English
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One. The Numerical Discourses The Book of the Elevens 1. The Chapter on Support 1. The Discourse on What is the Purpose Thus have I heard: On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. Seated to one side, the Venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One: "For what purpose, Bhante, are wholesome virtues? What are their benefits?" "Wholesome virtues, Ānanda, are for non-regret; their benefit is non-regret." "And non-regret, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Non-regret, Ānanda, is for joy; its benefit is joy." "And joy, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Joy, Ānanda, is for rapture; its benefit is rapture." "And rapture, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Rapture, Ānanda, is for tranquility; its benefit is tranquility." "And tranquility, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Tranquility, Ānanda, is for happiness; its benefit is happiness." "And happiness, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Happiness, Ānanda, is for concentration; its benefit is concentration." "And concentration, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Concentration, Ānanda, is for 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, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Knowledge and vision of things as they are, Ānanda, is for disenchantment; its benefit is disenchantment." "And disenchantment, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Disenchantment, Ānanda, is for dispassion; its benefit is dispassion." "And dispassion, Bhante, for what purpose is it? What is its benefit?" "Dispassion, Ānanda, is for knowledge and vision of liberation; its benefit is knowledge and vision of liberation. "Thus, Ānanda, wholesome virtues are for non-regret..." (Wholesome virtues are) for non-regret, with non-regret as their benefit. Non-regret is for joy, with joy as its benefit. Joy is for rapture, with rapture as its benefit. Rapture is for tranquility, with tranquility as its benefit. Tranquility is for happiness, with happiness as its benefit. Happiness is for concentration, with concentration as its benefit. Concentration is for knowledge and vision of things as they are, with knowledge and vision of things as they are as its benefit. Knowledge and vision of things as they are is for disenchantment, with disenchantment as its benefit. Disenchantment is for dispassion, with dispassion as its benefit. Dispassion is for knowledge and vision of liberation, with knowledge and vision of liberation as its benefit. Thus, Ananda, wholesome virtues gradually lead to the highest. First. The Discourse on What is to be Done by Intention Monks, for one who is virtuous, accomplished in virtue, there is no need to intend: 'May non-regret arise in me.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one who is virtuous, accomplished in virtue, non-regret arises. Monks, for one without regret, there is no need to intend: 'May joy arise in me.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one without regret, joy arises. Monks, for one who is joyful, there is no need to intend: 'May rapture arise in me.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one who is joyful, rapture arises. Monks, for one whose mind is rapturous, there is no need to intend: 'May my body become tranquil.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one whose mind is rapturous, the body becomes tranquil. Monks, for one whose body is tranquil, there is no need to intend: 'May I experience happiness.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one whose body is tranquil, happiness is experienced. Monks, for one who is happy, there is no need to intend: 'May my mind become concentrated.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one who is happy, the mind becomes concentrated. Monks, for one who is concentrated, there is no need to intend: 'May I know and see things as they are.' It is a natural law, monks, that for one who is concentrated, one knows and sees things as they are. Monks, for one who knows and sees things as they are, there is no need to intend... to do with intention: ‘I am disenchanted.’ This is the nature of things, monks, that one who knows and sees things as they are becomes disenchanted. For one who is disenchanted, monks, there is nothing to do with intention: ‘I become dispassionate.’ This is the nature of things, monks, that one who is disenchanted becomes dispassionate. For one who is dispassionate, monks, there is nothing to do with intention: ‘I realize the knowledge and vision of liberation.’ This is the nature of things, monks, that one who is dispassionate realizes the knowledge and vision of liberation. Thus, monks, dispassion has knowledge and vision of liberation as its purpose, knowledge and vision of liberation as its benefit. Disenchantment has dispassion as its purpose, dispassion as its benefit. Knowledge and vision of things as they are has disenchantment as its purpose, disenchantment as its benefit. Concentration has knowledge and vision of things as they are as its purpose, knowledge and vision of things as they are as its benefit. Happiness has concentration as its purpose, concentration as its benefit. Tranquility has happiness as its purpose, happiness as its benefit. Joy has tranquility as its purpose, tranquility as its benefit. Gladness has joy as its purpose, joy as its benefit. Non-remorse has gladness as its purpose, gladness as its benefit. Wholesome virtues have non-remorse as their purpose, non-remorse as their benefit. Thus, monks, do phenomena flow into phenomena, do phenomena fulfill phenomena for going from the near shore to the far shore. The Second. 3. The First Discourse on Proximate Cause For one who is immoral, monks, who is deficient in virtue, non-remorse has its proximate cause destroyed. When non-remorse is absent, for one deficient in non-remorse, gladness has its proximate cause destroyed. When gladness is absent, for one deficient in gladness, joy has its proximate cause destroyed. When joy is absent, for one deficient in joy, tranquility has its proximate cause destroyed. When tranquility is absent, for one deficient in tranquility, happiness has its proximate cause destroyed. When happiness is absent, for one deficient in happiness, right concentration has its proximate cause destroyed. When right concentration is absent, for one deficient in right concentration, knowledge and vision of things as they are has its proximate cause destroyed. When knowledge and vision of things as they are is absent, for one deficient in knowledge and vision of things as they are, disenchantment has its proximate cause destroyed. When disenchantment is absent, for one deficient in disenchantment, dispassion has its proximate cause destroyed. When passion is not, for one lacking dispassion, the condition is destroyed for the knowledge and vision of liberation. Just as, monks, a tree devoid of branches and leaves. Its bark does not grow to completion, nor its inner bark… nor its sapwood… nor its heartwood grows to completion. Even so, monks, for one immoral, fallen away from virtue, the condition for non-remorse is destroyed. When non-remorse is not, for one fallen away from non-remorse, the condition for joy is destroyed… …and so on… up to the knowledge and vision of liberation. For one virtuous, monks, endowed with virtue, the condition for non-remorse is complete. When non-remorse is present, for one endowed with non-remorse, the condition for joy is complete. When joy is present, for one endowed with joy, the condition for rapture is complete. When rapture is present, for one endowed with rapture, the condition for tranquility is complete. When tranquility is present, for one endowed with tranquility, the condition for happiness is complete. When happiness is present, for one endowed with happiness, the condition for right concentration is complete. When right concentration is present, for one endowed with right concentration, the condition for knowledge and vision of things as they are is complete. When knowledge and vision of things as they are is present, for one endowed with knowledge and vision of things as they are, the condition for disenchantment is complete. When disenchantment is present, for one endowed with disenchantment, the condition for dispassion is complete. When dispassion is present, for one endowed with dispassion, the condition for knowledge and vision of liberation is complete. Just as, monks, a tree endowed with branches and leaves. Its bark grows to completion, its inner bark… its sapwood… its heartwood grows to completion. Even so, monks, for one virtuous, endowed with virtue, the condition for non-remorse is complete. When non-remorse is present, for one endowed with non-remorse, the condition for… …and so on… up to the knowledge and vision of liberation. The Third. 4. The Second Discourse on Conditions. 4. There, indeed, Venerable Sāriputta addressed the monks: “Friends, monks!” “Friend!” those monks They listened to Venerable Sāriputta. Venerable Sāriputta said this: “For one immoral, friends, whose virtue is corrupted, freedom from remorse has no basis. When freedom from remorse is absent, for one lacking freedom from remorse, joy has no basis. When joy is absent, for one lacking joy, rapture has no basis. When rapture is absent, for one lacking rapture, tranquility has no basis. When tranquility is absent, for one lacking tranquility, happiness has no basis. When happiness is absent, for one lacking happiness, right concentration has no basis. When right concentration is absent, for one lacking right concentration,