The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
Page 44
(CONCENTRATION)
12. “Lady, what is concentration? What is the basis of concentration? What is the equipment of concentration? What is the development of concentration?”
“Unification of mind, friend Visākha, is concentration; the four foundations of mindfulness are the basis of concentration; the four right kinds of striving are the equipment of concentration; the repetition, development, and cultivation of these same states is the development of concentration therein.”464
(FORMATIONS)
13. “Lady, how many formations are there?”
“There are these three formations, friend Visākha: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, and the mental formation.”
14. “But, lady, what is the bodily formation? What is the verbal formation? What is the mental formation?”
“In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visākha, are the bodily formation; applied thought and sustained thought are the verbal formation; perception and feeling are the mental formation.”465
15. “But, lady, why are in-breathing and out-breathing the bodily formation? Why are applied thought and sustained thought the verbal formation? Why are perception and feeling the mental formation?”
“Friend Visākha, in-breathing and out-breathing are bodily, these are states bound up with the body; that is why in-breathing and out-breathing are the bodily formation. First one applies thought and sustains thought, and subsequently one breaks out into speech; that is why applied thought and sustained thought are the verbal formation. Perception and feeling are mental, these are states bound up with the mind; that is why perception and feeling are the mental formation.”466
(THE ATTAINMENT OF CESSATION)
16. “Lady, how does the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling come to be?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, it does not occur to him: ‘I shall attain the cessation of perception and feeling,’ or ‘I am attaining the cessation of perception and feeling,’ or ‘I have attained the cessation of perception and feeling’; but rather his mind has previously been developed in such a way that it leads him to that state.”467 [302]
17. “Lady, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, which states cease first in him: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, first the verbal formation ceases, then the bodily formation, then the mental formation.”468
18. “Lady, how does emergence from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling come to be?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, it does not occur to him: ‘I shall emerge from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling,’ or ‘I am emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling,’ or ‘I have emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling’; but rather his mind has previously been developed in such a way that it leads him to that state.”469
19. “Lady, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, which states arise first in him: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, first the mental formation arises, then the bodily formation, then the verbal formation.”470
20. “Lady, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, how many kinds of contact touch him?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, three kinds of contact touch him: voidness contact, signless contact, desireless contact.”471
21. “Lady, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, to what does his mind incline, to what does it lean, to what does it tend?”
“Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, his mind inclines to seclusion, leans to seclusion, tends to seclusion.”472
(FEELING)
22. “Lady, how many kinds of feeling are there?”
“Friend Visākha, there are three kinds of feeling: pleasant feeling, painful feeling, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”
23. “But, lady, what is pleasant feeling? What is painful feeling? What is neither painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Friend Visākha, whatever is felt bodily or mentally as pleasant and soothing is pleasant feeling. Whatever is felt bodily or mentally as painful and hurting is painful feeling. Whatever is felt bodily or mentally as neither soothing nor hurting [303] is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”
24. “Lady, what is pleasant and what is painful in regard to pleasant feeling? What is painful and what is pleasant in regard to painful feeling? What is pleasant and what is painful in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Friend Visākha, pleasant feeling is pleasant when it persists and painful when it changes. Painful feeling is painful when it persists and pleasant when it changes. Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is pleasant when there is knowledge [of it] and painful when there is no knowledge [of it].”
(UNDERLYING TENDENCIES)
25. “Lady, what underlying tendency underlies pleasant feeling? What underlying tendency underlies painful feeling? What underlying tendency underlies neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Friend Visākha, the underlying tendency to lust underlies pleasant feeling. The underlying tendency to aversion underlies painful feeling. The underlying tendency to ignorance underlies neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”473
26. “Lady, does the underlying tendency to lust underlie all pleasant feeling? Does the underlying tendency to aversion underlie all painful feeling? Does the underlying tendency to ignorance underlie all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Friend Visākha, the underlying tendency to lust does not underlie all pleasant feeling. The underlying tendency to aversion does not underlie all painful feeling. The underlying tendency to ignorance does not underlie all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”
27. “Lady, what should be abandoned in regard to pleasant feeling? What should be abandoned in regard to painful feeling? What should be abandoned in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Friend Visākha, the underlying tendency to lust should be abandoned in regard to pleasant feeling. The underlying tendency to aversion should be abandoned in regard to painful feeling. The underlying tendency to ignorance should be abandoned in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”
28. “Lady, does the underlying tendency to lust have to be abandoned in regard to all pleasant feeling? Does the underlying tendency to aversion have to be abandoned in regard to all painful feeling? Does the underlying tendency to ignorance have to be abandoned in regard to all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?” “Friend Visākha, the underlying tendency to lust does not have to be abandoned in regard to all pleasant feeling. The underlying tendency to aversion does not have to be abandoned in regard to all painful feeling. The underlying tendency to ignorance does not have to be abandoned in regard to all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.
“Here, friend Visākha, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. With that he abandons lust, and the underlying tendency to lust does not underlie that.474
“Here a bhikkhu considers thus: ‘When shall I enter upon and abide in that base that the noble ones now enter upon and abide in?’ In one who thus generates a longing for the supreme liberations, [304] grief arises with that longing as condition. With that he abandons aversi
on, and the underlying tendency to aversion does not underlie that.475
“Here, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. With that he abandons ignorance, and the underlying tendency to ignorance does not underlie that.”476
(COUNTERPARTS)
29. “Lady, what is the counterpart of pleasant feeling?”477
“Friend Visākha, painful feeling is the counterpart of pleasant feeling.”
“What is the counterpart of painful feeling?”
“Pleasant feeling is the counterpart of painful feeling.”
“What is the counterpart of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?”
“Ignorance is the counterpart of neither-painful-nor pleasant feeling.”478
“What is the counterpart of ignorance?”
“True knowledge is the counterpart of ignorance.”
“What is the counterpart of true knowledge?”
“Deliverance is the counterpart of true knowledge.”
“What is the counterpart of deliverance?”
“Nibbāna is the counterpart of deliverance.”
“Lady, what is the counterpart of Nibbāna?”
“Friend Visākha, you have pushed this line of questioning too far; you were not able to grasp the limit to questions.479 For the holy life, friend Visākha, is grounded upon Nibbāna, culminates in Nibbāna, ends in Nibbāna. If you wish, friend Visākha, go to the Blessed One and ask him about the meaning of this. As the Blessed One explains it to you, so you should remember it.”
(CONCLUSION)
30. Then the lay follower Visākha, having delighted and rejoiced in the bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā’s words, rose from his seat, and after paying homage to her, keeping her on his right, he went to the Blessed One. After paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and told the Blessed One his entire conversation with the bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā. When he finished speaking, the Blessed One told him:
31. “The bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā is wise, Visākha, the bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā has great wisdom. If you had asked me the meaning of this, I would have explained it to you [305] in the same way that the bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā has explained it. Such is its meaning, and so you should remember it.”480
That is what the Blessed One said. The lay follower Visākha was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Cūḷadhammasamādāna Sutta
The Shorter Discourse on Ways of
Undertaking Things
1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Bhikkhus, there are four ways of undertaking things. What are the four? There is a way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure. There is a way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure.
3. “What, bhikkhus, is the way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain? Bhikkhus, there are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view is this: ‘There is no harm in sensual pleasures.’ They take to gulping down sensual pleasures and divert themselves with women wanderers who wear their hair bound in a topknot. They say thus: ‘What future fear do these good recluses and brahmins see in sensual pleasures when they speak of abandoning sensual pleasures and describe the full understanding of sensual pleasures? Pleasant is the touch of this woman wanderer’s tender soft downy arm!’ Thus they take to gulping down sensual pleasures, and having done so, on the dissolution of the body, after death, they reappear in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, even in hell. There they feel painful, racking, piercing feelings. They say thus: ‘This is the future fear those good recluses and brahmins saw in sensual pleasures when they spoke of abandoning sensual pleasures and described the full understanding of sensual pleasures. For it is by reason of sensual pleasures, [306] owing to sensual pleasures, that we are now feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings.’
4. “Bhikkhus, suppose that in the last month of the hot season a māluva-creeper pod burst open and a māluva-creeper seed fell at the foot of a sāla tree. Then a deity living in that tree became fearful, perturbed, and frightened; but the deity’s friends and companions, kinsmen and relatives—garden deities, park deities, tree deities, and deities inhabiting medicinal herbs, grass, and forest-monarch trees—gathered together and reassured that deity thus: ‘Have no fear, sir, have no fear. Perhaps a peacock will swallow the māluva-creeper seed or a wild animal will eat it or a forest fire will burn it or woodsmen will carry it off or white ants will devour it or it may not even be fertile.’ But no peacock swallowed that seed, no wild animal ate it, no forest fire burned it, no woodsmen carried it off, no white ants devoured it, and it was in fact fertile. Then, being moistened by rain from a rain-bearing cloud, the seed in due course sprouted and the māluva creeper’s tender soft downy tendril wound itself around that sāla tree. Then the deity living in the sāla tree thought: ‘What future fear did my friends and companions, kinsmen and relatives…see in that māluva-creeper seed when they gathered together and reassured me as they did? Pleasant is the touch of this māluva creeper’s tender soft downy tendril!’ Then the creeper enfolded the sāla tree, made a canopy over it, draped a curtain all around it, and split the main branches of the tree. The deity who lived in the tree then realised: ‘This is the future fear they saw in that māluva-creeper seed. [307] Because of that māluva-creeper seed I am now feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings.’
“So too, bhikkhus, there are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view is this: ‘There is no harm in sensual pleasures. ’…They say thus: ‘This is the future fear those good recluses and brahmins saw in sensual pleasures…that we are now feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings.’ This is called the way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain.
5. “And what, bhikkhus, is the way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pain? Here, bhikkhus, someone goes naked, rejecting conventions, licking his hands, not coming when asked, not stopping when asked…(as Sutta 12, §45) [308]…He dwells pursuing the practice of bathing in water three times daily including the evening. Thus in such a variety of ways he dwells pursuing the practice of tormenting and mortifying the body. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, even in hell. This is called the way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pain.
6. “And what, bhikkhus, is the way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure? Here, bhikkhus, someone by nature has strong lust, and he constantly experiences pain and grief born of lust; by nature he has strong hate, and he constantly experiences pain and grief born of hate; by nature he has strong delusion, and he constantly experiences pain and grief born of delusion. Yet in pain and grief, weeping with tearful face, he leads the perfect and pure holy life. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world. This is called the way of undertaking things that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure.
7. “And what, bhikkhus, is the way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure? Here, bhikkhus, someone by nature does not have strong lust, and he does not constantly experience pain and grief born of lust; by nature he does not have strong hate, and he does not constantly experience pain and grief born of hate; by nature he does not have strong delusion, [309] and he does not constantly expe
rience pain and grief born of delusion. Quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters upon and abides in the first jhāna…With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhāna…With the fading away as well of rapture…he enters upon and abides in the third jhāna…With the abandoning of pleasure and pain…he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhāna…On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world. This is called the way of undertaking things that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure. These, bhikkhus, are the four ways of undertaking things.”