English
Loving-kindness in verbal action is present both openly and in private. Loving-kindness in mental action is present openly and in private. To me, venerable sir, it occurs thus: ‘What if I were to set aside my own mind and act according to the minds of these venerable ones?’ So then, venerable sir, I set aside my own mind and act according to the minds of these venerable ones. Indeed, venerable sir, our bodies are separate, but I think our minds are one. And venerable Nandiya… …and venerable Kimila also said to the Blessed One: “To me too, venerable sir, it occurs thus: ‘Indeed, it is a gain for me, indeed, it is well-obtained for me, that I dwell with such fellow celibates.’ To me, venerable sir, towards these venerable ones, a kindly bodily action is present, openly and in private; a kindly verbal action is present, openly and in private; a kindly mental action is present, openly and in private. To me, venerable sir, it occurs thus: ‘What if I were to set aside my own mind and act according to the minds of these venerable ones?’ So then, venerable sir, I set aside my own mind and act according to the minds of these venerable ones. Indeed, venerable sir, our bodies are separate, but I think our minds are one. Thus, venerable sir, we dwell in harmony, rejoicing, without dispute, like milk and water, regarding each other with loving eyes.” “Good, good, Anuruddha! Do you, Anuruddha, dwell heedfully, ardently, with a resolute self?” “Indeed, venerable sir, we dwell heedfully, ardently, with a resolute self.” “But how, Anuruddha, do you dwell heedfully, ardently, with a resolute self?” “Here, venerable sir, whoever first returns from the village with alms, he arranges the seats, sets out drinking water and washing water, and sets out the refuse bin. Whoever returns last from the village with alms— if there is leftover food, if he wishes, he eats it; if he does not wish, on uncultivated ground or throws it into water where there are no living things, or pours it into water. He puts away the seats, puts away the drinking water and the rinsing water, washes the refuse bowl and puts it away, sweeps the refectory. Whoever sees a drinking water pot, or a rinsing water pot, or a toilet water pot empty and bare, he fills it. If it is too heavy for him, he calls a second person with a hand signal, and we fill it with a hand signal, but we, Venerable Sir, do not break our speech on that account. And we, Venerable Sir, every fifth night, sit together all night in a Dhamma talk. Thus, Venerable Sir, we dwell heedful, ardent, and resolute.” “Good, good, Anuruddha! But do you, Anuruddha, dwelling thus heedful, ardent, and resolute, attain any superior human Dhamma, any special knowledge and vision of the Noble Ones, any comfortable dwelling?” “Here, Venerable Sir, dwelling heedful, ardent, and resolute, we perceive light and the vision of forms. But that light and the vision of forms soon disappear; and we do not penetrate that sign.” “That sign, Anuruddha, should be penetrated. I too, Anuruddha, before my full enlightenment, while I was still a Bodhisatta, perceived light and the vision of forms. But that light and the vision of forms soon disappeared for me. Then, Anuruddha, this thought occurred to me: ‘What is the reason, what is the cause, why the light disappears for me and the vision of forms?’ Then, Anuruddha, this thought occurred to me: ‘Doubt arose in me, and because of doubt, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. I will act in such a way that doubt will not arise in me again.’” “So I, Anuruddha, dwelling heedful, ardent, resolute, I perceive an inner light and a vision of forms. But that light of mine soon disappears, and the vision of forms. Then to me, Anuruddha, this thought occurred: 'What now is the cause, what is the reason, by which my light disappears and the vision of forms?' Then to me, Anuruddha, this thought occurred: 'Indeed, inattention arose in me, and because of inattention, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. I will act in such a way that doubt will not arise in me again, nor inattention.' So then I, Anuruddha... to me, Anuruddha, this thought occurred: 'Indeed, sloth and torpor arose in me, and because of sloth and torpor, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. I will act in such a way that doubt will not arise in me again, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor.' So then I, Anuruddha... to me, Anuruddha, this thought occurred: 'Indeed, terror arose in me, and because of terror, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. Just as, Anuruddha, a man on a journey, if on both sides of him attackers were to rise up, from that cause terror would arise in him; even so, Anuruddha, terror arose in me, and because of terror, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. I will act in such a way that doubt will not arise in me again, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor, nor terror.' So then I, Anuruddha... to me, Anuruddha, this thought occurred: 'Indeed, elation arose in me, and because of elation, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light disappeared and the vision of forms. Just as, Anuruddha, a man searching for one treasure-mouth might find five treasure-mouths at once, and because of that, elation would arise in him; even so, Anuruddha, elation arose in me, and because of that elation, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light disappeared and the vision of forms. I will act so that again in me no doubt will arise, no inattention, no sloth and torpor, no agitation, no elation. Then, Anuruddha, it occurred to me: 'Grossness arose in me, and because of that grossness, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light disappeared and the vision of forms. I will act so that again in me no doubt will arise, no inattention, no sloth and torpor, no agitation, no elation, no grossness.' Then, Anuruddha, it occurred to me: 'Over-exertion arose in me, and because of that over-exertion, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light disappeared and the vision of forms. Just as, Anuruddha, a man might grasp a quail too tightly with both hands, and it would die right there; even so, Anuruddha, over-exertion arose in me, and because of that over-exertion, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light disappeared and the vision of forms. I will act so that again in me no doubt will arise, no inattention, no sloth and torpor, no agitation, no elation, no grossness, no over-exertion.' Then, Anuruddha, it occurred to me: 'Under-exertion arose in me... arose, and because of slack energy, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light vanished and the vision of forms. Just as, Anuruddha, a man might grasp a quail loosely, and it would fly away from his hand; even so, Anuruddha, slack energy arose in me, and because of slack energy, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light vanished and the vision of forms. So I will act in such a way that in me again doubt will not arise, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor, nor agitation, nor elation, nor distress, nor over-exertion, nor slack energy. So I, Anuruddha... it occurred to me, Anuruddha: 'Longing arose in me, and because of longing, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light vanished and the vision of forms.' So I will act in such a way that in me again doubt will not arise, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor, nor agitation, nor elation, nor distress, nor over-exertion, nor slack energy, nor longing. So I, Anuruddha... it occurred to me, Anuruddha: 'Perception of diversity arose in me, and because of perception of diversity, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavered, the light vanished and the vision of forms.' So I will act in such a way that in me again doubt will not arise, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor, nor agitation, nor elation, nor distress, nor over-exertion, nor slack energy, nor longing, nor perception of diversity. So I, Anuruddha, dwelling heedful, ardent, and resolute, perceived both the light and the vision of forms. But that light and vision of forms vanished from me not long after. It occurred to me, Anuruddha: 'What now is the cause, what the condition, that...' by which my light disappears and the vision of forms. Then to me, Anuruddha, this occurred: ‘Indeed, an over-scrutinizing of forms arose in me, and because of that over-scrutinizing of forms, my concentration wavered. When concentration wavers, the light disappears and the vision of forms. So I will act in such a way that doubt will not arise in me again, nor inattention, nor sloth and torpor, nor terror, nor elation, nor grossness, nor over-exertion, nor lax exertion, nor longing, nor perception of diversity, nor over-scrutinizing of forms.’ 242. So I, Anuruddha, ‘Doubt is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned doubt, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Inattention is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned inattention, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Sloth and torpor are an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned sloth and torpor, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Terror is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned terror, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Elation is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned elation, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Grossness is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned grossness, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Over-exertion is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing, I abandoned over-exertion, an imperfection of the mind. ‘Lax exertion is an imperfection of the mind’— thus knowing,