English
What do these Dhamma-practitioners mean? How are these Dhamma-practitioners?’ There, neither the contemplative monks are pleased, nor the Dhamma-practicing monks are pleased. And they do not act for the welfare of the many, for the happiness of the many, for the good, for the benefit, for the happiness of devas and humans. “Here, friends, Dhamma-practicing monks speak in praise only of Dhamma-practicing monks, they do not speak in praise of contemplative monks. There, neither the Dhamma-practicing monks are pleased, nor the contemplative monks are pleased. And they do not act for the welfare of the many, for the happiness of the many, for the good, for the benefit, for the happiness of devas and humans. “Here, friends, contemplative monks speak in praise only of contemplative monks, they do not speak in praise of Dhamma-practicing monks. There, neither the contemplative monks are pleased, nor the Dhamma-practicing monks are pleased. And they do not act for the welfare of the many, for the happiness of the many, for the good, for the benefit, for the happiness of devas and humans. “Therefore, friends, you should train yourselves thus: ‘Being Dhamma-practitioners, we will speak in praise of contemplative monks.’ Thus, friends, you should train yourselves. For what reason? These individuals, friends, are rare, hard to find in the world, who dwell having touched the deathless element with their body. Therefore, friends, you should train yourselves thus: ‘Being contemplatives, we will speak in praise of Dhamma-practicing monks.’ Thus, friends, you should train yourselves. For what reason? These individuals, friends, are rare, hard to find in the world, who see by penetrating with wisdom a profound point of meaning.” The Fourth. 5. First Seen The Sutta on Direct Perception 47. Then the wandering ascetic Moḷiyasīvaka approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he exchanged greetings with the Blessed One. Having concluded the courteous and memorable talk, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, the wandering ascetic Moḷiyasīvaka said to the Blessed One: “‘The Dhamma is directly perceptible, the Dhamma is directly perceptible,’ it is said, venerable sir. To what extent, venerable sir, is the Dhamma directly perceptible, timeless, inviting inspection, onward-leading, to be personally experienced by the wise?” “In that case, Sīvaka, I will question you about this. You should answer as you deem fit. What do you think, Sīvaka, when there is greed within you, do you know, ‘There is greed within me’? Or when there is no greed within you, do you know, ‘There is no greed within me’?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Insofar as you, Sīvaka, when there is greed within you, know, ‘There is greed within me,’ or when there is no greed within you, know, ‘There is no greed within me’—in this way too, Sīvaka, the Dhamma is directly perceptible… and so on…. “What do you think, Sīvaka, when there is hatred within you… and so on… when there is delusion within you… and so on… when there is the nature of greed within you… and so on… when there is the nature of hatred within you… and so on… when there is the nature of delusion within you, do you know, ‘There is the nature of delusion within me’? Or when there is no nature of delusion within you, do you know, ‘There is no nature of delusion within me’?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Insofar as you, Sīvaka, when there is the nature of delusion within you, know, ‘There is the nature of delusion within me,’ or when there is no nature of delusion within you, know, ‘There is no nature of delusion within me’—in this way, Sīvaka, the Dhamma is directly perceptible, timeless, inviting inspection, onward-leading, to be personally experienced by the wise.” “Excellent, venerable sir, excellent! Venerable sir, may the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forth as long as life lasts. The Fifth. 6. The Second Sutta on the Immediately Visible 48. Then a certain brahmin approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he exchanged greetings with the Blessed One. Having concluded the courteous and memorable talk, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, that brahmin said to the Blessed One: “‘The Dhamma is immediately visible, the Dhamma is immediately visible,’ it is said, good Gotama. To what extent, good Gotama, is the Dhamma immediately visible, timeless, inviting inspection, leading onwards, to be personally experienced by the wise?” “In that case, brahmin, I shall question you in return. You should answer as you deem fit. What do you think, brahmin? When there is lust within, do you know, ‘There is lust within me’? Or when there is no lust within, do you know, ‘There is no lust within me’?” “Yes, good sir.” “That, brahmin, when you know, ‘There is lust within me,’ when there is lust within, or when you know, ‘There is no lust within me,’ when there is no lust within— in this way, brahmin, the Dhamma is immediately visible…pe…. “What do you think, brahmin? When there is hatred within…pe… When there is delusion within…pe… When there is bodily defilement within…pe… When there is verbal defilement within…pe… When there is mental defilement within, do you know, ‘There is mental defilement within me’? Or when there is no mental defilement within, do you know, ‘There is no mental defilement within me’?” “Yes, good sir.” “That, brahmin, when you know, ‘There is mental defilement within me,’ when there is mental defilement within, or when you know, ‘There is no mental defilement within me,’ when there is no mental defilement within— in this way, brahmin, the Dhamma is immediately visible, timeless, inviting inspection, to be led inwards, to be known by each wise person for themselves.” “Excellent, venerable Gotama! Excellent, venerable Gotama!… May the venerable Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has taken refuge for life, from this day forth.” The Sixth. 7. The Khema Sutta 49. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi, in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. At that time, Venerable Khema and Venerable Sumana were staying at Savatthi, in the Andhavana. Then Venerable Khema and Venerable Sumana approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, they sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, Venerable Khema said to the Blessed One: “That bhikkhu, venerable sir, who is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, attained his own goal, whose fetters of existence are utterly destroyed, one rightly liberated through final knowledge— for him it does not occur: ‘I am better’ or ‘I am equal’ or ‘I am worse.’” This is what Venerable Khema said. The Teacher approved. Then Venerable Khema, thinking, “My Teacher approves,” rose from his seat, paid homage to the Blessed One, circumambulated him, and departed. Then Venerable Sumana, not long after Venerable Khema had departed, said to the Blessed One: “That bhikkhu, venerable sir, who is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, attained his own goal, whose fetters of existence are utterly destroyed, one rightly liberated through final knowledge— for him it does not occur: ‘I am not better’ or ‘I am not equal’ or ‘I am not worse.’” This is what Venerable Sumana said. The Teacher approved. Then Venerable Sumana, thinking, “My Teacher approves,” rose from his seat, paid homage to the Blessed One, circumambulated him, and departed. Then the Blessed One, not long after Venerable Khema and Venerable Sumana had departed, addressed the bhikkhus: “Thus, bhikkhus, do noble sons declare final knowledge. The meaning has been stated, and the self has not been brought in. And yet… And here, some foolish men, laughing, I think, declare something else. They later fall into distress. Not in the high, not in the low, nor in the middle do they cling. Their birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, they wander, freed from fetters. The Seventh. 8. Discourse on Restraint of the Faculties Monks, when there is no sense-restraint, for one lacking sense-restraint, morality has lost its support. When there is no morality, for one lacking morality, right concentration has lost its support. When there is no right concentration, for one lacking right concentration, knowledge and vision of things as they are has lost its support. When there is no knowledge and vision of things as they are, for one lacking knowledge and vision of things as they are, disenchantment and dispassion have lost their support. When there is no disenchantment and dispassion, for one lacking disenchantment and dispassion, knowledge and vision of liberation has lost its support. Just as, monks, a tree devoid of branches and leaves. Its bark does not come to full growth, its inner bark does not come to full growth, its sapwood does not come to full growth, its heartwood does not come to full growth. In the same way, monks, when there is no sense-restraint, for one lacking sense-restraint, morality has lost its support... ...knowledge and vision of liberation. Monks, when there is sense-restraint, for one endowed with sense-restraint, morality is endowed with support. When there is morality, for one endowed with morality, right concentration is endowed with support. When there is right concentration, for one endowed with right concentration, knowledge and vision of things as they are is endowed with support. When there is knowledge and vision of things as they are, for one endowed with knowledge and vision of things as they are, disenchantment and dispassion are endowed with support. When there is disenchantment and dispassion, for one endowed with disenchantment and dispassion, knowledge and vision of liberation is endowed with support. Just as, monks, a tree endowed with branches and leaves. Its bark comes to full growth,