English
‘‘Furthermore, Nigrodha, a recluse is not a denigrator, not a disparager…pe… is not envious, not stingy… is not deceitful, not fraudulent… is not stiff-necked, not arrogant… is not of evil wishes, not fallen under the sway of evil wishes… is not of wrong view, not endowed with an extremist view… is not clinging to his own views, not dogmatic, easily relinquishing. That a recluse is not clinging to his own views, not dogmatic, easily relinquishing, in this way he is purified in that respect. ‘‘What do you think, Nigrodha, if this is so, is this asceticism and aversion purified or unpurified?’’ ‘‘Indeed, venerable sir, if this is so, this asceticism and aversion is purified, not unpurified, it has reached the highest and the essence.’’ ‘‘No, Nigrodha, by this much asceticism and aversion has not reached the highest and the essence; but rather it has reached the outer skin.’’ Discourse on Reaching the Purified Outer Skin 70. ‘‘But by how much, venerable sir, does asceticism and aversion reach the highest and the essence? It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would lead me to the highest, to the essence of asceticism and aversion.’’ ‘‘Here, Nigrodha, a recluse is restrained by the fourfold restraint. And how, Nigrodha, is a recluse restrained by the fourfold restraint? Here, Nigrodha, a recluse He does not take life, He does not cause others to take life, He does not approve of others taking life. He does not take what is not given, He does not cause others to take what is not given, He does not approve of others taking what is not given. He does not speak falsely, He does not cause others to speak falsely, He does not approve of others speaking falsely. He does not long for what is not developed, He does not cause others to long for what is not developed, He does not approve of others longing for what is not developed. Thus, indeed, Nigrodha, the ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint. When, indeed, Nigrodha, the ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint, this is for him his asceticism. He strives forward, he does not turn back to what is inferior. He resorts to a secluded dwelling: a forest, a root of a tree, a mountain, a ravine, a mountain cave, a charnel ground, a jungle thicket, an open space, a heap of straw. After his meal, having returned from his alms round, he sits down, having folded his legs crosswise, having set his body erect, having established mindfulness in front of him. He, having abandoned covetousness for the world, dwells with a mind free from covetousness, he purifies his mind from covetousness. Having abandoned ill will and malice, 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 malice. Having abandoned sloth and torpor, he dwells free from sloth and torpor, perceiving light, mindful and clearly comprehending, he purifies his mind from sloth and torpor. Having abandoned restlessness and remorse, he dwells unagitated, with his mind inwardly peaceful, he purifies his mind from restlessness and remorse. Having abandoned doubt, he dwells having crossed over doubt, without perplexity regarding wholesome states, he purifies his mind from doubt. 71. He, having abandoned these five hindrances, defilements of the mind, which weaken wisdom, with a mind accompanied by loving-kindness, dwells pervading one direction. So too the second. So too the third. So too the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in all ways, the entire world, with a mind accompanied by loving-kindness... with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, pervading one direction, then the second, then the third, then the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in all ways, the entire world he pervades with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, vast, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill-will. With a mind imbued with compassion… (and so on) … with a mind imbued with altruistic joy… (and so on) … with a mind imbued with equanimity, he pervades one direction. Likewise the second. Likewise the third. Likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in all ways, the entire world he pervades with a mind imbued with equanimity, vast, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill-will. “What do you think, Nigrodha? If this is so, is the ascetic practice of self-mortification purified or unpurified?” “Indeed, Venerable Sir, if this is so, the ascetic practice of self-mortification is purified, not unpurified; it has reached the summit, it has reached the essence.” “Not so, Nigrodha, by this much does the ascetic practice of self-mortification reach the summit and the essence; rather, it reaches the bark.” The Discourse on the Purified Heartwood “But to what extent, Venerable Sir, does the ascetic practice of self-mortification reach the summit and the essence? It would be good for me, Venerable Sir, if the Blessed One would lead me to the summit of ascetic practice, to the essence of ascetic practice.” “Here, Nigrodha, an ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint. And how, Nigrodha, is an ascetic restrained by the fourfold restraint? … (and so on) … When, Nigrodha, an ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint, this is his asceticism. He strives forward, he does not turn back. He resorts to a secluded dwelling… (and so on) … He, having abandoned these five hindrances, the defilements of the mind that weaken wisdom, with a mind imbued with loving-kindness… (and so on) … with a mind imbued with compassion… (and so on) … with a mind imbued with altruistic joy… (and so on) … with a mind imbued with equanimity, vast, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill-will, he pervades and dwells. 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, He recollects fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many aeons of contraction, many aeons of expansion, many aeons of contraction and expansion – ‘There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Passing away from there, I arose yonder. There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Passing away from there, I arose here.’ Thus he recollects his manifold past lives, with their aspects and with their details. “What do you think, Nigrodha? If this is so, is ascetic self-mortification pure or impure?” “Indeed, Bhante, if this is so, ascetic self-mortification is pure, not impure. It has reached its peak, it has reached its essence.” “Not so, Nigrodha. By this much, ascetic self-mortification has not reached its peak, has not reached its essence. Rather, it has reached only its husk.” The Discourse on Purity, Reaching the Peak, and Reaching the Essence. 73. “But to what extent, Bhante, does ascetic self-mortification reach its peak, reach its essence? It would be good, Bhante, if the Blessed One would lead me to the peak, to the essence of ascetic self-mortification.” “Here, Nigrodha, an ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint. And how, Nigrodha, is an ascetic restrained by the fourfold restraint? ... (details omitted) ... When, Nigrodha, an ascetic is restrained by the fourfold restraint, that is for him asceticism. He strives forward, he does not turn back. He resorts to a secluded dwelling ... (details omitted) ... He abandons these five hindrances, the corruptions of the mind that weaken wisdom, and dwells pervading one direction with a mind imbued with loving-kindness ... (details omitted) ... with a mind imbued with equanimity, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill will. He recollects his manifold past lives. That is to say: one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births ... (details omitted) ... Thus he recollects his manifold past lives, with their aspects and with their details. He recollects his past lives. With the divine eye, purified, surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. He understands beings according to their deeds: 'Indeed, these good beings, endowed with misconduct of body, misconduct of speech, misconduct of mind, revilers of the noble ones, holding wrong views, undertaking 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 downfall, in hell. Or again, these good beings, endowed with good conduct of body, good conduct of speech, good conduct of mind, not revilers of the noble ones, holding right views, undertaking actions based on right views. With the breakup of the body, after death, they have reappeared in a good destination, in the heavenly world.' Thus, with the divine eye, purified, surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. He understands beings according to their deeds. "What do you think, Nigrodha, if this is so, is the ascetic practice of self-mortification purified or not purified?" "Certainly, venerable sir, if this is so, the ascetic practice of self-mortification is purified, not unpurified; it has reached its peak and its essence." "To this extent, Nigrodha, the ascetic practice of self-mortification has reached its peak and its essence. Thus, Nigrodha, what you said to me – 'What, venerable sir, is that teaching of the Blessed One by which the Blessed One trains his disciples, by which the disciples, trained by the Blessed One, declare that they have attained assurance in the fundamental holy life?' That, Nigrodha, is a state higher and more sublime, by which I train my disciples, by which my disciples, trained by me,