English
Greed, O great king, a quality of a person, arising within, arises for harm, for suffering, for uncomfortable living; hatred, O great king... delusion, O great king, a quality of a person, arising within, arises for harm, for suffering, for uncomfortable living. These, O great king, are the three qualities of a person, arising within, arise for harm, for suffering, for uncomfortable living. "Greed and hatred and delusion, for the evil-minded person; They harm, born of oneself, like a fruit that harms the tree's core." Even so, there are dangers. It has been said by the Blessed One: "Lust and hatred, from this they spring, Discontent, content, and hair-raising, from this they are born; From this arise mental thoughts, like young ones casting off a crow." Even so, there are dangers. The removal of dangers, the discipline of dangers, the abandoning of dangers, the calming of dangers, the relinquishing of dangers, the tranquilizing of dangers, the deathless, Nibbāna— this is the visible teaching of the removal of dangers. "Speak of the path, good sir." "Speak of the path— the right path, the agreeable path, the unopposing path, the unconflicting path, the meaningful path, the path in accordance with the Dhamma, the fulfillment of precepts, the guarding of the sense doors, moderation in food, devotion to wakefulness, mindfulness and clear comprehension, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right exertions, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Nibbāna and the path leading to Nibbāna— speak, declare, teach, establish, reveal, explain, clarify, make manifest— speak of the path." "Good sir," that created being addresses the Buddha, the Blessed One. "Or rather, whatever Dhamma you declare, teach, establish, reveal, explain, clarify, make manifest— all that is beautiful, good." What is good, What is blameless, What should be practiced – Declare the path, venerable sir. The Pātimokkha, or concentration. Pātimokkha means moral conduct, The foundation, The beginning, The practice, Restraint, Control, The chief, The principal For the attainment of wholesome states. Or concentration means That stability of mind, Steadfastness, Unwaveringness, Non-distraction, Non-agitation, Non-scatteredness of mind, Tranquility, The faculty of concentration, The power of concentration, Right concentration – The Pātimokkha, or concentration. Therefore, that created being said: "The one with opened eye declared The directly seen Dhamma, The removal of dangers. Declare the path, venerable sir, The Pātimokkha, or concentration." 157. For one greedy for sights, One should restrain the ear from village talk; And one should not crave for tastes, Nor cling to anything in the world. 'For one greedy for sights' means: How is one greedy for sights? Here, some person is endowed with greed for sights, thinking: 'What is unseen should be seen, What is seen should be surpassed.' From park to park, From garden to garden, From village to village, From town to town, From city to city, From state to state, From country to country, He is devoted to long wandering, To unsettled wandering, For the seeing of forms. Thus, one is greedy for sights. Or a monk, Having entered a village for alms, Walking along a street, Goes unrestrained, Looking at elephants, Looking at horses, Looking at chariots, Looking at foot soldiers, Looking at women, Looking at men, Looking at boys, Looking at girls, Looking at shops, Looking at house fronts, Looking up, Looking down, Looking in all directions and sub-directions. Thus, one is greedy for sights. Or a monk, Having seen a form with the eye, Becomes a perceiver of its general appearance, And of its detailed features. Because of which, While the eye faculty remains unrestrained, Covetousness and distress, Evil unwholesome states, Would flow in upon him. He does not practice for its restraint. he does not guard the eye faculty, he does not undertake restraint of the eye faculty. Thus he is greedy with the eye. Or again, some venerable ascetics and brahmins, having eaten food given by faith, dwell devoted to such unseemly sights, that is to say— dancing, singing, music, shows, story-telling, hand-clapping, drum-beating, pot-beating, acrobatics, Chandalas, bamboo-players, washermen, elephant fights, horse fights, buffalo fights, bull fights, goat fights, ram fights, cock fights, quail fights, stick fights, fist fights, wrestling, mock battles, army reviews, battle arrays, troop inspections. Thus he is greedy with the eye. How is he not greedy with the eye? Here, a bhikkhu, having entered a village, walking along a street, goes restrained, not looking at elephants, not looking at horses, not looking at chariots, not looking at infantry, not looking at women, not looking at men, not looking at boys, not looking at girls, not looking at shops, not looking at house-fronts, not looking upwards, not looking downwards, he does not go looking in the directions and sub-directions. Thus he is not greedy with the eye. Or again, a bhikkhu, having seen a form with the eye, is not a taker of signs, not a taker of details. That by which, if the eye faculty were to remain unrestrained, evil unwholesome states of covetousness and displeasure might flow in upon him, for its restraint he practices, he guards the eye faculty, he undertakes restraint of the eye faculty. Thus he is not greedy with the eye. Or again, some venerable ascetics and brahmins, having eaten food given by faith, dwell not devoted to such unseemly sights, that is to say— dancing, singing, music, shows, story-telling... and so on... troop inspections. He is abstinent from such unseemly sights. Thus he is not He is not greedy with the eye. Not greedy with the eyes. He should abandon, dispel, eliminate, and make non-existent greediness with the eyes; he should be turned away, abstained, completely abstained, gone forth, disengaged, liberated, disjoined, and dwell with a mind free from limitations – not greedy with the eyes. He should shut the ear to village talk. Village talk is called the thirty-two kinds of animal talk, namely – talk of kings, talk of robbers, talk of ministers, talk of armies, talk of fear, talk of war, talk of food, talk of drink, talk of clothes, talk of vehicles, talk of beds, talk of garlands, talk of perfumes, talk of relatives, talk of villages, talk of market towns, talk of cities, talk of countries, talk of women, talk of men, talk of heroes, talk of streets, talk of watering places, talk of departed spirits, talk of varieties, talk of the world, talk of the ocean, talk of existence and non-existence, and so on. He should shut the ear to village talk. He should shut, restrain, control, guard, protect, close, and cut off the ear to village talk – he should shut the ear to village talk. And he should not be greedy for tastes. And tastes means root taste, trunk taste, bark taste, leaf taste, flower taste, fruit taste, sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, salty, alkaline, astringent, acrid, delicious, unpalatable, cold, hot. There are some ascetics and brahmins who are greedy for tastes; they wander about seeking the best tastes with the tip of their tongue; they, having obtained sour, seek non-sour; having obtained non-sour, seek sour... and so on... having obtained cold, seek hot; having obtained hot, seek cold. Whatever they obtain, they are not satisfied with it; they seek something else, being attached, greedy, infatuated, obsessed, stuck, clinging, and bound to agreeable tastes. For whom this craving for tastes is abandoned, uprooted... and so on... burnt by the fire of knowledge, he partakes of food wisely and reflectively, not for sport... and so on... and blamelessness and comfortable living. As a wound, or should drink just for the purpose of ascending, or just as one would anoint an axle just for the purpose of carrying the load across, or just as one would eat one's son's flesh as food just for the purpose of crossing the desert; even so, a monk, reflecting wisely, takes food not for sport…pe… and for blamelessness and comfortable living. He should abandon craving for tastes, dispel it, make an end of it, bring it to naught. He should be aloof from craving for tastes, detached, completely detached, gone forth, released, liberated, disjoined, he should dwell with a mind free from limitations – and he should not be greedy for tastes. And he should not cling to anything in the world. Clinging means two kinds of clinging: clinging of craving and clinging of views …pe… this is clinging of craving …pe… this is clinging of views. Having abandoned clinging of craving and relinquished clinging of views, he should not cling to the eye, not grasp it, not fondle it, not be obsessed by it; the ear… the nose… the tongue… the body… forms… sounds… smells… tastes… tactile objects… family… group… dwelling… gain… fame… praise… happiness… robes… almsfood… lodging… requisites for the sick and medicine… the sense-sphere element… the form-sphere element… the formless-sphere element… sense-sphere existence… form-sphere existence… formless-sphere existence… existence of perception… existence of non-perception… existence of neither-perception-nor-non-perception… one-constituent existence… four-constituent existence… five-constituent existence… the past… the future… the present… things seen, heard, sensed, and cognized, he should not cling to them, not grasp them, not fondle them, not be obsessed by them. "Anything" means anything related to form, related to feeling, related to perception, related to mental formations, related to consciousness. "In the world" means in the world of suffering…pe… in the world of sense bases – and he should not cling to anything in the world. Therefore the Blessed One said: Not greedy with the eyes, he should close his ear to village talk; And he should not be greedy for tastes,