English
oh, that an end to this entire mass of suffering might be discerned!' Having thus gone forth, he generates gain, honor, and renown. He with that By gain, honor, and fame he becomes pleased with himself and his aspirations are fulfilled. By that gain, honor, and fame he exalts himself, and disparages others, saying: ‘I am one with gain, honor, and fame, but these other monks are unknown, of little influence.’ By that gain, honor, and fame he becomes intoxicated, he becomes heedless, he falls into heedlessness. Being heedless, he dwells in suffering. This, monks, is called a monk who has taken the branches and leaves of the holy life; and by that, he has come to an end. 308. Here, monks, some young man of good family, out of faith, has gone forth from home into homelessness, saying: ‘I am overwhelmed by birth, by old age, by death, by sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair. Overwhelmed by suffering, afflicted by suffering. Oh, that an end to this entire mass of suffering might be discerned!’ Having thus gone forth, he generates gain, honor, and fame. By that gain, honor, and fame he is not pleased with himself, nor are his aspirations fulfilled. By that gain, honor, and fame he does not exalt himself, nor does he disparage others. By that gain, honor, and fame he does not become intoxicated, he does not become heedless, he does not fall into heedlessness. Being unheedful, he achieves moral perfection. By that moral perfection he becomes pleased with himself, and his aspirations are fulfilled. By that moral perfection he exalts himself, and disparages others, saying: ‘I am virtuous, of good conduct, but these other monks are immoral, of bad conduct.’ By that moral perfection he becomes intoxicated, he becomes heedless, he falls into heedlessness. Being heedless, he dwells in suffering. Just as, monks, a man seeking heartwood, searching for heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, from a great standing tree full of heartwood, would pass over the heartwood, pass over the sapwood, pass over the inner bark, and cutting off the outer bark, would take it away, thinking it was heartwood. Then a sharp-sighted man, seeing him, would say this: ‘Alas, this good man did not know the heartwood, did not know the sapwood, did not know the inner bark, did not know the outer bark... the inner bark, he did not know the branches and leaves. Just so, this good man, seeking the essence, searching for the essence, looking for the essence, passing over the essence of a great standing tree full of essence, passing over the heartwood, passing over the sapwood, passing over the inner bark, cuts off the outer bark, takes it, and departs, thinking it is the essence; and whatever is to be done with the essence, that purpose will not be fulfilled for him. “Even so, bhikkhus, here some young man of good family, out of faith, goes forth from home into homelessness— ‘I am overwhelmed by birth, by old age, by death, by sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs; overwhelmed by suffering, afflicted by suffering; oh, that an end to this entire mass of suffering might be discerned!’ Having thus gone forth, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, nor is his resolve fulfilled. He does not praise himself nor disparage others because of that gain, honor, and renown. He does not become intoxicated, nor negligent, nor fall into heedlessness because of that gain, honor, and renown. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in virtue. He is pleased with that accomplishment in virtue, his resolve is fulfilled. He praises himself and disparages others because of that accomplishment in virtue— ‘I am virtuous, of good conduct, but these other bhikkhus are immoral, of evil conduct.’ He becomes intoxicated, negligent, and falls into heedlessness because of that accomplishment in virtue; being heedless, he dwells in suffering. This, bhikkhus, is called a bhikkhu who has taken the outer bark of the holy life; and with that, he comes to an end. 309. “Here again, bhikkhus, some young man of good family, out of faith, goes forth from home into homelessness— ‘I am overwhelmed by birth, by old age, by death, by sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs; overwhelmed by suffering, afflicted by suffering; oh, that an end to this entire mass of suffering might be discerned!’ Having thus gone forth, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. So, by that gain, honor, and fame, he is not pleased in himself, nor is his resolve fulfilled. So, by that gain, honor, and fame, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. So, by that gain, honor, and fame, he does not become intoxicated, does not become heedless, does not fall into heedlessness. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in virtue. So, by that accomplishment in virtue, he is pleased in himself, but his resolve is not fulfilled. So, by that accomplishment in virtue, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. So, by that accomplishment in virtue, he does not become intoxicated, does not become heedless, does not fall into heedlessness. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in concentration. So, by that accomplishment in concentration, he is pleased in himself, and his resolve is fulfilled. So, by that accomplishment in concentration, he praises himself, disparages others: 'I am concentrated, with a unified mind, but these other monks are unconcentrated, with scattered minds.' So, by that accomplishment in concentration, he becomes intoxicated, becomes heedless, falls into heedlessness. Being heedless, he dwells in suffering. Just as, monks, a man seeking heartwood, searching for heartwood, looking for heartwood, going to a great standing tree full of heartwood, would pass over the heartwood, pass over the sapwood, cut off the bark, and take it away, thinking 'this is heartwood'. A man with eyes, seeing him, would say this: 'Indeed, this good man did not know heartwood, did not know sapwood, did not know bark, did not know inner bark, did not know branches and leaves. Just so, this good man, seeking heartwood, searching for heartwood, looking for heartwood, going to a great standing tree full of heartwood, would pass over the heartwood, pass over the sapwood, cut off the bark, and take it away, thinking 'this is heartwood'. And whatever purpose is to be served by heartwood, that purpose will not be fulfilled for him.' Even so, monks, some young man of good family, out of faith, goes forth from home into homelessness, thinking: 'I am overwhelmed by birth, old age, death, by sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs. I am overwhelmed by suffering, afflicted by suffering...' Oh, may there be an end to this entire mass of suffering. Having thus gone forth, he generates gains, honor, and fame. By those gains, honor, and fame, he is not pleased, nor is his resolve fulfilled. By those gains, honor, and fame, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. By those gains, honor, and fame, he does not become intoxicated, nor heedless, nor fall into negligence. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in virtue. By that accomplishment in virtue, he is pleased, but his resolve is not fulfilled. By that accomplishment in virtue, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. By that accomplishment in virtue, he does not become intoxicated, nor heedless, nor fall into negligence. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in concentration. By that accomplishment in concentration, he is pleased, and his resolve is fulfilled. By that accomplishment in concentration, he praises himself, and disparages others: ‘I am concentrated, with a unified mind, but these other monks are unconcentrated, with scattered minds.’ By that accomplishment in concentration, he becomes intoxicated, becomes heedless, falls into negligence. Being heedless, he dwells in suffering. This, monks, is called a monk who has grasped the skin of the holy life; and with that, he comes to an end. 310. Here, monks, some young man of good family, out of faith, goes forth from home into homelessness, thinking: ‘I am overcome by birth, by old age, by death, by sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair. Overcome by suffering, afflicted by suffering. Oh, may there be an end to this entire mass of suffering.’ Having thus gone forth, he generates gains, honor, and fame. By those gains, honor, and fame, he is not pleased, nor is his resolve fulfilled. By those gains, honor, and fame, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. By those gains, honor, and fame, he does not become intoxicated, nor heedless, nor fall into negligence. Being unheedful, he attains accomplishment in virtue. By that accomplishment in virtue he is pleased with the accomplishment of virtue, but his aspiration is not fulfilled. With that accomplishment of virtue, he does not exalt himself, nor does he disparage others. With that accomplishment of virtue, he does not become intoxicated, he does not become heedless, he does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he attains the accomplishment of concentration. He is pleased with that accomplishment of concentration, but his aspiration is not fulfilled. With that accomplishment of concentration, he does not exalt himself, nor does he disparage others. With that accomplishment of concentration, he does not become intoxicated, he does not become heedless, he does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he attains knowledge and vision. He is pleased with that knowledge and vision, his aspiration is fulfilled. With that knowledge and vision, he exalts himself, he disparages others: 'I dwell knowing and seeing. But these other monks dwell not knowing and not seeing.' With that knowledge and vision, he becomes intoxicated, he becomes heedless, he falls into heedlessness. Being heedless, he dwells in suffering. Just as, monks, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood,