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his mind does not leap into, does not become confident in, does not settle upon, does not resolve upon does not become liberated. For such a monk, bhikkhus, the breaking up of ignorance is not to be expected. Just as, bhikkhus, a cesspool of many years. A man might close its inlet openings, and open its outlet openings, and the sky would not send down rain properly. For such a cesspool, bhikkhus, its breaking up is not to be expected. Even so, bhikkhus, a monk dwells having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind. He attends to the breaking up of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking up of ignorance, his mind does not leap into, nor become confident in, nor settle upon, nor become liberated in the breaking up of ignorance. For such a monk, bhikkhus, the breaking up of ignorance is not to be expected. Here, bhikkhus, a monk dwells having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind. He attends to the breaking up of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking up of ignorance, his mind leaps into, becomes confident in, settles upon, and becomes liberated in the breaking up of ignorance. For such a monk, bhikkhus, the breaking up of ignorance is to be expected. Just as, bhikkhus, a cesspool of many years. A man might open its inlet openings, and close its outlet openings, and the sky would send down rain properly. For such a cesspool, bhikkhus, its breaking up is to be expected. Even so, bhikkhus, a monk dwells having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind. He attends to the breaking up of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking up of ignorance, his mind leaps into, becomes confident in, settles upon, and becomes liberated in the breaking up of ignorance. For such a monk, bhikkhus, the breaking up of ignorance is to be expected. These four individuals, bhikkhus, are found existing in the world. The Eighth. 9. Discourse on Nibbana. 179. Then indeed, Venerable Ananda approached Venerable Sariputta; having approached, He exchanged greetings with Venerable Sāriputta. Having concluded the courteous and memorable talk, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, Venerable Ānanda said this to Venerable Sāriputta: "What, friend Sāriputta, is the reason, what is the cause, why some beings here do not attain final Nibbāna in this very life?" "Here, friend Ānanda, beings do not understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to decline, they do not understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to stability, they do not understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to distinction, they do not understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to penetration. This, friend Ānanda, is the reason, this is the cause, why some beings here do not attain final Nibbāna in this very life." "But what, friend Sāriputta, is the reason, what is the cause, why some beings here do attain final Nibbāna in this very life?" "Here, friend Ānanda, beings understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to decline, they understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to stability, they understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to distinction, they understand as it really is these perceptions that lead to penetration. This, friend Ānanda, is the reason, this is the cause, why some beings here do attain final Nibbāna in this very life." The Ninth. 10. The Discourse on the Great Authorities At one time the Blessed One was staying in Bhoganagara, at the Ānanda Shrine. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Bhikkhus!" "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "I will teach you, bhikkhus, these four great authorities. Listen to them, pay careful attention; I will speak." "Yes, Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "What, bhikkhus, are the four great authorities? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might say this: 'Friend, I heard this directly from the Blessed One, Heard from the Blessed One, received directly: "This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction." That monk's statement, O bhikkhus, should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving, without rejecting, those words and phrases should be well grasped, should be put to the Suttas, should be compared with the Vinaya. If, when put to the Suttas, and compared with the Vinaya, they do not fit the Suttas, nor agree with the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: 'Surely, this is not the word of that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and this monk has misunderstood.' Thus, O bhikkhus, you should reject it. But here, O bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might say thus: 'Friend, I heard this directly from the Blessed One, received it directly: "This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction."' That monk's statement, O bhikkhus, should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving, without rejecting, those words and phrases should be well grasped, should be put to the Suttas, should be compared with the Vinaya. If, when put to the Suttas, and compared with the Vinaya, they do fit the Suttas, and agree with the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: 'Surely, this is the word of that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and this monk has understood correctly.' This, O bhikkhus, you should hold as the first Great Reference. Here, O bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might say thus: 'In such and such a dwelling place a Sangha dwells, with elders and a leader. I heard this directly from that Sangha, received it directly: "This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's..." the Teacher’s Dispensation.’ Bhikkhus, the words spoken by that bhikkhu should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving or rejecting, those words and phrases should be carefully learned and then compared with the Suttas, and shown against the Vinaya. If, when compared with the Suttas and shown against the Vinaya, they do not fit the Suttas and do not appear in the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: ‘Certainly, this is not the word of the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and that Sangha has misunderstood it.’ Thus, bhikkhus, you should reject it. ‘Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might say: ‘In such and such a dwelling place, a Sangha dwells, with its elder, with its chief. From the presence of that Sangha, I have heard it, I have received it: ‘This is Dhamma, this is Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s Dispensation.’’ Bhikkhus, the words spoken by that bhikkhu should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving or rejecting, those words and phrases should be carefully learned and then compared with the Suttas, and shown against the Vinaya. If, when compared with the Suttas and shown against the Vinaya, they fit the Suttas and appear in the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: ‘Certainly, this is the word of the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and that Sangha has understood it well.’ This, bhikkhus, you should uphold as the second Great Authority. Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might say: ‘In such and such a dwelling place, many elder bhikkhus dwell, learned, who have received the traditions, who are Dhamma-holders, Vinaya-holders, Mātikā-holders. From the presence of those elders, I have heard it, I have received it: ‘This is Dhamma, this is Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s Dispensation.’’ Bhikkhus, the words spoken by that bhikkhu should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving or rejecting, those words and phrases should be carefully learned and then compared with the Suttas, and shown against the Vinaya. If these, when compared with the Suttas, when reviewed with the Vinaya, do not fit into the Suttas, do not appear in the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: 'Certainly, this is not the word of that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and those elders have misunderstood.' Thus, monks, you should reject it. "Here, monks, if a monk should speak thus: 'In a certain dwelling place, many elder monks reside, learned, having studied the traditions, upholders of the Dhamma, upholders of the Vinaya, upholders of the summaries. From the presence of those elders, I have heard it, I have received it directly: "This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction."'" Monks, the words of that monk should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving, without rejecting, having carefully learned those words and phrases, they should be compared with the Suttas, they should be reviewed with the Vinaya. If these, when compared with the Suttas, when reviewed with the Vinaya, do fit into the Suttas, and do appear in the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: 'Certainly, this is the word of that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and those elders have understood correctly.' This, monks, you should bear in mind as the third great reference. "Here, monks, if a monk should speak thus: 'In a certain dwelling place, one elder monk resides, learned, having studied the traditions, an upholder of the Dhamma, an upholder of the Vinaya, an upholder of the summaries. From the presence of that elder, I have heard it, I have received it directly: "This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction."'" Monks, the words of that monk should neither be approved nor rejected. Without approving, without rejecting, having carefully learned those words and phrases, they should be compared with the Suttas, they should be reviewed with the Vinaya. If these, when compared with the Suttas, when reviewed with the Vinaya, do not fit into the Suttas, do not appear in the Vinaya, then this conclusion should be reached: 'Certainly, this is not the word of that Blessed One, the word of the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One; and that elder's is ill-grasped.