English
and flourishing, and widespread, and populous, and well-proclaimed among devas and humans. So now, Venerable Sir, let the Blessed One attain final Nibbāna, let the Sugata attain final Nibbāna. Now is the time, Venerable Sir, for the Blessed One’s final Nibbāna. When this was said, the Blessed One said to Māra, the Evil One: “Be at ease, Evil One. Not long from now will the Tathāgata attain final Nibbāna. In three months from now, the Tathāgata will attain final Nibbāna.” Then the Blessed One, mindful and fully aware, at the Cāpāla Shrine, relinquished the life-formation. And when the Blessed One had relinquished the life-formation, there was a great earthquake, terrible and hair-raising, and the deva-drums burst. Then the Blessed One, understanding this matter, on that occasion, uttered this inspired utterance: The sage relinquished the life-formation, the becoming, equal and unequal. Delighting inwardly, composed, he broke through the armor of self-existence. The Tenth. The Cāpāla Chapter, the First. Its summary: Apārā, Viraddho, Ariyā, Nibbidā, Padesa, Samatta, Bhikkhu, Buddha, Ñāṇa, and Cetiya. 2. The Chapter on the Shaking of the Palace 1. The Former Discourse At Sāvatthī. “Before my full enlightenment, monks, while I was still a Bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, it occurred to me: ‘What is the cause, what is the condition for the development of the bases of psychic power?’ Then, monks, it occurred to me: ‘Here, a bhikkhu develops a basis of psychic power endowed with the formation of concentration due to desire and exertion. Thus, my desire will not be too slack, nor too strained, nor contracted internally, nor scattered externally. And I will dwell with the perception of before and after, Thus: As before, so after; As after, so before; As below, so above; As above, so below; As by day, so by night; As by night, so by day. Thus, with an open mind, unbounded, he develops a luminous mind. He develops the basis for spiritual power endowed with the volitional formations of concentration due to energy, thinking: "My energy will not be too slack, nor too strained; it will not be inwardly constricted, nor outwardly scattered." And he dwells with the perception of before and after: As before, so after; As after, so before; As below, so above; As above, so below; As by day, so by night; As by night, so by day. Thus, with an open mind, unbounded, he develops a luminous mind. He develops the basis for spiritual power endowed with the volitional formations of concentration due to mind, thinking: "My mind will not be too slack, nor too strained; it will not be inwardly constricted, nor outwardly scattered." And he dwells with the perception of before and after: As before, so after; As after, so before; As below, so above; As above, so below; As by day, so by night; As by night, so by day. Thus, with an open mind, unbounded, he develops a luminous mind. He develops the basis for spiritual power endowed with the volitional formations of concentration due to investigation, thinking: "My investigation will not be too slack, nor too strained; it will not be inwardly constricted, nor outwardly scattered." And he dwells with the perception of before and after: As before, so after; As after, so before; As below, so above; As above, so below; As by day, so by night; As by night, so by day. Thus, with an open mind, unbounded, he develops a luminous mind. Thus cultivated, monk, these four bases of power, thus made to abound, he experiences manifold kinds of psychic power – being one, he becomes many; being many, he becomes one; he appears, he vanishes; through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, unimpeded he goes, as if through space; in the earth he dives in and out, as if in water; on water he walks without sinking, as if on land; through the air he travels cross-legged, as if a winged bird; even these moon and sun, so mighty, so powerful, he touches and strokes with his hand; even up to the Brahma-world he wields power with his body. Thus cultivated, monk, these four bases of power, thus made to abound, with the divine ear-element, purified and surpassing human, he hears both kinds of sounds – divine and human, those far and those near. Thus cultivated, monk, these four bases of power, thus made to abound, he comprehends with his mind the minds of other beings, other persons. A mind with lust, he discerns as ‘a mind with lust’; a mind without lust, as ‘a mind without lust’; a mind with hate, as ‘a mind with hate’; a mind without hate, as ‘a mind without hate’; a mind with delusion, as ‘a mind with delusion’; a mind without delusion, as ‘a mind without delusion’; a constricted mind, as ‘a constricted mind’; a scattered mind, as ‘a scattered mind’; an exalted mind, as ‘an exalted mind’; an unexalted mind, as ‘an unexalted mind’; a surpassable mind, as ‘a surpassable mind’; an unsurpassable mind, as ‘an unsurpassable mind’; a concentrated mind, as ‘a concentrated mind’; an unconcentrated He understands the mind as ‘the mind’. He understands a liberated mind as ‘a liberated mind’. He understands an unliberated mind as ‘an unliberated mind’. “When these four bases of power, bhikkhu, are thus developed and frequently practiced, he recollects his manifold past existences, such as 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 cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction and expansion: ‘There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, having such a lifespan; passing away from there, I arose elsewhere. There too I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a color, of such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, having such a lifespan; passing away from there, I arose here.’ Thus he recollects his manifold past existences, with their details and features. “When these four bases of power, bhikkhu, are thus developed and frequently practiced, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings fare according to their karma: ‘These beings, venerable sirs, who were endowed with misconduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, who held wrong views and undertook actions based on wrong views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a state of woe, in hell. These beings, venerable sirs, who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions based on right views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, in a heavenly world.’ Thus with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings fare according to their karma. With the divine eye, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. He understands beings according to their deeds. "When these four bases of power, bhikkhu, are thus developed, thus made much of, through the destruction of the taints, he enters and abides in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having realized it for himself with direct knowledge in this very life." The First. 2. The Discourse on Great Fruit 824. "Monks, these four bases of power, when developed and made much of, are of great fruit, of great benefit. And how, monks, are these four bases of power developed and made much of so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit? Here, monks, a bhikkhu develops the base of power endowed with concentration due to desire and volitional formations of striving, thinking: 'My desire will not be too slack, nor too overstrained, nor inwardly contracted, nor outwardly scattered.' And he dwells perceiving what is before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before; as below, so above; as above, so below; as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. Thus, with an open, unconfined mind, he develops a mind full of light. "He develops the base of power endowed with concentration due to energy and volitional formations of striving... due to mind and volitional formations of striving... due to investigation and volitional formations of striving, thinking: 'My investigation will not be too slack, nor too overstrained, nor inwardly contracted, nor outwardly scattered.' And he dwells perceiving what is before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before; as below, so above; as above, so below; as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. Thus, with an open, unconfined mind, he develops a mind full of light. When these four bases of power, monks, are thus developed, thus made much of, they are of great fruit, of great benefit. When, monks, a monk has thus developed these four bases of power, has thus repeatedly practiced them, he experiences various kinds of supernormal power – being one, he becomes many… …even to the Brahma-world he exercises mastery with his body… When, monks, a monk has thus developed these four bases of power, has thus repeatedly practiced them, through the destruction of the taints, he enters and dwells in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having realized it for himself with direct knowledge in this very life. The Second. 3. Discourse on the Concentration of Desire Monks, if a monk, relying on desire, gains concentration, gains one-pointedness of mind – this is called the concentration of desire. He generates desire for the non-arising of unarisen evil unwholesome states;