English
of such a doctrine, said: ‘There is no giving, no sacrifice, no offering. There is no fruit or result of good or bad deeds. There is no this world, no other world. There is no mother, no father. There are no spontaneously arisen beings. There are no ascetics or brahmins in the world, who are rightly gone, rightly practiced, who, having directly known and realized this world and the other world themselves, proclaim it.’ One teacher, of such a view, of such a doctrine, said: ‘There is giving, there is sacrifice, there is offering. 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 arisen beings. There are ascetics and brahmins in the world, who are rightly gone, rightly practiced, who, having directly known and realized this world and the other world themselves, proclaim it.’ One teacher, of such a view, of such a doctrine, said: ‘For one who acts or causes to act, who cuts or causes to cut, who cooks or causes to cook, who grieves or causes to grieve, who wearies or causes to weary, who trembles or causes to tremble, who takes life, who takes what is not given, who breaks into houses, who plunders, who commits burglary, who lies in ambush, who goes to another's wife, who speaks falsehoods, for such a one acting, no evil is done. Even if one, with a razor-edged discus, were to make all living beings on this earth into one heap of flesh, one pile of flesh, there is no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go to the south bank of the Ganges, killing, slaughtering, cutting, causing to cut, cooking, causing to cook, there is no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go to the north bank of the Ganges, giving, causing to give, sacrificing, causing to sacrifice, there is no merit from that cause... no merit, no coming of merit. By giving, by taming, by restraint, by truthfulness, there is no merit, no coming of merit.” “One teacher holds such a view, speaks such a doctrine: ‘For one who acts, who causes to act, who cuts, who causes to cut, who cooks, who causes to cook, who grieves, who causes to grieve, who wearies, who causes to weary, who trembles, who causes to tremble, who destroys life, who takes what is not given, who breaks into houses, who plunders, who commits burglary, who stands on the highway, who goes to another’s wife, who speaks falsehood, for one who does these, evil is done. Even if with a razor-sharp wheel one were to make of the living beings on this earth one heap of flesh, one pile of flesh, there is from that no evil, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go to the south bank of the Ganges, killing, slaying, cutting, causing to cut, cooking, causing to cook, there is from that no evil, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go to the north bank of the Ganges, giving, causing to give, sacrificing, causing to sacrifice, there is from that merit, there is coming of merit. By giving, by taming, by restraint, by truthfulness, there is merit, there is coming of merit.” “For me, venerable sir, there arose doubt, there arose perplexity: ‘Which of these venerable ascetics and brahmins speaks the truth, who speaks falsehood?’” “It is indeed fitting for you, headman, to doubt, to be perplexed. Perplexity has arisen in you concerning a doubtful matter.” “Thus confident am I, venerable sir, in the Blessed One. The Blessed One is capable of teaching me the Dhamma so that I may abandon this state of doubt.” “There is, headman, a concentration of Dhamma. If you could attain concentration of mind therein, then you would abandon this state of doubt. And what, headman, is the concentration of Dhamma? Here, headman, a noble disciple, having abandoned the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life; having abandoned the taking of what is not given, abstains from the taking of what is not given; having abandoned misconduct in sensual pleasures, abstains from misconduct in sensual pleasures; He is, abandoning false speech, abstaining from false speech; abandoning divisive speech, abstaining from divisive speech; abandoning harsh speech, abstaining from harsh speech; abandoning idle chatter, abstaining from idle chatter; abandoning covetousness, not covetous; abandoning ill will and malice, without ill will in mind; abandoning wrong view, holding right view. That noble disciple, O Headman, thus rid of covetousness, rid of ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending, mindful, dwells pervading one direction with a mind imbued with loving-kindness. So too the second, so too the third, so too the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in every way, the entire world he dwells pervading with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, vast, expansive, immeasurable, without enmity, without ill will. He reflects thus: 'This teacher who speaks thus, who holds such a view: There is no giving, no offering, no sacrifice. There is no fruit or result of good and bad deeds. There is no this world, no other world. There is no mother, no father, no spontaneously arisen beings. There are no recluses or brahmins in the world who are rightly gone, rightly practiced, who, having themselves realized and experienced this world and the other world, proclaim it.' 'If the word of that venerable teacher is true, for me, it is an unquestionable doctrine, that I do not harm anything, neither moving nor unmoving. In both cases, this is a good outcome: that I am restrained in body, restrained in speech, restrained in mind, and that with the breakdown of the body, after death, I will reappear in a good destination, a heavenly world.' Delight arises in him. For one delighted, joy arises. For one joyful, the body becomes tranquil. With a tranquil body, he feels happiness. For one happy, the mind becomes concentrated. This, indeed, Headman, concentration on Dhamma. If you were to gain concentration of mind there, then you would abandon this state of doubt. That noble disciple, Headman, thus without covetousness, without ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending, mindful, dwells pervading one direction with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth; thus above, below, around, everywhere, in every way, he dwells pervading the entire world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, ample, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill will. He reflects thus: ‘The Teacher who speaks thus, who holds such a view— “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 arisen beings, there are in the world ascetics and brahmins, rightly gone, rightly practicing, who, having themselves realized by direct knowledge this world and the other world, proclaim it.”’ ‘If the word of that venerable Teacher is true, then for me, who harms nothing, neither trembling nor firm, it is a double gain: that I am restrained in body, restrained in speech, restrained in mind, and that with the breakup of the body, after death, I shall reappear in a good destination, a heavenly world.’ Joy arises in him. Being joyful, rapture arises. With a rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil. With a tranquil body, he feels pleasure. With pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. This, Headman, is concentration on Dhamma. If you were to gain concentration of mind there, then you would abandon this state of doubt. That noble disciple, Headman, thus without covetousness, without ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending, mindful, dwells pervading one direction with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth; thus above, below, around, everywhere, in every way, he dwells pervading the entire world He lives pervading with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, vast, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill-will. He reflects thus: 'This teacher, who speaks thus, who holds such a view: "One who acts, or causes to act, one who cuts, or causes to cut, one who cooks, or causes to cook, one who grieves, or causes to grieve, one who wearies, or causes to weary, one who trembles, or causes to tremble, one who takes life, one who takes what is not given, one who breaks into houses, one who plunders, one who commits burglary, one who lies in ambush, one who goes to another's wife, one who speaks falsehoods— doing these, no evil is done. Even if with a razor-edged discus one were to make of the beings on this earth one heap of flesh, one pile of flesh, there is no evil from that cause, there is no incoming of evil. Even if one were to go to the south bank of the Ganges, killing, slaughtering, cutting, causing to cut, cooking, causing to cook, there is no evil from that cause, there is no incoming of evil. Even if one were to go to the north bank of the Ganges, giving, causing to give, sacrificing, causing to sacrifice, there is no merit from that cause, there is no incoming of merit. By giving, by self-control, by restraint, by truthfulness, there is no merit, there is no incoming of merit." 'If the word of that venerable teacher is true, then for me, who harms nothing, neither trembling nor firm, what is the certain outcome? Both are certain here: that I am restrained in body, restrained in speech, restrained in mind, and that with the breaking up of the body, after death, I shall be reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world.' Joy arises in him. For one joyful, rapture arises. For one with rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil. One whose body is tranquil experiences happiness. For one who is happy, the mind becomes concentrated. This, indeed, O headman, is the concentration of Dhamma. If you were to gain such concentration of mind there, you would thus abandon this state of doubt. That noble disciple, O headman,