Back to the library

B0102051610purābhedasuttaniddeso (ancient section sutra commentary)

English

having found hot, they seek cold. Whatever they find, they are not content with it, they seek something else again and again. They are attached, greedy, infatuated, obsessed, stuck, clinging, bound to agreeable tastes. For whom this craving for tastes is abandoned, uprooted, calmed, pacified, incapable of arising again, burnt by the fire of knowledge, that one partakes of food with wise reflection— “Not for sport, not for indulgence, not for adornment, not for beautification, but only for the maintenance and sustenance of this body, for the cessation of harm, and for the support of the holy life. Thus I will put an end to old feelings, and will not give rise to new feelings, and there will be for me a journey.” and utmost blamelessness and ease of living. Just as one would anoint a wound only for the purpose of healing, or just as one would grease an axle only for the purpose of carrying the load across, or just as one would eat one's son's flesh as food only for the purpose of crossing the desert; even so, a bhikkhu, reflecting wisely, takes food – "not for sport, not for intoxication, not for adornment, not for beautification, but only for the maintenance and continuance of this body, for ending discomfort, and for supporting the holy life, and ease of living." He abandons craving for taste, he removes it, he makes it disappear, he brings it to an end. He is aloof from craving for taste, detached, completely detached, gone forth, released, fully liberated, disjoined, he dwells with a mind free from boundaries – and he is not in conflict with craving, nor does he cling to tastes. Therefore the Blessed One said: "He does not train for the sake of gain, nor does he get angry at loss; and he is not in conflict with craving, nor does he cling to tastes." 90. Equanimous, ever mindful, he does not conceive himself equal in the world; not superior, not inferior, for him there are no conceits. "Equanimous, ever mindful" means. "Equanimous" means endowed with six-limbed equanimity. Having seen a form with the eye, he is neither pleased nor displeased, he dwells equanimous, mindful, and clearly comprehending. Having heard a sound with the ear... having cognized a mental phenomenon with the mind, he is neither pleased nor displeased, he dwells equanimous, mindful, and clearly comprehending. Having seen a pleasing form with the eye, he does not cling to it, does not delight in it, does not generate lust. His body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. And having seen an unpleasing form with the eye, he is not perturbed, his mind is not unsettled, his mind is not depressed, his mind is not malevolent. His body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. Having heard a sound with the ear... having smelled an odor with the nose... having tasted a flavor with the tongue... having felt a tactile sensation with the body... having cognized a pleasing mental phenomenon with the mind, he does not cling to it, does not delight in it, does not generate lust. When one generates, his body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. But when one perceives a displeasing phenomenon with the mind, he is not confused, his mind is not unsettled, his mind is not dejected, his consciousness is not ill-willed. His body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. Having seen a form with the eye, in pleasant and unpleasant forms, his body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. Having heard a sound with the ear... ...having perceived a phenomenon with the mind, in pleasant and unpleasant phenomena, his body is steady, his mind is steady, internally well-established, well-liberated. Having seen a form with the eye, in what is alluring, he is not allured, in what is hateful, he is not hateful, in what is deluding, he is not deluded, in what is agitating, he is not agitated, in what is intoxicating, he is not intoxicated, in what defiles, he is not defiled. Having heard a sound with the ear... ...having perceived a phenomenon with the mind, in what is alluring, he is not allured, in what is hateful, he is not hateful, in what is deluding, he is not deluded, in what is agitating, he is not agitated, in what is intoxicating, he is not intoxicated, in what defiles, he is not defiled. In what is seen, just the seen. In what is heard, just the heard. In what is sensed, just the sensed. In what is cognized, just the cognized. In what is seen, he is not stained. In what is heard, he is not stained. In what is sensed, he is not stained. In what is cognized, he is not stained. In what is seen, without attachment, without aversion, unreliant, unconstrained, fully liberated, disjoined, he dwells with a mind without boundaries. In what is heard... ...in what is sensed... ...in what is cognized, without attachment, without aversion, unreliant, unconstrained, fully liberated, disjoined, he dwells with a mind without boundaries. There exists an Arahant's eye. The Arahant sees a form with the eye. There is no desire-passion for the Arahant. The Arahant is well-liberated in mind. There exists an Arahant's ear. The Arahant hears a sound with the ear. There is no desire-passion for the Arahant. The Arahant is well-liberated in mind. There exists an Arahant's nose. The Arahant smells an odor with the nose. There is no desire-passion for the Arahant. The Arahant is well-liberated in mind. There exists an Arahant's tongue. The Arahant tastes a taste with the tongue. The Arahant's body exists, the Arahant touches tangibles with the body… The Arahant's mind exists, the Arahant discerns mental objects with the mind. Desire-passion for the Arahant does not exist, the Arahant is well-liberated in mind. The eye delights in forms, is attached to forms, rejoices in forms; for the Arahant, it is tamed, guarded, protected, restrained, and for its restraint, the Dhamma is taught. The ear delights in sounds… The nose delights in odors… The tongue delights in tastes, is attached to tastes, rejoices in tastes; for the Arahant, it is tamed, guarded, protected, restrained, and for its restraint, the Dhamma is taught. The body delights in tangibles… The mind delights in mental objects, is attached to mental objects, rejoices in mental objects; for the Arahant, it is tamed, guarded, protected, restrained, and for its restraint, the Dhamma is taught. The tamed they lead to the assembly, the tamed the king mounts; The tamed is best among humans, who endures harsh words. Better are tamed mules, and noble Sindhu horses, and great elephants, but better than these is one self-tamed. Not by these vehicles can one go to the untrodden direction; But by one's well-tamed self, the tamed one goes, by the tamed self. They do not waver in various ways, liberated from renewed existence; Having attained the stage of the tamed, they are conquerors in the world. Whose faculties are developed, internally and externally, in all the world; Having penetrated this world and the other world, that tamed one, developed, awaits the time. He is always equanimous. Always, at all times, at every time, constantly, perpetually… until the last stage of life. He is mindful for four reasons: mindful, developing the establishment of mindfulness on the body as body, on feelings… on mind… on mental objects, developing the establishment of mindfulness on mental objects as mental objects, mindful… So he is called mindful— he is always equanimous, always mindful. He does not conceive "equal" in the world. He does not generate the conceit "I am equal." by birth or by clan... or by any other ground— he does not conceive himself equal in the world. He is not superior, nor inferior. He does not generate conceit, thinking "I am superior," by birth or by clan... or by any other ground. He does not generate low esteem, thinking "I am inferior," by birth or by clan... or by any other ground— he is not superior, nor inferior. He has no obsessions. "He" means the Arahant, whose defilements are destroyed. "Obsessions" means the seven obsessions: the obsession of lust, the obsession of hatred, the obsession of delusion, the obsession of conceit, the obsession of views, the obsession of defilements, the obsession of kamma. These obsessions do not exist for him, they are not present, they are not found, they are not perceived; they are abandoned, uprooted, calmed, pacified, incapable of future arising, burnt by the fire of knowledge— he has no obsessions. Therefore, the Blessed One said: "Equanimous, ever mindful, he does not conceive himself equal in the world; He is not superior, nor inferior, he has no obsessions." 91. For whom there is no dependence, having known the Dhamma, he is independent; For existence or non-existence, whose craving is not found. For whom there is no dependence. "Whom" means the Arahant, whose defilements are destroyed. "Dependence" means two kinds of dependence: the dependence of craving and the dependence of views... this is the dependence of craving... this is the dependence of views. For him, the dependence of craving is abandoned, the dependence of views is relinquished; because the dependence of craving is abandoned and the dependence of views is relinquished, dependence for him does not exist, is not present, is not found, is not perceived; it is abandoned, uprooted, calmed, pacified, incapable of future arising, burnt by the fire of knowledge— for whom there is no dependence. Having known the Dhamma, he is independent. "Having known" means having known, having understood, having weighed, having discerned, having clarified, having made manifest, having known, understood, weighed, discerned, clarified, made manifest that "all formations are impermanent"; having known, understood, weighed, discerned, clarified, made manifest that "all formations are suffering"... "all phenomena are non-self"...