English
"Thus, Kālāmas, what we said— 'Come, Kālāmas! Do not go by oral tradition, Do not go by lineage of teaching, Do not go by hearsay, Do not go by collection of scriptures, Do not go by reasoning, Do not go by inference, Do not go by reflection on appearances, Do not go by acceptance of a view after pondering it, Do not go by the seeming competence of a speaker, Do not go because "the ascetic is our teacher." When you yourselves, Kālāmas, know: "These states are wholesome, these states are blameless, these states are praised by the wise, these states, when undertaken and practiced, lead to welfare and happiness"— then, Kālāmas, you should enter upon and abide in them.' Thus, what was said, was said with reference to this." "That noble disciple, Kālāmas, thus free from covetousness, free from ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending, mindful, abides pervading one direction with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in all ways, he abides pervading the entire world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, vast, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill will. With a mind imbued with compassion... and so on... with a mind imbued with appreciative joy... and so on... with a mind imbued with equanimity, he abides pervading one direction; likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, across, everywhere, in all ways, he abides pervading the entire world with a mind imbued with equanimity, vast, exalted, immeasurable..." He does not dwell pervading with hatred, with ill-will. That noble disciple, Kālāmas, thus without hatred in mind, thus without ill-will in mind, thus uncorrupted in mind, thus purified in mind. For him, in this very life, four assurances are attained. ‘If indeed there is another world, if there is fruit and result of good and bad deeds, then I, at the breaking up of the body, after death, will be reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world,’ this is his first assurance attained. ‘If indeed there is no other world, if there is no fruit and result of good and bad deeds, then I, in this very life, will keep myself free from hatred, free from ill-will, free from trouble, happy,’ this is his second assurance attained. ‘If indeed, for one who acts, evil is done, but I do not intend evil for anyone. For me, who does no evil deed, how can suffering touch me?’ this is his third assurance attained. ‘If indeed, for one who acts, evil is not done, then I see myself purified in both ways,’ this is his fourth assurance attained. That noble disciple, Kālāmas, thus without hatred in mind, thus without ill-will in mind, thus uncorrupted in mind, thus purified in mind. For him, in this very life, these four assurances are attained. “So it is, Blessed One! So it is, Fortunate One! That noble disciple, venerable sir, thus without hatred in mind, thus without ill-will in mind, thus uncorrupted in mind, thus purified in mind. For him, in this very life, four assurances are attained. ‘If indeed there is another world, if there is fruit and result of good and bad deeds, then I, at the breaking up of the body, after death, a good destination, a heavenly world... "I shall be reborn in the world," this is his first assurance gained. "But if there is no other world, no fruit or result of good and bad deeds, then in this very life, I shall live free from enmity, free from ill-will, free from trouble, and happy." This is his second assurance gained. "If, however, evil is done by one who acts, I do not intend evil for anyone. Since I do not do evil deeds, how can suffering touch me?" This is his third assurance gained. "If, however, evil is not done by one who acts, then I see myself purified in both ways." This is his fourth assurance gained. That noble disciple, Venerable Sir, is thus free from enmity in mind, thus free from ill-will in mind, thus undefiled in mind, thus purified in mind. For him, in this very life, these four assurances are gained. Excellent, Venerable Sir... (etc.)... We, Venerable Sir, go for refuge to the Blessed One, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. May the Blessed One, Venerable Sir, remember us as lay followers, who have gone for refuge from this day forth, as long as life lasts. The Fifth. 6. The Discourse to Sāḷha 67. Thus have I heard: On one occasion, the Venerable Nandaka was staying at Sāvatthī, in the Eastern Park, at Migāra's Mother's Palace. Then Sāḷha, Migāra's grandson, and Sāṇa, Sekhuniya's grandson [and Rohaṇa, Pekhuṇiya's grandson], approached the Venerable Nandaka. Having approached and paid homage to the Venerable Nandaka, they sat down to one side. The Venerable Nandaka then addressed Sāḷha, Migāra's grandson, as he sat to one side, saying: "Come, Sāḷhas, do not go by hearsay, nor by tradition, nor by rumor, nor by the authority of scriptures, nor by mere logic, nor by inference, nor by considering appearances, nor by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, nor by the seeming competence of a speaker, nor by the thought, 'The ascetic is our teacher.' But when you yourselves, Sāḷhas, know: 'These things are unwholesome, i..." these things are blameworthy, these things are condemned by the wise, these things, when undertaken and practiced, lead to harm and suffering’— then you, Sālhas, should abandon them. “What do you think, Sālhas, is there greed?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “I call covetousness, Sālhas, by this name. A greedy person, Sālhas, a covetous person, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another's wife, speaks falsehoods, and induces others to do likewise, which leads to his harm and suffering for a long time.” “Yes, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, is there hatred?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “I call ill-will, Sālhas, by this name. A hateful person, Sālhas, one with an ill-willed mind, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another's wife, speaks falsehoods, and induces others to do likewise, which leads to his harm and suffering for a long time.” “Yes, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, is there delusion?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “I call ignorance, Sālhas, by this name. A deluded person, Sālhas, one overcome by ignorance, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another's wife, speaks falsehoods, and induces others to do likewise, which leads to his harm and suffering for a long time.” “Yes, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, are these things wholesome or unwholesome?” “Unwholesome, venerable sir.” “Blameworthy or blameless?” “Blameworthy, venerable sir.” “Condemned by the wise or praised by the wise?” “Condemned by the wise, venerable sir.” “When undertaken and practiced, do they lead to harm and suffering, or not? How is it in this case?” “When undertaken and practiced, venerable sir, they lead to harm and suffering. That is how it is in this case.” “So, Sālhas, that which we said— ‘Come, Sālhas, do not go by oral tradition, nor by lineage, nor by hearsay, nor by a collection of scriptures, nor by…'” not for the sake of logic, not for the sake of method, not by pondering over appearances, not by the acceptance of a view after pondering, not because it seems fitting, not because ‘the recluse is our teacher.’ When you yourselves, Sālhas, know: ‘These things are unwholesome; these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; these things, when undertaken and practiced, lead to harm and suffering’— then, Sālhas, you should abandon them. Thus, what was said, was said with reference to this. Come, Sālhas, do not go by hearsay, nor by tradition, nor by rumor, nor by the authority of scriptures, not for the sake of logic, not for the sake of method, not by pondering over appearances, not by the acceptance of a view after pondering, not because it seems fitting, not because ‘the recluse is our teacher.’ When you yourselves, Sālhas, know: ‘These things are wholesome; these things are blameless; these things are praised by the wise; these things, when undertaken and practiced, lead to welfare and happiness’— then, Sālhas, you should enter upon and abide in them. What do you think, Sālhas, is there non-greed?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Non-covetousness, Sālhas, is what I mean by that. One who is not greedy, Sālhas, is not covetous; he does not kill living beings, nor take what is not given, nor go to another’s wife, nor speak falsehoods, nor does he encourage others to do likewise, which would be for their long-term welfare and happiness.” “Yes, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, is there non-hatred?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Non-ill-will, Sālhas, is what I mean by that. One who is not hateful, Sālhas, is not malevolent in mind; he does not kill living beings, nor take what is not given, nor go to another’s wife, nor speak falsehoods, nor does he encourage others to do likewise, which would be for their long-term welfare and happiness.” “Yes, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, is there non-delusion?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Knowledge, Sālhas, is what I mean by that. One who is not deluded, Sālhas, who has attained knowledge, does not kill living beings, he does not kill, he does not take what is not given, he does not go to another's wife, he does not speak falsely, he does not induce others to do so, which is for their long-term welfare and happiness.” “So it is, venerable sir.” “What do you think, Sālhas, are these things wholesome or unwholesome?” “Wholesome, venerable sir.” “Blameworthy or blameless?” “Blameless, venerable sir.” “Censured by the wise or praised by the wise?” “Praised by the wise, venerable sir.” “When undertaken and practiced, do they lead to welfare and happiness, or not? Or how is it in this case?” “When undertaken and practiced, venerable sir, they lead to welfare and happiness. So it is in this case.” “Thus, Sālhas, what we said: