the monks of the group of five answered me thus: ‘Friend Gotama, by the conduct, the practice, and the performance of austerities that you undertook, you did not achieve any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Since you now live luxuriously, having given up your striving and reverted to luxury, how could you have achieved any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones?’ When this was said, I told them: ‘The Tathāgata does not live luxuriously, nor has he given up his striving and reverted to luxury. The Tathāgata is an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One. Listen, monks, the Deathless has been attained … from the home life into homelessness.’

“A second time the monks of the group of five said to me: ‘Friend Gotama … how could you have achieved any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones?’ A second time I told them: ‘The Tathāgata does not live luxuriously … from the home life into homelessness.’ A third time the monks of the group of five said to me: ‘Friend Gotama … how could you have achieved any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones?’

28. “When this was said I asked them: ‘Monks, have you ever known me to speak like this before?’—‘No, venerable sir.’30—‘Monks, the Tathāgata is an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One. Listen, monks, the Deathless has been attained. I shall instruct you, I shall teach you the Dhamma. Practicing as you are instructed, by realizing it for yourselves here and now through direct knowledge, you will soon enter and dwell in that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness.’

29. “I was able to convince the monks of the group of five.31 Then I sometimes instructed two monks while the other three went for alms, and the six of us lived on what those three monks brought back from their almsround. Sometimes I instructed three monks while the other two went for alms, and the six of us lived on what those two monks brought back from their almsround.

30. “Then the monks of the group of five, thus taught and instructed by me, being themselves subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, seeking the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, attained the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being themselves subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, seeking the unaging, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, and undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, they attained the unaging, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, and undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna. The knowledge and vision arose in them: ‘Our liberation is unshakable; this is our last birth; now there is no more renewed existence.’”

(from MN 26: Ariyapariyesana Sutta; I 167–73)

5. THE FIRST DISCOURSE

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Bārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There the Blessed One addressed the monks of the group of five thus:

“Monks, these two extremes should not be followed by one who has gone forth into homelessness. What two? The pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, ignoble, unbeneficial; and the pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, unbeneficial. Without veering toward either of these extremes, the Tathāgata has awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

“And what, monks, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, monks, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving that leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonattachment.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

“‘This is the noble truth of suffering’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.32

“‘This noble truth of suffering is to be fully understood’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.33

“‘This noble truth of suffering has been fully understood’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.34

“‘This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the origin of suffering is to be abandoned’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the origin of suffering has been abandoned’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the cessation of suffering is to be realized’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been realized’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering is to be developed’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“‘This noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering has been developed’: thus, monks, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.

“So long, monks, as my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was not thoroughly purified in this way,35 I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence.’”

This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, the monks of the group of five delighted in the Blessed One’s statement. And while this discourse was being spoken, there arose in the Venerable Koṇḍañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma: “Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.”36

And when the wheel of the Dhamma had been set in motion by the Blessed One, the earth-dwelling devas raised a cry: “At Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, this unsurpassed wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped by any ascetic or brahmin or deva or Māra or Brahmā or by anyone in the world.” Having heard the cry of the earth-dwelling devas, the devas of the realm of the Four Great Kings raised a cry: “At Bārāṇasī … this unsurpassed wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped … by anyone in the world.” Having heard the cry of the devas of the realm of the Four Great Kings, the Tāvatiṃsa devas … the Yāma devas … the Tusita devas … the devas who delight in creating … the devas who wield power over others’ creations … the devas of Brahmā’s company37 raised a cry: “At Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, this unsurpassed wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped by any ascetic or brahmin or deva or Māra or Brahmā or by anyone in the world.”

Thus at that moment, at that instant, at that second, the cry spread as far as the brahma world, and this ten-thousand-fold world system shook, quaked, and trembled, and an immeasurable great radiance surpassing the divine majesty of the devas appeared in the world.

Then the Blessed One uttered this inspired utterance: “Koṇḍañña has indeed understood! Koṇḍañña has indeed understood!” In this way the Venerable Koṇḍañña acquired the name “Aññā Koṇḍañña—Koṇḍañña Who Has Understood.”

(SN 56:11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta; V 420–24)

______________________

Notes:

1.Suttanipāta v. 335.

2.Although the bodhisattva ideal is usually understood to be distinctive of Mahāyāna Buddhism, all the schools of Sectarian Buddhism in the period preceding the emergence of the Mahāyāna shared the belief that the Buddha pursued the course of a bodhisattva over many eons, fulfilling the requirements for Buddhahood. Mahāyāna’s contribution was to advocate the bodhisattva career as a prescriptive model for all Buddhist followers to pursue.

3.The “six things unsurpassed” (cha anuttariyā) are explained at AN 6:130: the unsurpassed sight (i.e., the sight of a Buddha or his disciple); the unsurpassed hearing (i.e., hearing the Dhamma from a Buddha or his disciple); the unsurpassed gain (i.e., the gain of faith in a Buddha or his disciple); the unsurpassed training (i.e., training in the higher morality, higher mind, higher wisdom as taught by a Buddha or his disciple); the unsurpassed service (i.e., service to a Buddha or his disciple); the unsurpassed recollection (i.e., the recollection of a Buddha or his disciple). The “four analytical knowledges” (catasso paṭisambhidā) are the analytical knowledges of meaning, doctrine, language, and ingenuity. The fruits of stream-entry, etc., are explained in chapter X.

4.As the Buddha’s personal attendant, Ānanda was known for his personal dedication to his master. In the main portion of the sutta, where he articulates the traditional beliefs about the wonders accompanying the Buddha’s conception and birth, he seems to represent the voice of faithful devotion.

5.This refers to the Bodhisatta’s rebirth in the Tusita heaven, which preceded his birth in the human world as Gotama the future Buddha.

6.Ps: Between every three world systems there is an interstice measuring 8,000 yojanas; it is like the space between three wagon wheels or almsbowls touching one another. The beings who live there have taken rebirth there because of committing some terrible offence against their parents or righteous ascetics and brahmins, or because of some habitual evil deed like killing animals, etc.

7.Ps: The four deities were the Four Great Kings (i.e., the presiding deities of the heaven of the Four Great Kings).

8.Ps explains each aspect of this event as a foretoken of the Buddha’s later attainments. Thus, his standing with his feet (pāda) firmly on the ground was a foretoken of his attaining the four bases for spiritual power (iddhipāda); his facing the north, of his going above and beyond the multitude; his seven steps, of his acquiring the seven enlightenment factors; the white parasol, of his acquiring the parasol of liberation; his surveying the quarters, of his acquiring the unobstructed knowledge of omniscience; his uttering the words of the “leader of the herd” (an epithet for an eminent person), of his setting in motion the irreversible wheel of the Dhamma; his statement “This is my last birth,” of his passing away into the Nibbāna element with no residue remaining (see Text IX,5(5)).

9.This statement seems to be the Buddha’s way of calling attention to the quality he regarded as the true wonder and marvel.

10.In the unabridged version of this text, gold and silver are excluded from the things subject to sickness, death, and sorrow, but they are subject to defilement, according to Ps, because they can be alloyed with metals of lesser worth.

11.Ākiñcaññāyatana. This is the third formless meditative attainment; preceded by the four jhānas, it is the seventh of the eight attainments (samāpatti) in the scale of concentration. These attainments, though spiritually exalted, are still mundane and, divorced from insight, are not directly conducive to Nibbāna.

12.That is, it leads to rebirth in the plane of existence called the base of nothingness, the objective counterpart of the seventh meditative attainment. Here the lifespan is said to be 60,000 eons, but when that has elapsed one must pass away and return to a lower world. Thus one who attains this is still not free from birth and death.

13.N’eva saññānāsaññāyatana. This is the fourth and highest formless attainment. It should be noted that Uddaka Rāmaputta is Rāma’s son (putta), not Rāma himself. The text gives the impression that while Rāma had attained the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception, Uddaka himself had not done so. The attainment of this base leads to rebirth in the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception, the highest plane of rebirth in saṃsāra. The lifespan there is said to be 84,000 eons, but being conditioned and impermanent, it is still ultimately unsatisfactory.

14.Text II,3(2) continues from this point with an extended account of the Bodhisatta’s extreme ascetic practices followed by his discovery of the middle way.

15.Saccaka was a debater whom, on an earlier occasion, the Buddha had defeated in a discussion. Aggivessana, the name by which the Buddha addresses him just below, is probably his clan name. The present discourse begins with a discussion about pleasant and painful feeling, which gives the cue for Saccaka to pose these questions to the Buddha.

16.It is puzzling that in the following paragraphs the Bodhisatta is shown engaging in self-mortification after he comes to the conclusion—in this passage—that such practices are useless for the attainment of enlightenment. This anomaly raises a suspicion that the narrative sequence of the sutta has become jumbled. The appropriate place for the simile of the fire-sticks, it seems, would be at the end of the Bodhisatta’s period of ascetic experimentation, when he has acquired a sound basis for rejecting self-mortification as a way to enlightenment.

17.This sentence, repeated at the end of each of the following sections as well, answers the second of the two questions posed by Saccaka in §11.

18.Ps explains that when the Bodhisatta was a child, his father brought him along to attend the ceremonial plowing festival of the Sakyans. The young prince’s attendants left him under a rose-apple tree and went to watch the plowing ceremony. Finding himself all alone, the Bodhisatta spontaneously sat up in the meditation posture and attained the first jhāna through mindfulness of breathing. Though the sun moved, the shade of the tree remained over the Bodhisatta. When the attendants returned and found the boy seated in meditation, they reported this to the king, who came and bowed in veneration to his son.

19.This sentence answers the first of the two questions posed by Saccaka in §11. This passage shows a change in the Bodhisatta’s evaluation of pleasure. When pleasure arises from seclusion and detachment, it is no longer something to be feared and banished by the practice of austerities but becomes an adjunct of the higher stages along the path to enlightenment.

20.In the usual formula of dependent origination, consciousness is said to be conditioned by volitional formations (saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṃ). This variant reveals the interplay of consciousness and name-and-form to be the “hidden vortex” underlying all existence within the round of rebirths.

21.Spk: “To this extent one may be born, age, and die: With consciousness as a condition for name-and-form, and with name-and-form as a condition for consciousness, to this extent one may be born and undergo rebirth. What is there beyond this that can be born or undergo rebirth? Isn’t it just this that is born and undergoes rebirth?”

22.Note that the Buddha discovers the path to enlightenment by realizing the cessation of consciousness, name-and-form, and the other links of dependent origination. Cessation is realized with the experience of Nibbāna, the deathless element.

23.At this point the text introduces volitional formations. Its principal condition is ignorance, and thus by mentioning its origin, ignorance too is implied. In this way, all twelve factors of the usual formula of dependent origination are included, at least by implication.

24.Ālaya. The word signifies both the objects of clinging and the subjective attitude of clinging.

25.By mentioning these two themes—dependent origination and Nibbāna—in his reflections immediately after his enlightenment, the Buddha underscores their importance for understanding the content of his enlightenment. The enlightenment thus involved a comprehension, first, of the dependent origination of suffering, and second, of Nibbāna as the state of ultimate liberation that transcends all phenomena involved in the dependent origination of suffering. The Buddha first had to comprehend dependent origination, and only when he had done so could he arrive at the realization of Nibbāna. The “acquisitions” (upadhi) that are relinquished can be understood as twofold: in terms of the object, as the five aggregates or, more broadly, as all objects of appropriation; and subjectively, as the craving that motivates acts of appropriation.

26.Ps raises the question why, when the Bodhisatta had long ago made an aspiration to attain Buddhahood in order to liberate others, his mind now inclined toward inaction. The reason, it says, is that only now, after becoming enlightened, did he recognize how profound the Dhamma was and how difficult it would be for those with strong defilements to understand it. Also, he wanted Brahmā to ask him to teach so that people who venerate Brahmā would respect the Dhamma and wish to hear it.

27.These five monks attended on the Bodhisatta during his period of self-mortification, convinced that he would attain enlightenment and teach them the Dhamma. However, when he abandoned his austerities and resumed taking solid food, they lost faith in him and deserted him, accusing him of reverting to luxury. See Text II,3(2).

28.Anantajina: perhaps this was an epithet used by the Ājīvakas for the spiritually perfected individual.

29.Āvuso: a familiar term of address used among equals.

30.The change in address from “friend” (āvuso) to “venerable sir” (bhante) indicates that they have now accepted the Buddha’s claim and are prepared to regard him as their superior.

31.At this point the Buddha preached to them his first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, “The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dhamma”; see Text II,5. Several days later, after they had all become stream-enterers, he taught them the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, “The Characteristic of Nonself,” upon hearing which they all attained arahantship; see Text IX,4(1)(c). The complete narrative is at Vin I 7–14. See Ñāṇamoli, The Life of the Buddha, p. 47.

32.The first section under the exposition of each noble truth simply reveals the knowledge of the truth itself (saccañāṇa).

33.The second section under the exposition of each noble truth reveals the knowledge of the task to be accomplished with regard to that truth (kiccañāṇa). The first noble truth is to be fully understood (pariññeyya), the second to be abandoned (pahātabba), the third to be realized (sacchikātabba), and the fourth to be developed (bhāvetabba).

34.The third section under the exposition of each noble truth reveals the knowledge of the completion of the task appropriate to that truth (katañāṇa). The first noble truth has been fully understood (pariññāta), the second has been abandoned (pahīna), the third has been realized (sacchikata), and the fourth has been developed (bhāveta).

35.The three phases (tiparivaṭṭa) are: (i) the knowledge of each truth; (ii) the knowledge of the task to be achieved regarding that truth; and (iii) the knowledge that this task has been completed. The twelve modes (dvādasākāra) are obtained by applying the three phases to the four truths.

36.This stock formulation implies that on this occasion, Koṇḍañña attained the first stage of enlightenment, stream-entry.

37.These are the devas of the six sense-sphere heavenly worlds and the brahma world.

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