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INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, we come to the unique distinguishing feature of the Buddha’s teaching, its “supramundane” or “world-transcending” (lokuttara) path to liberation. This path builds upon the transformed understanding and deepened perspective on the nature of the world that arise from our recognition of the perils in sensual pleasures, the inevitability of death, and the vicious nature of saṃsāra, themes that we surveyed in the previous chapter. It aims to lead the practitioner to the state of liberation that lies beyond all realms of conditioned existence, to the same sorrowless and stainless bliss of Nibbāna that the Buddha himself attained on the night of his enlightenment.

This chapter presents texts that offer a broad overview of the Buddha’s world-transcending path; the following two chapters will bring together texts that focus more finely on the training of the mind and the cultivation of wisdom, the two major branches of the world-transcending path. I begin, however, with several suttas that are intended to clarify the purpose of this path, illuminating it from different angles. Text VII,1(1), The Shorter Discourse to Māluṅkyāputta (MN 63), shows that the Buddhist path is not designed to provide theoretical answers to philosophical questions. In this sutta the monk Māluṅkyāputta approaches the Buddha and demands answers to ten speculative questions, threatening to leave the Saṅgha if this demand is not satisfied. Scholars have debated whether the Buddha refused to answer such questions because they are in principle unanswerable or simply because they are irrelevant to a practical resolution of the problem of suffering. Two collections of suttas in the Saṃyutta Nikāya—SN 33:1–10 and SN 44:7–8—make it clear that the Buddha’s “silence” had a deeper basis than mere pragmatic concerns. These suttas show that all such questions are based on an underlying assumption that existence is to be interpreted in terms of a self and a world in which the self is situated. Since these premises are invalid, no answer framed in terms of these premises can be valid, and thus the Buddha must reject the very questions themselves.

However, while the Buddha had philosophical grounds for refusing to answer these questions, he also rejected them because he considered the obsession with their solutions to be irrelevant to the quest for release from suffering. This reason is the evident point of the discourse to Māluṅkyāputta, with its well-known simile of the man shot by the poisoned arrow. Whether any of these views is true or not, the Buddha says, “there is birth, there is aging, there is death, there are sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, the destruction of which I prescribe here and now.” Against the picture of the saṃsāric background sketched at the end of the previous chapter, this statement now takes on an expanded meaning: the “destruction of birth, aging, and death” is not merely the end of suffering in a single lifetime, but the end of the immeasurable suffering of repeated birth, aging, and death that we have undergone in the countless eons of saṃsāra.

Text VII,1(2), The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood (MN 29), clarifies from a different angle the Buddha’s purpose in expounding his world-transcending Dhamma. The sutta is about a “clansman” who has gone forth from the household life into homelessness intent on reaching the end of suffering. Though earnest in purpose at the time of his ordination, once he attains some success, whether a lower achievement like gain and honor or a superior one like concentration and insight, he becomes complacent and neglects his original purpose in entering the Buddha’s path. The Buddha declares that none of these stations along the way—not moral discipline, concentration, or even knowledge and vision—is the final goal of the spiritual life. The goal, its heartwood or essential purpose, is “unshakable liberation of the mind,” and he urges those who have entered the path not to be satisfied with anything less.

Text VII,1(3) is a selection of suttas from “The Connected Discourses on the Path” (Maggasaṃyutta). These suttas state that the purpose of practicing the spiritual life under the Buddha is “the fading away of lust, … final Nibbāna without clinging,” the Noble Eightfold Path being the way to attain each of these aims.

The Noble Eightfold Path is the classical formulation of the way to liberation, as is already clear from the Buddha’s first sermon, in which he calls the Eightfold Path the way to the cessation of suffering. Text VII,2 gives formal definitions of the individual path factors but does not show concretely how their practice is to be integrated into the life of a disciple. The detailed application will be filled out later in this chapter and in chapters VIII and IX.

Text VII,3 throws a different spotlight on the path than we are accustomed to hear in standard Buddhist rhetoric. While we are often told that the practice of the Buddhist path depends entirely on personal effort, this sutta emphasizes the importance of spiritual friendship. The Buddha declares that spiritual friendship is not merely “half the spiritual life” but the whole of it, for the endeavor to attain spiritual perfection is not a purely solitary enterprise but occurs in dependence on close personal ties. Spiritual friendship gives the practice of the Dhamma an inescapably human dimension and welds the body of Buddhist practitioners into a community united both vertically by the relationship of teacher to students and horizontally by friendships among peers treading a shared path.

Contrary to a common assumption, the eight path factors are not steps to be followed in sequence, one after another. They are more appropriately described as components than as steps. Optimally, all eight factors should be present simultaneously, each making its own distinctive contribution, like eight interwoven strands of a cable that give the cable maximum strength. However, until that stage is reached, it is inevitable that the factors of the path exhibit some degree of sequence in their development. The eight factors are commonly distributed into three groups as follows:

1.the moral discipline group (sīlakkhandha), made up of right speech, right action, and right livelihood;

2.the concentration group (samādhikkhandha), made up of right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;

3.the wisdom group (paññākkhandha), made up of right view and right intention.

Within the Nikāyas, however, this correlation occurs only once (at MN 44; I 301), where it is ascribed to the nun Dhammadinnā, not to the Buddha himself. It might be said that the two wisdom factors are placed at the beginning because a preliminary right view and right intention are required at the outset of the path, right view providing the conceptual understanding of Buddhist principles that guides the development of the other path factors, right intention the proper motivation and direction for the development of the path.

In the Nikāyas, the Buddha often expounds the practice of the path as a gradual training (anupubbasikkhā) that unfolds in stages from the first step to the final goal. This gradual training is a finer subdivision of the threefold division of the path into moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom. Invariably in the suttas the exposition of the gradual training begins with the going forth into homelessness and the adoption of the lifestyle of a bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk. This immediately calls attention to the importance of the monastic life in the Buddha’s pragmatic vision. In principle the entire practice of the Noble Eightfold Path is open to people from any mode of life, monastic or lay, and the Buddha confirms that many among his lay followers were accomplished in the Dhamma and had attained the first three of the four stages of awakening, up to nonreturning (anāgāmī; Theravāda commentators say that lay followers can also attain the fourth stage, arahantship, but they do so either on the verge of death or after attainment immediately seek the going forth). The fact remains, however, that the household life inevitably fosters a multitude of mundane concerns and personal attachments that impede the single-hearted quest for liberation. Thus when the Buddha set out on his own noble quest he did so by going into homelessness, and after his enlightenment, as a practical way to help others, he established the Saṅgha, the order of monks and nuns, for those who want to devote themselves fully to the Dhamma unhindered by the cares of household life.

The gradual training occurs in two versions: a longer version in the Dīgha Nikāya and a middle-length version in the Majjhima Nikāya. The principal differences are: (1) the longer version has a more detailed treatment of the observances that pertain to monastic etiquette and ascetic self-restraint; (2) the longer version includes eight types of higher knowledge while the middle-length version has three types. However, as these three types are the ones mentioned in the Buddha’s account of his own enlightenment (see Text II,3(2)), they are by far the most important. The main paradigm for the longer version of the gradual training is found at DN 2; the middle-length version is at MN 27 and MN 51, with variants at MN 38, MN 39, MN 53, MN 107, and MN 125. Here, Text VII,4 includes the whole of MN 27, which embeds the training in the simile of the elephant’s footprint that gives the sutta its name. Text VII,5, an excerpt from MN 39, repeats the higher stages of the training as described in MN 27, but includes the impressive similes not included in the latter version.

The sequence opens with the appearance of a Tathāgata in the world and his exposition of the Dhamma. Having heard this, the disciple acquires faith and follows the Teacher into homelessness. He then undertakes the rules of discipline that promote the purification of conduct and the right livelihood of an ascetic. The next three steps—contentment, restraint of the sense faculties, and mindfulness and clear comprehension—internalize the process of purification and thereby bridge the transition from moral discipline to concentration.

The section on the abandonment of the five hindrances deals with the preliminary training in concentration. The five hindrances—sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt—are the principal obstacles to meditative development, and thus they must be removed for the mind to become collected and unified. The stock passage on the gradual training treats the overcoming of the hindrances only schematically, but other texts in the Nikāyas provide more practical instructions, while the Pāli commentaries offer even more details. The similes in the version of MN 39—see Text VII,5—illustrate the joyful sense of freedom that one wins by overcoming the hindrances.

The next stage in the sequence describes the attainment of the jhānas, profound states of concentration in which the mind becomes fully absorbed in its object. The Buddha enumerates four jhānas, named simply after their numerical position in the series, each more refined and elevated than its predecessor. The jhānas are always described by the same formulas, which in several suttas are augmented by similes of great beauty; again, see Text VII,5. Although wisdom rather than concentration is the critical factor in the attainment of enlightenment, the Buddha invariably includes the jhānas in the gradual training for at least two reasons: first, because they contribute to the intrinsic perfection of the path; and second, because the deep concentration they induce serves as a basis for the arising of insight. The Buddha calls the jhānas the “footsteps of the Tathāgata” (MN 27.19–22) and shows them to be precursors of the bliss of Nibbāna that lies at the end of the training.

From the fourth jhāna three alternative lines of further development become possible. In a number of texts outside the stock passage on the gradual training the Buddha mentions four meditative states that continue the mental unification established by the jhānas. These states, described as “the liberations that are peaceful and formless,” are further refinements of concentration. Distinguished from the jhānas by their transcendence of the subtle mental image that serves as the object in the jhānas, they are named the base of the infinity of space, the base of the infinity of consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception.

A second line of development is the acquisition of supernormal knowledge. The Buddha frequently refers to a set of six types, which come to be called the six kinds of direct knowledge (chaḷabhiññā). The last of these, the knowledge of the destruction of the taints, is “supramundane” or world-transcending and thus marks the culmination of the third line of development. But the other five are all mundane, products of the extraordinarily powerful mental concentration achieved in the fourth jhāna: the supernormal powers, the divine ear, the ability to read the minds of others, the recollection of past lives, and the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings (see Text VIII,4).

The jhānas and the formless attainments by themselves do not issue in enlightenment and liberation. Though lofty and peaceful, they can only silence the defilements that sustain the round of rebirths but cannot eradicate them. To uproot the defilements at the most fundamental level, and thereby arrive at enlightenment and liberation, the meditative process must be directed to a third line of development. This is the contemplation of “things as they really are,” which results in increasingly deeper insights into the nature of existence and culminates in the final goal, the attainment of arahantship.

This line of development is the one the Buddha pursues in the passage on the gradual training. He prefaces it with descriptions of two of the direct knowledges, the recollection of past lives and the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. The three together figured prominently in the Buddha’s own enlightenment—as we saw in Text II,3(2)—and are collectively called the three true knowledges (tevijjā). Although the first two are not essential to the realization of arahantship, the Buddha probably includes them here because they reveal the truly vast and profound dimensions of suffering in saṃsāra, thereby preparing the mind for the penetration of the Four Noble Truths by which that suffering is diagnosed and surmounted.

The passage on the gradual training does not explicitly show the process of contemplation by which the meditator develops insight. The whole process is only implied by the mention of its final fruit, called the knowledge of the destruction of the taints (āsavakkhayañāṇa). The āsavas or taints are a classification of defilements considered in their role of sustaining the forward movement of the process of birth and death. The commentaries derive the word from a root su meaning “to flow.” Scholars differ as to whether the flow implied by the prefix ā is inward or outward; hence some have rendered it as “influxes” or “influences,” others as “outflows” or “effluents.” A stock passage in the suttas indicates the term’s real significance independently of etymology when it describes the āsavas as states “that defile, bring renewal of existence, give trouble, ripen in suffering, and lead to future birth, aging, and death” (MN 36.47; I 250). Thus other translators, bypassing the literal meaning, have rendered it “cankers,” “corruptions,” or “taints.” The three taints mentioned in the Nikāyas are respectively synonyms for craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, and ignorance. When the disciple’s mind is liberated from the taints by the completion of the path of arahantship, he reviews his newly won freedom and roars his lion’s roar: “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.”

1. WHY DOES ONE ENTER THE PATH?

(1) The Arrow of Birth, Aging, and Death

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

2. Then, while the Venerable Māluṅkyāputta was alone in meditation, the following thought arose in his mind:

“These speculative views have been left undeclared by the Blessed One, set aside and rejected by him, namely: ‘the world is eternal’ and ‘the world is not eternal’; ‘the world is finite’ and ‘the world is infinite’; ‘the soul is the same as the body’ and ‘the soul is one thing and the body another’; and ‘after death a Tathāgata exists’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata does not exist’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist.’1 The Blessed One does not declare these to me, and I do not approve of and accept this fact, so I shall go to the Blessed One and ask him the meaning of this. If he declares to me either ‘the world is eternal’ … or ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ then I will lead the spiritual life under him; if he does not declare these to me, then I will abandon the training and return to the lower life.”

3. Then, when it was evening, the Venerable Māluṅkyāputta rose from meditation and went to the Blessed One. After paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and told him:

“Here, venerable sir, while I was alone in meditation, the following thought arose in my mind: ‘These speculative views have been left undeclared by the Blessed One.… If he does not declare these to me, then I will abandon the training and return to the lower life.’ If the Blessed One knows ‘the world is eternal,’ let the Blessed One declare to me ‘the world is eternal’; if the Blessed One knows ‘the world is not eternal,’ let the Blessed One declare to me ‘the world is not eternal.’ If the Blessed One does not know either ‘the world is eternal’ or ‘the world is not eternal,’ then it is straightforward for one who does not know and see to say: ‘I do not know and see.’

“If the Blessed One knows ‘the world is finite,’ … ‘the world is infinite,’ … ‘the soul is the same as the body,’ … ‘the soul is one thing and the body another,’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata exists,’ … ’after death a Tathāgata does not exist.’… If the Blessed One knows ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist,’ let the Blessed One declare that to me; if the Blessed One knows ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ let the Blessed One declare that to me. If the Blessed One does not know either ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ or ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ then it is straightforward for one who does not know and see to say: ‘I do not know and see.’”

4. “How then, Māluṅkyāputta, did I ever say to you: ‘Come, Māluṅkyāputta, lead the spiritual life under me and I will declare to you “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist”’?”—“No, venerable sir.”—“Did you ever tell me: ‘I will lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One, and the Blessed One will declare to me “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist”’?”—“No, venerable sir.”—“That being so, misguided man, who are you and what are you abandoning?

5. “If anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata and meanwhile that person would die. Suppose, Māluṅkyāputta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon to treat him. The man would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know whether the man who wounded me was a khattiya, a brahmin, a merchant, or a worker.’ And he would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know the name and clan of the man who wounded me;… until I know whether the man who wounded me was tall, short, or of middle height;… until I know whether the man who wounded me was dark, brown, or golden-skinned;… until I know whether the man who wounded me lives in such a village, town, or city;… until I know whether the bow that wounded me was a long bow or a crossbow;… until I know whether the bowstring that wounded me was fiber, reed, sinew, hemp, or bark;… until I know whether the shaft that wounded me was wild or cultivated;… until I know with what kind of feathers the shaft that wounded me was fitted—whether those of a vulture, a heron, a hawk, a peacock, or a stork;… until I know with what kind of sinew the shaft that wounded me was bound—whether that of an ox, a buffalo, a deer, or a monkey;… until I know what kind of arrowhead it was that wounded me—whether spiked or razor-tipped or curved or barbed or calf-toothed or lancet-shaped.’

“All this would still not be known to that man, and meanwhile he would die. So too, Māluṅkyāputta, if anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me: “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata and meanwhile that person would die.

6. “Māluṅkyāputta, if there is the view ‘the world is eternal,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived; and if there is the view ‘the world is not eternal,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived. Whether there is the view ‘the world is eternal’ or the view ‘the world is not eternal,’ there is birth, there is aging, there is death, there are sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, the destruction of which I prescribe here and now.

“If there is the view ‘the world is finite’ … ‘the world is infinite’ … ‘the soul is the same as the body’ … ‘the soul is one thing and the body another’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata exists’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived.… If there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived; and if there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived. Whether there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ or the view ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ there is birth, there is aging, there is death, there are sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, the destruction of which I prescribe here and now.

7. “Therefore, Māluṅkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared. And what have I left undeclared? ‘The world is eternal’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is not eternal’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is finite’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is infinite’—I have left undeclared. ‘The soul is the same as the body’—I have left undeclared. ‘The soul is one thing and the body another’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata exists’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata does not exist’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist’—I have left undeclared.

8. “Why have I left that undeclared? Because it is unbeneficial, it does not belong to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, it does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have left it undeclared.

9. “And what have I declared? ‘This is suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the origin of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the cessation of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’—I have declared.

10. “Why have I declared that? Because it is beneficial, it belongs to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, it leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have declared it.

“Therefore, Māluṅkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared.”

That is what the Blessed One said. The Venerable Māluṅkyāputta was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.2

(MN 63: Cūḷamāluṅkya Sutta; I 426–32)

(2) The Heartwood of the Spiritual Life

1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak; it was soon after Devadatta had left.3 There, referring to Devadatta, the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:

2. “Monks, here some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I obtain gain and renown, but these other monks are unknown, of no account.’ He becomes intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, its inner bark, and its outer bark, he would cut off its twigs and leaves and take them away thinking they were heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood, the sapwood, the inner bark, the outer bark, or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, he came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, its inner bark, and its outer bark, he cut off its twigs and leaves and took them away thinking they were heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown. This monk is called one who has taken the twigs and leaves of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

3. “Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I have moral discipline; I am of good character; but these other monks are immoral, of bad character.’ He becomes intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, and its inner bark, he would cut off its outer bark and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its outer bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline. This monk is called one who has taken the outer bark of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

4. “Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I am concentrated; my mind is unified; but these other monks are scatter-minded, with their minds astray.’ He becomes intoxicated with that attainment of concentration, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood and its sapwood, he would cut off its inner bark and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its inner bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that attainment of concentration. This monk is called one who has taken the inner bark of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

5. “Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that attainment of concentration; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves knowledge and vision.4 He is pleased with that knowledge and vision and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I live knowing and seeing, but these other monks live unknowing and unseeing.’ He becomes intoxicated with that knowledge and vision, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, he would cut off its sapwood and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its sapwood and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that knowledge and vision. This monk is called one who has taken the sapwood of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

6. “Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… When he is diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled.… When he is diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration, but his intention is not fulfilled.… When he is diligent, he achieves knowledge and vision. He is pleased with that knowledge and vision, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that knowledge and vision; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he attains perpetual emancipation. And it is impossible for that monk to fall away from that perpetual liberation.5

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting off only its heartwood, he would take it away knowing it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man knew the heartwood, the sapwood, the inner bark, the outer bark, and the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, he came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting off only its heartwood, he took it away knowing it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will be served.’ So too is it with this monk who attains perpetual liberation.

7. “So this spiritual life, monks, does not have gain, honor, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of moral discipline for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakable liberation of mind that is the goal of this spiritual life, its heartwood, and its end.”6

That is what the Blessed One said. The monks were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.

(MN 29: Mahāsāropama Sutta; I 192–97)

(3) The Fading Away of Lust

“Monks, if wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘For what purpose, friends, is the spiritual life lived under the ascetic Gotama?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘It is, friends, for the fading away of lust7 that the spiritual life is lived under the Blessed One.’

“Then, monks, if the wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘But, friends, is there a path, a way for the fading away of lust?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘There is a path, friends, a way for the fading away of lust.’

“And what, monks, is that path, that way for the fading away of lust? 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 is the path, the way for the fading away of lust.

“Being asked thus, monks, you should answer those wanderers of other sects in such a way.

“[Or else you may answer them:] ‘It is, friends, for the abandoning of the fetters … for the uprooting of the underlying tendencies … for the full understanding of the course [of saṃsāra] … for the destruction of the taints … for the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation … for the sake of knowledge and vision … for the sake of final Nibbāna without clinging that the spiritual life is lived under the Blessed One.’

“Then, monks, if the wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘But, friends, is there a path, a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘There is a path, friends, a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.’

“And what, monks, is that path, that way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration. This is the path, the way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.

“Being asked thus, monks, you should answer those wanderers of other sects in such a way.”

(SN 45:41–48, combined; V 27–29)

2. ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTFOLD PATH

“Monks, I will teach you the Noble Eightfold Path, and I will analyze it for you. Listen and attend closely; I will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“And what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

“And what, monks, is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering, knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: this is called right view.

“And what, monks, is right intention? Intention of renunciation, intention of non–ill will, intention of harmlessness: this is called right intention.

“And what, monks, is right speech? Abstinence from false speech, abstinence from malicious speech, abstinence from harsh speech, abstinence from idle chatter: this is called right speech.

“And what, monks, is right action? Abstinence from the destruction of life, abstinence from taking what is not given, abstinence from sexual misconduct: this is called right action.

“And what, monks, is right livelihood? Here a noble disciple, having abandoned a wrong mode of livelihood, earns his living by a right livelihood: this is called right livelihood.

“And what, monks, is right effort? Here, monks, a monk generates desire for the nonarising of unarisen evil unwholesome states; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. He generates desire for the abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome states…. He generates desire for the arising of unarisen wholesome states…. He generates desire for the continuation of arisen wholesome states, for their nondecline, increase, expansion, and fulfillment by development; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. This is called right effort.

“And what, monks is right mindfulness? Here, monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating feelings in feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating mind in mind, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. This is called right mindfulness.

“And what, monks, is right concentration? Here, monks, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a monk enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells 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. With the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences happiness with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and dejection, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which is neither painful nor pleasant and includes the purification of mindfulness by equanimity. This is called right concentration.”

(SN 45:8; V 8–10)

3. GOOD FRIENDSHIP

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Sakyans where there was a town of the Sakyans named Nāgaraka. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said:

“Venerable sir, this is half of the spiritual life, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship.”8

“Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda! This is the entire spiritual life, Ānanda, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship. When a monk has a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, it is to be expected that he will develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.

“And how, Ānanda, does a monk with a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path? Here, Ānanda, a monk develops right view, which is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release. He develops right intention … right speech … right action … right livelihood … right effort … right mindfulness … right concentration, which is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release. It is in this way, Ānanda, that a monk with a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, develops and cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path.

“By the following method too, Ānanda, it may be understood how the entire spiritual life is good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship: by relying upon me as a good friend, Ānanda, beings subject to birth are freed from birth; beings subject to aging are freed from aging; beings subject to death are freed from death; beings subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair are freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. By this method, Ānanda, it may be understood how the entire spiritual life is good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship.”

(SN 45:2; V 2–3)

4. THE GRADUATED TRAINING

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

2. Now on that occasion the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi was driving out of Sāvatthī in the middle of the day in an all-white chariot drawn by white mares. He saw the wanderer Pilotika coming in the distance and asked him: “Now where is Master Vacchāyana coming from in the middle of the day?”9

“Sir, I am coming from the presence of the ascetic Gotama.”

“What does Master Vacchāyana think of the ascetic Gotama’s lucidity of wisdom? He is wise, is he not?”

“Sir, who am I to know the ascetic Gotama’s lucidity of wisdom? One would surely have to be his equal to know the ascetic Gotama’s lucidity of wisdom.”

“Master Vacchāyana praises the ascetic Gotama with high praise indeed.”

“Sir, who am I to praise the ascetic Gotama? The ascetic Gotama is praised by the praised as best among devas and humans.”

“What reasons does Master Vacchāyana see that he has such firm confidence in the ascetic Gotama?”

3. “Sir, suppose a wise elephant hunter were to enter an elephant wood and were to see in the elephant wood a big elephant’s footprint, long in extent and broad across. He would come to the conclusion: ‘Indeed, this is a big bull elephant.’ So too, when I saw four footprints of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’ What are the four?

4. “Sir, I have seen here certain learned nobles who were clever, knowledgeable about the doctrines of others, as sharp as hairsplitting marksmen; they wander about, as it were, demolishing the views of others with their sharp wits. When they hear: ‘The ascetic Gotama will visit such and such a village or town,’ they formulate a question thus: ‘We will go to the ascetic Gotama and ask him this question. If he is asked like this, he will answer like this, and so we will refute his doctrine in this way; and if he is asked like that, he will answer like that, and so we will refute his doctrine in that way.’

“They hear: ‘The ascetic Gotama has come to visit such and such a village or town.’ They go to the ascetic Gotama, and the ascetic Gotama instructs, urges, rouses, and gladdens them with a talk on the Dhamma. After they have been instructed, urged, roused, and gladdened by the ascetic Gotama with a talk on the Dhamma, they do not so much as ask him the question, so how should they refute his doctrine? In actual fact, they become his disciples. When I saw this first footprint of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’

5. “Again, I have seen certain learned brahmins who were clever.… In actual fact, they too become his disciples. When I saw this second footprint of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

6. “Again, I have seen certain learned householders who were clever.… In actual fact, they too become his disciples. When I saw this third footprint of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

7. “Again, I have seen certain learned ascetics who were clever.… They do not so much as ask him the question, so how should they refute his doctrine? In actual fact, they ask the ascetic Gotama to allow them to go forth from the household life into homelessness, and he gives them the going forth. Not long after they have gone forth, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge they here and now enter upon and dwell in that supreme goal of the spiritual life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness. They say thus: ‘We were very nearly lost, we very nearly perished, for formerly we claimed that we were ascetics though we were not really ascetics; we claimed that we were brahmins though we were not really brahmins; we claimed that we were arahants though we were not really arahants. But now we are ascetics, now we are brahmins, now we are arahants.’ When I saw this fourth footprint of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

“When I saw these four footprints of the ascetic Gotama, I came to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’”

8. When this was said, the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi got down from his all-white chariot drawn by white mares, and arranging his upper robe on one shoulder, he extended his hands in reverential salutation toward the Blessed One and uttered this exclamation three times: “Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Perhaps some time or other I might meet Master Gotama and have some conversation with him.”

9. Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi went to the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When this courteous and amiable talk was finished, he sat down to one side and related his entire conversation with the wanderer Pilotika. Thereupon the Blessed One told him: “At this point, brahmin, the simile of the elephant’s footprint has not yet been completed in detail. As to how it is completed in detail, listen and attend carefully to what I shall say.”—“Yes, sir,” the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi replied. The Blessed One said this:

10. “Brahmin, suppose an elephant hunter were to enter an elephant wood and were to see in the elephant wood a big elephant’s footprint, long in extent and broad across. A wise elephant hunter would not yet come to the conclusion: ‘Indeed, this is a big bull elephant.’ Why is that? In an elephant wood there are small she-elephants that leave a big footprint, and this might be one of their footprints. He follows it and sees in the elephant wood a big elephant’s footprint, long in extent and broad across, and some scrapings high up. A wise elephant hunter would not yet come to the conclusion: ‘Indeed, this is a big bull elephant.’ Why is that? In an elephant wood there are tall she-elephants that have prominent teeth and leave a big footprint, and this might be one of their footprints. He follows it further and sees in the elephant wood a big elephant’s footprint, long in extent and broad across, and some scrapings high up, and marks made by tusks. A wise elephant hunter would not yet come to the conclusion: ‘Indeed, this is a big bull elephant.’ Why is that? In an elephant wood there are tall she-elephants that have tusks and leave a big footprint, and this might be one of their footprints. He follows it further and sees in the elephant wood a big elephant’s footprint, long in extent and broad across, and some scrapings high up, and marks made by tusks, and broken-off branches. And he sees that bull elephant at the root of a tree or in the open, walking about, sitting, or lying down. He comes to the conclusion: ‘This is that big bull elephant.’

11. “So too, brahmin, here a Tathāgata appears in the world, an arahant, perfectly enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, fortunate, knower of the world, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of devas and humans, the Enlightened One, the Blessed One. Having realized with his own direct knowledge this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, with its devas and humans, he makes it known to others. He teaches a Dhamma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and expression; he reveals a holy life that is perfectly complete and purified.

12. “A householder or householder’s son or one born in some other clan hears that Dhamma. On hearing the Dhamma he acquires faith in the Tathāgata. Possessing that faith, he considers thus: ‘Household life is crowded and dusty; life gone forth is wide open. It is not easy, while living in a home, to lead the spiritual 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 household life into homelessness.’ On a later occasion, abandoning a small or a large fortune, abandoning a small or a large circle of relatives, he shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the ochre robe, and goes forth from the household life into homelessness.

13. “Having thus gone forth and possessing the monk’s training and way of life, abandoning the destruction of life, he abstains from the destruction of life; with rod and weapon laid aside, conscientious, merciful, he dwells compassionate to all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given; taking only what is given, expecting only what is given, by not stealing he dwells in purity. Abandoning sexual relations, he observes celibacy, living apart, refraining from the coarse practice of sexual intercourse.

“Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech; he speaks truth, adheres to truth, is trustworthy and reliable, one who is no deceiver of the world. Abandoning malicious speech, he abstains from malicious speech; he does not repeat elsewhere what he has heard here in order to divide [those people] from these, nor does he repeat to these people what he has heard elsewhere in order to divide [these people] from those; thus he is one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of friendships, who enjoys concord, rejoices in concord, delights in concord, a speaker of words that promote concord. Abandoning harsh speech, he abstains from harsh speech; he speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and loveable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many and agreeable to many. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter; he speaks at the right time, speaks what is fact, speaks on what is good, speaks on the Dhamma and the Discipline; at the right time he speaks such words as are worth recording, reasonable, moderate, and beneficial.

“He abstains from injuring seeds and plants. He eats only one meal a day, abstaining from eating at night and outside the proper time.10 He abstains from dancing, singing, music, and unsuitable shows. He abstains from wearing garlands, smartening himself with scent, and embellishing himself with unguents. He abstains from high and large couches. He abstains from accepting gold and silver. He abstains from accepting raw grain. He abstains from accepting raw meat. He abstains from accepting women and girls. He abstains from accepting men and women slaves. He abstains from accepting goats and sheep. He abstains from accepting fowl and pigs. He abstains from accepting elephants, cattle, horses, and mares. He abstains from accepting fields and land. He abstains from going on errands and running messages. He abstains from buying and selling. He abstains from false weights, false metals, and false measures. He abstains from accepting bribes, deceiving, defrauding, and trickery. He abstains from wounding, murdering, binding, brigandage, plunder, and violence.

14. “He becomes content with robes to protect his body and with almsfood to maintain his stomach, and wherever he goes, he sets out taking only these with him. Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden, so too the monk becomes content with robes to protect his body and with almsfood to maintain his stomach, and wherever he goes, he sets out taking only these with him. Possessing this aggregate of noble moral discipline, he experiences within himself the bliss of blamelessness.

15. “On seeing a form with the eye, he does not grasp at its signs and features.11 Since, if he left the eye faculty unguarded, evil unwholesome states of longing and dejection might invade him, he practices the way of its restraint, he guards the eye faculty, he undertakes the restraint of the eye faculty. On hearing a sound with the ear … On smelling an odor with the nose … On tasting a flavor with the tongue… On feeling a tactile object with the body … On cognizing a mental phenomenon with the mind, he does not grasp at its signs and features. Since, if he left the mind faculty unguarded, evil unwholesome states of longing and dejection might invade him, he practices the way of its restraint, he guards the mind faculty, he undertakes the restraint of the mind faculty. Possessing this noble restraint of the sense faculties, he experiences within himself an unsullied bliss.

16. “He becomes one who acts with clear comprehension when going forward and returning; who acts with clear comprehension when looking ahead and looking away; who acts with clear comprehension when flexing and extending his limbs; who acts with clear comprehension when wearing his robes and carrying his outer robe and bowl; who acts with clear comprehension when eating, drinking, chewing, and tasting; who acts with clear comprehension when defecating and urinating; who acts with clear comprehension when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent.

17. “Possessing this aggregate of noble moral discipline, and this noble restraint of the faculties, and possessing this noble mindfulness and clear comprehension, he resorts to a secluded resting place: the forest, the root of a tree, a mountain, a ravine, a hillside cave, a charnel ground, a jungle thicket, an open space, a heap of straw.

18. “On returning from his almsround, after his meal he sits down, folding his legs crosswise, setting his body erect, and establishing mindfulness before him. Abandoning longing for the world, he dwells with a mind free from longing; he purifies his mind from longing.12 Abandoning ill will and hatred, he dwells with a mind free from ill will, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings; he purifies his mind from ill will and hatred. Abandoning dullness and drowsiness, he dwells free from dullness and drowsiness, percipient of light, mindful and clearly comprehending; he purifies his mind from dullness and drowsiness. Abandoning restlessness and remorse, he dwells free from agitation with a mind inwardly peaceful; he purifies his mind from restlessness and remorse. Abandoning doubt, he dwells having gone beyond doubt, unperplexed about wholesome states; he purifies his mind from doubt.

19. “Having thus abandoned these five hindrances, defilements of the mind that weaken wisdom, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. This, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata, something scraped by the Tathāgata, something marked by the Tathāgata, but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’13

20. “Again, with the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells 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. This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata … but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

21. “Again, with the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences happiness with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata … but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

22. “Again, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and dejection, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which is neither painful nor pleasant and includes the purification of mindfulness by equanimity. This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata … but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

23. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his 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 life-term; 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 life-term; and passing away from there, I was reborn here.’ Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives. This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata … but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

24. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. He understands how beings pass 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, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions. This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata … but a noble disciple does not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened.…’

25. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands as it really 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.’ He understands as it really 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.’

“This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata, something scraped by the Tathāgata, something marked by the Tathāgata, but a noble disciple still has not yet come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’ Rather, he is in the process of coming to this conclusion.14

26. “When he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of existence, and from the taint of ignorance. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It is liberated.’ He understands: ‘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.’

“This too, brahmin, is called a footprint of the Tathāgata, something scraped by the Tathāgata, something marked by the Tathāgata. It is at this point that a noble disciple has come to the conclusion: ‘The Blessed One is perfectly enlightened, the Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, the Saṅgha is practicing the good way.’15 And it is at this point, brahmin, that the simile of the elephant’s footprint has been completed in detail.”

27. When this was said, the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama! Master Gotama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark so those with good eyesight can see forms. I now go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha of monks. Let Master Gotama accept me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from today until life’s end.”

(MN 27: Cūḷahatthipadopama Sutta; I 175–84)

5. THE HIGHER STAGES OF TRAINING WITH SIMILES

12. “Here, monks, a monk resorts to a secluded resting place: the forest, the root of a tree, a mountain, a ravine, a hillside cave, a charnel ground, a jungle thicket, an open space, a heap of straw.

13. “On returning from his almsround, after his meal he sits down, folding his legs crosswise, setting his body erect and establishing mindfulness before him. Abandoning longing for the world … [as in preceding text, §18] … he purifies his mind from doubt.

14. “Monks, suppose a man were to take a loan and undertake business, and his business were to succeed so that he could repay all the money of the old loan, and there would remain enough extra to maintain a wife; on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man were afflicted, suffering and gravely ill, and his food would not agree with him and his body had no strength, but later he would recover from the affliction and his food would agree with him and his body would regain strength; on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man were imprisoned, but later he would be released, safe and secure, with no loss to his property; on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man were a slave, not self-dependent but dependent on others, unable to go where he wants, but later on he would be released from slavery, self-dependent, independent of others, a free man able to go where he wants; on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man with wealth and property were to enter a road across a desert, but later on he would cross over the desert, safe and secure, with no loss to his property; on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. So too, monks, while these five hindrances have not yet been abandoned in himself, a monk sees them respectively as a debt, illness, a prison, slavery, and a road across a desert. But when these five hindrances have been abandoned in himself, he sees that as freedom from debt, recovery from illness, release from prison, freedom from slavery, and a land of safety.

15. “Having abandoned these five hindrances, defilements of the mind that weaken wisdom, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. He makes the rapture and happiness born of seclusion drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the rapture and happiness born of seclusion. Just as a skilled bath man or a bath man’s apprentice heaps bath powder in a metal basin and, sprinkling it gradually with water, kneads it until the moisture wets his ball of bath powder, soaks it, and pervades it inside and out, yet the ball itself does not ooze; so too, a monk makes the rapture and happiness born of seclusion drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the rapture and happiness born of seclusion.

16. “Again, monks, with the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells 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. He makes the rapture and happiness born of concentration drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the rapture and happiness born of concentration. Just as though there were a lake whose waters welled up from below and it had no inflow from east, west, north, or south, and would not be replenished from time to time by showers of rain, then the cool fount of water welling up in the lake would make the cool water drench, steep, fill, and pervade the lake, so that there would be no part of the whole lake that is not pervaded by cool water; so too, a monk makes the rapture and happiness born of concentration drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the rapture and happiness born of concentration.

17. “Again, monks, with the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences happiness with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ He makes the happiness divested of rapture drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the happiness divested of rapture. 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 cool water drenches, steeps, fills, and pervades them to their tips and their roots, so that there is no part of all those lotuses that is not pervaded by cool water; so too, a monk makes the happiness divested of rapture drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the happiness divested of rapture.

18. “Again, monks, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and dejection, a monk enters upon and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. He sits pervading this body with a pure bright mind, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the pure bright mind. Just as though a man were sitting covered from the head down with a white cloth, so that there would be no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the white cloth; so too, a monk sits pervading this body with a pure bright mind, so that there is no part of his whole body that is not pervaded by the pure bright mind.

19. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births … [as in preceding text, §23] … Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives. Just as a man might go from his own village to another village and then back again to his own village, he might think: ‘I went from my own village to that village, and there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, spoke in such a way, kept silent in such a way; and from that village I went to that other village, and there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, spoke in such a way, kept silent in such a way; and from that village I came back again to my own village.’ So too, a monk recollects his manifold past lives.… Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives.

20. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings … [as in preceding text, §24] … Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions. Just as though there were two houses with doors and a man with good sight standing there between them saw people entering the houses and coming out and passing to and fro, so too, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, a monk sees beings passing away and being reborn … and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions.

21. “When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands as it actually is: ‘This is suffering’ … [as in preceding text, §§25–26] … He understands: ‘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.’

“Just as if there were a lake in a mountain recess, clear, limpid, and undisturbed, so that a man with good sight standing on the bank could see shells, gravel, and pebbles, and also shoals of fish swimming about and resting, he might think: ‘There is this lake, clear, limpid, and undisturbed, and there are these shells, gravel, and pebbles, and also these shoals of fish swimming about and resting.’ So too, a monk understands as it actually is: ‘This is suffering.’… He understands: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

(from MN 39: Mahā Assapura Sutta; I 274–80)

________________

Notes:

1.Among these ten views, those that entertain ideas about the world (loka) are also implicitly entertaining similar ideas about the self (attā). Thus the first pair is the antithesis of eternalism and annihilationism. The view that the soul is the same as the body is materialism, a type of annihilationism; the view that the soul and the body are different is eternalism. The view that a Tathāgata—a liberated person—exists after death is eternalism; the view that he does not exist after death is annihilationism. The view that he both exists and does not exist is a syncretic doctrine combining features of eternalism and annihilationism; the view that he neither exists nor does not exist is skepticism or agnosticism, which denies that we can determine his condition after death. All these views, from the Buddhist perspective, presuppose that the Tathāgata presently exists as a self. They thus begin with an erroneous premise and differ only in so far as they posit the fate of the self in different ways.

2.Those who have always wondered about the fate of the monk who almost left the Buddha to satisfy his metaphysical curiosity will be relieved to know that in his old age Māluṅkyāputta received a brief discourse on the six sense bases from the Buddha, went into retreat, and attained arahantship. See SN 35:95.

3.Devadatta was the Buddha’s ambitious cousin, who attempted to kill the Buddha and usurp control of the Saṅgha. When these attempts failed, he broke away and tried to establish his own sect with himself at the head. See Ñāṇamoli, Life of the Buddha, pp. 266–69.

4.Ps: “Knowledge and vision” (ñāṇadassana) here refers to the divine eye, the ability to see subtle forms invisible to normal vision.

5.This translation follows Be and Ce, which read asamayavimokkhaṃ in the preceding sentence and asamayavimuttiyā in this sentence. Ee seems to be mistaken in reading samaya in the two compounds and ṭhānaṃ instead of aṭṭhānaṃ. Ps cites the Paṭisambhidāmagga for a definition of asamayavimokkha (lit., non-temporary or “perpetual” emancipation) as the four paths, four fruits, and Nibbāna, and of samayavimokkha (temporary emancipation) as the four jhānas and four formless attainments. See also MN 122.4.

6.Ps says that “unshakable liberation of mind” (akuppā cetovimutti) is the fruit of arahantship. Thus “perpetual emancipation”—as including all four paths and fruits—has a wider range than “unshakable liberation of mind.” The latter alone is declared to be the goal of the holy life.

7.Rāgavirāgatthaṃ. This might also have been rendered, somewhat awkwardly, “For the dispassioning of passion,” or “For the delusting of lust.”

8.Spk: When he was in seclusion, Ānanda thought, “This practice of a monk succeeds for one who relies on good friends and on his own virile effort; thus half depends on good friends and half on one’s own virile effort.”

9.Vacchāyana is Pilotika’s clan name.

10.See p. 436 (chapter V, n.19).

11.The signs (nimitta) are the prominent qualities of the object which, when grasped unmindfully, can instigate defiled thoughts; the features (anubyañjana) are the details that attract one’s attention when one does not restrain the senses. “Longing and dejection” (abhijjhā-domanassa) implies the opposed reactions of desire and aversion, attraction and repulsion, toward sense objects.

12.Here, longing (abhijjhā) is synonymous with sensual desire (kāmacchanda), the first of the five hindrances. This entire passage deals with the overcoming of the five hindrances.

13.He does not come to such a conclusion because the jhānas, as well as the first two higher knowledges (to follow), are not unique to the Buddha’s teaching.

14.According to Ps, this shows the occasion of the supramundane path. Since at this point the noble disciple has still not completed his task, he has not yet come to a conclusion (na tveva niṭṭhaṃ gato hoti) about the Three Jewels; rather, he is in the process of coming to a conclusion (niṭṭhaṃ gacchati). The sutta puns on the meaning of the expression “coming to a conclusion” in a way that is just as viable in English as in Pāli.

15.Ps: This shows the occasion when the disciple has attained the fruit of arahantship, and having entirely completed his task, has come to a conclusion about the Three Jewels.

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