English
Thus, the Dhamma which Rāma knew, that Dhamma you know; the Dhamma which you know, that Dhamma Rāma knew. Thus, as Rāma was, so are you; as you are, so was Rāma. Come now, friend, you lead this company.’ Thus, prince, Udaka Rāmaputta, though my fellow practitioner, placed me in the position of a teacher, and honored me with great honor. Then, prince, it occurred to me thought: 'This is not a teaching for disenchantment, for dispassion, for cessation, for tranquility, for direct knowledge, for full awakening, for Nibbana; it is only for rebirth in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception.' So I, prince, not delighting in that teaching, became disenchanted with that teaching and departed. 329. So I, prince, seeking what is wholesome, searching for the unexcelled, supreme state of peace, wandering by stages through Magadha, arrived at Uruvela, the army town. There I saw a delightful stretch of land, a charming forest grove, a river flowing clear with good fords, and delightful villages all around for alms. It occurred to me, prince: 'Indeed, this is a delightful stretch of land, a charming forest grove, a river flowing clear with good fords, and delightful villages all around for alms. This is indeed suitable for a young man intent on exertion, for exertion.' So I, prince, sat down right there, thinking: 'This is enough for exertion.' And then, prince, three similes occurred to me, not previously heard, not extraordinary. Suppose, prince, there were a wet, sappy piece of wood placed in water. Then a man would come with an upper fire-stick, thinking: 'I will produce fire, I will make heat appear.' What do you think, prince, would that man, rubbing with the upper fire-stick that wet, sappy piece of wood placed in water, be able to produce fire, to make heat appear?" "No, indeed, venerable sir. For what reason? Because, venerable sir, that is a wet, sappy piece of wood, and it is placed in water; that man would only be a partaker of weariness and vexation." "Even so, prince, whatever recluses or brahmins dwell unsecluded from sensual pleasures, both in body and in mind, and their in desires, there is desire, attachment, infatuation, thirst, and fever for desires, and this is not well abandoned within, not well allayed. Even if those venerable recluses and brahmins experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external circumstances, they are incapable of knowledge, of vision, of supreme enlightenment. Even if those venerable recluses and brahmins do not experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external circumstances, they are incapable of knowledge, of vision, of supreme enlightenment. This, O prince, was the first simile that occurred to me, not strange, unheard before. 330. And another, O prince, a second simile occurred to me, not strange, unheard before. Just as, O prince, a wet, sappy piece of wood, placed far from water on dry land. Then a man comes, taking an upper fire-stick—'I will produce fire, I will make heat manifest.' What do you think, O prince, would that man, rubbing that wet, sappy piece of wood, placed far from water on dry land, with an upper fire-stick, produce fire, make heat manifest?" "No, venerable sir. For what reason? Because, venerable sir, that wet, sappy piece of wood, even though placed far from water on dry land, that man would only be a partaker of weariness and vexation." "Even so, O prince, whatever recluses or brahmins dwell withdrawn from desires, both in body and mind, and their desire, attachment, infatuation, thirst, and fever for desires is not well abandoned within, not well allayed. Even if those venerable recluses and brahmins experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external circumstances, they are incapable of knowledge, of vision, of supreme enlightenment. Even if those venerable recluses and brahmins do not experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external circumstances, they are incapable of knowledge, of vision, to unexcelled perfect enlightenment. This, indeed, prince, was the second simile that occurred to me, unamazing, unheard of before. 331. ‘‘Another, indeed, prince, a third simile occurred to me, unamazing, unheard of before. Just as, prince, a dry piece of wood, a log, placed on dry land, far from water. Then a man might come, taking the upper fire-stick— ‘I will produce fire, I will make heat appear’. What do you think, prince, would that man, taking the upper fire-stick, rubbing it, produce fire, make heat appear from that dry piece of wood, that log, placed on dry land, far from water?’’ ‘‘Yes, venerable sir.’’ ‘‘For what reason?’’ ‘‘Because, venerable sir, that is a dry piece of wood, a log, and it is placed on dry land, far from water.’’ ‘‘Even so, prince, whatever ascetics or brahmins dwell withdrawn from sensual pleasures, both in body and in mind, and their desire for sensual pleasures, their affection for sensual pleasures, their infatuation with sensual pleasures, their thirst for sensual pleasures, their fever for sensual pleasures— that is well abandoned within, well calmed. Even if those venerable ascetics and brahmins experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external factors, they are capable of knowledge, of vision, of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. And even if those venerable ascetics and brahmins do not experience painful, sharp, severe, bitter feelings caused by external factors, they are capable of knowledge, of vision, of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. This, indeed, prince, was the third simile that occurred to me, unamazing, unheard of before. These, indeed, prince, were the three similes that occurred to me, unamazing, unheard of before. 332. ‘‘Then it occurred to me, prince: ‘What if I were to press my teeth together, press my tongue against my palate, and with my mind, restrain, crush, and torment my mind?’ So I, indeed, prince, pressed my teeth together, pressing my tongue against my palate, I restrain, I crush, I torment my mind with my mind. As I, prince, pressing my teeth against my teeth, pressing my tongue against my palate, restrain, crush, torment my mind with my mind, sweat streams from my armpits. Just as, prince, a strong man might seize a weaker man by the head or by the shoulder and restrain him, crush him, torment him; even so, prince, as I, pressing my teeth against my teeth, pressing my tongue against my palate, restrain, crush, torment my mind with my mind, sweat streams from my armpits. My energy, prince, was aroused and unflagging, my mindfulness was established and unconfused, but my body was agitated and uncalmed, due to that painful exertion, as I was afflicted by the exertion. 333. Then, prince, this occurred to me: ‘What if I were to meditate without breathing?’ So I, prince, stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth and nose. As I, prince, stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth and nose, a violent sound of winds escaping through my ear-holes arose. Just as, for example, a blacksmith's bellows being blown makes a violent sound, even so, prince, as I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth and nose, a violent sound of winds escaping through my ear-holes arose. My energy, prince, was aroused and unflagging, my mindfulness was established and unconfused, but my body was agitated and uncalmed, due to that painful exertion, as I was afflicted by the exertion. Then, prince, this occurred to me: ‘What if I were to meditate without breathing?’ So I, prince, stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears. As I, prince, (stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths through my mouth, nose, and ears,) And from the nose, and from the ears, when in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped, excessive winds struck my head. Just as, O prince, a strong man might bore into the head with a sharp drill; even so, O prince, from my mouth, and from my nose, and from my ears, when in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped, excessive winds struck my head. But my energy, O prince, was aroused and unflagging, my mindfulness was established and unconfused, and my body was agitated and not calmed, because of that painful striving, being afflicted by striving. Then, O prince, it occurred to me: 'What if I were to meditate without breathing?' So I, O prince, stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths from my mouth, from my nose, and from my ears. When the in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped, O prince, from my mouth, from my nose, and from my ears, excessive pains arose in my head. Just as, O prince, a strong man might bind his head with a strong leather strap; even so, O prince, when the in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped, from my mouth, from my nose, and from my ears, excessive pains arose in my head. But my energy, O prince, was aroused and unflagging, my mindfulness was established and unconfused, and my body was agitated and not calmed, because of that painful striving, being afflicted by striving. Then, O prince, it occurred to me: 'What if I were to meditate without breathing?' So I, O prince, stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths from my mouth, from my nose, and from my ears. When the in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped, O prince, from my mouth, from my nose, and from my ears, excessive winds cut into my belly. Just as, Prince, a skilled butcher or a butcher's apprentice might cut open a cow's belly with a sharp butcher's knife, even so, Prince, when my in-breaths and out-breaths were stopped from my mouth, nose, and ears, excessive winds cut into my belly. My energy, Prince, was aroused and unflagging, my mindfulness established and unconfused, but my body was agitated and not calmed, because of that painful striving, as I was afflicted by the striving. Then, Prince, it occurred to me: 'What if I were to practice meditation without breathing?' So I, Prince, stopped my in-breaths and out-breaths from my mouth, nose, and ears.