Related Suttas
MN 12 The Greater Discourse on the Lion’s Roar
THE PERSON
NARRATOR ONE. Now that the stream of events is no longer traceable for a period, a pause can be made here in order to see what is said in the Canon about the personal qualities of the Buddha: to see both what the Buddha had to say of himself, and what other people of the time who encountered him said of him, in the oldest reports that have come down to us.
FIRST VOICE. Thus I heard. Once when the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park, he sat reviewing the many evil unwholesome things abandoned, and the many wholesome things perfected by development in himself. Knowing the meaning of this, he then uttered this exclamation:
What earlier was, later was not;
What earlier was not, later was;
What had not been both will not be
And is not at the present time. 1
Ud. 6:3
Again the Blessed One sat reviewing the abandonment of the varieties of diversification 2 in himself. Knowing the meaning of this, he then uttered this exclamation:
Who, with no basis for diversifying,
Has set aside the tie and block as well,
And lives on as a seer released from craving,
Him the world with its gods will not despise.
Ud. 7:7
“Bhikkhus, there are these Four Noble Truths: the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, and the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. A Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, is so called because of his discovery of these Four Noble Truths according as they actually are.
S. 56:23
NARRATOR TWO. The Buddha names the six Buddhas that preceded him.
FIRST VOICE. “It is ninety-one ages ago, bhikkhus, that the Blessed One Vipassī, accomplished and fully enlightened, appeared in the world. It is thirty-one ages ago that the Blessed One Sikhī, accomplished and fully enlightened, appeared in the world. In that same thirty-first age the Blessed One Vessabhū, accomplished and fully enlightened, appeared in the world. In this auspicious age the Blessed One Kakusandha, accomplished and fully enlightened, has appeared in the world. In this same auspicious age the Blessed One Koṇāgamana, accomplished and fully enlightened, has appeared in the world. In this same auspicious age the Blessed One Kassapa, accomplished and fully enlightened, has appeared in the world. In this same auspicious age I now, accomplished and fully enlightened, have appeared in the world.”
D. 14 (condensed)
NARRATOR ONE. After describing the others, here is what he says about himself.
FIRST VOICE. “I am of khattiya, warrior-noble stock. I was reborn into a khattiya family. I am a Gotama by clan. My life’s span is of short length, it is brief and soon over; one who lives long now completes the century or a little more. I was enlightened at the root of an assattha banyan as my Enlightenment Tree. My chief disciples are Sāriputta and Moggallāna. I have had one convocation consisting of twelve hundred and fifty disciples, all of them Arahants. My attendant, my chief attendant, is the bhikkhu Ānanda. A king, Suddhodana by name, was my father. A queen, Māyā by name, was the mother that bore me. The royal capital was the city of Kapilavatthu.”
D. 14 (condensed)
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Accomplished One, so I heard:
“Bhikkhus, the world has been discovered by the Perfect One, the Tathāgata: the Perfect One is dissociated from the world. The origin of the world has been discovered by the Perfect One: the Perfect One has abandoned the origin of the world. The cessation of the world has been discovered by the Perfect One: the Perfect One has realized the cessation of the world. The way leading to the cessation of the world has been discovered by the Perfect One: the Perfect One has maintained in being the way leading to the cessation of the world.
“In the world with its deities … whatever can be seen, heard, sensed (by nose, tongue or body), and cognized, or reached, sought out and encompassed by the mind, has been discovered by the Perfect One: that is why he is called a Perfect One (Tathāgata). All that he says, all that he utters, between the night when he discovers the supreme full enlightenment and the night when he attains final Nibbāna, the element of Nibbāna without result of former clinging left, is true (tatha), not other than that: that is why he is called a Perfect One (Tathāgata). As he says, so (tathā) he does; as he does, so (tathā) he says: that is why he is called a Perfect One (Tathāgata). In the world with its deities … it is the Perfect One who is the Transcendent Being Untranscended, All-seer and Wielder of Powers: that is why he is called a Perfect One.”
Iti. 112; A. 4:23
“Whatever in this world with its deities … is to be seen, heard, sensed, and cognized, or reached, sought out and encompassed by the mind, that I know, that I have directly known. Now while that is recognized by a Perfect One, he nevertheless does not use it as a basis (for conceits). Were I to say of all that, that I know it not, that would be falsely spoken by me; and were I to say of it that I know it and know it not, that would be the same; and were I to say of it that I neither know it nor know it not, that would be incorrect on my part. So, having seen what can be seen, a Perfect One conceives no conceit 3 of what is seen, he conceives no conceit of what is unseen, he conceives no conceit of what could be seen, he conceives no conceit of any seer. Having heard what can be heard … Having sensed what can be sensed … Having cognized what can be cognized … he conceives no conceit of any cognizer. A Perfect One thus equipoised towards things seen, heard, sensed, or cognized, remains thus equipoised; and there is no other equipoise that is beyond or superior to that equipoise, I say.”
A. 4:24
King Pasenadi of Kosala asked the Blessed One: “Lord, I have heard this: ‘The monk Gotama says: “There is no monk or brahman who can claim to have complete knowledge and vision as one who is omniscient and all seeing: that is not possible.” ’ Lord, do those who say that, perhaps say what has been said by the Blessed One and not misrepresent the Blessed One with what is not the fact, and do they express ideas in accordance with the Dhamma with nothing legitimately deducible from their assertions that would provide grounds for condemning them?”
“Great king, those who say that say what has not been said by me and misrepresent me.”
“Then, Lord, could it have been said with reference to something else that the Blessed One said that, and the person believed it was otherwise? At any rate, Lord, in what way does the Blessed One know the utterance to have been made?”
“I know an utterance to have been made in this way, great king: ‘There is no monk or brahman who knows all, sees all, in one single moment.’ ”
“What the Blessed One says appears reasonable.”
M. 90
“A Perfect One has these ten Perfect One’s powers, possessing which he claims the leader’s place in the herd, makes his lion’s roar in the assemblies, and sets the matchless Wheel of Brahmā turning. What ten?
“A Perfect One understands, according as it actually is, the possible as possible and the impossible as impossible.
“He understands, according as it actually is, with its possibilities and reasons, the past, future and present liability to ripening of actions that have been effected.
“He understands likewise whither all ways lead.
“He understands likewise the world with its many elements and various elements.
“He understands likewise the differing inclinations of beings.
“He understands likewise the dispositions of the spiritual faculties in other beings, other persons.
“He understands likewise the corruption, purification, and emergence, in the meditations, liberations, concentrations, and attainments.
“He recollects his manifold past life ….
“With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing …. He understands how beings pass on according to their actions.
“By realization himself with direct knowledge he here and now enters and abides in the deliverance of mind and the deliverance by understanding that are taintless with the exhaustion of taints.”
M. 12; cf. A. 10:21
“A Perfect One has these four kinds of intrepidity 4 possessing which he claims the leader’s place in the herd …:
“I see no sign that any monk or brahman or deity or Māra or Brahmā in the world will justly accuse me thus: ‘By you who claim to be fully enlightened, these things are still undiscovered,’ or thus: ‘In you who claim to have exhausted taints, these taints are still not exhausted,’ or thus: ‘Those things which are said by you to be obstructive are not in fact obstructive to one who practises them,’ or thus: ‘When your Dhamma is taught for someone’s benefit, it does not lead to the complete exhaustion of suffering in one who practises it.’ Seeing no sign of that, I dwell secure, unanxious and fearless.”
M. 12
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Accomplished One, so I heard:
“Two thoughts often occur to a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened: The thought of harmlessness and the thought of seclusion. A Perfect One takes pleasure and delights in non-affliction, and with that it often occurs to him: ‘By such behaviour I afflict none, timid or bold.’ A Perfect One takes pleasure and delight in seclusion, and with that it often occurs to him: ‘What is unwholesome has been abandoned.’ ”
Iti. 38
“Bhikkhus, do not fear merit. Merit is a term for pleasure, for the wanted, the desired, the agreeable and the loved. I have had direct knowledge by experience for a long period of what is wanted, desired, agreeable and loved as the ripening of merit made over a long period. After maintaining in being the meditation of loving-kindness for seven years, I did not return to this world for seven ages of world contraction and expansion. In the age when the world was contracting I went to the Heaven of the Brahmas of Streaming Radiance. In the age when the world was expanding I was reborn in an empty Brahmā mansion. There I was a Brahmā, a Great Brahmā, a Transcendent Being Untranscended, an All-seer, a Wielder of Powers. I have been Sakka, Ruler of (sensual) Gods, thirty-six times. I have been a king many hundred times as a righteous Universal Monarch turning the wheel, victorious in all four quarters, with my realm stabilized and in possession of the seven treasures. What need I say of local kingship? I thought: ‘Of what action of mine is this the fruit, is this the ripening, that I am now so mighty and powerful?’ Then it occurred to me: ‘It is the fruit, the ripening of three kinds of actions of mine that I am now so mighty and powerful, that is to say, of giving, of control, and of restraint.’ ”
Iti. 22
At one time the Blessed One was travelling by the road between Ukkaṭṭhā and Setavyā; and the brahman Doṇa was travelling by that road too. He saw in the Blessed One’s footprints wheels with a thousand spokes and with rims and hubs all complete. Then he thought: “It is wonderful, it is marvellous! Surely this can never be the footprint of a human being.”
Then the Blessed One left the road and sat down at the root of a tree, crosslegged, with his body held erect and mindfulness established before him. Then the brahman Doṇa, who was following up the footprints, saw him sitting at the root of the tree. The Blessed One inspired trust and confidence, his faculties being stilled, his mind quiet and attained to supreme control and serenity: a tusker elephant self-controlled and guarded by restraint of sense faculties. The brahman went up to him and asked: “Sir, will you be a god?”
“No, brahman.”
“Sir, will you be a heavenly angel?”
“No, brahman.”
“Sir, will you be a spirit?”
“No, brahman.”
“Sir, will you be a human being?”
“No, brahman.”
“Then, sir, what indeed will you be?”
“Brahman, the taints by means of which, through my not having abandoned them, I might be a god or a heavenly angel or a spirit or a human being have been abandoned by me, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with, and are no more subject to future arising. Just as a blue or red or white lotus is born in water, grows in water and stands up above the water untouched by it, so too I, who was born in the world and grew up in the world, have transcended the world, and I live untouched by the world. Remember me as one who is enlightened.”
A. 4:36
Again the Blessed One was wandering at one time in the country of the Videhans with a large community of bhikkhus, with five hundred bhikkhus. Now at that time the brahman Brahmāyu was living at Mithilā. He was old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life and come to the last stage; he was in his hundred and twentieth year. He was expert in the three Vedas, he knew the text and context of the Itihāsas, the fifth of the brahmanical authorities, with their invocations, liturgy and word-analysis, and he was fully versed in natural science and that of the marks of the Great Man.
He had heard of the Blessed One’s qualities and that he was wandering in the country of the Videhans. He had a pupil, a young brahman student named Uttara, who was as expert as his teacher and as fully versed too in the science of the marks of the Great Man. The brahman said to his pupil: “Come, my dear Uttara; go to the monk Gotama and find out whether the report of him that has been spread abroad is true or not, and whether he is one such as that or not. We shall see the monk Gotama through you.”
“But how shall I find out, sir?”
“My dear Uttara, the thirty-two marks of the Great Man have been handed down in our scriptures, and the Great Man who is endowed with them has only two possible destinies and no other. If he lives the house life, he becomes a righteous Universal Monarch, a conqueror of the four quarters, all-victorious, who stabilizes his country and possesses the seven treasures: the wheel treasure, the elephant treasure, the horse treasure, the jewel treasure, the woman treasure, the householder treasure, and the steward treasure as the seventh; his children who exceed a thousand are brave and heroic and crush others’ armies; over this earth bounded by the ocean he rules without a rod, without a weapon and in righteousness. But if he goes forth from the house life into homelessness, he becomes an Accomplished One, a Fully Enlightened One, who draws aside the veil in the world. But I, my dear Uttara, am the giver of the scriptures; you are the receiver of them.”
“Even so, sir,” he replied.
He rose from his seat, and after paying homage to the brahman, keeping him on his right, he left for where the Blessed One was wandering in the country of the Videhans. Travelling by stages, he came to where the Blessed One was. He exchanged greetings with him, and when this courteous formal talk was finished, he sat down at one side. When he had done so, he looked for the thirty-two marks of the Great Man on the Blessed One’s body. He saw, more or less, the thirty-two marks there except for two; he was doubtful and uncertain about two of the marks, and he could not decide and make up his mind about them—about what should be hidden by cloth being enclosed in a sheath, and about the largeness of the tongue.
Then it occurred to the Blessed One that he was doubtful about these two marks. He worked a feat of supernormal power such that the brahman student Uttara saw that in the Blessed One what should be hidden by cloth was enclosed by a sheath. Then the Blessed One extruded his tongue, and he repeatedly touched both ear holes, and he repeatedly touched both nostril holes, and he hid the whole of his forehead with his tongue. Then the brahman thought: “The monk Gotama is endowed with the thirty-two marks of the Great Man. Suppose I follow him and observe his behaviour?”
Then he followed him for seven months like a shadow, never leaving him. At the end of seven months in the country of the Videhans he set out to return to Mithilā.
He went to Brahmāyu the brahman, paid homage and sat down at one side. Then the brahman asked him: “Well, my dear Uttara, is the report of the monk Gotama that has been spread about true, or not true? And is Master Gotama one such as that, or not?”
“The report is true, sir, not incorrect; Master Gotama is one such as that and no other. Now Master Gotama sets his foot down squarely—this is a mark of the Great Man in him. On the soles of his feet there are wheels with a thousand spokes and with rims and hubs complete …. He has projecting heels …. He has long fingers and toes… His hands and feet are soft and tender …. He has netted hands …. His feet are arched …. His legs are like an antelope’s ….
When he stands without stooping, the palms of both his hands touch and rub against his knees …. That in him which should be covered by cloth is enclosed in a sheath …. He is the colour of gold …. His skin has a golden sheen, but he is fine-skinned; because of the fineness of his skin, dust and dirt do not stick to his body …. His body-hairs grow singly, each hair growing alone in its pore …. The tips of his body-hairs turn up; the up-turned hairs are blue-black, the colour of jet, curled, and turned to the right …. He has the straight limbs of a Brahmā …. He has seven convexities … He has the upper torso of a lion…. The furrow between his shoulders is filled in …. He has the proportions of a banyan tree; the spread of his arms equals the height of his body, and the height of his body equals the spread of his arms …. His neck and shoulders are even …. His sense of taste is supremely acute …. He is lion-jawed …. He has forty teeth …. His teeth are even …. His teeth have no gaps between …. His teeth are quite white …. He has a large tongue …. He has a divine voice, like that of the Karavīka bird …. His eyes are very black …. He has the eyelashes of an ox …. In the space between his eyebrows he has down growing, which is white with the sheen of soft cotton …. His head is shaped like a turban—this also is a mark of the Great Man in him. So Master Gotama is endowed with these thirty-two marks of the Great Man.
“When he walks, he steps out with the right foot first. He does not extend his foot too far or put it down too near. He walks neither too quickly nor too slowly. He walks without his knees knocking together. He walks without his ankles knocking together. He walks without raising or lowering his thighs or bringing them together or keeping them apart. When he walks, only the lower part of his body oscillates, and he walks with no bodily effort. When he turns to look, he does so with his whole body. He does not look vertically down. He does not look vertically up. He does not walk looking about. He looks a plough-yoke’s length before him; beyond that he has the vision of unhindered knowledge.
“When he goes indoors, he does not raise or lower his body or bend it forward or back. He turns round neither too far from the seat nor too near it. He does not lean on the seat with his hand. He does not throw his body down on to the seat.
“When seated indoors, he does not fidget with his hands. He does not fidget with his feet. He does not sit with his knees crossed. He does not sit with his ankles crossed. He does not sit with his hand holding his chin. When seated indoors, he is not afraid; he does not shiver and tremble, he is not nervous; his hair does not stand up on that account, and he is intent on seclusion.
“When he receives water for the bowl, he does not raise or lower the bowl or tip it forwards or backwards. He receives neither too little nor too much water for the bowl. He washes the bowl without splashing. He washes the bowl without turning it about. He does not put the bowl on the floor to wash his hands; when his hands are washed, the bowl is washed; and when the bowl is washed, his hands are washed. He pours the water for the bowl away neither too far nor too near, and he does not pour it about.
“When he receives rice, he does not raise or lower the bowl or tip it forwards or backwards. He receives neither too little nor too much rice. He adds sauces in the right proportion; he does not exceed the right amount of sauce in the mouthful. He turns the mouthful over three or four times in his mouth and then swallows it; and no rice grain enters his body unmasticated nor does any remain in his mouth; then he takes another mouthful. He takes his food experiencing the taste without experiencing greed for the taste. The food he takes has five factors: it is neither for amusement nor for intoxication nor for smartening nor for embellishing but only for the endurance and continuance of this body, for the ending of discomfort, and for assisting the holy life: ‘Thus I shall terminate old feelings without arousing new feelings, and I shall live in comfort, healthy and blameless.’
“When he has eaten and receives water for the bowl, he does not raise or lower the bowl or tip it forwards or backwards. He receives neither too little nor too much water for the bowl. He washes the bowl without making a splashing noise. He washes the bowl without turning it about. He does not put the bowl on the floor to wash his hands; when his hands are washed, the bowl is washed; when the bowl is washed, his hands are washed. He pours the water for the bowl neither too far nor too near, and he does not pour it about.
“When he has eaten, he puts the bowl on the floor neither too far nor too near; and he is neither careless of the bowl nor over-solicitous about it.
“When he has eaten, he sits in silence for a while, but he does not let the time for the blessing go by. When he gives the blessing after eating, he does not do so criticizing that meal or expecting another meal; he instructs, urges, rouses and encourages that audience with talk purely on the Dhamma. When he has finished that, he rises from his seat and departs.
“He walks neither too fast nor too slow, and he does not go as one does who wants to get away.
“His robe is worn neither too high nor too low on his body, nor tight against his body nor loose on his body, nor does the wind blow his robe away from his body. Dust and dirt do not soil his body.
“When he has gone to the forest, he sits down on a seat made ready. Having sat down, he washes his feet. He does not concern himself with pedicure. After washing his feet he seats himself crosslegged, sets his body erect and establishes mindfulness in front of him. He does not occupy his mind with self-affliction or affliction of others or affliction of both; he sits with his mind set on his own welfare, on others’ welfare and on the welfare of both; in fact, on the welfare of the whole world.
“When he goes to the monastery, he teaches the Dhamma to an audience. He neither flatters nor berates that audience; he instructs, urges, rouses and encourages that audience with talk purely on the Dhamma. The speech issuing from his mouth has eight qualities: it is distinct, intelligible, melodious, audible, ringing, incisive, deep, and sonorous; but while his voice is intelligible as far as the confines of the audience, his speech does not extend beyond that audience. When the people have been instructed, urged, roused and encouraged by him, they rise from their seats and depart, looking only to him and concerned with nothing else.
“Sir, we have seen Master Gotama walking, we have seen him standing, we have seen him indoors seated in silence, we have seen him indoors eating, we have seen him indoors sitting in silence after eating, we have seen him giving the blessing after eating, we have seen him going to the monastery, we have seen him sitting in the monastery in silence, we have seen him in the monastery teaching the Dhamma to an audience. Such is Master Gotama. Such he is and more than that.”
When this was said, the Brahman Brahmāyu rose from his seat, and arranging his upper robe on one shoulder, he raised his hands palms together towards where the Blessed One was, and he uttered this exclamation three times: “Honour to the Blessed One, accomplished and fully enlightened! Honour to the Blessed One, accomplished and fully enlightened! Honour to the Blessed One, accomplished and fully enlightened! Now suppose some time or other we were to meet Master Gotama. Suppose we had some conversation together.”
M. 91
At one time the Blessed One was living at Campā on the banks of the Gaggarā Lake. Then one midday the householder Vajjiyamāhita went out from Campā to see the Blessed One. But on the way he thought: “It is not yet time to see the Blessed One; he is in retreat. And it is not yet time to see the meditative bhikkhus; they are in retreat. Suppose I went to the park belonging to the wanderers of other sects?”
He went there. At that time the wanderers of other sects had met together, and they were sitting talking all kinds of low talk, shouting with a loud noisy clamour. Seeing the householder Vajjiyamāhita coming in the distance, they quieted each other, saying: “Sirs, let there be no noise. Do not make a noise. The householder Vajjiyamāhita is coming, and he is a follower of the monk Gotama. If there are any white-clothed laymen living in Campā who are followers of the monk Gotama, he is one of them. Those worthy people like little noise and are trained to make little noise, and they recommend making little noise. Perhaps, if he finds that ours is a congregation little given to noise, he will think it one worth his while to approach.”
Then the wanderers were silent. The householder Vajjiyamāhita went up to them and exchanged greetings. Then he sat down at one side. They asked him: “Householder, is it true, as it seems, that the monk Gotama disapproves of austerity and condemns and censures without qualification everyone who leads the hard life of austerity?”
“That is not so, Lords. The Blessed One disapproves of what should be disapproved of and recommends what should be recommended. But in doing so he is one who speaks with discrimination, he is not one who makes one-sided utterances.”
Then a certain wanderer said to him: “Wait a moment, householder, this monk Gotama whom you praise is a nihilist (one to lead away): he does not describe anything, according to what you say of him.”
“On the contrary, Lords, I say with justification to the venerable ones that the Blessed One has described how certain things are wholesome and how certain things are unwholesome. So since he describes that he is one who does describe something, not one who does not.”
When this was said, the wanderers were silent.
A. 10:94
NARRATOR TWO. Saccaka, a Nigaṇṭha’s son, came to dispute with the Buddha at Vesālī. The Buddha described how his struggle before the Enlightenment led to his discovery that mortification led nowhere. He said:
FIRST VOICE. “I have had experience of teaching the Dhamma to an assembly of many hundreds. Perhaps someone has fancied: ‘The monk Gotama is preaching the Dhamma on my personal account.’ But it should not be regarded so. A Perfect One preaches the Dhamma to others in order to give them knowledge. When the talk is over, then I steady my mind in myself, quiet it, bring it to singleness and concentrate it on that same object of consciousness on which I was concentrating before.”
“That is to be expected since Master Gotama is accomplished and fully enlightened. But has Master Gotama ever slept by day?”
“In the last month of the hot season, on returning from the alms round after the meal, I have had experience of laying out my outer robe of patches folded in four and lying down on my right side, falling asleep mindful and fully aware.”
“Some monks and brahmans call that a deluded man’s abiding.”
“It is not in that way that a man is either deluded or not deluded. Him I call deluded in whom the taints that defile, that renew being, ripen in future suffering and lead to birth, ageing and death, are unabandoned; for it is with the non-abandoning of taints that a man is deluded. Him I call undeluded in whom these taints are abandoned; for it is with the abandoning of taints that a man is undeluded. Just as a palm tree with its crown cut off is incapable of growing, so too in a Perfect One these taints are abandoned, cut off, severed at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with and not subject to future arising.”
When this was said, Saccaka observed: “It is wonderful, Master Gotama, it is marvellous how, when Master Gotama is attacked again and again with personal remarks, the colour of his skin brightens, the colour of his face clears, as happens in one who is accomplished and fully enlightened! I have had experience of engaging Pūraṇa Kassapa in argument, and then he prevaricated and diverted the talk and even showed anger, hate and surliness. And likewise with Makkhali Gosāla and the rest. And now, Master Gotama, we depart; we are busy and have much to do.”
M. 36
NARRATOR TWO. Saccaka, however, was unconvinced and retained his own views.
NARRATOR ONE. There is an incident which shows that the Buddha was not immune from illness.
FIRST VOICE. At one time the Blessed One was living in Nigrodha’s Park at Kapilavatthu in the Sakyan country. He had only just recovered from a sickness. Then Mahānāma the Sakyan went to him and said: “Lord, I have long known the Dhamma to be taught by the Blessed One thus: ‘Knowledge is for one who is concentrated, not for one who is unconcentrated.’ Does concentration come first, Lord, and knowledge afterwards, or knowledge first and concentration afterwards?”
The venerable Ānanda thought: “The Blessed One has only just recovered from a sickness, and this Sakyan Mahānāma asks him a very profound question. Suppose I take Mahānāma aside and teach him the Dhamma?”
He did so, and he said: “The Blessed One has declared the learner’s virtue, concentration and understanding, and he has declared the adept’s virtue, concentration and understanding. The learner’s virtue is that of a bhikkhu who is virtuous, restrained with the Pātimokkha restraint, perfect in conduct and resort, and who, seeing fear in the slightest fault, trains by giving effect to the precepts of virtue. His concentration is that of a bhikkhu who enters upon and dwells in one of the four meditations. His understanding is that of a bhikkhu who understands as it actually is: ‘This is suffering, this is the origin of suffering, this is the cessation of suffering, this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ Now in the case of the adept, the noble disciple who already has such virtue, concentration and understanding, by realization himself with direct knowledge here and now enters upon and dwells in the deliverance of mind and the deliverance by understanding 5 that are taintless because of exhaustion of taints.”
A. 3:73
NARRATOR ONE. The Buddha was of normal height. This may be presumed from the story of his exchange of robes with the Elder Mahā-Kassapa, which will be given later, and from the following incident.
SECOND VOICE. The occasion was this. The Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park, and at that time the venerable Nanda, the son of the Blessed One’s aunt, was there. He was handsome, inspiring faith and confidence; and he was four finger-breadths shorter than the Blessed One. He used to wear a robe of the same measurement as the Sublime One’s robe, and when the elder bhikkhus saw the venerable Nanda coming in the distance, they mistook him for the Blessed One, and so they rose from their seats. But when he arrived they found out their mistake. They disapproved, and they murmured and protested: “How can the venerable Nanda wear a robe of the same measurement as the Sublime One’s robe?”
They told the Blessed One. He rebuked the venerable Nanda, and he made this training rule: “Any bhikkhu who should wear a robe of the measurement of the Sublime One’s robe commits an offence involving expiation. The measurements of the Sublime One’s robe are: nine spans long and six spans across, of the Sublime One’s span.”
Vin. Sv. Pāc. 92
NARRATOR ONE. The story of the Elder Vakkali is appropriate here because it illustrates the Buddha’s attitude to bodily presence.
FIRST VOICE. Thus I heard. Once when the Blessed One was living at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels’ Sanctuary, the venerable Vakkali was living in a potter’s house. He was afflicted, suffering and gravely ill. He told his attendants: “Friends, go to the Blessed One and pay homage to him on my behalf with your heads at his feet, and say: ‘Lord, the bhikkhu Vakkali is afflicted, suffering and gravely ill; he pays homage with his head at the Blessed One’s feet.’ And say this: ‘Lord, it would be good if the Blessed One went to the bhikkhu Vakkali out of compassion.’ ”
“Yes, friend,” the bhikkhus replied. They went to the Blessed One, and they gave him the message and the request. The Blessed One consented in silence. Then he dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, he went to the venerable Vakkali. The venerable Vakkali saw him coming and tried to get up from his bed. The Blessed One said: “Enough, Vakkali. Do not get up from your bed. There are seats ready; I shall sit down there.” He sat down on one of the seats made ready. Then he said: “I hope it goes well with you, Vakkali; I hope you are comfortable, that your pains are departing, not increasing, that they seem to be getting less, not more.”
“Lord, it is not going well with me. I have no comfort. My pains are increasing, not departing; they seem to be getting more, not less.”
“I hope you have no worry and remorse, Vakkali?”
“Surely, Lord, I have no little worry and remorse.”
“I hope, then, you have nothing to reproach yourself with on account of virtuous conduct?”
“I have nothing to reproach myself with on account of virtuous conduct, Lord.”
“If not, Vakkali, then what is your worry and remorse about?”
“Lord, I have long wanted to come and see the Blessed One, but I have never had bodily strength enough to do so.”
“Enough, Vakkali; why do you want to see this filthy body? He who sees the Dhamma sees me; he who sees me sees the Dhamma. For it is when he sees the Dhamma that he sees me; and it is when he sees me that he sees the Dhamma. How do you conceive this, Vakkali, is material form permanent or impermanent?”
NARRATOR TWO. The Buddha went on to repeat the discourse as he had given it to the bhikkhus of the group of five after the Enlightenment.
FIRST VOICE. Now when the Blessed One had given the venerable Vakkali this instruction, he rose from his seat and went to the Vulture Peak Rock.
Soon after he had gone the venerable Vakkali told his attendants: “Come, friends, put me on a bed and take me to the Black Rock on the slopes of Isigili. How can one like me think of dying in a house?”
“Yes, friend,” they replied, and they did so.
The Blessed One passed the rest of that day and that night on the Vulture Peak Rock. When the night was over, he addressed the bhikkhus: “Come, bhikkhus, go to the bhikkhu Vakkali and tell him this: ‘Friend Vakkali, hear what deities have told the Blessed One. Last night two deities of marvellous appearance, who illuminated the whole of the Vulture Peak Rock, went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, one deity said: “Lord, the bhikkhu Vakkali has his heart set on liberation.” And the other deity said: “Lord, he will certainly be completely liberated.” And the Blessed One tells you this, friend, “Do not be afraid, Vakkali, do not be afraid. Your death will be innocent of evil; the completion of your time will be innocent of evil.” ’ ”
“Even so, Lord,” they replied. Then they went to the venerable Vakkali and told him: “Friend, hear a message from the Blessed One and from two deities.”
The venerable Vakkali told his attendants: “Come, friends, take me down from the bed; for how can one like me think of hearing the Blessed One’s message sitting on a high seat?”
“Yes, friend,” they replied, and they did as he had asked. Then the message was given him.
He said: “Now, friends, pay homage on my behalf to the Blessed One with your heads at his feet, and say: ‘Lord, the bhikkhu Vakkali is afflicted, suffering and gravely ill; he pays homage with his head at the Blessed One’s feet, and he says this: “Lord, I do not doubt that material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are impermanent. I have no uncertainty that what is impermanent is suffering. I have no desire or lust or affection for what is impermanent, painful and subject to change; of that too I have no uncertainty.” ’ ”
“Yes, friend,” they replied. Then they departed. Soon after they had gone the venerable Vakkali took his own life.
When the bhikkhus had gone to the Blessed One and told him the venerable Vakkali’s words, he said: “Let us go to the Black Rock on the slopes of Isigili, bhikkhus, where clansman Vakkali has taken his own life.”
“Even so, Lord,” they replied. Then the Blessed One went to the Black Rock on the slopes of Isigili with a number of bhikkhus. He saw from a distance the venerable Vakkali’s senseless body lying on a bed. But at the same time a smoky haze, a sombre shadow, was moving to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south and to all the intermediate directions. Then the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus, do you see that smoky haze, that sombre shadow?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Bhikkhus, that is Māra the Evil One. He is searching for the clansman Vakkali’s consciousness: ‘Where has the clansman Vak-kali’s consciousness established itself?’ But, bhikkhus, the clansman Vakkali has attained final Nibbāna without his consciousness becoming established anywhere at all.”
S. 22:87
NARRATOR ONE. There are several instances related in the Piṭakas of bhikkhus taking their own lives. This was pronounced by the Buddha to be blameless only on one condition: that the bhikkhu was already an Arahant, without lust, hate or delusion, or would certainly become one before his death, and that the taking of his own life subject to that condition was merely the terminating of an incurable disease. Otherwise, the taking of human life, or the recommendation of death, constitutes one of the four Defeats, or capital offences which entail permanent expulsion from the Sangha (the other three being theft, sexual intercourse, and knowingly making false claims to spiritual attainments), though attempted suicide is a minor wrongdoing.
NARRATOR TWO. It was related earlier how the Buddha named the six Buddhas that preceded him. He also named the Buddha who will next succeed him in the future, which will be after his own teaching and all memory of him have completely vanished from the world.
FIRST VOICE. “When the human life span shall have increased to eighty thousand years, the Blessed One Metteyya, accomplished and fully enlightened, will arise in the world, perfect in knowledge and conduct, sublime, a knower of worlds, an incomparable leader of men to be tamed, a teacher of gods and men, enlightened, blessed, just as I am now. He will himself realize with direct knowledge, and declare, this world with its deities, its Māras and its Brahmā divinities, this generation with its monks and brahmans, with its princes and men, just as I have done now. He will teach the Dhamma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end, with the meaning and the letter, and will explain the holy life that is utterly perfect and pure, just as I have done now.”
D. 26
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Accomplished One, so I heard: “Bhikkhus, I am a brahman, used to liberality and open-handed; I bear my last body; I am the supreme physician. You are the children of my breast, born of my lips, born of the Dhamma, heirs in the Dhamma, not in material things. There are two kinds of gifts: the gift of material things and the gift of the Dhamma. The greater of these is the gift of the Dhamma.”
Iti. 100
“Now, bhikkhus, if others should ask a bhikkhu: ‘What are the evidences and certainties owing to which you, venerable sir, say: “The Blessed One is fully enlightened, the Dhamma is well proclaimed, the Sangha has entered upon the good way”?’ then, answering rightly, you would answer thus: ‘Here, friends, I approached the Blessed One for the sake of hearing the Dhamma. The teacher showed me the Dhamma at each successively higher stage, at each superior level, with dark and bright counterparts. According as he did so, by arriving at direct knowledge here of a certain teaching (namely, one of the four stages in the path of realization) among the teachings taught in the Dhamma, I reached my goal: then I had confidence in the teacher thus: “The Blessed One is fully enlightened, the Dhamma is well proclaimed, the Sangha has entered upon the good way.” ’ When anyone’s faith in the Perfect One is planted and rooted and established with these evidences, these phrases and these syllables, then his faith is called supported by evidence, rooted in vision, sound, and invincible by monk or brahman or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world.”
M. 47
“When Master Gotama’s disciples are advised and instructed by him, do they all attain the supreme goal of Nibbāna, or do some not attain it?”
“Some do, brahman, and some do not.”
“Why is that, Master Gotama, since there is Nibbāna, and the way leading to it, and Master Gotama as guide?”
“Now as to that, brahman, I shall ask you a question in return. Answer it as you like. How do you conceive this: are you familiar with the road that leads to Rājagaha?’
“Yes, Master Gotama, I am.”
“How do you conceive this: suppose a man came who wanted to go to Rājagaha, and he approached you and said, ‘Sir, show me the road to Rājagaha,’ and then you told him: ‘Now, good man, this road goes to Rājagaha. Follow it for a while and you will see a certain village, then a certain town, then Rājagaha with its gardens and groves and lands and lakes’; then, having been thus advised and instructed by you, he took a wrong road and went on to the west. And then a second man appeared, and after asking the same question and receiving the same advice and instruction from you, he got safely to Rājagaha. Now since there is Rājagaha, and the way leading to it, and yourself as guide, why is it that of these two men, advised and instructed by you, one takes a wrong road and goes on to the west and one gets safely to Rājagaha?”
“What have I to do with that, Master Gotama? I am simply one who shows the way.”
“So too, brahman, there is Nibbāna, and the way leading to it, and myself as guide, yet when my disciples are advised and instructed by me, some attain Nibbāna and some do not. What have I to do with that, brahman? A Perfect One is simply one who shows the way.”
M. 107 (condensed)
Once some wanderers of other sects went to the venerable Anurādha and asked him: “Friend Anurādha, one who is a Perfect One, highest of men, the supreme among men, one attained to the supreme attainment, when a Perfect One is describing him, in which of the four following instances does he describe him: After death a Perfect One is; or after death a Perfect One is not; or after death a Perfect One both is and is not; or after death a Perfect One neither is nor is not?’ 6“Friends, a Perfect One in describing him describes him apart from these four instances.”
When this was said they remarked: “This will be a new bhikkhu or an Elder not long gone forth who is foolish and inexperienced.” Then, having no confidence in the venerable Anurādha and thinking him newly gone forth and foolish, they got up from their seats and went away. Then, soon after they had gone he wondered: “If they had questioned me further, how should I have answered them so that I might say what the Blessed One says without misrepresenting him with what is not fact and might express ideas in accordance with the Dhamma with nothing legitimately deducible from my assertions that would provide grounds for condemning me?” So he went to the Blessed One and told him about this.
“How do you conceive this, Anurādha, is material form permanent or impermanent?”—“Impermanent, Lord.”
NARRATOR TWO. The Buddha then continued as he had done in the Second Sermon preached to the bhikkhus of the group of five, after which he asked:
“How do you conceive this, Anurādha: do you see material form as the Perfect One?”—“No, Lord.”—“Do you see feeling … perception … formations … consciousness as the Perfect One?”—“No, Lord.”
“How do you conceive this, Anurādha: do you see the Perfect One as in material form?”—“No, Lord.”—“Do you see the Perfect One as apart from material form?”—“No, Lord.”—“Do you see the Perfect One as in feeling … as apart from feeling … as in perception … as apart from perception … as in formations … as apart from formations … as in consciousness … as apart from consciousness?”—“No, Lord.”
“How do you conceive this, Anurādha: do you see the Perfect One as material form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness?”— “No, Lord.”
“How do you conceive this, Anurādha: do you see this Perfect One as having no material form, no feeling, no perception, no formations, no consciousness?”—“No, Lord.”
“Anurādha, when a Perfect One is here and now unapprehendable by you as true and established, is it fitting to say of him: ‘Friends, one who is a Perfect One, highest of men, the supreme among men, one attained to the supreme attainment, when a Perfect One is describing him, he describes him apart from the following four instances: After death a Perfect One is; or after death a Perfect One is not; or after death a Perfect One both is and is not; or after death a Perfect One neither is nor is not?’ ”
“No, Lord.”
“Good, good, Anurādha. What I describe, now as formerly, is suffering and the cessation of suffering.”
S. 44:2
“Why are these questions not answered by a Perfect One? Because they all treat of a Perfect One after death in terms of form (and the rest)” (S. 44:3). “Because they are asked by one who is not free from desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for form (and the rest)” (S. 44:5). “Because they are asked by one who relishes form (and the rest) and also being and clinging and craving, and who does not know how these things cease” (S. 44:6). “Such questions belong to the thicket of views … the fetter of views: they are connected with suffering, anguish, despair and fever, and they do not lead to dispassion, fading, stilling, direct knowledge, enlightenment, Nibbāna.”
(M. 72).
“One who is Thus-gone (Tathāgata, a Perfect One) 7 is here and now unknowable, I say. So saying, so proclaiming, I have been baselessly, vainly, falsely, and wrongly misrepresented by certain monks and brahmans thus: ‘The monk Gotama is one who leads away (to annihilation); for he describes the annihilation, the loss, the non-being, of an existing creature.’ ”
M. 22
“There are these three types of acquisition of self: the gross, the mind-constituted, and the formless…. The first has (material) form, consists of the four great entities and consumes physical food. The second has form and is constituted by mind with all the limbs and lacking no faculty. The third is formless and consists in perception…. I teach the Dhamma for the abandoning of acquisitions of self in order that in you, who put the teaching into practice, defiling qualities may be abandoned and cleansing qualities increased, and that you may, by realisation yourselves here and now with direct knowledge, enter upon and abide in the fullness of understanding’s perfection…. If it is thought that to do that is a painful abiding, that is not so; on the contrary, by doing that there is gladness, happiness, tranquillity, mindfulness, full awareness, and a pleasant abiding.”
NARRATOR TWO. The Buddha went on to say that from one rebirth to another any one of these three kinds of acquisition of self can succeed another. That being so, it cannot be successfully argued that only one of them is true and the others wrong; one can only say that the term for any one does not fit the other two; just as, with milk from a cow, curd from milk, butter from curd, ghee from butter, and fine-extract of ghee from ghee, the term of each fits only that and none of the others, yet they are not disconnected. The Buddha concluded:
FIRST VOICE. “These are worldly usages, worldly language, worldly terms of communication, worldly descriptions, by which a Perfect One communicates without misapprehending them.”
D. 9 (condensed)
Nanamoli Thera from
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA
ACCORDING TO THE PāLI CANON
Translation from the Pāli,
No comments:
Post a Comment