English
Homage to that Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One. The Numerical Discourses The Book of the Tens 1. The First Fifty 1. The Chapter on Benefits 1. The Discourse on What Purpose Thus have I heard: On one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Then the venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One; having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One, and sat down to one side. Seated to one side, the venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One: "For what purpose, sir, are wholesome virtues? What are their benefits?" "Wholesome virtues, Ānanda, are for the purpose of non-regret; their benefit is non-regret." "And non-regret, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Non-regret, Ānanda, is for the purpose of joy; its benefit is joy." "And joy, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Joy, Ānanda, is for the purpose of rapture; its benefit is rapture." "And rapture, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Rapture, Ānanda, is for the purpose of tranquility; its benefit is tranquility." "And tranquility, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Tranquility, Ānanda, is for the purpose of happiness; its benefit is happiness." "And happiness, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Happiness, Ānanda, is for the purpose of concentration; its benefit is concentration." "And concentration, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Concentration, Ānanda, is for the purpose of knowledge and vision of things as they are; its benefit is knowledge and vision of things as they are." "And knowledge and vision of things as they are, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Knowledge and vision of things as they are, Ānanda, is for the purpose of disenchantment and dispassion; its benefit is disenchantment and dispassion." "And disenchantment and dispassion, sir, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Disenchantment and dispassion, Ānanda, is for the purpose of knowledge and vision of liberation; its benefit is knowledge and vision of liberation." Thus, Ananda, wholesome virtues have freedom from remorse as their aim, freedom from remorse as their benefit. Freedom from remorse has joy as its aim, joy as its benefit. Joy has rapture as its aim, rapture as its benefit. Rapture has tranquility as its aim, tranquility as its benefit. Tranquility has happiness as its aim, happiness as its benefit. Happiness has concentration as its aim, concentration as its benefit. Concentration has knowledge and vision of things as they are as its aim, knowledge and vision of things as they are as its benefit. Knowledge and vision of things as they are have disenchantment and dispassion as their aim, disenchantment and dispassion as their benefit. Disenchantment and dispassion have knowledge and vision of liberation as their aim, knowledge and vision of liberation as their benefit. Thus, Ananda, wholesome virtues gradually lead to the highest. 2. The Discourse on What Is to Be Done by Intention For one who is virtuous, monks, accomplished in virtue, there is no need to intend: 'May freedom from remorse arise in me.' It is the nature of things, monks, that for one who is virtuous, accomplished in virtue, freedom from remorse arises. For one free from remorse, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May joy arise in me.' It is the nature of things, monks, that for one free from remorse, joy is born. For one who is joyful, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May rapture arise in me.' It is the nature of things, monks, that for one who is joyful, rapture arises. For one with a rapturous mind, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May my body become tranquil.' It is the nature of things, monks, that for one with a rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil. For one with a tranquil body, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May I experience happiness.' It is the nature of things, monks, that one with a tranquil body experiences happiness. For one who is happy, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May my mind become concentrated.' It is the nature of things, monks, that for one who is happy, the mind becomes concentrated. For one who is concentrated, monks, there is no need to intend: 'May I know and see things as they are.' It is the nature of things, monks, that one who is concentrated knows and sees things as they are. Things as they are, monks, Monks, for one who knows and sees, it is not by intention that one thinks: "I will become disenchanted, I will become dispassionate." It is the nature of things, Monks, that one who knows and sees things as they are, becomes disenchanted, becomes dispassionate. For one who is disenchanted, Monks, for one who is dispassionate, it is not by intention that one thinks: "I will realize the knowledge and vision of liberation." It is the nature of things, Monks, that one who is disenchanted, one who is dispassionate, realizes the knowledge and vision of liberation. Thus, Monks, disenchantment and dispassion have knowledge and vision of liberation as their aim, have knowledge and vision of liberation as their benefit. Knowledge and vision of things as they are have disenchantment and dispassion as their aim, have disenchantment and dispassion as their benefit. Concentration has knowledge and vision of things as they are as its aim, has knowledge and vision of things as they are as its benefit. Happiness has concentration as its aim, has concentration as its benefit. Tranquility has happiness as its aim, has happiness as its benefit. Joy has tranquility as its aim, has tranquility as its benefit. Gladness has joy as its aim, has joy as its benefit. Non-remorse has gladness as its aim, has gladness as its benefit. Wholesome virtues have non-remorse as their aim, have non-remorse as their benefit. Thus, Monks, do phenomena flow into phenomena, do phenomena fulfill phenomena, for going from this shore to the other shore. 3. First Discourse on Proximate Cause For one who is immoral, Monks, one whose virtue has failed, non-remorse has lost its proximate cause. When non-remorse is absent, for one whose non-remorse has failed, gladness has lost its proximate cause. When gladness is absent, for one whose gladness has failed, joy has lost its proximate cause. When joy is absent, for one whose joy has failed, tranquility has lost its proximate cause. When tranquility is absent, for one whose tranquility has failed, happiness has lost its proximate cause. When happiness is absent, for one whose happiness has failed, right concentration has lost its proximate cause. When right concentration is absent, for one whose right concentration has failed, knowledge and vision of things as they are has lost its proximate cause. When knowledge and vision of things as they are is absent, for one whose knowledge and vision of things as they are has failed, disenchantment and dispassion have lost their proximate cause. When disenchantment and dispassion are absent, for one whose disenchantment and dispassion have failed, liberation has lost its proximate cause. the knowledge and vision. Just as, monks, a tree devoid of branches and leaves. Its outer bark does not come to completion, nor its inner bark… nor its sapwood… nor its heartwood. Even so, monks, for one who is immoral, devoid of virtue, the condition for remorse is destroyed; when there is no remorse, for one devoid of remorse, the condition for… is destroyed… …the knowledge and vision of liberation. For one who is virtuous, monks, endowed with virtue, the condition for non-remorse is complete; when there is non-remorse, for one endowed with non-remorse, the condition for joy is complete; when there is joy, for one endowed with joy, the condition for rapture is complete; when there is rapture, for one endowed with rapture, the condition for tranquility is complete; when there is tranquility, for one endowed with tranquility, the condition for happiness is complete; when there is happiness, for one endowed with happiness, the condition for right concentration is complete; when there is right concentration, for one endowed with right concentration, the condition 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 condition for disenchantment and dispassion is complete; when there is disenchantment and dispassion, for one endowed with disenchantment and dispassion, the condition for the knowledge and vision of liberation is complete. Just as, monks, a tree endowed with branches and leaves. Its outer bark comes to completion, nor its inner bark… nor its sapwood… nor its heartwood. Even so, monks, for one who is virtuous, endowed with virtue, the condition for non-remorse is complete; when there is non-remorse, for one endowed with non-remorse, the condition for… is complete… …the knowledge and vision of liberation. The third. 4. The Second Discourse on Conditions There, indeed, Venerable Sāriputta addressed the monks: “For one who is immoral, friends, devoid of virtue, the condition for remorse is destroyed; when there is no remorse, for one devoid of remorse, the condition for… is destroyed… …the knowledge and vision of liberation. Just as, friends, a tree devoid of branches and leaves. Its the outer bark does not reach fulfillment, the inner bark… the sapwood… the heartwood does not reach fulfillment. Even so, friends, for one who is immoral, whose virtue is corrupted, the condition for remorse is destroyed; when there is no remorse, for one whose remorse is corrupted, the condition for… (and so on)… the knowledge and vision of liberation is destroyed. For one who is virtuous, friends, whose virtue is complete, the condition for non-remorse is complete; when there is non-remorse, for one whose non-remorse is complete, the condition for… (and so on)…