English
7. The Great Chapter 1. The Discourse on Conscience and Shame ‘‘Monks, when there is no conscience and shame, for one devoid of conscience and shame, the foundation for sense-restraint is destroyed. When there is no sense-restraint, for one devoid of sense-restraint, the foundation for virtue is destroyed. When there is no virtue, for one devoid of virtue, the foundation for right concentration is destroyed. When there is no right concentration, for one devoid of right concentration, the foundation for knowledge and vision of things as they are is destroyed. When there is no knowledge and vision of things as they are, for one devoid of knowledge and vision of things as they are, the foundation for disenchantment and dispassion is destroyed. When there is no disenchantment and dispassion, for one devoid of disenchantment and dispassion, the foundation for knowledge and vision of liberation is destroyed. Just as, monks, a tree devoid of branches and leaves— its bark does not grow to fullness, its inner bark, its sapwood, its heartwood do not grow to fullness. Even so, monks, when there is no conscience and shame, for one devoid of conscience and shame, the foundation for sense-restraint is destroyed. When there is no sense-restraint, for one devoid of sense-restraint, the foundation for virtue is destroyed. When there is no virtue, for one devoid of virtue, the foundation for right concentration is destroyed. When there is no right concentration, for one devoid of right concentration, the foundation for knowledge and vision of things as they are is destroyed. When there is no knowledge and vision of things as they are, for one devoid of knowledge and vision of things as they are, the foundation for disenchantment and dispassion is destroyed. When there is no disenchantment and dispassion, for one devoid of disenchantment and dispassion, the foundation for knowledge and vision of liberation is destroyed. ‘‘Monks, when there is conscience and shame, for one endowed with conscience and shame, the foundation for sense-restraint is complete. When there is sense-restraint, for one endowed with sense-restraint, the foundation for virtue is complete. When there is virtue, for one endowed with virtue, the foundation for right concentration is complete. When there is right concentration, for one endowed with right concentration, the foundation for knowledge and vision of things as they are is complete. When there is knowledge and vision of things as they are, for one endowed with knowledge and vision of things as they are, the foundation for disenchantment and dispassion is complete. When there is disenchantment and dispassion, for one endowed with disenchantment and dispassion, For one with wisdom, the condition for liberation-knowledge-and-vision is fulfilled. Just as, monks, a tree is complete with branches and leaves. Its outer bark reaches completion, its inner bark, its sapwood, its heartwood also reach completion. Even so, monks, when there is shame and fear of wrong, for one complete with shame and fear of wrong, the condition for liberation-knowledge-and-vision is fulfilled. The First. 2. The Discourse on the Seven Suns 66. Thus have I heard: On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling in Vesālī, in Ambapālī’s mango grove. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus!” “Venerable sir!” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One spoke this: “Impermanent, monks, are all formations; unstable, monks, are all formations; without solace, monks, are all formations. To this extent, monks, it is enough to be disenchanted with all formations, enough to be dispassionate, enough to be liberated.” “Mount Sineru, monks, the king of mountains, is eighty-four thousand yojanas in length, eighty-four thousand yojanas in width, eighty-four thousand yojanas submerged in the great ocean, and eighty-four thousand yojanas rising above the great ocean. There comes a time, monks, at some point, after a long, long period, when for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, many hundreds of thousands of years, the sky does not rain. When the sky does not rain, monks, whatever seed-born plants and root-born plants, herbs, grasses, and trees there are, they wither away, they dry up, they cease to be. So impermanent, monks, are formations; so unstable, monks, are formations… enough to be liberated.” “There comes a time, monks, at some point, after a long, long period, when a second sun appears. With the appearance of the second sun, monks, whatever small rivers and small ponds there are, they wither away, they dry up, they cease to be. So impermanent, monks, are formations… enough to be liberated.” enough to be liberated. There comes, monks, a time when, after a very long period, a third sun appears. With the appearance of the third sun, monks, whatever great rivers there are, namely – the Ganges, the Yamuna, the Aciravatī, the Sarabhū, the Mahī – they dry up, they wither away, they cease to be. Thus impermanent, monks, are formations… …enough to be liberated. There comes, monks, a time when, after a very long period, a fourth sun appears. With the appearance of the fourth sun, monks, those great lakes from which these great rivers flow, namely – Anotatta, Sīhapapāta, Rathakāra, Kaṇṇamuṇḍa, Kuṇāla, Chaddanta, Mandākinī – they dry up, they wither away, they cease to be. Thus impermanent, monks, are formations… …enough to be liberated. There comes, monks, a time when, after a very long period, a fifth sun appears. With the appearance of the fifth sun, monks, the waters in the great ocean recede by even a hundred yojanas, the waters in the great ocean recede by even two hundred yojanas, by even three hundred, by even four hundred, by even five hundred, by even six hundred, by even seven hundred yojanas; the water in the great ocean stands at even seven palm-trees deep, at even six palm-trees, at even five palm-trees, at even four palm-trees, at even three palm-trees, at even two palm-trees, the water in the great ocean stands at even one palm-tree deep; the water in the great ocean stands at even seven men's height, at even six men's height, at even five men's height, at even four men's height, at even three men's height, at even two men's height, at even one man's height, at even half a man's height, at waist-deep, at knee-deep, at ankle-deep, the water in the great ocean stands. Just as, monks, in the autumn season, when a heavy rain falls, here and there in cow-hoof prints… there are waters standing; just so, monks, here and there waters stand in the great ocean the size of a cow's hoofprint. With the appearance of the fifth sun, monks, there is no water in the great ocean even the size of a finger-joint. Thus impermanent, monks, are formations… …they are enough to be liberated from. There comes a time, monks, when, at some time or other, after a long period, the sixth sun appears. With the appearance of the sixth sun, monks, this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, smoke, they smoke thoroughly, they smoke completely. Just as, monks, a potter's kiln, when plastered, first smokes, smokes thoroughly, smokes completely; just so, monks, with the appearance of the sixth sun, this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, smoke, they smoke thoroughly, they smoke completely. Thus impermanent, monks, are formations… …they are enough to be liberated from. There comes a time, monks, when, at some time or other, after a long period, the seventh sun appears. With the appearance of the seventh sun, monks, this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, blaze up, they burn fiercely, they become a single flame. And the flame of this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, as they burn and are consumed, driven by the wind, reaches even to the Brahma-world. As Sineru, the king of mountains, burns, is consumed, and perishes, overwhelmed by a great mass of fire, its peaks, even a hundred leagues high, crumble; even two hundred leagues high, even three hundred leagues high, even four hundred leagues high, even five hundred leagues high, its peaks crumble. And as this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, burn and are consumed, no no ash appears, no soot. Just as, monks, when ghee or oil burns, is consumed, no ash appears, no soot; even so, monks, when this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, burn, are consumed, no ash appears, no soot. So impermanent, monks, are formations; so unstable, monks, are formations; so without solace, monks, are formations. To this extent, monks, it is enough to be disenchanted with all formations, enough to be dispassionate, enough to be liberated. Therein, monks, who would think, who would believe – 'this earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, will burn, will perish, will not exist' – except those who have seen the truth? Formerly, monks, there was a teacher named Sunetta, a founder of a sect, dispassionate towards sensual pleasures. And indeed, monks, that teacher Sunetta had many hundreds of disciples. Teacher Sunetta, monks, taught the Dhamma to his disciples for companionship with Brahmā's world. And indeed, monks, those who fully understood the teaching of teacher Sunetta as he taught the Dhamma for companionship with Brahmā's world, they, with the breaking up of the body, after death, reappeared in a good destination, in Brahmā's world. Those who did not fully understand the teaching, they, with the breaking up of the body, after death, some reappeared in companionship with the devas who create what others enjoy, some reappeared in companionship with the devas who delight in creation, some reappeared in companionship with the Tusita devas, some reappeared in companionship with the Yama devas, some reappeared in companionship with the Tāvatiṃsa devas, some reappeared in companionship with the Cātumahārājika devas, some reappeared in companionship with wealthy khattiyas, some reappeared in companionship