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causing miscarriage, binding the tongue, locking the jaw, charming the hands, charming the jaw, charming the ears, mirror-divination, maiden-divination, deity-divination, worshipping the sun, worshipping the great one, invoking good fortune, invoking prosperity – from such base arts, from such wrong livelihood, the recluse Gotama abstains.’ Thus, monks, might an ordinary person, speaking in praise of the Tathāgata, speak. 27. ‘‘‘Or again, some recluses and brahmins, who partake of food offered in faith, maintain their lives by such base arts, by such wrong livelihood, namely: performing propitiatory rites, performing vows, performing ghost-rites, performing earth-rites, performing rain-rites, performing non-rain-rites, performing house-rites, performing house-preparations, rinsing the mouth, bathing, making offerings, vomiting, purging, purging upwards, purging downwards, purging the head, ear-oil, eye-salve, nasal treatment, eye-ointment, counter-ointment, surgery, ophthalmology, child-medicine, administering root-medicines, administering herbs – from such base arts, from such wrong livelihood, the recluse Gotama abstains.’ Thus, monks, might an ordinary person, speaking in praise of the Tathāgata, speak. ‘‘This, monks, is a trifling matter, a minor matter, a mere matter of morality, by which an ordinary person might speak in praise of the Tathāgata. The Great Morality is finished. Regarding Past Ends 28. ‘‘There are, monks, other teachings, deep, hard to see, hard to comprehend, peaceful, sublime, beyond the sphere of mere logic, subtle, to be experienced by the wise, which the Tathāgata, having himself directly known and realized, proclaims, and by which, speaking rightly, one might truly speak in praise of the Tathāgata. And what are these, monks, teachings, deep, hard to see, hard to comprehend, peaceful, sublime, beyond the sphere of mere logic, subtle, to be experienced by the wise, which the Tathāgata, having himself having realized by direct knowledge, he declares, by which, speaking rightly, they would speak the true praise of the Tathāgata? 29. “There are, monks, some recluses and brahmins who speculate about the past, who follow views about the past, and concerning the past, they declare various kinds of speculative doctrines in eighteen ways. And these venerable recluses and brahmins, based on what, concerning what, who speculate about the past, who follow views about the past, concerning the past, do they declare various kinds of speculative doctrines in eighteen ways? Eternalism 30. “There are, monks, some recluses and brahmins who are eternalists, who declare the self and the world to be eternal in four ways. And these venerable recluses and brahmins, based on what, concerning what, who are eternalists, do they declare the self and the world to be eternal in four ways? 31. “Here, monks, some recluse or brahmin, by means of ardent effort, by means of exertion, by means of application, by means of diligence, by means of right attention, attains such a concentration of mind that with the mind thus concentrated, (pure, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements), he recollects his manifold past lives. That is to say: one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, one hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand births, many hundreds of births, many thousands of births, many hundreds of thousands of births. ‘There I was such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I arose here.’ Thus with its aspects and details, he recollects his manifold past lives. “He then says this: – ‘The self and the world are eternal, barren, like a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar; and these beings run on, wander on, pass away, reappear, they exist eternally, forever. For what reason? Because I, by following ardour, by following exertion, by following application, by following diligence, by following right attention, touch such a concentration of mind, that with the mind thus concentrated, I recollect my manifold past existences, such as – 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 hundreds of births, many thousands of births, many hundreds of thousands of births – ‘There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a colour, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life-span; passing away from there, I reappeared yonder; there too I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a colour, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life-span; passing away from there, I reappeared here.’ Thus I recollect my manifold past existences with their aspects and details. By this I know this: ‘that the self and the world are eternal, barren, like a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar; and these beings run on, wander on, pass away, reappear, they exist eternally, forever.’ This, bhikkhus, is the first ground, by relying on which, by taking which as a basis, some recluses and brahmins, eternalists, proclaim the self and the world to be eternal. 32. ‘‘And by relying on what, venerable recluses and brahmins, by taking what as a basis, do they proclaim the self and the world to be eternal? Here, bhikkhus, some recluse or brahmin, by following ardour, by following exertion, by following application, by following diligence, by following right attention, touches such a concentration of mind, that with the mind thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past existences. Such as – one aeon of contraction One world-cycle, even two world-cycles, even three world-cycles, even four world-cycles, even five world-cycles, even ten world-cycles. 'There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, of such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I arose there. There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, of such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I have arisen here.' Thus, with its aspects and details, he recollects his manifold past existences. He says this: 'The self and the world are eternal, barren, standing firm like a mountain peak, like a pillar firmly fixed. But these beings run on, wander on, pass away, and reappear, yet they exist eternally, forever. For what reason is that? Because I, by following ardour, by following exertion, by following application, by following heedfulness, by following right attention, attain such a concentration of mind that, with my mind thus concentrated, I recollect manifold past existences. That is to say: even one world-cycle of contraction and expansion, even two world-cycles, even three world-cycles, even four world-cycles, even five world-cycles, even ten world-cycles. There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, of such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I arose there. There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, of such a life-span. Having passed away from there, I have arisen here.' Thus, with its aspects and details, I recollect my manifold past existences. By this I know that the self and the world are eternal, barren, standing firm like a mountain peak, like a pillar firmly fixed; and these beings run on, wander on, pass away, and reappear, yet they exist eternally, forever. This, monks, is the second ground, based on which, relying on which, some recluses and brahmins, eternalists, declare the self and the world to be eternal. And in the third, bh— How then, ascetics and brahmins, based on what, starting from what, do they proclaim the self and the world to be eternal, as eternalists? Here, bhikkhus, some ascetic or brahmin, by means of ardour, by means of exertion, by means of application, by means of diligence, by means of right attention, attains such a mental concentration that with his mind thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past lives. For example: ten world-cycles of contraction and expansion, twenty world-cycles of contraction and expansion, thirty world-cycles of contraction and expansion, forty world-cycles of contraction and expansion. 'There I was, named thus, of such a clan, of such a colour, with such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was, named thus, of such a clan, of such a colour, with such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives, with their modes and details. He then says: 'The self and the world are eternal, barren, standing firm like a mountain peak, fixed like a pillar. And these beings run on, wander on, pass away, and reappear, but they exist eternally the same.' And why is that? Because I, by means of ardour, by means of exertion, by means of application, by means of diligence, by means of right attention, attain such a mental concentration that with my mind thus concentrated, I recollect my manifold past lives. For example: ten world-cycles of contraction and expansion, twenty world-cycles of contraction and expansion, thirty world-cycles of contraction and expansion, forty world-cycles of contraction and expansion. 'There I was, named thus, of such a clan, of such a colour, with such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan.