English
Just as, young man, a woman or a man, young, youthful, fond of adornment, looking at their own facial reflection in a clean, pure mirror or in a bowl of clear water, would know if it has a blemish as ‘it has a blemish’, or if it has no blemish as ‘it has no blemish’. Even so, young man, a bhikkhu... And further, young man, a monk, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the minds of others. He, encompassing with his own mind the minds of other beings, other persons, understands: a mind with lust, as 'a mind with lust'; a mind without lust, as 'a mind without lust'; a mind with hatred, as 'a mind with hatred'; a mind without hatred, as 'a mind without hatred'; a mind with delusion, as 'a mind with delusion'; a mind without delusion, as 'a mind without delusion'; a constricted mind, as 'a constricted mind'; a scattered mind, as 'a scattered mind'; an exalted mind, as 'an exalted mind'; an unexalted mind, as 'an unexalted mind'; a surpassable mind, as 'a surpassable mind'; an unsurpassable mind, as 'an unsurpassable mind'; a concentrated mind, as 'a concentrated mind'; an unconcentrated mind, as 'an unconcentrated mind'; a liberated mind, as 'a liberated mind'; a not liberated mind, as 'a not liberated mind'. This, too, is his wisdom. 477. With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the recollection of past lives. 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, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction and expansion. 'There I was, such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was, such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such 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 aspects and details. Just as, young man, a man might go from his own village to another village; and from that village to yet another village; and from that village return to his own village. He would think: 'I went from my own village to that village, there I stood thus, sat thus, spoke thus, remained silent thus. And from that village, I went to that other village, there too I stood thus, sat thus, spoke thus, remained silent thus. Now I have returned from that village to my own village.' Even so, young man, a monk, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs his mind to the knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He inclines his mind. He recollects his manifold past existences. Such as – one birth… Thus, with its details and features, he recollects his manifold past existences. This, too, is for him wisdom. 478. With his mind thus concentrated… attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands them according to their deeds: ‘Indeed, these good beings were endowed with misconduct of body, misconduct of speech, misconduct of mind; they reviled the noble ones, held wrong views, and undertook actions based on wrong views. With the breakup of the body, after death, they have reappeared in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell. Or again, these good beings were endowed with good conduct of body, good conduct of speech, good conduct of mind; they did not revile the noble ones, held right views, and undertook actions based on right views. With the breakup of the body, after death, they have reappeared in a good destination, a heavenly world.’ Thus, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands them according to their deeds. Just as, young man, at a crossroads there might be a palace, and a clear-sighted man standing there might see people entering a house, or leaving it, or walking along the road, or sitting at the crossroads. He would think: ‘These people are entering a house, these are leaving, these are walking along the road, these are sitting at the crossroads.’ In the same way, young man, a bhikkhu… when his mind is thus concentrated… attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, He sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, well-faring and ill-faring. He understands beings according to their kamma. This is his wisdom. 479. With his mind thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, without blemish, rid of defilements, malleable, workable, steady, unshakable, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands, as it really is, 'This is suffering.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the origin of suffering.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the cessation of suffering.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering.' He understands, as it really is, 'These are the taints.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the origin of the taints.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the cessation of the taints.' He understands, as it really is, 'This is the path leading to the cessation of the taints.' For him, thus knowing, thus seeing, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, his mind is liberated from the taint of becoming, his mind is liberated from the taint of ignorance. In liberation, the knowledge 'It is liberated' arises. He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.' Just as, young man, in a mountain cleft, there might be a pool of water, clear, limpid, undisturbed. A man with good sight, standing on the bank, might see oysters and shells, gravel and pebbles, and schools of fish, moving about and staying still. He would think: 'This pool of water is clear, limpid, undisturbed. And in it are these oysters and shells, gravel and pebbles, and schools of fish, moving about and staying still.' Just so, young man, a bhikkhu… when, young man, a bhikkhu, with his mind thus concentrated… unshakable, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands, as it really is, 'This is suffering'… 'This is the path leading to the cessation of the taints.' For him, thus knowing, thus seeing, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, his mind is liberated from the taint of becoming, his mind is liberated from the taint of ignorance. the mind is liberated. When liberated, there is knowledge of liberation: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no more of this state.' He understands this. This is his wisdom. "This, young man, is the noble aggregate of wisdom of which the Blessed One spoke highly, and in which he exhorted, established, and settled this populace. There is nothing further to be done here." "Wonderful, Venerable Ānanda! Amazing, Venerable Ānanda! And this noble aggregate of wisdom, Venerable Ānanda, is complete, not incomplete. Such a complete noble aggregate of wisdom, Venerable Ānanda, I do not find among other ascetics and brahmins outside of this. There is nothing further to be done here. Excellent, Venerable Ānanda! Excellent, Venerable Ānanda! Just as, Venerable Ānanda, one might set upright what was overturned, or reveal what was hidden, or show the way to one who was lost, or hold up a lamp in the darkness so that those with eyes might see forms— even so, Venerable Ānanda, has the Dhamma been made clear in many ways by you. I go for refuge, Venerable Ānanda, to that Blessed Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. May Venerable Ānanda remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from today onwards, for as long as life lasts." The Subha Sutta, the tenth, is finished.