English
'The practitioners of the holy life are afflicted by the affliction of the holy life, the practitioners of the holy life are overcome by the overcoming of the holy life.' The Eighth. 9. The Discourse on Jhāna and Higher Knowledges. 152. He was dwelling at Savatthi... "I, monks, whenever I wish, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, with directed thought and evaluation, born of seclusion, with rapture and pleasure, enter and dwell in the first jhāna. And Kassapa, monks, whenever he wishes, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, with directed thought and evaluation, born of seclusion, with rapture and pleasure, enters and dwells in the first jhāna." "I, monks, whenever I wish, with the subsiding of directed thought and evaluation, just..." I dwell, having entered the second jhāna, which is inner tranquility and unification of mind, without applied thought and without sustained thought, born of concentration, with rapture and pleasure. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the calming of applied thought and sustained thought, ... he dwells, having entered the second jhāna. I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the fading of rapture, dwell in equanimity, mindful and clearly comprehending, and experience pleasure with the body, that of which the noble ones declare: 'He dwells in equanimity, mindful, and at ease.' I dwell, having entered the third jhāna. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the fading of rapture, dwells in equanimity, mindful and clearly comprehending, and experiences pleasure with the body, that of which the noble ones declare: 'He dwells in equanimity, mindful, and at ease.' He dwells, having entered the third jhāna. I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the abandoning of pleasure and the abandoning of pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and sorrow, I dwell, having entered the fourth jhāna, which is neither painful nor pleasant, and is purified by equanimity and mindfulness. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the abandoning of pleasure... ... he dwells, having entered the fourth jhāna. I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the complete transcending of perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of sensory impact, with non-attention to perceptions of diversity, (perceiving) 'space is infinite,' I dwell, having entered the dimension of infinite space. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the complete transcending of perceptions of form... ... he dwells, having entered the dimension of infinite space. I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the complete transcending of the dimension of infinite space, (perceiving) 'consciousness is infinite,' I dwell, having entered the dimension of infinite consciousness. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the complete transcending of the dimension of infinite space, (perceiving) 'consciousness is infinite,' he dwells, having entered the dimension of infinite consciousness. I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the complete... Having transcended the sphere of infinite consciousness, I dwell having attained the sphere of nothingness, [thinking] 'there is nothing'. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, dwells having attained the sphere of nothingness. "I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, having completely transcended the sphere of nothingness, dwell having attained the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, dwells having attained the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. "I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, having completely transcended the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, dwell having attained the cessation of perception and feeling. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, dwells having attained the cessation of perception and feeling. "I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, experience various kinds of supernormal power: being one, I become many; being many, I become one; I appear and vanish; I go unimpeded through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, as if through space; I dive into and emerge from the earth as if in water; I walk on water without sinking as if on land; I travel through the air, sitting cross-legged, as if a winged bird; I touch and stroke with my hand these moon and sun, so mighty, so powerful; I exercise bodily mastery even up to the Brahma world. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, experiences various kinds of supernormal power, even up to the Brahma world. "I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, with the divine ear element, purified and surpassing that of humans, hear both kinds of sounds, divine and human, those far and those near. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as long as he wishes, with the divine ear element, hears both kinds of sounds, those far and those near. "I, bhikkhus, as long as I wish, understand the minds of other beings, other persons, having encompassed them with my own mind – I understand a mind with lust as 'a mind with lust', vī- I discern a mind with lust as a mind with lust. I discern a mind without lust as a mind without lust. I discern a mind with hatred as a mind with hatred. I discern a mind without hatred as a mind without hatred. I discern a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion. I discern a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. I discern a mind contracted as a mind contracted. I discern a mind scattered as a mind scattered. I discern a mind developed as a mind developed. I discern a mind undeveloped as a mind undeveloped. I discern a mind with something higher as a mind with something higher. I discern a mind without anything higher as a mind without anything higher. I discern a mind concentrated as a mind concentrated. I discern a mind unconcentrated as a mind unconcentrated. I discern a mind liberated as a mind liberated. I discern a mind unliberated as a mind unliberated. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as far as he wishes, discerns the minds of other beings, other persons, having encompassed them with his own mind: He discerns a mind with lust as a mind with lust... He discerns an unliberated mind as an unliberated mind. I, bhikkhus, as far as I wish, recollect my manifold past lives, that is to say: one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, one hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand births. Many eons of world-contraction, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion. 'There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, having such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, having such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose here.' Thus, with all their modes and details, I recollect my manifold past lives. And Kassapa, bhikkhus, as far as he wishes, recollects his manifold past lives, that is to say: one birth... Thus, with all their modes and details, he recollects his manifold past lives. I, bhikkhus, as far as I wish, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing that of humans, see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, who fare according to their kamma. I discern beings – ‘Alas, these beings, sirs, are endowed with misconduct of body, are endowed with misconduct of speech, are endowed with misconduct of mind, are revilers of the noble ones, are of wrong view, are undertaking wrong actions; they, with the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a state of woe, a bad destination, a downfall, in hell. Or these beings, sirs, are endowed with good conduct of body, are endowed with good conduct of speech, are endowed with good conduct of mind, are not revilers of the noble ones, are of right view, are undertaking right actions; they, with the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world.’ Thus, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, I see beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, well-faring and ill-faring, I discern beings according to their karma. Kassapa too, bhikkhus, as far as he wishes, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, sees beings passing away… and so on… he discerns beings according to their karma. “I, bhikkhus, through the destruction of the taints, abide having realized the taintless liberation of mind, liberation through wisdom, in this very life, by my own direct knowledge, having experienced it. Kassapa too, bhikkhus, through the destruction of the taints, abides having realized the taintless liberation of mind, liberation through wisdom, in this very life, by his own direct knowledge, having experienced it.” The Ninth. 10. The Discourse on the Dwelling 153. Thus have I heard – On one occasion the Venerable Mahākassapa was dwelling in Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then the Venerable Ānanda, having dressed in the morning, and taking his bowl and robe, went to where the Venerable Mahākassapa was; having approached, he said to the Venerable Mahākassapa: “Come, venerable Kassapa, let us go to a certain nun’s dwelling.” “You go, friend Ānanda, you have much to do, you have many duties.” A second time, the Venerable Ānanda said to the Venerable Mahākassapa: “Come, venerable Kas come, Venerable Kassapa, let us go to some nunnery.’’ ‘‘Go, friend Ānanda, you are busy, you have much to do.’’ A third time, Venerable Ānanda said to Venerable Mahākassapa: ‘‘Come, Venerable Kassapa, let us go to some nunnery.’’ Then Venerable Mahākassapa, having dressed in the morning, and taking his bowl and robe, went to some nunnery, with Venerable Ānanda as his attendant.