English
pass over the inner bark, and cutting off the outer bark, take it and depart, thinking 'this is the essence'. A man with eyes, seeing him, would say this: 'Indeed, this good man did not know the essence, did not know the solid wood, did not know the inner bark, did not know the outer bark, did not know the branches and leaves. Just so, this good man, in need of essence, seeking essence, going about seeking essence of a great tree standing, full of essence, would pass over the essence, pass over the solid wood, pass over the inner bark, and cutting off the outer bark, take it and depart, thinking 'this is the essence'. And whatever work is to be done with the essence, that purpose he will not achieve.' 315. "Just as, O brahmin, a man in need of essence, seeking essence, going about seeking essence of a great tree standing, full of essence, would pass over the essence, pass over the solid wood, and cutting off the inner bark, take it and depart, thinking 'this is the essence'. A man with eyes, seeing him, would say this: 'Indeed, this good man did not know the essence, did not know the solid wood, did not know the inner bark, did not know the outer bark, did not know the branches and leaves. Just so, this good man, in need of essence, seeking essence, going about seeking essence of a great tree standing, full of essence, would pass over the essence, pass over the solid wood, and cutting off the inner bark, take it and depart, thinking 'this is the essence'. And whatever work is to be done with the essence, that purpose he will not achieve.' 316. "Just as, O brahmin, Indeed, brahmin, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, from a great tree standing, full of heartwood, would pass over the heartwood itself, cut down the sapwood, take it, and go away, thinking, 'This is heartwood.' A man with eyes, seeing him, would say this: 'Indeed, 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, did not know the branches and leaves. So too, this good man, in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, from a great tree standing, full of heartwood, would pass over the heartwood itself, cut down the sapwood, take it, and go away, thinking, 'This is heartwood.' And whatever purpose is to be served by heartwood, that purpose will not be fulfilled for him.' 317. Or again, brahmin, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, from a great tree standing, full of heartwood, would cut down the heartwood itself, take it, and go away, knowing, 'This is heartwood.' A man with eyes, seeing him, would say this: 'Indeed, this good man knew the heartwood, knew the sapwood, knew the inner bark, knew the outer bark, knew the branches and leaves. So too, this good man, in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, from a great tree standing, full of heartwood, would cut down the heartwood itself, take it, and go away, knowing, 'This is heartwood.' And whatever purpose is to be served by heartwood, that purpose will be fulfilled for him.' 318. Just so, brahmin, some individual here, out of faith, goes forth from home into homelessness, thinking: 'I am overcome by birth, by old age, by death, by sorrows, by lamentations, by pains, by griefs, by despairs; overcome by suffering, afflicted by suffering; oh, that an end to this whole mass of suffering might be known!' Having thus gone forth, he brings forth gain, honor, and renown. He is pleased and fully satisfied with that gain, honor, and renown. With that gain, honor, and renown, he exalts himself, and disparages others – 'I am one with gains, honor, and fame, but these other monks are unknown, of little power.' And with gains, honor, and fame, he generates no desire for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent; he makes no effort; he is lax in conduct and slothful. Just as, brahmin, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, passing over the heartwood of a great standing tree with heartwood, passing over the sapwood, passing over the inner bark, passing over the outer bark, cuts down the branches and leaves, takes them away, and considers them heartwood. And the purpose for which heartwood is needed will not be served for him. I say, brahmin, this person is like that. 319. Here, brahmin, some person, out of faith, goes forth from home to homelessness, thinking: 'I am afflicted by birth, old age, death, sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs; afflicted by suffering, overcome by suffering. Oh, if only an end to this entire mass of suffering might be discerned!' Having thus gone forth, he acquires gains, honor, and fame. He is not pleased or fully resolved by those gains, honor, and fame. By those gains, honor, and fame, he does not praise himself or disparage others. And for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent than gains, honor, and fame, he generates desire, he makes effort, he is not lax in conduct and is not slothful. He achieves moral perfection. He is pleased and fully resolved by that moral perfection. By that moral perfection, he praises himself and disparages others, thinking: 'I am virtuous, of good conduct, but these other monks are immoral, of bad conduct.' And for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent than moral perfection, he generates no desire, he makes no effort, he is lax in conduct and slothful. Just as, b Brahmin, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, passing by a great standing tree with heartwood, passing by the heartwood, passing by the sapwood, passing by the bark, cuts off the outer skin, takes it, and departs, thinking it is the heartwood. Whatever he needed to do with heartwood, that purpose will not be fulfilled for him. Like that, Brahmin, I say this person is. 320. Here, Brahmin, a certain person out of faith goes forth from home to homelessness— 'I am afflicted by birth, old age, death, sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs; afflicted by suffering, overwhelmed by suffering; oh, that an end to this whole mass of suffering might be known!' Having thus gone forth, he generates gain, honor, and fame. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and fame, nor is his aspiration fulfilled. He does not praise himself with that gain, honor, and fame, nor does he disparage others. And for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent than gain, honor, and fame, he generates desire, he strives, and he is not lax in his effort, nor is he slack. He attains moral perfection. He is pleased with that moral perfection, but his aspiration is not fulfilled. He does not praise himself with that moral perfection, nor does he disparage others. And for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent than moral perfection, he generates desire, he strives, and he is not lax in his effort, nor is he slack. He attains concentration perfection. He is pleased with that concentration perfection, his aspiration is fulfilled. He praises himself with that concentration perfection, he disparages others— 'I am concentrated, with a unified mind, but these other monks are unconcentrated, with scattered minds.' And for the realization of those other qualities that are higher and more excellent than concentration perfection, he does not generate desire, he does not strive, he is lax. He is of slack conduct and lazy. Just as, brahmin, a man seeking heartwood, searching for heartwood, looking for heartwood, from a great standing tree with heartwood, having passed over the heartwood, having passed over the sapwood, having cut off the bark, takes it and goes away, thinking, ‘This is heartwood.’ Whatever use is to be made with heartwood, that use will not be experienced by him. I declare this person to be like that, brahmin. 321. Here, brahmin, some person, out of faith, goes forth from home to homelessness, thinking: ‘I am overcome by birth, old age, death… …let the end of suffering be known.’ Having thus gone forth, he generates gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased or fully resolved by that gain, honor, and renown. By that gain, honor, and renown, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. And for the realization of those other states that are higher and more excellent than gain, honor, and renown, he generates desire, he strives, he is of unflagging conduct and not lazy. He attains accomplishment in virtue. He is pleased by that accomplishment in virtue, but not fully resolved. By that accomplishment in virtue, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. And for the realization of those other states that are higher and more excellent than accomplishment in virtue, he generates desire, he strives, he is of unflagging conduct and not lazy. He attains accomplishment in concentration. He is pleased by that accomplishment in concentration, but not fully resolved. By that accomplishment in concentration, he does not praise himself, nor does he disparage others. And for the realization of those other states that are higher and more excellent than accomplishment in concentration, he generates desire, he strives, he is of unflagging conduct and not lazy. He attains knowledge and vision. He is pleased by that knowledge and vision, and fully resolved. By that knowledge and vision, he praises himself, and disparages others. – 'I dwell knowing and seeing, but these other monks dwell not knowing and not seeing.' And for the realization of those other states that are higher and more excellent than knowledge and vision, he does not generate desire, he does not strive, he is slack in his effort and lazy. Just as, brahmin, a man in search of heartwood, seeking heartwood, looking for heartwood, passing over the heartwood