English
in Jeta's Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery. There, indeed, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Bhikkhus!" "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "I shall teach you, bhikkhus, the noble right concentration, with its supports, with its requisites. Listen to it, attend carefully; I shall speak." "Yes, Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "And what, bhikkhus, is the noble right concentration with its supports and its requisites? That is to say: Right view, Right intention, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness; And that, bhikkhus, singleness of mind equipped with these seven factors – this is called, bhikkhus, the noble right concentration with its supports, and with its requisites. Therein, bhikkhus, right view is the forerunner. And how, bhikkhus, is right view the forerunner? One understands wrong view as 'wrong view', one understands right view as 'right view' – that is one's right view. "And what, bhikkhus, is wrong view? 'There is no gift, there is no offering, there is no sacrifice, there is no fruit or result of good and bad deeds, there is no this world, there is no other world, there is no mother, there is no father, there are no spontaneously arisen beings, there are no recluses and brahmins in the world who are rightly gone, who are rightly practicing, who, having themselves realized and directly known this world and the other world, proclaim it' – this, bhikkhus, is wrong view. "And what, bhikkhus, is right view? I declare, bhikkhus, right view to be of two kinds: There is, bhikkhus, right view with taints, meritorious, with attachment, ripening in rebirth. There is, monks, noble right view, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path. And what, monks, is right view with attachment, meritorious, ripening in rebirth? ‘There is what is given, there is what is offered, there is what is sacrificed, there is fruit and result of good and bad deeds, there is this world, there is the other world, there is mother, there is father, there are spontaneously reborn beings, there are in the world ascetics and brahmins who are rightly gone, rightly practiced, who having themselves realized this world and the other world by direct knowledge, proclaim it’ – this, monks, is right view with attachment, meritorious, ripening in rebirth. And what, monks, is noble right view, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path? That, monks, which is wisdom, the faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the enlightenment factor of discrimination of states, right view, a factor of the path, in one whose mind is noble, whose mind is taintless, who is endowed with the noble path, who is developing the noble path – this is called, monks, noble right view, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path. He strives for the abandoning of wrong view, for the acquiring of right view; that is his right effort. Mindful, he abandons wrong view; mindful, he dwells having acquired right view; that is his right mindfulness. Thus these three states run along with right view, revolve around it, namely – right view, right effort, right mindfulness. Therein, monks, right view is the forerunner. And how, monks, is right view the forerunner? He understands wrong intention as ‘wrong intention’, he understands right intention as ‘right intention’; that is his right view. And what, monks, is wrong intention? Intention of sensual desire, intention of ill-will, intention of harming – this, monks, is wrong intention. And what, monks, is right intention? Right intention Monks, I declare thought to be of two kinds: There is, monks, right thought with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment; There is, monks, right thought that is noble, untouched by taints, supramundane, a factor of the path. And what, monks, is right thought with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment? The thought of renunciation, the thought of non-ill-will, the thought of non-violence – This, monks, is right thought with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment. And what, monks, is right thought that is noble, untouched by taints, supramundane, a factor of the path? That, monks, which is the reasoning, the thinking, the intention, the application, the full application, the mental fixation, the verbal formation of one with a noble mind, an untainted mind, one endowed with the noble path, developing the noble path – This, monks, is right thought that is noble, untouched by taints, supramundane, a factor of the path. He strives for the abandoning of wrong thought, for the acquiring of right thought; that is his right effort. Mindful, he abandons wrong thought; mindful, he enters upon and dwells in right thought; that is his right mindfulness. Thus these three things run along with right thought, revolve along with it, namely: right view, right effort, right mindfulness. 138. Therein, monks, right view is the forerunner. And how, monks, is right view the forerunner? He understands wrong speech as 'wrong speech'; he understands right speech as 'right speech'; that is his right view. And what, monks, is wrong speech? False speech, slanderous speech, harsh speech, frivolous talk – This, monks, is wrong speech. And what, monks, is right speech? Monks, I declare right speech to be of two kinds: There is, monks, right speech with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment; There is, monks, right speech that is noble, untouched by taints, supramundane, a factor of the path. And what, monks, is right speech with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment? Abstinence from false speech, from slanderous speech, Abstinence from false speech, abstinence from harsh speech, abstinence from frivolous talk – this, monks, is right speech with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment. And what, monks, is right speech noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path? That which, monks, for one with a noble mind, a taintless mind, endowed with the noble path, developing the noble path, is abstaining, refraining, desisting, abstinence from the four wrong kinds of speech – this, monks, is right speech noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path. He strives for the abandoning of wrong speech, for the acquiring of right speech; that is his right effort. Mindful, he abandons wrong speech, mindful, he enters upon and dwells in right speech; that is his right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities run and revolve around right speech, namely – right view, right effort, right mindfulness. 139. Therein, monks, right view is the forerunner. And how, monks, is right view the forerunner? He understands wrong action as ‘wrong action’, he understands right action as ‘right action’; that is his right view. And what, monks, is wrong action? Taking life, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct – this, monks, is wrong action. And what, monks, is right action? I declare right action, monks, to be of two kinds – there is, monks, right action with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment; there is, monks, right action noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path. And what, monks, is right action with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment? Abstinence from taking life, abstinence from taking what is not given, abstinence from sexual misconduct – this, monks, is right action with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment. And what, monks, is right action noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path? That which, monks, for one with a noble mind, a taintless mind, endowed with the noble path... For one developing this path, from the three bodily wrong actions is abstention, desisting, refraining, avoidance— this, monks, is right action, noble, taintless, supramundane path-factor. He strives for the abandoning of wrong action, for the acquiring of right action; this is his right effort. He, mindful, abandons wrong action, mindful, he dwells having acquired right action; this is his right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities run and revolve around right action, namely – right view, right effort, right mindfulness. 140. There, monks, right view is the forerunner. And how, monks, is right view the forerunner? He understands wrong livelihood as 'wrong livelihood', he understands right livelihood as 'right livelihood'; this is his right view. And what, monks, is wrong livelihood? Flattery, cajolery, hinting, disparaging, seeking gain with gain— this, monks, is wrong livelihood. And what, monks, is right livelihood? I declare, monks, right livelihood to be of two kinds: there is, monks, right livelihood with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment; there is, monks, right livelihood noble, taintless, supramundane path-factor. And what, monks, is right livelihood with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment? Here, monks, a noble disciple, having abandoned wrong livelihood, sustains life with right livelihood— this, monks, is right livelihood with taints, partaking of merit, ripening in attachment. And what, monks, is right livelihood noble, taintless, supramundane path-factor? That, monks, for a noble-minded one, a taintless-minded one, one endowed with the noble path, one developing the noble path, is abstention, desisting, refraining, avoidance from wrong livelihood— this, monks, is right livelihood noble, taintless, supramundane path-factor. He strives for the abandoning of wrong livelihood, for the acquiring of right livelihood; this is his right right effort. He, being mindful, abandons wrong livelihood, being mindful, he enters upon and dwells in right livelihood; that is his right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities run along with and revolve around right livelihood, namely – right view, right effort, right mindfulness. 141. “Therein, monks, right view is the forerunner.