English
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One. The Numerical Discourses The Book of the Sevens The First Fifty 1. The Chapter on Wealth 1. The First Discourse on the Dear One 1. Thus have I heard: At one time the Blessed One was staying at Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus!” “Venerable sir,” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with seven qualities is unloved by his fellow practitioners, disagreeable, disrespectful, and unworthy of esteem. Which seven? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is desirous of gain, desirous of honor, desirous of disrespecting others, shameless, without moral dread, of evil wishes, and of wrong view. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with these seven qualities is unloved by his fellow practitioners, disagreeable, disrespectful, and unworthy of esteem. “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with seven qualities is loved by his fellow practitioners, agreeable, respected, and worthy of esteem. Which seven? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is not desirous of gain, not desirous of honor, not desirous of disrespecting others, modest, with moral dread, of few wishes, and of right view. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with these seven qualities is loved by his fellow practitioners, agreeable, respected, and worthy of esteem.” The First. 2. The Second Discourse on the Dear One 2. “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with seven qualities is unloved by his fellow practitioners, disagreeable, disrespectful, and unworthy of esteem. Which seven? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is desirous of gain, desirous of honor, desirous of disrespecting others, shameless, without moral dread, envious, and stingy. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with these seven qualities is unloved by his fellow practitioners, disagreeable, disrespectful, and unworthy of esteem. and venerable and worthy of esteem. “With seven qualities, monks, a monk is dear to his spiritual companions, agreeable to them, venerable to them, and worthy of esteem. Which seven? Here, monks, a monk is not desirous of gain, is not desirous of honor, is not desirous of being un-disparaged, is conscientious, is scrupulous, is not envious, is not stingy. With these seven qualities, monks, a monk is dear to his spiritual companions, agreeable to them, venerable to them, and worthy of esteem.” The Second. 3. The Summary Powers Sutta 3. Thus have I heard: On one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park… “There are these seven powers, monks. Which seven? The power of faith, the power of energy, the power of conscientiousness, the power of scrupulousness, the power of mindfulness, the power of concentration, the power of wisdom. These, monks, are the seven powers.” “The power of faith and energy, conscientiousness and scrupulousness as a power; The power of mindfulness and concentration, wisdom indeed is the seventh power. A monk strong in these, the wise one lives happily. He wisely discerns the Dhamma, and sees the goal with wisdom; Like the extinguishing of a lamp, the liberation of his mind occurs.” The Third. 4. The Detailed Powers Sutta 4. “There are these seven powers, monks. Which seven? The power of faith, the power of energy, the power of conscientiousness, the power of scrupulousness, the power of mindfulness, the power of concentration, the power of wisdom. “And what, monks, is the power of faith? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with faith, he believes in the Tathāgata’s enlightenment: ‘Indeed, that Blessed One is Arahant, perfectly enlightened… teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One.’ This, monks, is called the power of faith. “And what, monks, is the power of energy? Here, monks, a noble disciple lives with aroused energy for the abandonment of unwholesome states, for the acquisition of wholesome states; he is steadfast, firm in effort, not laying down the burden. in wholesome states. This, monks, is called the power of energy. And what, monks, is the power of shame? Here, monks, a noble disciple is ashamed, is ashamed of misconduct in body, misconduct in speech, misconduct in mind, is ashamed of entering upon evil, unwholesome states. This, monks, is called the power of shame. And what, monks, is the power of fear of wrongdoing? Here, monks, a noble disciple is fearful of wrongdoing, is fearful of misconduct in body, misconduct in speech, misconduct in mind, is fearful of entering upon evil, unwholesome states. This, monks, is called the power of fear of wrongdoing. And what, monks, is the power of mindfulness? Here, monks, a noble disciple is mindful, endowed with supreme mindfulness and sagacity, remembering and recollecting what was done and said long ago. This, monks, is called the power of mindfulness. And what, monks, is the power of concentration? Here, monks, a noble disciple, quite secluded from sensual pleasures… abides having entered the fourth jhāna. This, monks, is called the power of concentration. And what, monks, is the power of wisdom? Here, monks, a noble disciple is wise, endowed with wisdom that sees rise and fall, with noble, penetrating wisdom, leading to the right destruction of suffering. This, monks, is called the power of wisdom. These, monks, are the seven powers. The power of faith and energy, shame and fear of wrongdoing as power; The power of mindfulness and concentration, and wisdom indeed is the seventh power; A bhikkhu strong with these, the wise one lives happily. He discerns the Dhamma methodically, he sees the meaning with wisdom; Like the extinguishing of a lamp, there is the liberation of the mind. The fourth. 5. The Discourse on Concise Wealth 5. There are, monks, these seven kinds of wealth. Which seven? The wealth of faith, the wealth of virtue, the wealth of shame, the wealth of fear of wrongdoing, the wealth of learning, the wealth of generosity, the wealth of wisdom. These, monks, are the seven kinds of wealth. The wealth of faith, Faith is wealth, virtue is wealth, shame and dread of wrongdoing are wealth; Learning is wealth, and generosity, wisdom is indeed the seventh wealth. Whoever, man or woman, has these riches, they are called not poor, their life is not in vain. Therefore, the wise one, remembering the teaching of the Buddhas, should devote themselves to faith, virtue, serene confidence, and the vision of the Dhamma. 6. The Discourse on Abundant Wealth “There are, monks, these seven kinds of wealth. What are the seven? The wealth of faith, the wealth of virtue, the wealth of shame, the wealth of dread of wrongdoing, the wealth of learning, the wealth of generosity, the wealth of wisdom. “And what, monks, is the wealth of faith? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with faith, he believes in the enlightenment of the Tathāgata: ‘Indeed, that Blessed One is an Arahant, a Perfectly Self-Enlightened One… the Buddha, the Blessed One.’ This, monks, is called the wealth of faith. “And what, monks, is the wealth of virtue? Here, monks, a noble disciple abstains from the destruction of life… abstains from intoxicating drinks and drugs that are a basis for heedlessness. This, monks, is called the wealth of virtue. “And what, monks, is the wealth of shame? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with shame, he is ashamed of misconduct by body, misconduct by speech, misconduct by mind; he is ashamed of falling into evil, unwholesome states. This, monks, is called the wealth of shame. “And what, monks, is the wealth of dread of wrongdoing? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with dread of wrongdoing, he dreads misconduct by body, misconduct by speech, misconduct by mind; he dreads falling into evil, unwholesome states. This, monks, is called the wealth of dread of wrongdoing. “And what, monks, is the wealth of learning? Here, monks, a noble disciple is learned, a preserver of what is heard, a collector of what is heard. Those teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with meaning and with phrasing, proclaiming the entirely complete and purified holy life—such teachings are much heard by him. is well-established by speech, well-examined by mind, well-penetrated by view. This, monks, is called the wealth of learning. And what, monks, is the wealth of generosity? Here, monks, a noble disciple dwells in a home with a mind free from the stain of stinginess, open-handed, delighting in giving, ready to be asked, delighting in the distribution of gifts. This, monks, is called the wealth of generosity. And what, monks, is the wealth of wisdom? Here, monks, a noble disciple is wise… …leading to the complete destruction of suffering. This, monks, is called the wealth of wisdom. These, monks, are the seven kinds of wealth. The wealth of faith, the wealth of virtue, shame and fear of wrongdoing are wealth; The wealth of learning and generosity, wisdom is indeed the seventh wealth. Whoever has these kinds of wealth, be it a woman or a man; They are called not poor, their life is not in vain. Therefore, the wise one, remembering the Buddhas’ teaching, should devote themselves to faith and virtue, to confidence and the seeing of the Dhamma. Sixth. 7. Ugga Sutta 7. Then Ugga, the royal minister, approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, Ugga, the royal minister, said to the Blessed One: “It is wonderful, Venerable Sir, it is amazing, Venerable Sir! How wealthy, Venerable Sir, Migāra of Rohaṇa is, how rich, how abundant in possessions!” “How wealthy, Ugga, is Migāra of Rohaṇa, how rich, how abundant in possessions?” “A hundred thousand [of thousands] of gold, Venerable Sir, what then of silver!” “Indeed, Ugga, this wealth exists, I do not say it does not exist. But, Ugga, this wealth is common to fire, water, kings, thieves, unloved heirs.