1766 lines
97 KiB
Plaintext
1766 lines
97 KiB
Plaintext
500 BC
|
|
BUDDHA, THE WORD
|
|
(The Eightfold Path)
|
|
|
|
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
|
|
|
|
THUS has it been said by the Buddha, the Enlightened One: It is
|
|
through not understanding, not realizing four things, that I,
|
|
Disciples, as well as you, had to wander so long through this round of
|
|
rebirths. And what are these four things? They are the Noble Truth
|
|
of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering, the Noble
|
|
Truth of the Extinction of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Path that
|
|
leads to the Extinction of Suffering.
|
|
As long as the absolutely true knowledge and insight as regards
|
|
these Four Noble Truths was not quite clear in me, so long was I not
|
|
sure, whether I had won that supreme Enlightenment which is
|
|
unsurpassed in all the world with its heavenly beings, evil spirits
|
|
and gods, amongst all the hosts of ascetics and priests, heavenly
|
|
beings and men. But as soon as the absolutely true knowledge and
|
|
insight as regards these Four Noble Truths had become perfectly
|
|
clear in me, there arose in me the assurance that I had won that
|
|
supreme Enlightenment unsurpassed.
|
|
And I discovered that-profound truth, so difficult to perceive,
|
|
difficult to understand, tranquilizing and sublime, which is not to be
|
|
gained by mere reasoning, and is visible only to the wise.
|
|
The world, however, is given to pleasure, delighted with pleasure,
|
|
enchanted with pleasure. Verily, such beings will hardly understand
|
|
the law of conditionality, the Dependent Origination of every thing;
|
|
incomprehensible to them will also be the end of all formations, the
|
|
forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of
|
|
craving; detachment, extinction, Nirvana.
|
|
Yet there are beings whose eyes are only a little covered with dust:
|
|
they will understand the truth.
|
|
FIRST TRUTH
|
|
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
|
|
Birth is suffering; Decay is suffering; Death is suffering;
|
|
Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair, are suffering; not to
|
|
get what one desires, is suffering; in short: the Five Groups of
|
|
Existence are suffering.
|
|
What, now, is Birth? The birth of beings belonging to this or that
|
|
order of beings, their being born, their conception and springing into
|
|
existence, the manifestation of the groups of existence, the arising
|
|
of sense activity-this is called Birth.
|
|
And what is Decay? The decay of beings belonging to this or that
|
|
order of beings; their getting aged, frail, grey, and wrinkled; the
|
|
failing of their vital force, the wearing out of the senses-this is
|
|
called Decay.
|
|
And what is Death? The parting and vanishing of beings out of this
|
|
or that order of beings, their destruction, disappearance, death,
|
|
the completion of their life-period, dissolution of the groups of
|
|
existence, the discarding of the body-this is called Death.
|
|
And what is Sorrow? The sorrow arising through this or that loss
|
|
or misfortune which one encounters, the worrying oneself, the state of
|
|
being alarmed, inward sorrow, inward woe-this is called Sorrow.
|
|
And what is Lamentation? Whatsoever, through this or that loss or
|
|
misfortune which befalls one, is wail and lament, wailing and
|
|
lamenting, the state of woe and lamentation this is called
|
|
Lamentation.
|
|
And what is Pain? The bodily pain and unpleasantness, the painful
|
|
and unpleasant feeling produced by bodily contact-this is called Pain.
|
|
And what is Grief? The mental pain and unpleasantness, the painful
|
|
and unpleasant feeling produced by mental contact-this is called
|
|
Grief.
|
|
And what is Despair? Distress and despair arising through this or
|
|
that loss or misfortune which one encounters, distressfulness, and
|
|
desperation-this is called Despair.
|
|
And what is the "suffering of not getting what one desires?" To
|
|
beings subject to birth there comes the desire: "O that we were not
|
|
subject to birth! O that no new birth was before us!" Subject to
|
|
decay, disease, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and
|
|
despair, the desire comes to them: "O that we were not subject to
|
|
these things! O that these things were not before us!" But this cannot
|
|
be got by mere desiring; and not to get what one desires, is
|
|
suffering.
|
|
|
|
THE FIVE GROUPS OF EXISTENCE
|
|
|
|
And what, in brief, are the Five Groups of Existence? They are
|
|
Corporeality, Feeling, Perception, [mental] Formations, and
|
|
Consciousness.
|
|
Any corporeal phenomenon, whether one's own or external, gross or
|
|
subtle, lofty or low, far or near, belongs to the Group of
|
|
Corporeality; any feeling belongs to the Group of Feeling; any
|
|
perception belongs to the Group of Perception; any mental formation
|
|
belongs to the Group of Formations; all consciousness belongs to the
|
|
Group of Consciousness.
|
|
[Our so-called individual existence is in reality nothing but a mere
|
|
process of these "bodily and mental" phenomena, which since immemorial
|
|
times was going on before one's apparent birth, and which also after
|
|
death will continue for immemorial periods of time. In the
|
|
following, we shall see that these five Groups, or Khandhas-either
|
|
taken separately, or combined-in no way constitute any real
|
|
"Ego-entity," and that no Ego-entity exists apart from them, and hence
|
|
that the belief in an Ego-entity is merely an illusion. Just as that
|
|
which we designate by the name of "chariot," has no existence apart
|
|
from axle, wheels, shaft, and so forth: or as the word "house" is
|
|
merely a convenient designation for various materials put together
|
|
after a certain fashion so as to enclose a portion of space, and there
|
|
is no separate house-entity in existence:-in exactly the same way,
|
|
that which we call a "being," or an "individual," or a "person," or by
|
|
the name is nothing but a changing combination of physical and
|
|
psychical phenomena, and has no real existence in itself.]
|
|
|
|
THE "CORPOREALITY GROUP" OF FOUR ELEMENTS
|
|
|
|
What, now, is the Group of Corporeality? It is the four primary
|
|
elements, and Corporeality derived from them.
|
|
And what are the four primary elements? They are the Solid
|
|
Element, the Fluid Element, the Heating Element, the Vibrating
|
|
Element.
|
|
[The four elements, or-to speak more correctly-the four elementary
|
|
qualities of matter, may be rendered in English as: Inertia, Cohesion,
|
|
Radiation, and Vibration.
|
|
The twenty-four corporeal phenomena which depend upon them are,
|
|
according to the Abhidharma: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, visible
|
|
form, sound, odor, taste, masculinity, femininity, vitality, organ
|
|
of thinking, gesture, speech, space (cavities of ear, nose, etc.),
|
|
agility, elasticity, adaptability, growth, duration, decay,
|
|
variability, change of substance.]
|
|
1. What, now, is the Solid Element? The solid element may be one's
|
|
own, or it may be external. And what is one's own solid element? The
|
|
dependent properties, which on one's own person and body are hard
|
|
and solid, as the hairs of head and body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh,
|
|
sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen,
|
|
lungs, stomach, bowels, mesentery, excrement, or whatever other
|
|
dependent properties which on one's own person and body are hard and
|
|
solid-this is called one's own solid element. Now, whether it be one's
|
|
own solid element, or whether it be the external solid element, they
|
|
are both only the solid element.
|
|
And one should understand, according to reality, and true wisdom:
|
|
"This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
2. What, now, is the Fluid Element? The fluid element may be
|
|
one's own, or it may be external. And what is one own fluid element?
|
|
The dependent properties, which on one's own person and body are
|
|
watery or cohesive, as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, lymph,
|
|
tears, semen, spit, nasal mucus, oil of the joints, urine or
|
|
whatever other dependent properties which on one own person and body
|
|
are watery or cohesive-this is called one's own fluid element. Now,
|
|
whether it be one's own fluid element, or whether it be the external
|
|
fluid element, they are both only the fluid element.
|
|
And one should understand, according to reality, and true wisdom:
|
|
"This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
3. What, now, is the Heating Element? The heating element may be one
|
|
own, or it may be external. And what is one's own heating element? The
|
|
dependent properties, which on one's own person and body are heating
|
|
and radiating, as that whereby one is heated, consumed, scorched,
|
|
whereby that which has been eaten, drunk, chewed, or tasted, is
|
|
fully digested; or whatever other dependent properties, which on one's
|
|
own person and body are heating and radiating this is called one's own
|
|
heating element. Now, whether it be one's own heating element, or
|
|
whether it be the external heating element, they are both only the
|
|
heating element.
|
|
And one should understand, according to reality, and true wisdom:
|
|
"This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
4. What, now, is the Vibrating Element? The vibrating element may be
|
|
one's own, or it may be external. And what is one's own vibrating
|
|
element? The dependent properties, which on one's own person and
|
|
body are mobile and gaseous, as the upward-going and downward-going
|
|
winds; the winds of stomach and intestines; in-breathing and
|
|
out-breathing; or whatever other dependent properties, which on
|
|
one's own person and body are mobile and gaseous-this is called
|
|
one's own vibrating element. Now, whether it be one's own vibrating
|
|
element, or whether it be the external vibrating element, they are
|
|
both only the vibrating element.
|
|
And one should understand, according to reality, and true wisdom:
|
|
"This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
Just as one calls "hut" the circumscribed space which comes to be by
|
|
means of wood and rushes, reeds, and clay, even so we call "body"
|
|
the circumscribed space that comes to be by means of bones and sinews,
|
|
flesh and skin.
|
|
|
|
DEPENDENT ORIGINATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
|
|
|
|
Now, though one's eye be intact, yet if the external forms do not
|
|
fall within the field of vision, and no corresponding conjunction
|
|
takes place, in that case there occurs no formation of the
|
|
corresponding aspect of consciousness. Or, though one eye be intact,
|
|
and the external forms fall within the field of vision, yet if no
|
|
corresponding conjunction takes place, in that case also there
|
|
occurs no formation of the corresponding aspect of consciousness.
|
|
If, however, one's eye is intact, and the external forms fall within
|
|
the field of vision, and the corresponding conjunction takes place, in
|
|
that case there arises the corresponding aspect of consciousness.
|
|
Hence, I say: the arising of consciousness is dependent upon
|
|
conditions; and without these conditions, no consciousness arises. And
|
|
upon whatsoever conditions the arising of consciousness is
|
|
dependent, after these it is called.
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the eye and forms, is
|
|
called "eye-consciousness."
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the ear and sound, is
|
|
called "ear-consciousness."
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the olfactory organ and
|
|
odors, is called "nose-consciousness."
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the tongue and taste, is
|
|
called "tongue-consciousness."
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the body and bodily contacts,
|
|
is called "body-consciousness."
|
|
Consciousness whose arising depends on the mind and ideas, is called
|
|
"mind-consciousness."
|
|
Whatsoever there is of "corporeality" in the consciousness thus
|
|
arisen, that belongs to the Group of Corporeality. there is of
|
|
"feeling"-bodily ease, pain, joy, sadness, or indifferent
|
|
feeling-belongs to the Group of Feeling. Whatsoever there is of
|
|
"perception"-visual objects, sounds, odors, tastes, bodily
|
|
impressions, or mind objects-belongs to the Group of Perception.
|
|
Whatsoever there are of mental "formations" impression, volition,
|
|
etc.-belong to the Group of mental Formations. Whatsoever there is
|
|
of "consciousness" therein, belongs to the Group of Consciousness.
|
|
And it is impossible that any one can explain the passing out of one
|
|
existence, and the entering into a new existence, or the growth,
|
|
increase, and development of consciousness, independent of
|
|
corporeality, feeling, perception, and mental formations.
|
|
|
|
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE
|
|
|
|
All formations are "transient"; all formations are "subject to
|
|
suffering"; all things are "without an Ego-entity." Corporeality is
|
|
transient, feeling is transient, perception is transient, mental
|
|
formations are transient, consciousness is transient.
|
|
And that which is transient, is subject to suffering; and of that
|
|
which is transient, and subject to suffering and change, one cannot
|
|
rightly say: "This belongs to me; this am I; this is my Ego."
|
|
Therefore, whatever there be of corporeality, of feeling,
|
|
perception, mental formations, or consciousness, whether one's own
|
|
or external, whether gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, one
|
|
should understand, according to reality, and true wisdom: "This does
|
|
not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
Suppose, a man who is not blind, were to behold the many bubbles
|
|
on the Ganges as they are driving along; and he should watch them, and
|
|
carefully examine them. After carefully examining them, they will
|
|
appear to him empty, unreal, and unsubstantial. In exactly the same
|
|
way, does the monk behold all the corporeal phenomena, feelings,
|
|
perceptions, mental formations, and states of consciousness-whether
|
|
they be of the past, or the present, or the future, far, or near.
|
|
And he watches them, and examines them carefully; and, after carefully
|
|
examining them, they appear to him empty, void, and without an Ego
|
|
Whoso delights in corporeality, or feeling, or perception, or mental
|
|
formations, or consciousness, he delights in suffering; and whoso
|
|
delights in suffering, will not be freed from suffering. Thus I say
|
|
|
|
How can you find delight and mirth,
|
|
Where there is burning without end?
|
|
In deepest darkness you are wrapped!
|
|
Why do you not seek for the light?
|
|
|
|
Look at this puppet here, well rigged,
|
|
A heap of many sores, piled up,
|
|
Diseased, and full of greediness,
|
|
Unstable, and impermanent!
|
|
|
|
Devoured by old age is this frame,
|
|
A prey of sickness, weak and frail;
|
|
To pieces breaks this putrid body,
|
|
All life must truly end in death.
|
|
|
|
THE THREE WARNINGS
|
|
|
|
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman, eighty, ninety, or
|
|
a hundred years old, frail, crooked as a gable roof, bent down,
|
|
resting on crutches, with tottering steps, infirm, youth long since
|
|
fled, with broken teeth, grey and scanty hair, or bald-headed,
|
|
wrinkled, with blotched limbs? And did the thought never come to you
|
|
that also you are subject to decay, that also you cannot escape it?
|
|
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman, who being sick,
|
|
afflicted, and grievously ill, and wallowing in his own filth, was
|
|
lifted up by some people, and put to bed by others? And did the
|
|
thought never come to you that also you are subject to disease, that
|
|
also you cannot escape it?
|
|
Did you never see in the world the corpse of a man, or a woman, one,
|
|
or two, or three days after death, swollen up, blue-black in color,
|
|
and full of corruption? And did the thought never come to you that
|
|
also you are subject to death, that also you cannot escape it?
|
|
|
|
SAMSARA, THE WHEEL OF EXISTENCE
|
|
|
|
Inconceivable is the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discovered
|
|
is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and
|
|
ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round
|
|
of rebirths.
|
|
[Samsara-the Wheel of Existence, lit., the "Perpetual
|
|
Wandering"-is the name by which is designated the sea of life ever
|
|
restlessly heaving up and down, the symbol of this continuous
|
|
process of ever again and again being born, growing old, suffering,
|
|
and dying. More precisely Put: Samsara is the unbroken chain of the
|
|
fivefold Khandha-combinations, which, constantly changing from
|
|
moment to moment, follow continuously one upon the other through
|
|
inconceivable periods of time. Of this Samsara, a single lifetime
|
|
constitutes only a vanishingly tiny fraction; hence, to be able to
|
|
comprehend the first noble truth, one must let one's gaze rest upon
|
|
the Samsara, upon this frightful chain of rebirths, and not merely
|
|
upon one single lifetime, which, of course, may be sometimes not
|
|
very painful.]
|
|
Which do you think is the more: the flood of tears, which weeping
|
|
and wailing you have shed upon this long way-hurrying and hastening
|
|
through this round of rebirths, united with the undesired, separated
|
|
from the desired this, or the waters of the four oceans?
|
|
Long time have you suffered the death of father and mother, of sons,
|
|
daughters, brothers, and sisters. And whilst you were thus
|
|
suffering, you have, verily, shed more tears upon this long way than
|
|
there is water in the four oceans.
|
|
Which do you think is the more: the streams of blood that, through
|
|
your being beheaded, have flowed upon this long way, or the waters
|
|
in the four oceans?
|
|
Long time have you been caught as dacoits, or highwaymen, or
|
|
adulterers; and, through your being beheaded, verily, more blood has
|
|
flowed upon this long way than there is water in the four oceans.
|
|
But how is this possible?
|
|
Inconceivable is the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discovered
|
|
is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and
|
|
ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round
|
|
of rebirths.
|
|
And thus have you long time undergone suffering, undergone
|
|
torment, undergone misfortune, and filled the graveyards full; verily,
|
|
long enough to be dissatisfied with all the forms of existence, long
|
|
enough to turn away, and free yourselves from them all.
|
|
|
|
SECOND TRUTH
|
|
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN OF SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering? It is that
|
|
craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure
|
|
and lust, now here, now there, finds ever fresh delight.
|
|
[In the absolute sense, it is no real being, no self-determined,
|
|
unchangeable, Ego-entity that is reborn. Moreover, there is nothing
|
|
that remains the same even for two consecutive moments; for the Five
|
|
Khandhas, or Groups of Existence, are in a state of perpetual
|
|
change, of continual dissolution and renewal. They die every moment,
|
|
and every moment new ones are born. Hence it follows that there is
|
|
no such thing as a real existence, or "being" (Latin esse), but only
|
|
as it were an endless process, a continuous change, a "becoming,"
|
|
consisting in a "producing," and in a "being produced"; in a
|
|
"process of action," and in a "process of reaction," or "rebirth."
|
|
This process of perpetual "producing" and "being produced" may
|
|
best be compared with an ocean wave. In the case of a wave, there is
|
|
not the slightest quantity of water traveling over the surface of
|
|
the sea. But the wave structure, that hastens over the surface of
|
|
the water, creating the appearance of one and the same mass of
|
|
water, is, in reality, nothing but the continuous rising and falling
|
|
of continuous, but quite different, masses of water, produced by the
|
|
transmission of force generated by the wind. Even so, the Buddha did
|
|
not teach that Ego-entities hasten through the ocean of rebirth, but
|
|
merely life-waves, which, according to their nature and activities
|
|
(good, or evil), manifest themselves here as men, there as animals,
|
|
and elsewhere as invisible beings.]
|
|
|
|
THE THREEFOLD CRAVING
|
|
|
|
There is the "Sensual Craving," the "Craving for
|
|
Eternal-Annihilation." Existence," the "Craving for
|
|
Self-Annihilation."
|
|
[The "Craving for Eternal Existence," according to the
|
|
Visuddhi-Magga, is intimately connected with the so-called
|
|
Eternity-Belief," i.e., the belief in an absolute, eternal, Ego-entity
|
|
persisting independently of our body.
|
|
The Craving for Self-Annihilation is the outcome of the so-called
|
|
"Annihilation-Belief," the delusive materialistic notion of an Ego
|
|
which is annihilated at death, and which does not stand in any
|
|
causal relation with the time before birth or after death.]
|
|
But, where does this craving arise and take root? Wherever in the
|
|
world there are delightful and pleasurable things, there this
|
|
craving arises and takes root. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind,
|
|
are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving arises and takes
|
|
root.
|
|
Visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily impressions, and
|
|
mind-objects, are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving
|
|
arises and takes root.
|
|
Consciousness, sense impression, feeling born of sense impression,
|
|
perception, will, craving, thinking, and reflecting, are delightful
|
|
and pleasurable: there this craving arises and takes root.
|
|
If, namely, when perceiving a visual object, a sound, odor, taste,
|
|
bodily impression, or a mind object, the object is pleasant, one is
|
|
attracted; and if unpleasant, one is repelled.
|
|
Thus, whatever kind of "Feeling" one experiences, pleasant,
|
|
unpleasant, or indifferent-one approves of, and cherishes the feeling,
|
|
and clings to it; and while doing so, lust springs up; but lust for
|
|
feelings, means Clinging; and on Clinging, depends the "Process of
|
|
Becoming"; on the Process of Becoming (Karma-process), depends
|
|
(future) "Birth"; and dependent on Birth, are Decay and Death,
|
|
Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair. Thus arises this
|
|
whole mass of suffering.
|
|
This is called the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.
|
|
|
|
HEAPING UP OF PRESENT SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
Verily, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous
|
|
craving, impelled by sensuous craving, entirely moved by sensuous
|
|
craving, kings fight with kings, princes with princes, priests with
|
|
priests, citizens with citizens; the mother quarrels with the son, the
|
|
son with the mother, the father with the son, the son with the father;
|
|
brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with
|
|
brother, friend with friend. Thus, given to dissension, quarreling and
|
|
fighting, they fall upon one another with fists, sticks, or weapons.
|
|
And thereby they suffer death or deadly pain.
|
|
And further, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous
|
|
craving, impelled by sensuous craving, entirely moved by sensuous
|
|
craving, people break into houses, rob, plunder, pillage whole houses,
|
|
commit highway robbery, seduce the wives of others. Then, the rulers
|
|
have such people caught, and inflict on them various forms of
|
|
punishment. And thereby they incur death or deadly pain. Now, this
|
|
is the misery of sensuous craving, the heaping up of suffering in this
|
|
present life, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous
|
|
craving, caused by sensuous craving, entirely dependent on sensuous
|
|
craving.
|
|
|
|
HEAPING UP OF FUTURE SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
And further, people take the evil way in deeds, the evil way in
|
|
words, the evil way in thoughts; and by taking the evil way in
|
|
deeds, words, and thoughts, at the dissolution of the body, after
|
|
death, they fall into a downward state of existence, a state of
|
|
suffering, into perdition, and the abyss of hell. But, this is the
|
|
misery of sensuous craving, the heaping up of suffering in the
|
|
future life, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous
|
|
craving, caused by sensuous craving, entirely dependent on sensuous
|
|
craving.
|
|
|
|
Not in the air, nor ocean-midst,
|
|
Nor hidden in the mountain clefts,
|
|
Nowhere is found a place on earth,
|
|
Where man is freed from evil deeds.
|
|
|
|
INHERITANCE OF DEEDS (KARMA)
|
|
|
|
For, owners of their deeds (karma) are the beings, heirs of
|
|
their deeds; their deeds are the womb from which they sprang; with
|
|
their deeds they are bound up; their deeds are their refuge.
|
|
Whatever deeds they do-good or evil-of such they will be the heirs.
|
|
And wherever the beings spring into existence, there their deeds
|
|
will ripen; and wherever their deeds ripen, there they will earn the
|
|
fruits of those deeds, be it in this life, or be it in the next
|
|
life, or be it in any other future life.
|
|
There will come a time, when the mighty ocean will dry up, vanish,
|
|
and be no more. There will come a time, when the mighty earth will
|
|
be devoured by fire, perish, and be no more. But, yet there will be no
|
|
end to the suffering of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and
|
|
ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round
|
|
of rebirths.
|
|
|
|
THIRD TRUTH
|
|
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE EXTINCTION OF SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering? It
|
|
is the complete fading away and extinction of this craving, its
|
|
forsaking and giving up, the liberation and detachment from it.
|
|
But where may this craving vanish, where may it be extinguished?
|
|
Wherever in the world there are delightful and pleasurable things,
|
|
there this craving may vanish, there it may be extinguished.
|
|
Be it in the past, present, or future, whosoever of the monks or
|
|
priests regards the delightful and pleasurable things in the world
|
|
as "impermanent," "miserable," and "without an Ego," as a disease
|
|
and cancer; it is he who overcomes the craving.
|
|
And released from Sensual Craving, released from the Craving for
|
|
Existence, he does not return, does not enter again into existence.
|
|
|
|
DEPENDENT EXTINCTION OF ALL PHENOMENA
|
|
|
|
For, through the total fading away and extinction of Craving,
|
|
Clinging is extinguished; through the extinction of clinging, the
|
|
Process of Becoming is extinguished; through the extinction of the
|
|
(karmic) process of becoming, Rebirth is extinguished; and through
|
|
the extinction of rebirth, Decay and Death, Sorrow, Lamentation,
|
|
Suffering, Grief, and Despair, are extinguished. Thus comes about
|
|
the extinction of this whole mass of suffering.
|
|
Hence, the annihilation, cessation, and overcoming of
|
|
corporeality, feeling, perception, mental formations, and
|
|
consciousness, this is the extinction of suffering, the end of
|
|
disease, the overcoming of old age and death.
|
|
[The undulatory motion, which we call wave-which in the spectator
|
|
creates the illusion of a single mass of water moving over the surface
|
|
of the lake-is produced and fed by the wind, and maintained by the
|
|
stored-up energies. After the wind has ceased, and no fresh wind again
|
|
whips up the water, the stored-up energies will gradually be consumed,
|
|
and the whole undulatory motion come to an end. Similarly, if fire
|
|
does not get new fuel, it will become extinct. just so, this
|
|
Five-Khandha-process-which, in the ignorant worldling, creates the
|
|
illusion of an Ego-entity-is produced and fed by the life-affirming
|
|
craving, and maintained for some time by means of the stored-up
|
|
life-energies. Now, after the fuel, i.e., the craving and clinging
|
|
to life, has ceased, and no new craving impels again this
|
|
Five-Khandha-process, life will continue as long as there are still
|
|
life-energies stored up, but at their destruction at death, the
|
|
Five-Khandha-process will reach final extinction.
|
|
Thus, nirvana or "Extinction" (Sanskrit: to cease blowing, to
|
|
become extinct), may be considered under two aspects:
|
|
1. "Extinction of Impurities," reached at the attainment of
|
|
Arahatship, or Holiness, which takes place during the life-time.
|
|
2. "Extinction of the Five-Khandha-process," which takes place at
|
|
the death of the Arahat.]
|
|
|
|
NIRVANA
|
|
|
|
This, truly, is the Peace, this is the Highest, namely the end of
|
|
all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the
|
|
fading away of craving: detachment, extinction-Nirvana.
|
|
Enraptured with lust, enraged with anger, blinded by delusion,
|
|
overwhelmed, with mind ensnared, man aims at his own ruin, at
|
|
others' ruin, at the ruin of both parties, and he experiences mental
|
|
pain and grief. But, if lust, anger, and delusion are given up, man
|
|
aims neither at his own ruin, nor at others' ruin, nor at the ruin
|
|
of both parties, and he experiences no mental pain and grief. Thus
|
|
is Nirvana immediate, visible in this life, inviting, attractive,
|
|
and comprehensible to the wise.
|
|
The extinction of greed, the extinction of anger, the extinction
|
|
of delusion: this, indeed, is called Nirvana.
|
|
|
|
THE ARAHAT, OR HOLY ONE
|
|
|
|
And for a disciple thus freed, in whose heart dwells peace, there is
|
|
nothing to be added to what has been done, and naught more remains for
|
|
him to do. Just as a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the
|
|
wind, even so, neither forms, nor sounds, nor odors, nor tastes, nor
|
|
contacts of any kind, neither the desired, nor the undesired, can
|
|
cause such an one to waver. Steadfast is his mind, gained is
|
|
deliverance.
|
|
And he who has considered all the contrasts on this earth, and is no
|
|
more disturbed by anything whatever in the world, the Peaceful One,
|
|
freed from rage, from sorrow, and from longing, he has passed beyond
|
|
birth and decay.
|
|
|
|
THE IMMUTABLE
|
|
|
|
There is a realm, where there is neither the solid, nor the fluid,
|
|
neither heat, nor motion, neither this world, nor any other world,
|
|
neither sun, nor moon. This I call neither arising, nor passing
|
|
away, neither standing still nor being born, nor dying. There is
|
|
neither foothold, nor development, nor any basis. This is the end of
|
|
suffering.
|
|
There is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. If there were
|
|
not this Unborn, this Unoriginated, this Uncreated, this Unformed,
|
|
escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the
|
|
formed, would not be possible.
|
|
But since there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed,
|
|
therefore is escape possible from the world of the born, the
|
|
originated, the created, the formed.
|
|
|
|
FOURTH TRUTH
|
|
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE PATH
|
|
THAT LEADS TO THE EXTINCTION OF SUFFERING
|
|
|
|
THE TWO EXTREMES AND THE MIDDLE PATH
|
|
|
|
TO GIVE oneself up to indulgence in sensual pleasure, the base,
|
|
common, vulgar, unholy, unprofitable; and also to give oneself up to
|
|
self-mortification, the painful, unholy, unprofitable: both these
|
|
two extremes the Perfect One has avoided, and found out the Middle
|
|
Path, which makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace,
|
|
to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.
|
|
|
|
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
|
|
|
|
It is the Noble Eightfold Path, the way that leads to the extinction
|
|
of suffering, namely:
|
|
1. Right Understanding, 2. Right Mindedness, which together are
|
|
Wisdom.
|
|
3. Right Speech, 4. Right Action, 5. Right Living, which together
|
|
are Morality.
|
|
6. Right Effort, 7. Right Attentiveness, 8. Right Concentration,
|
|
which together are Concentration.
|
|
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has found out, which
|
|
makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to
|
|
discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.
|
|
Free from pain and torture is this path, free from groaning and
|
|
suffering; it is the perfect path.
|
|
Truly, like this path there is no other path to the purity of
|
|
insight. If you follow this path, you will put an end to suffering.
|
|
But each one has to struggle for himself, the Perfect Ones have only
|
|
pointed out the way.
|
|
Give ear then, for the Immortal is found. I reveal, I set forth
|
|
the Truth. As I reveal it to you, so act! And that supreme goal of the
|
|
holy life, for the sake of which, sons of good families rightly go
|
|
forth from home to the homeless state: this you will, in no long time,
|
|
in this very life, make known to yourself, realize, and make your own.
|
|
|
|
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
|
|
FIRST STEP
|
|
RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Understanding? It is understanding the Four
|
|
Truths. To understand suffering; to understand the origin of
|
|
suffering; to understand the extinction of suffering; to understand
|
|
the path that leads to the extinction of suffering: This is called
|
|
Right Understanding
|
|
Or, when the noble disciple understands what is karmically
|
|
wholesome, and the root of wholesome karma; what is karmically
|
|
unwholesome, and the root of unwholesome karma, then he has Right
|
|
Understanding.
|
|
["Karmically unwholesome" is every volitional act of body, speech,
|
|
or mind which is rooted in greed, hatred, or delusion, and produces
|
|
evil and painful results in this or any future form of existence.]
|
|
What, now, is "karmically unwholesome?"
|
|
In Bodily Action it is destruction of living beings; stealing; and
|
|
unlawful sexual intercourse. In Verbal Action it is lying;
|
|
tale-bearing; harsh language; and frivolous talk. In Mental Action
|
|
it is covetousness; ill-will; and wrong views.
|
|
And what is the root of unwholesome karma? Greed is a root of
|
|
unwholesome karma; Anger is a root of unwholesome karma; Delusion is a
|
|
root of unwholesome karma.
|
|
[The state of greed, as well as that of anger, is always accompanied
|
|
by delusion; and delusion, ignorance, is the primary root of all
|
|
evil.]
|
|
Therefore, I say, these demeritorious actions are of three kinds:
|
|
either due to greed, or due to anger, or due to delusion.
|
|
What, now, is "karmically wholesome?"
|
|
In Bodily Action it is to abstain from killing; to abstain from
|
|
stealing; and to abstain from unlawful sexual intercourse.
|
|
In Verbal Action it is to abstain from lying; to abstain from
|
|
tale-bearing; to abstain from harsh language; and to abstain from
|
|
frivolous talk.
|
|
In Mental Action it is absence of covetousness; absence of ill-will;
|
|
and right understanding.
|
|
And what is the root of wholesome karma? Absence of greed
|
|
(unselfishness) is a root of wholesome karma; absence of anger
|
|
(benevolence) is a root of wholesome karma; absence of delusion
|
|
(wisdom) is a root of wholesome karma.
|
|
Or, when one understands that corporeality, feeling, perception,
|
|
mental formation, and consciousness, are transient [subject to
|
|
suffering, and without an Ego], also in that case one possesses Right
|
|
Understanding.
|
|
|
|
UNPROFITABLE QUESTIONS
|
|
|
|
Should anyone say that he does not wish to lead the holy life
|
|
under the Blessed One, unless the Blessed One first tells him, whether
|
|
the world is eternal or temporal, finite or infinite; whether the life
|
|
principle is identical with the body, or something different;
|
|
whether the Perfect One continues after death, and so on such a man
|
|
would die, ere the Perfect One could tell him all this.
|
|
It is as if a man were pierced by a poisoned arrow, and his friends,
|
|
companions, or near relations, should send for a surgeon; but that man
|
|
should say: "I will not have this arrow pulled out, until I know who
|
|
the man is that has wounded me: whether he is a noble, a priest, a
|
|
citizen, or a servant"; or: "what his name is, and to what family he
|
|
belongs"; or: "whether he is tall, or short, or of medium height."
|
|
Verily, such a man would die, ere he could adequately learn all this.
|
|
Therefore, the man who seeks his own welfare, should pull out this
|
|
arrow-this arrow of lamentation, pain, and sorrow.
|
|
For, whether the theory exists, or whether it does not exist, that
|
|
the world is eternal, or temporal, or finite, or infinite-certainly,
|
|
there is birth, there is decay, there is death, sorrow, lamentation,
|
|
pain, grief, and despair, the extinction of which, attainable even
|
|
in this present life, I make known unto you.
|
|
There is, for instance, an unlearned worldling, void of regard for
|
|
holy men, ignorant of the teaching of holy men, untrained in the noble
|
|
doctrine. And his heart is possessed and overcome by Self-Illusion, by
|
|
Skepticism, by attachment to mere Rule and Ritual, by Sensual Lust,
|
|
and by will; and how to free himself from these things, he does not
|
|
really know.
|
|
[Self-Illusion may reveal itself as "Eternalism" or Eternity-belief"
|
|
i.e., the belief that one's Ego is existing independently of the
|
|
material body, and continuing even after the dissolution of the
|
|
latter; or as "Annihilationism," or "Annihilation-belief" i.e., the
|
|
materialistic belief that this present life constitutes the Ego, and
|
|
hence that it is annihilated at the death of the material body.]
|
|
Not knowing what is worthy of consideration, and what is unworthy of
|
|
consideration, he considers the unworthy, and not the worthy.
|
|
And unwisely he considers thus: "Have I been in the past? Or. have I
|
|
not been in the past? What have I been in the past? How have I been in
|
|
the past? From what state into what state did I change in the
|
|
past?-Shall I be in the future? Or, shall I not be in the future? What
|
|
shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? From what
|
|
state into what state shall I change in the future?" And the present
|
|
also fills him with doubt: "Am I? Or, am I not? What am I? How am I?
|
|
This being, whence has it come? Whither will it go?"
|
|
And with such unwise considerations, he falls into one or other of
|
|
the six views, and it becomes his conviction and firm belief: "I
|
|
have an Ego"; or: "I have no Ego"; or: "With the Ego I perceive the
|
|
Ego"; or: "With that which is no Ego, I perceive the Ego"; or: "With
|
|
the Ego I perceive that which is no Ego. Or, he falls into the
|
|
following view: "This my Ego, which can think and feel, and which, now
|
|
here, now there, experiences the fruit of good and evil deeds; this my
|
|
Ego is permanent, stable, eternal, not subject to change, and will
|
|
thus eternally remain the same."
|
|
If there really existed the Ego, there would be also something which
|
|
belonged to the Ego. As, however, in truth and reality, neither the
|
|
Ego, nor anything belonging to the Ego, can be found, is it not
|
|
therefore really an utter fool's doctrine to say: "This is the
|
|
world, this am I; after death, I shall be permanent, persisting, and
|
|
eternal?"
|
|
These are called mere views, a thicket of views, a puppet show of
|
|
views, a toil of views, a snare of views; and ensnared in the fetter
|
|
of views, the ignorant worldling will not be freed from rebirth,
|
|
from decay, and from death, from sorrow, pain, grief, and despair;
|
|
he will not be freed, I say, from suffering.
|
|
|
|
THE SOTAPAN, OR "STREAM-ENTERER"
|
|
|
|
The learned and noble disciple, however, who has regard for holy
|
|
men, knows the teaching of holy men, is well trained in the noble
|
|
doctrine, he understands what is worthy of consideration, and what
|
|
is unworthy. And knowing this, he considers the worthy, and not the
|
|
unworthy. What suffering is, he wisely considers. What the origin of
|
|
suffering is, he wisely considers; what the extinction of suffering
|
|
is, he wisely considers; what the path is that leads to the extinction
|
|
of suffering, he wisely considers.
|
|
And by thus considering, three fetters vanish, namely:
|
|
Self-illusion, Skepticism, and Attachment to mere Rule and Ritual.
|
|
But those disciples in whom these three fetters have vanished have
|
|
"entered the Stream," have forever escaped the states of woe, and
|
|
are assured of final enlightenment.
|
|
|
|
More than any earthly power,
|
|
More than all the joys of heaven,
|
|
More than rule o'er all the world,
|
|
Is the Entrance to the Stream.
|
|
|
|
And, verily, those who are filled with unshaken faith in me, all
|
|
those have entered the stream.
|
|
There are ten "Fetters" by which beings are bound to the wheel of
|
|
existence. They are: Self-Illusion, Skepticism, Attachment to mere
|
|
Rule and Ritual, Sensual Lust, Ill-will, Craving for the World of pure
|
|
Form, Craving for the Formless World, Conceit, Restlessness,
|
|
Ignorance.
|
|
A Sotapan, or "Stream-Enterer" i.e. "one who has entered the
|
|
stream leading to Nirvana," is free from the first three fetters.
|
|
A Sakadagamin, or "Once-Returned"-namely to this sensuous sphere-has
|
|
overcome the 4th and 5th fetters in their grosser form. An Anagamin,
|
|
or "Non-Returner," is wholly freed from the first five fetters,
|
|
which bind to rebirth in the sensuous sphere; after death, whilst
|
|
living in the sphere of pure form, he will reach the goal. An
|
|
Arahat, or perfectly "Holy One," is freed from all fetters.]
|
|
|
|
THE TWO UNDERSTANDINGS
|
|
|
|
Therefore, I say, Right Understanding is of two kinds:
|
|
1. The view that alms and offerings are not useless; that there is
|
|
fruit and result, both of good and bad actions; that there are such
|
|
things as this life, and the next life; that father and mother as
|
|
spontaneously born beings (in the heavenly worlds) are no mere
|
|
words; that there are monks and priests who are spotless and
|
|
perfect, who can explain this life and the next life, which they
|
|
themselves have understood: this is called the "Mundane Right
|
|
Understanding," which yields worldly fruits, and brings good results.
|
|
2. But whatsoever there is of wisdom, of penetration, of right
|
|
understanding, conjoined with the Path-the mind being turned away from
|
|
the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being turned
|
|
away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path
|
|
being pursued;-this is called the "Ultramundane Right
|
|
Understanding," which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and
|
|
conjoined with the Path.
|
|
[Thus, there are two kinds of the Eightfold Path: the "mundane,"
|
|
practiced by the "worldling"; and the "ultra-mundane," practiced by
|
|
the "Noble Ones."]
|
|
Now, in understanding wrong understanding as wrong, and right
|
|
understanding as right, one practices Right Understanding [1st step];
|
|
and in making efforts to overcome wrong understanding, and to
|
|
arouse right understanding, one practices. Right Effort [6th step];
|
|
and in overcoming wrong understanding with attentive mind, and
|
|
dwelling with attentive mind in the possession of right understanding,
|
|
one practices Right-Attentiveness [7th step]. Hence, there are three
|
|
things that accompany and follow upon right understanding, namely:
|
|
right understanding, right effort, and right attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
COMPLETE DELIVERANCE
|
|
|
|
Now, if any one should put the question, whether I admit any view at
|
|
all, he should be answered thus:
|
|
The Perfect One is free from any theory, for the Perfect One has
|
|
understood what corporeality is, and how it arises, and passes away.
|
|
He has understood what feeling is, and how it arises, and passes away.
|
|
He has understood what perception is, and how it arises, and passes
|
|
away. He has understood what the mental formations are, and how they
|
|
arise, and pass away. He has understood what consciousness is, and how
|
|
it arises, and passes away. Therefore, I say, the Perfect One has
|
|
won complete deliverance through the extinction, fading-away,
|
|
disappearance, rejection, and getting rid of all opinions and
|
|
conjectures, of all inclination to the vainglory of "I" and "mine."
|
|
Whether Perfect Ones [Buddhas] appear in the world or whether
|
|
Perfect Ones do not appear in the world, it still remains a firm
|
|
condition, an immutable fact and fixed law: that all formations are
|
|
impermanent" that all formations are "subject to suffering"; that
|
|
everything is "without an Ego."
|
|
[The word sankhara (formations) comprises all things which have
|
|
a beginning and an end, the so-called created, or "formed" things,
|
|
i.e., all possible physical and mental constituents of existence.]
|
|
A corporeal phenomenon, a feeling, a perception, a mental formation,
|
|
a consciousness, that is permanent and persistent, eternal and not
|
|
subject to change: such a thing the wise men in this world do not
|
|
recognize; and I also say, there is no such thing.
|
|
And it is impossible that a being possessed of Right Understanding
|
|
should regard anything as the Ego.
|
|
Now, if someone should say that Feeling is his Ego, he should be
|
|
answered thus: "There are three kinds of feeling: pleasurable,
|
|
painful, and indifferent feeling. Which of these three feelings,
|
|
now, do you consider your Ego?" At the moment namely of experiencing
|
|
one of these feelings one does not experience the other two. These
|
|
three kinds of feelings are impermanent, of dependent origin, are
|
|
subject to decay and dissolution, to fading-away and extinction.
|
|
Whosoever, in experiencing one of these feelings, thinks that this
|
|
is his Ego, will, after the extinction of that feeling, admit that his
|
|
Ego has become dissolved. And thus he will consider his Ego already in
|
|
this present life as impermanent, mixed up with pleasure and pain,
|
|
subject to rising and passing away.
|
|
If any one should say that Feeling is not his Ego, and that his
|
|
Ego is inaccessible to feeling, he should be asked thus: "Now, where
|
|
there is no feeling, is it there possible to say: 'This am I?'"
|
|
Or, someone might say: "Feeling, indeed, is not my Ego, but it
|
|
also is untrue that my Ego is inaccessible to feeling; for it is my
|
|
Ego that feels, for my Ego has the faculty of feeling." Such a one
|
|
should be answered thus: "Suppose, feeling should become altogether
|
|
totally extinguished; now, if there, after the extinction of
|
|
feeling, no feeling whatever exists, it is then possible to say: 'This
|
|
am I?'"
|
|
To say that the mind, or the mind-objects, or the
|
|
mind-consciousness, constitute the Ego; such an assertion is
|
|
unfounded. For an arising and a passing away is seen there; and seeing
|
|
this, one should come to the conclusion that one's Ego arises and
|
|
passes away.
|
|
It would be better for the unlearned worldling to regard this
|
|
body, built up of the four elements, as his Ego, rather than the mind.
|
|
For it is evident that this body may last for a year, for two years,
|
|
for three years, four, five, or ten years, or even a hundred years and
|
|
more; but that which is called thought, or mind, or consciousness,
|
|
is continuously, during day and night, arising as one thing, and
|
|
passing away as another thing.
|
|
Therefore, whatsoever there is of corporeality, of feeling, of
|
|
perception, of mental formations, of consciousness, whether one's
|
|
own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near; there one
|
|
should understand according to reality and true wisdom: "This does not
|
|
belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego."
|
|
[To show the Egolessness, utter emptiness of existence,
|
|
Visuddhi-Magga XVI quotes the following verse:
|
|
|
|
Mere suffering exists, no sufferer is found;
|
|
The deed is, but no doer of the deed is there;
|
|
Nirvana is, but not the man that enters it;
|
|
The Path is, but no traveler on it is seen.]
|
|
|
|
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
|
|
|
|
If, now, any one should ask: "Have you been in the past, and is it
|
|
untrue that you have not been? Will you be in the future, and is it
|
|
untrue that you will not be? Are you, and is it untrue that you are
|
|
not?"-you may say that you have been in the past, and it is untrue
|
|
that you have not been; that you will be in the future, and it is
|
|
untrue that you will not be; that you are, and it is untrue that you
|
|
are not.
|
|
In the past only the past existence was real, but unreal the
|
|
future and present existence. In the future only the future
|
|
existence will be real, but unreal the past and present existence. Now
|
|
only the present existence is real, but unreal the past and future
|
|
existence.
|
|
Verily, he who perceives the Dependent Origination, perceives the
|
|
truth and he who perceives the truth, perceives the dependent
|
|
origination. For, just as from the cow comes milk, from milk curds,
|
|
from curds butter, from butter ghee, from ghee the scum of ghee; and
|
|
when it is milk, it is not counted as curds, or butter, or ghee, or
|
|
scum of ghee, but only as milk; and when it is curds, it is only
|
|
counted as curds-just so was my past existence at that time real,
|
|
but unreal the future and present existence; and my future existence
|
|
will be at one time real, but unreal the past and present existence;
|
|
and my present existence is now real, but unreal the past and future
|
|
existence. All these are merely popular designations and
|
|
expressions, mere conventional terms of speaking, mere popular
|
|
notions. The Perfect One, indeed, makes use of these, without,
|
|
however, clinging to them.
|
|
Thus, he who does not understand corporeality, feeling,
|
|
perception, mental formations and consciousness according to reality
|
|
[i.e., as void of a personality, or Ego], and not their arising,
|
|
their extinction, and the way to their extinction, he is liable to
|
|
believe, either that the Perfect One continues after death, or that he
|
|
does not continue after death, and so forth.
|
|
Verily, if one holds the view that the vital principle [Ego] is
|
|
identical with this body, in that case a holy life is not possible;
|
|
or, if one holds the view that the vital principle is something
|
|
quite different from the body, in that case also a holy life is not
|
|
possible. Both these two Extremes the Perfect One has avoided, and
|
|
shown the Middle Doctrine, saying:
|
|
|
|
DEPENDENT ORIGINATION
|
|
|
|
On Delusion depend the Karma-Formations. On the karma-formations
|
|
depends Consciousness [starting with rebirth-consciousness in the
|
|
womb of the mother].- On consciousness depends the Mental and Physical
|
|
Existence.-On the mental and physical existence depend the Six
|
|
Sense-Organs.-On the six sense-organs depends the Sensory
|
|
Impression.-On the sensory impression depends Feeling.-On feeling
|
|
depends; Craving.-On craving depends Clinging. On clinging depends the
|
|
Process of Becoming.-On the process of becoming [here: karmaprocess]
|
|
depends Rebirth.-On rebirth depend Decay and Death, sorrow,
|
|
lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Thus arises this whole mass of
|
|
suffering. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering.
|
|
In whom, however, Delusion has disappeared and wisdom arisen, such a
|
|
disciple heaps up neither meritorious, nor demeritorious, nor
|
|
imperturbable Karma-formations.
|
|
Thus, through the entire fading away and extinction of this
|
|
Delusion, the Karma-Formations are extinguished. Through the
|
|
extinction of the Karma-formations, Consciousness [rebirth] is
|
|
extinguished. Through the extinction of consciousness, the Mental
|
|
and Physical Existence is extinguished. Through the extinction of
|
|
the mental and physical existence, the six Sense-Organs are
|
|
extinguished. Through the extinction of the six sense-organs, the
|
|
Sensory Impression is extinguished. Through the extinction of the
|
|
sensory impression, Feeling is extinguished. Through the extinction of
|
|
feeling, Craving is extinguished. Through the extinction of craving,
|
|
Clinging is extinguished. Through the extinction of clinging, the
|
|
Process of Becoming is extinguished. Through the extinction of the
|
|
process of becoming, Rebirth is extinguished. Through the extinction
|
|
of rebirth, Decay and Death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and
|
|
despair are extinguished. Thus takes place the extinction of this
|
|
whole mass of suffering. This is called the Noble Truth of the
|
|
Extinction of Suffering.
|
|
|
|
KARMA: REBIRTH - PRODUCING AND BARREN
|
|
|
|
Verily, because beings, obstructed by Delusion, and ensnared by
|
|
Craving, now here now there seek ever fresh delight, therefore such
|
|
action comes to ever fresh Rebirth.
|
|
And the action that is done out of greed, anger and delusion, that
|
|
springs from them, has its source and origin there: this action ripens
|
|
wherever one is reborn; and wherever this action ripens, there one
|
|
experiences the fruits of this action, be it in this life, or the next
|
|
life, or in some future life.
|
|
However, through the fading away of delusion through the arising
|
|
of wisdom, through the extinction of craving, no future rebirth
|
|
takes place again
|
|
For the actions, which are not done out of greed, anger and
|
|
delusion, which have not sprung from them, which have not their source
|
|
and origin there-such actions are, through the absence of greed, anger
|
|
and delusion, abandoned, rooted out, like a palm-tree torn out of
|
|
the soil, destroyed, and not liable to spring up again.
|
|
In this respect one may rightly say of me: that I teach
|
|
annihilation, that I propound my doctrine for the purpose of
|
|
annihilation, and that I herein train my disciples; for, certainly,
|
|
I do teach annihilation-the annihilation, namely, of greed, anger
|
|
and delusion, as well as of the manifold evil and unwholesome things.
|
|
["Dependent Origination" is the teaching of the strict conformity to
|
|
law of everything that happens, whether in the realm of the
|
|
physical, or the psychical. It shows how the totality of phenomena,
|
|
physical and mental, the entire phenomenal world that depends wholly
|
|
upon the six senses, together with all its suffering-and this is the
|
|
vital point of the teaching is not the mere play of blind chance,
|
|
but has an existence that is dependent upon conditions; and that,
|
|
precisely with the removal of these conditions, those things that have
|
|
arisen in dependence upon them-thus also all suffering-must perforce
|
|
disappear and cease to be.]
|
|
|
|
SECOND STEP
|
|
RIGHT MINDEDNESS
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Mindedness? It is thoughts free from lust;
|
|
thoughts free from ill-will; thoughts free from cruelty. This is
|
|
called right mindedness.
|
|
Now, Right Mindedness, let me tell you, is of two kinds: 1. Thoughts
|
|
free from lust, from ill-will, and from cruelty:-this is called the
|
|
"Mundane Right Mindedness," which yields worldly fruits and brings
|
|
good results.
|
|
2. But, whatsoever there is of thinking, considering, reasoning,
|
|
thought, ratiocination, application-the mind being holy, being
|
|
turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path
|
|
being pursued-: these "Verbal Operations" of the mind are called the
|
|
"Ultramundane Right Mindedness which is not of the world, but is ultra
|
|
mundane, and conjoined with the paths.
|
|
Now, in understanding wrong-mindedness as wrong, and
|
|
right-mindedness as right, one practices Right Understanding [1st
|
|
step]; and in making efforts to overcome evil-mindedness, and to
|
|
arouse right-mindedness, one practices Right Effort [6th step];
|
|
and in overcoming evil-mindedness with attentive mind, and dwelling
|
|
with attentive mind in possession of right-mindedness, one practices
|
|
Right Attentiveness [7th step]. Hence, there are three things that
|
|
accompany and follow upon right-mindedness, namely: right
|
|
understanding, right effort, and right attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
THIRD STEP
|
|
THIRD STEP
|
|
RIGHT SPEECH
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Speech? It is abstaining from lying;
|
|
abstaining from tale-bearing; abstaining from harsh language;
|
|
abstaining from vain talk.
|
|
There, someone avoids lying, and abstains from it. He speaks the
|
|
truth, is devoted to the truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, is not
|
|
a deceiver of men. Being at a meeting, or amongst people, or in the
|
|
midst of his relatives, or in a society, or in the king's court, and
|
|
called upon and asked as witness, to tell what he knows, he answers,
|
|
if he knows nothing: "I know nothing"; and if he knows, he answers: "I
|
|
know"; if he has seen nothing, he answers: "I have seen nothing,"
|
|
and if he has seen, he answers: "I have seen." Thus, he never
|
|
knowingly speaks a lie, neither for the sake of his own advantage, nor
|
|
for the sake of another person's advantage, nor for the sake of any
|
|
advantage whatsoever.
|
|
He avoids tale-bearing, and abstains from it. What he has heard
|
|
here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and
|
|
what he heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause
|
|
dissension here. Thus he unites those that are divided; and those that
|
|
are united, he encourages. Concord gladdens him, he delights and
|
|
rejoices in concord, and it is concord that he spreads by his words.
|
|
He avoids harsh language, and abstains from it. He speaks such words
|
|
as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart,
|
|
courteous and dear, and agreeable to many.
|
|
[In Majjhima-Nikaya, No. 21, the Buddha says: "Even, O monks, should
|
|
robbers and murderers saw through your limbs and joints, whoso gave
|
|
way to anger thereat, would not be following my advice. For thus ought
|
|
you to train yourselves:
|
|
"'Undisturbed shall our mind remain, no evil words shall escape
|
|
our lips; friendly and full of sympathy shall we remain, with heart
|
|
full of love, and free from any hidden malice; and that person shall
|
|
we penetrate with loving thoughts, wide, deep, boundless, freed from
|
|
anger and hatred.'"]
|
|
He avoids vain talk, and abstains from it. He speaks at the right
|
|
time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks about
|
|
the law and the discipline; his speech is like a treasure, at the
|
|
right moment accompanied by arguments, moderate and full of sense.
|
|
This is called right speech.
|
|
Now, right speech, let me tell you, is of two kinds: 1. Abstaining
|
|
from lying, from tale-bearing, from harsh language, and from vain
|
|
talk; this is called the "Mundane Right Speech, which yields worldly
|
|
fruits and brings good results.
|
|
2. But the abhorrence of the practice of this four-fold wrong
|
|
speech, the abstaining, withholding, refraining therefrom-the mind
|
|
being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the
|
|
path, the holy path being pursued-: this is called the "Ultramundane
|
|
Right Speech, which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and
|
|
conjoined with the paths.
|
|
Now, in understanding wrong speech as wrong, and right speech as
|
|
right, one practices Right Understanding [1st step); and in making
|
|
efforts to overcome evil speech and to arouse right speech, one
|
|
practices Right Effort [6th step]; and in overcoming wrong speech
|
|
with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of
|
|
right speech, one practices Right Attentiveness [7th step]. Hence,
|
|
there are three things that accompany and follow upon right
|
|
attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
FOURTH STEP
|
|
RIGHT ACTION
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Action? It is abstaining from killing;
|
|
abstaining from stealing; abstaining from unlawful sexual intercourse.
|
|
There, someone avoids the killing of living beings, and abstains
|
|
from it. Without stick or sword, conscientious, full of sympathy, he
|
|
is anxious for the welfare of all living beings.
|
|
He avoids stealing, and abstains from it; what another person
|
|
possesses of goods and chattels in the village or in the wood, that he
|
|
does not take away with thievish intent.
|
|
He avoids unlawful sexual intercourse, and abstains from it. He
|
|
has no intercourse with such persons as are still under the protection
|
|
of father, mother, brother, sister or relatives, nor with married
|
|
women, nor female convicts, nor, lastly, with betrothed girls.
|
|
This is called Right Action.
|
|
Now, Right Action, let me tell you, is of two kinds: 1. Abstaining
|
|
from killing, from stealing, and from unlawful sexual intercourse-this
|
|
is called the "Mundane Right Action, which yields worldly fruits and
|
|
brings good results. But the abhorrence of the practice of this
|
|
three-fold wrong action, the abstaining, withholding, refraining
|
|
therefrom-the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and
|
|
conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued-: this is
|
|
called the "Ultramundane Right Action," which is not of the world, but
|
|
is ultramundane, and conjoined with the paths.
|
|
Now, in understanding wrong action as wrong, and right action as
|
|
right, one practices Right Understanding [1st step]; and in making
|
|
efforts to overcome wrong action, and to arouse right action, one
|
|
practices Right Effort [6th step]; and in overcoming wrong action
|
|
with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of
|
|
right action, one practices Right Attentiveness [7th step]. Hence,
|
|
there are three things that accompany and follow upon right action,
|
|
namely: right understanding, right effort, and right attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
FIFTH STEP
|
|
RIGHT LIVING
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Living? When the noble disciple, avoiding a
|
|
wrong way of living, gets his livelihood by a right way of living,
|
|
this is called Right Living.
|
|
Now, right living, let me tell you, is of two kinds: 1. When the
|
|
noble disciple, avoiding wrong living, gets his livelihood by a
|
|
right way of living-this is called the "Mundane Right Living," which
|
|
yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
|
|
2. But the abhorrence of wrong living, the abstaining,
|
|
withholding, refraining therefrom-the mind being holy, being turned
|
|
away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path
|
|
being pursued-: this is called the "Ultramundane Right Living,"
|
|
which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the
|
|
paths.
|
|
Now, in understanding wrong living as wrong, and right living as
|
|
right, one practices Right Understanding [1st step]; and in making
|
|
efforts to overcome wrong living, to arouse right living, one
|
|
practices Right Effort [6th step]; and in overcoming wrong living
|
|
with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of
|
|
right living, one practices Right Attentiveness [7th step]. Hence,
|
|
there are three things that accompany and follow upon right living,
|
|
namely: right understanding, right effort, and right attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
SIXTH STEP
|
|
RIGHT EFFORT
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Effort? There are Four Great Efforts: the effort
|
|
to avoid, the effort to overcome, the effort to develop, and the
|
|
effort to maintain.
|
|
What, now, is the effort to avoid? There, the disciple incites his
|
|
mind to avoid the arising of evil, demeritorious things that have
|
|
not yet arisen; and he strives, puts forth his energy, strains his
|
|
mind and struggles.
|
|
Thus, when he perceives a form with the eye, a sound with the ear,
|
|
an odor with the nose, a taste with the tongue, a contact with the
|
|
body, or an object with the mind, he neither adheres to the whole, nor
|
|
to its parts. And he strives to ward off that through which evil and
|
|
demeritorious things, greed and sorrow, would arise, if he remained
|
|
with unguarded senses; and he watches over his senses, restrains his
|
|
senses.
|
|
Possessed of this noble "Control over the Senses," he experiences
|
|
inwardly a feeling of joy, into which no evil thing can enter. This is
|
|
called the effort to avoid.
|
|
What, now, is the effort to Overcome? There, the disciple incites
|
|
his mind to overcome the evil, demeritorious things that have
|
|
already arisen; and he strives, puts forth his energy, strains his
|
|
mind and struggles.
|
|
He does not retain any thought of sensual lust, ill-will, or
|
|
grief, or any other evil and demeritorious states that may have
|
|
arisen; he abandons them, dispels them, destroys them, causes them
|
|
to disappear.
|
|
|
|
FIVE METHODS OF EXPELLING EVIL THOUGHTS
|
|
|
|
If, whilst regarding a certain object, there arise in the
|
|
disciple, on account of it, evil and demeritorious thoughts
|
|
connected with greed, anger and delusion, then the disciple should, by
|
|
means of this object, gain another and wholesome object. Or, he should
|
|
reflect on the misery of these thoughts: "Unwholesome, truly, are
|
|
these thoughts! Blameable are these thoughts! Of painful result are
|
|
these thoughts!" Or, he should pay no attention to these thoughts. Or,
|
|
he should consider the compound nature of these thoughts. Or, with
|
|
teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the gums, he should, with
|
|
his mind, restrain, suppress and root out these thoughts; and in doing
|
|
so, these evil and demeritorious thoughts of greed, anger and delusion
|
|
will dissolve and disappear; and the mind will inwardly become settled
|
|
and calm, composed and concentrated.
|
|
This is called the effort to overcome.
|
|
What, now, is the effort to Develop? There the disciple incites
|
|
his will to arouse meritorious conditions that have not yet arisen;
|
|
and he strives, puts forth his energy, strains his mind and struggles.
|
|
Thus he develops the "Elements of Enlightenment," bent on
|
|
solitude, on detachment, on extinction, and ending in deliverance,
|
|
namely: Attentiveness, Investigation of the Law, Energy, Rapture,
|
|
Tranquility, Concentration, and Equanimity. This is called the
|
|
effort to develop.
|
|
What, now, is the effort to Maintain? There, the disciple incites
|
|
his will to maintain the meritorious conditions that have already
|
|
arisen, and not to let them disappear, but to bring them to growth, to
|
|
maturity and to the full perfection of development; and he strives,
|
|
puts forth his energy, strains his mind and struggles.
|
|
Thus, for example, he keeps firmly in his mind a favorable object of
|
|
concentration that has arisen, as the mental image of a skeleton, of a
|
|
corpse infested by worms, of a corpse blue-black in color, of a
|
|
festering corpse, of a corpse riddled with holes, of a corpse
|
|
swollen up.
|
|
This is called the effort to maintain.
|
|
Truly, the disciple who is possessed of faith and has penetrated the
|
|
Teaching of the Master, he is filled with the thought: "May rather
|
|
skin, sinews and bones wither away, may the flesh and blood of my body
|
|
dry up: I shall not give up my efforts so long as I have not
|
|
attained whatever is attainable by manly perseverance, energy and
|
|
endeavor!"
|
|
This is called right effort.
|
|
|
|
The effort of Avoiding, Overcoming,
|
|
Of Developing and Maintaining:
|
|
These four great efforts have been shown
|
|
By him, the scion of the sun.
|
|
And he who firmly clings to them,
|
|
May put an end to all the pain.
|
|
|
|
SEVENTH STEP
|
|
RIGHT ATTENTIVENESS
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Attentiveness? The only way that leads to the
|
|
attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation,
|
|
to the end of pain and grief, to the entering upon the right path
|
|
and the realization of Nirvana, is the "Four Fundamentals of
|
|
Attentiveness." And which are these four? In them, the disciple dwells
|
|
in contemplation of the Body, in contemplation of Feeling, in
|
|
contemplation of the Mind, in contemplation of the Mind-objects,
|
|
ardent, clearly conscious and attentive, after putting away worldly
|
|
greed and grief.
|
|
|
|
CONTEMPLATION OF THE BODY
|
|
|
|
But, how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body?
|
|
There, the disciple retires to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or
|
|
to a solitary place, sits himself down, with legs crossed, body erect,
|
|
and with attentiveness fixed before him.
|
|
With attentive mind he breathes in, with attentive mind he
|
|
breathes out. When making a long inhalation, he knows: "I make a
|
|
long inhalation"; when making a long exhalation, he knows: "I make a
|
|
long exhalation." when making a short inhalation, he knows: "I make
|
|
a short inhalation"; when making a short exhalation, he knows: "I make
|
|
a short exhalation." "Clearly perceiving the entire [breath]-body, I
|
|
will breathe in": thus he trains himself; "clearly perceiving the
|
|
entire [breath]-body, I will breathe out": thus he trains himself.
|
|
"Calming this bodily function, I will breathe n": thus he trains
|
|
himself; "calming this bodily function, I will breathe out": thus he
|
|
trains himself.
|
|
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the body, either with regard to
|
|
his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how the
|
|
body arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the arising and
|
|
passing away of the body. "A body is there-
|
|
|
|
"A body is there, but no living being, no individual, no woman,
|
|
no man, no self, and nothing that belongs to a self; neither a
|
|
person, nor anything belonging to a person"-
|
|
|
|
this clear consciousness is present in him, because of his knowledge
|
|
and mindfulness, and he lives independent, unattached to anything in
|
|
the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body.
|
|
And further, whilst going, standing, sitting, or lying down, the
|
|
disciple understands the expressions: "I go"; "I stand"; "I sit"; "I
|
|
lie down"; he understands any position of the body.
|
|
[The disciple understands that it is not a being, a real Ego, that
|
|
goes, stands, etc., but that it is by a mere figure of speech that one
|
|
says: "I go," "I stand," and so forth.]
|
|
And further, the disciple is clearly conscious in his going and
|
|
coming; clearly conscious in looking forward and backward; clearly
|
|
conscious in bending and stretching; clearly conscious in eating,
|
|
drinking, chewing, and tasting; clearly conscious in discharging
|
|
excrement and urine; clearly conscious in walking, standing,
|
|
sitting, falling asleep and awakening; clearly conscious in speaking
|
|
and in keeping silent.
|
|
"In all the disciple is doing, he is clearly conscious: of his
|
|
intention, of his advantage, of his duty, of the reality."
|
|
And further, the disciple contemplates this body from the sole of
|
|
the foot upward, and from the top of the hair downward, with a skin
|
|
stretched over it, and filled with manifold impurities: "This body
|
|
consists of hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow,
|
|
kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, bowels,
|
|
stomach, and excrement; of bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, lymph,
|
|
tears, semen, spittle, nasal mucus, oil of the joints, and urine."
|
|
Just as if there were a sack, with openings at both ends, filled
|
|
with all kinds of grain-with paddy, beans, sesamum and husked rice-and
|
|
a man not blind opened it and examined its contents, thus: "That is
|
|
paddy, these are beans, this is sesamum, this is husked rice": just so
|
|
does the disciple investigate this body.
|
|
And further, the disciple contemplates this body with regard to
|
|
the elements: "This body consists of the solid element, the liquid
|
|
element, the heating element and the vibrating element." Just as a
|
|
skilled butcher or butcher's apprentice, who has slaughtered a cow and
|
|
divided it into separate portions, should sit down at the junction
|
|
of four highroads: just so does the disciple contemplate this body
|
|
with regard to the elements.
|
|
And further, just as if the disciple should see a corpse thrown into
|
|
the burial-ground, one, two, or three days dead, swollen-up,
|
|
blue-black in color, full of corruption he draws the conclusion as
|
|
to his own body: "This my body also has this nature, has this destiny,
|
|
and cannot escape it." And further, just as if the disciple should see
|
|
a corpse thrown into the burial-ground, eaten by crows, hawks or
|
|
vultures, by dogs or jackals, or gnawed by all kinds of worms-he draws
|
|
the conclusion as to his own body: "This my body also has this nature,
|
|
has this destiny, and cannot escape it."
|
|
And further, just as if the disciple should see a corpse thrown into
|
|
the burial-ground, a framework of bones, flesh hanging from it,
|
|
bespattered with blood, held together by the sinews; a framework of
|
|
bones, stripped of flesh, bespattered with blood, held together by the
|
|
sinews; a framework of bones, without flesh and blood, but still
|
|
held together by the sinews; bones, disconnected and scattered in
|
|
all directions, here a bone of the hand, there a bone of the foot,
|
|
there a shin bone, there a thigh bone, there the pelvis, there the
|
|
spine, there the skull-he draws the conclusion as to his own body:
|
|
"This my body also has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot
|
|
escape it."
|
|
And further, just as if the disciple should see bones lying in the
|
|
burial ground, bleached and resembling shells; bones heaped
|
|
together, after the lapse of years; bones weathered and crumbled to
|
|
dust;-he draws the conclusion as to his own body: "This my body also
|
|
has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot escape it "
|
|
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the body, either with regard to
|
|
his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how the
|
|
body arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the arising and
|
|
passing of the body. "A body is there" this clear consciousness is
|
|
present in him, because of his knowledge and mindfulness; and he lives
|
|
independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the
|
|
disciple dwell in contemplation of the body.
|
|
|
|
THE TEN BLESSINGS
|
|
|
|
Once the contemplation of the body is practiced, developed, often
|
|
repeated, has become one's habit, one's foundation, is firmly
|
|
established, strengthened and well perfected, one may expect ten
|
|
blessings:
|
|
Over Delight and Discontent one has mastery; one does not allow
|
|
himself to be overcome by discontent; one subdues it, as soon as it
|
|
arises. One conquers Fear and Anxiety; one does not allow himself to
|
|
be overcome by fear and anxiety; one subdues them, as soon as they
|
|
arise. One endures cold and heat, hunger and thirst, wind and sun,
|
|
attacks by gadflies, mosquitoes and reptiles; patiently one endures
|
|
wicked and malicious speech, as well as bodily pains, that befall one,
|
|
though they be piercing, sharp, bitter, unpleasant, disagreeable and
|
|
dangerous to life. The four "Trances," the mind bestowing happiness
|
|
even here: these one may enjoy at will, without difficulty, without
|
|
effort.
|
|
One may enjoy the different "Magical Powers." With the "Heavenly
|
|
Ear," the purified, the super-human, one may hear both kinds of
|
|
sounds, the heavenly and the earthly, the distant and the near. With
|
|
the mind one may obtain "Insight into the Hearts of Other Beings of
|
|
other persons. One may obtain "Remembrance of many Previous Births."
|
|
With the "Heavenly Eye," the purified, the super-human, one may see
|
|
beings vanish and reappear, the base and the noble, the beautiful
|
|
and the ugly, the happy and the unfortunate; one may perceive how
|
|
beings are reborn according to their deeds.
|
|
One may, through the "Cessation of Passions," come to know for
|
|
oneself, even in this life, the stainless deliverance of mind, the
|
|
deliverance through wisdom.
|
|
|
|
CONTEMPLATION OF THE FEELINGS
|
|
|
|
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the feelings?
|
|
In experiencing feelings, the disciple knows: "I have an indifferent
|
|
agreeable feeling," or "I have a disagreeable feeling," or "I have
|
|
an indifferent feeling," or "I have a worldly agreeable feeling," or
|
|
"I have an unworldly agreeable feeling," or "I have a worldly
|
|
disagreeable feeling," or "I have an unworldly disagreeable
|
|
feeling," or "I have a worldly indifferent feeling," or have an
|
|
unworldly indifferent feeling.
|
|
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the feelings, either with
|
|
regard to his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He
|
|
beholds how the feelings arise; beholds how they pass away; beholds
|
|
the arising and passing away of the feelings. "Feelings are there":
|
|
this clear consciousness is present in him, because of his knowledge
|
|
and mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in
|
|
the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the
|
|
feelings.
|
|
[The disciple understands that the expression "I feel" has no
|
|
validity except as an expression of common speech; he understands
|
|
that, in the absolute sense, there are only feelings, and that there
|
|
is no Ego, no person, no experience of the feelings.]
|
|
|
|
CONTEMPLATION OF THE MIND
|
|
|
|
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the mind? The
|
|
disciple knows the greedy mind as greedy, and the not greedy mind as
|
|
not greedy; knows the angry mind as angry, and the not angry mind as
|
|
not angry; knows the deluded mind as deluded, and the undeluded mind
|
|
as undeluded. He knows the cramped mind as cramped, and the
|
|
scattered mind as scattered; knows the developed mind as developed,
|
|
and the undeveloped mind as undeveloped; knows the surpassable mind as
|
|
surpassable, and the unsurpassable mind as unsurpassable; knows the
|
|
concentrated mind as concentrated, and the unconcentrated mind as
|
|
unconcentrated; knows the freed mind as freed, and the unfreed mind as
|
|
unfreed.
|
|
["Mind" is here used as a collective for the moments of
|
|
consciousness. Being identical with consciousness, it should not be
|
|
translated by "thought." "Thought" and "thinking" correspond rather to
|
|
the so-called "verbal operations of the mind"; they are not, like
|
|
consciousness, of primary, but of secondary nature, and are entirely
|
|
absent in all sensuous consciousness, as well as in the second,
|
|
third and fourth Trances. (See eighth step).]
|
|
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the mind, either with regard to
|
|
his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how
|
|
consciousness arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the
|
|
arising and passing away of consciousness. "Mind is there"; this clear
|
|
consciousness is present in him, because of his knowledge and
|
|
mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the
|
|
world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the mind.
|
|
|
|
CONTEMPLATION OF PHENOMENA (Mind-objects)
|
|
|
|
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the phenomena?
|
|
First, the disciple dwells in contemplation of the phenomen, of the
|
|
"Five Hindrances."
|
|
He knows when there is "Lust" in him: "In me is lust"; knows when
|
|
there is "Anger" in him: "In me is anger"; knows when there is "Torpor
|
|
and Drowsiness" in him: "In me is torpor and drowsiness"; knows when
|
|
there is "Restlessness and Mental Worry" in him: "In me is
|
|
restlessness and mental worry"; knows when there are "Doubts" in
|
|
him: "In me are doubts." He knows when these hindrances are not in
|
|
him: "In me these hindrances are not." He knows how they come to
|
|
arise; knows how, once arisen, they are overcome; knows how, once
|
|
overcome, they do not rise again in the future.
|
|
[For example, Lust arises through unwise thinking on the agreeable
|
|
and delightful. it may be suppressed by the following six methods:
|
|
fixing the mind upon an idea that arouses disgust; contemplation of
|
|
the loathsomeness of the body; controlling one's six senses;
|
|
moderation in eating; friendship with wise and good men; right
|
|
instruction. Lust is forever extinguished upon entrance into
|
|
Anagamiship; Restlessness is extinguished by reaching Arahatship;
|
|
Mental Worry, by reaching Sotapanship.]
|
|
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the
|
|
phenomena, of the five Groups of Existence. He knows what Corporeality
|
|
is, how it arises, how it passes away; knows what Feeling is, how it
|
|
arises, how it away; knows what Perception is, how it arises, how it
|
|
passes away; knows what the Mental Formations are, how they arise, how
|
|
they pass away; knows what Consciousness is, how it arises, how it
|
|
passes away.
|
|
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the phenomena
|
|
of the six Subjective-Objective Sense-Bases. He knows eye and visual
|
|
objects, ear and sounds, nose and odors, tongue and tastes, body and
|
|
touches, mind and mind objects; and the fetter that arises in
|
|
dependence on them, he also knows. He knows how the fetter comes to
|
|
arise, knows how the fetter is overcome, and how the abandoned
|
|
fetter does not rise again in future.
|
|
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the phenomena
|
|
of the seven Elements of Enlightenment. The disciple knows when
|
|
there is Attentiveness in him; when there is Investigation of the
|
|
Law in him; when there is Energy in him; when there is Enthusiasm in
|
|
him; when there is Tranquility in him; when there is Concentration
|
|
in him; when there is Equanimity in him. He knows when it is not in
|
|
him, knows how it comes to arise, and how it is fully developed.
|
|
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the phenomena
|
|
of the Four Noble Truths. He knows according to reality, what
|
|
Suffering is; knows according to reality, what the Origin of Suffering
|
|
is; knows according to reality, what the Extinction of Suffering is;
|
|
knows according to reality, what the Path is that leads to the
|
|
Extinction of Suffering.
|
|
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the phenomena, either with regard
|
|
to his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how the
|
|
phenomena arise; beholds how they pass away; beholds the arising and
|
|
passing away of the phenomena. "Phenomena are there this consciousness
|
|
is present in him because of his knowledge and mindfulness; and he
|
|
lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does
|
|
the disciple dwell in contemplation of the phenomena.
|
|
The only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the
|
|
overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, to the end of pain and grief, to
|
|
the entering upon the right path, and the realization of Nirvana, is
|
|
these four fundamentals of attentiveness.
|
|
|
|
NIRVANA THROUGH WATCHING OVER BREATHING
|
|
|
|
"Watching over In-and Out-breathing" practiced and developed, brings
|
|
the four Fundamentals of Attentiveness to perfection; the four
|
|
fundamentals of attentiveness, practiced and developed bring the seven
|
|
Elements of Enlightenment to perfection; the seven elements of
|
|
enlightenment, practiced and developed, bring Wisdom and Deliverance
|
|
to perfection.
|
|
But how does Watching over In-and Out-breathing, practiced and
|
|
developed, bring the four Fundamentals of Attentiveness to perfection?
|
|
I. Whenever the disciple is conscious in making a long inhalation or
|
|
exhalation, or in making a short inhalation or exhalation, or is
|
|
training himself to inhale or exhale whilst feeling the whole
|
|
[breath]-body, or whilst calming down this bodily function-at such
|
|
a time the disciple is dwelling in "contemplation of the body," of
|
|
energy, clearly conscious, attentive, after subduing worldly greed and
|
|
grief. For, inhalation and exhalation I call one amongst the corporeal
|
|
phenomena.
|
|
II. Whenever the disciple is training himself to inhale or exhale
|
|
whilst feeling rapture, or joy, or the mental functions, or whilst
|
|
calming down the mental functions-at such a time he is dwelling in
|
|
"contemplation of the feelings," full of energy, clearly conscious,
|
|
attentive, after subduing worldly greed and grief. For, the full
|
|
awareness of in-and outbreathing I call one amongst the feelings.
|
|
III. Whenever the disciple is training himself to inhale or exhale
|
|
whilst feeling the mind, or whilst gladdening the mind or whilst
|
|
concentrating the mind, or whilst setting the mind free-at such a time
|
|
he is dwelling in "contemplation of the mind," full of energy, clearly
|
|
conscious, attentive, after subduing worldly greed and grief. For,
|
|
without attentiveness and clear consciousness, I say, there is no
|
|
Watching over in-and Out-breathing.
|
|
IV. Whenever the disciple is training himself to inhale or exhale
|
|
whilst contemplating impermanence, or the fading away of passion, or
|
|
extinction, or detachment at such a time he is dwelling in
|
|
"contemplation of the phenomena," full of energy, clearly conscious,
|
|
attentive, after subduing worldly greed and grief.
|
|
Watching over In-and Out-breathing, thus practiced and developed,
|
|
brings the four Fundamentals of Attentiveness to perfection.
|
|
But how do the four Fundamentals of Attentiveness, practiced and
|
|
developed, bring the seven Elements of Enlightenment to full
|
|
perfection?
|
|
Whenever the disciple is dwelling in contemplation of body, feeling,
|
|
mind and phenomena, strenuous, clearly conscious, attentive, after
|
|
subduing worldly greed and grief-at such a time his attentiveness is
|
|
undisturbed; and whenever his attentiveness is present and
|
|
undisturbed, at such a time he has gained and is developing the
|
|
Element of Enlightenment "Attentiveness"; and thus this element of
|
|
enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
|
|
And whenever, whilst dwelling with attentive mind, he wisely
|
|
investigates, examines and thinks over the Law-at such a time he has
|
|
gained and is developing the Element of Enlightenment "Investigation
|
|
of the Law"; and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest
|
|
perfection.
|
|
And whenever, whilst wisely investigating, examining and thinking
|
|
over the law, his energy is firm and unshaken-at such a time he has
|
|
gained and is developing the Element of Enlightenment "Energy"; and
|
|
thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
|
|
And whenever in him, whilst firm in energy, arises supersensuous
|
|
rapture-at such a time he has gained and is developing the Element
|
|
of Enlightenment "Rapture"; and thus this element of enlightenment
|
|
reaches fullest perfection.
|
|
And whenever, whilst enraptured in mind, his spiritual frame and his
|
|
mind become tranquil-at such a time he has gained and is developing
|
|
the Element of Enlightenment "Tranquility"; and thus this element of
|
|
enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
|
|
And whenever, whilst being tranquilized in his spiritual frame and
|
|
happy, his mind becomes concentrated-at such a time he has gained
|
|
and is developing the Element of Enlightenment "Concentration; and
|
|
thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
|
|
And whenever he thoroughly looks with indifference on his mind
|
|
thus concentrated-at such a time he has gained and is developing the
|
|
Element of Enlightenment "Equanimity."
|
|
The four fundamentals of attentiveness, thus practiced and
|
|
developed, bring the seven elements of enlightenment to full
|
|
perfection.
|
|
But how do the seven elements of enlightenment, practiced and
|
|
developed, bring Wisdom and Deliverance to full perfection?
|
|
There, the disciple is developing the elements of enlightenment:
|
|
Attentiveness, Investigation of the Law, Energy, Rapture, Tranquility,
|
|
Concentration and Equanimity, bent on detachment, on absence of
|
|
desire, on extinction and renunciation.
|
|
Thus practiced and developed, do the seven elements of enlightenment
|
|
bring wisdom and deliverance to full perfection.
|
|
Just as the elephant hunter drives a huge stake into the ground
|
|
and chains the wild elephant to it by the neck, in order to drive
|
|
out of him his wonted forest ways and wishes, his forest unruliness,
|
|
obstinacy and violence, and to accustom him to the environment of
|
|
the village, and to teach him such good behavior as is required
|
|
amongst men: in like manner also has the noble disciple to fix his
|
|
mind firmly to these four fundamentals of attentiveness, so that he
|
|
may drive out of himself his wonted worldly ways and wishes, his
|
|
wonted worldly unruliness, obstinacy and violence, and win to the
|
|
True, and realize Nirvana.
|
|
EIGHTH STEP
|
|
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
|
|
|
|
WHAT, now, is Right Concentration? Fixing the mind to a single
|
|
object ("One-pointedness of mind"): this is concentration.
|
|
The four Fundamentals of Attentiveness (seventh step): these are
|
|
the objects of concentration.
|
|
The four Great Efforts (sixth step): these are the requisites
|
|
for concentration.
|
|
The practicing, developing and cultivating of these things: this
|
|
is the "Development" of concentration.
|
|
[Right Concentration has two degrees of development: 1.
|
|
"Neighborhood-Concentration," which approaches the first trance,
|
|
without however attaining it; 2. "Attainment Concentration," which
|
|
is the concentration present in the four trances. The attainment of
|
|
the trances, however, is not a requisite for the realization of the
|
|
Four Ultramundane Paths of Holiness; and neither
|
|
Neighborhood-Concentration nor Attainment-Concentration, as such, in
|
|
any way possesses the power of conferring entry into the Four
|
|
Ultramundane Paths; hence, in them is really no power to free
|
|
oneself permanently from evil things. The realization of the Four
|
|
Ultramundane Paths is possible only at the moment of insight into
|
|
the impermanency, miserable nature, and impersonality of phenomenal
|
|
process of existence. This insight is attainable only during
|
|
Neighborhood-Concentration, not during Attainment-Concentration.
|
|
He who has realized one or other of the Four Ultramundane Paths
|
|
without ever having attained the Trances, is called a "Dry-visioned
|
|
One," or one whose passions are "dried up by Insight." He, however,
|
|
who after cultivating the Trances has reached one of the
|
|
Ultramundane Paths, is called "one who has taken tranquility as his
|
|
vehicle."]
|
|
|
|
THE FOUR TRANCES
|
|
|
|
Detached from sensual objects, detached from unwholesome things, the
|
|
disciple enters into the first trance, which is accompanied by "Verbal
|
|
Though," and "Rumination," is born of "Detachment," and filled with
|
|
"Rapture," and "Happiness."
|
|
This first trance is free from five things, and five things are
|
|
present. When the disciple enters the first trance, there have
|
|
vanished [the 5 Hindrances]: Lust, Ill-will, Torpor and Dullness,
|
|
Restlessness and Mental Worry, Doubts; and there are present: Verbal
|
|
Thought, Rumination, Rapture, Happiness, and Concentration.
|
|
And further: after the subsiding of verbal thought and rumination,
|
|
and by the gaining of inward tranquility and oneness of mind, he
|
|
enters into a state free from verbal thought and rumination, the
|
|
second trance, which is born of Concentration, and filled with Rapture
|
|
and Happiness.
|
|
And further: after the fading away of rapture, he dwells in
|
|
equanimity, attentive, clearly conscious; and he experiences in his
|
|
person that feeling, of which the Noble Ones say: "Happy lives the man
|
|
of equanimity and attentive mind"-thus he enters the third trance.
|
|
And further: after the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through
|
|
the disappearance of previous joy and grief, he enters into a state
|
|
beyond pleasure and pain, into the fourth trance, which is purified by
|
|
equanimity and attentiveness.
|
|
[The four Trances may be obtained by means of Watching over In-and
|
|
Out-breathing, as well as through the fourth sublime meditation, the
|
|
"Meditation of Equanimity," and others.
|
|
The three other Sublime Meditations of "Loving Kindness,"
|
|
"Compassion", and "Sympathetic Joy" may lead to the attainment of
|
|
the first three Trances. The "Cemetery Meditations," as well as the
|
|
meditation "On Loathsomeness," will produce only the First Trance.
|
|
The "Analysis of the Body," and the Contemplation on the Buddha, the
|
|
Law, the Holy Brotherhood, Morality, etc., will only produce
|
|
Neighborhood-Concentration.]
|
|
Develop your concentration: for he who has concentration understands
|
|
things according to their reality. And what are these things? The
|
|
arising and passing away of corporeality, of feeling, perception,
|
|
mental formations and consciousness.
|
|
Thus, these five Groups of Existence must be wisely penetrated;
|
|
Delusion and Craving must be wisely abandoned; Tranquility and Insight
|
|
must be wisely developed.
|
|
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has discovered,
|
|
which makes one both to see and to know, and which leads to peace,
|
|
to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.
|
|
And following upon this path, you will put an end to suffering.
|
|
|
|
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EIGHTFOLD PATH IN THE DISCIPLE
|
|
|
|
CONFIDENCE AND RIGHT-MINDEDNESS (2nd Step)
|
|
|
|
SUPPOSE a householder, or his son, or someone reborn in any
|
|
family, hears the law; and after hearing the law he is filled with
|
|
confidence in the Perfect One. And filled with this confidence, he
|
|
thinks: "Full of hindrances is household life, a refuse heap; but
|
|
pilgrim life is like the open air. Not easy is it, when one lives at
|
|
home, to fulfill in all points the rules of the holy life. How, if now
|
|
I were to cut off hair and beard, put on the yellow robe and go
|
|
forth from home to the homeless life?" And in a short time, having
|
|
given up his more or less extensive possessions, having forsaken a
|
|
smaller or larger circle of relations, he cuts off hair and beard,
|
|
puts on the yellow robe, and goes forth from home to the homeless
|
|
life.
|
|
|
|
MORALITY (3rd, 4th, 5th Step)
|
|
|
|
Having thus left the world, he fulfills the rules of the monks. He
|
|
avoids the killing of living beings and abstains from it. Without
|
|
stick or sword, conscientious, full of sympathy, he is anxious for the
|
|
welfare of all living beings.-He avoids stealing, and abstains from
|
|
taking what is not given to him. Only what is given to him he takes,
|
|
waiting till it is given; and he lives with a heart honest and
|
|
pure.-He avoids unchastity, living chaste, resigned, and keeping aloof
|
|
from sexual intercourse, the vulgar way.-He avoids lying and
|
|
abstains from it. He speaks the truth, is devoted to the truth,
|
|
reliable, worthy of confidence, is not a deceiver of men.-He avoids
|
|
tale-bearing and abstains from it. What he has heard here, he does not
|
|
repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he has heard
|
|
there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here. Thus
|
|
he unites those that are divided, and those that are united he
|
|
encourages; concord gladdens him, he delights and rejoices in concord,
|
|
and it is concord that he spreads by his words.-He avoids harsh
|
|
language and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle,
|
|
soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart, courteous and dear,
|
|
and agreeable to many.- He avoids vain talk and abstains from it. He
|
|
speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is
|
|
useful, speaks about the law and the disciple; his speech is like a
|
|
treasure, at the right moment accompanied by arguments, moderate,
|
|
and full of sense.
|
|
He keeps aloof from dance, song, music and the visiting of shows;
|
|
rejects flowers, perfumes, ointments, as well as every kind of
|
|
adornment and embellishment. High and gorgeous beds he does not use.
|
|
Gold and silver he does not accept. Raw corn and meat he does not
|
|
accept. Women and girls he does not accept. He owns no male and female
|
|
slaves, owns no goats, sheep, fowls, pigs, elephants, cows or
|
|
horses, no land and goods. He does not go on errands and do the duties
|
|
of a messenger. He keeps aloof from buying and selling things. He
|
|
has nothing to do with false measures, metals and weights. He avoids
|
|
the crooked ways of bribery, deception and fraud. He keeps aloof
|
|
from stabbing, beating, chaining, attacking, plundering and
|
|
oppressing.
|
|
He contents himself with the robe that protects his body, and with
|
|
the alms with which he keeps himself alive. Wherever he goes, he is
|
|
provided with these two things; just as a winged bird, in flying,
|
|
carries his wings along with him. By fulfilling this noble Domain of
|
|
Morality he feels in his heart an irreproachable happiness.
|
|
|
|
CONTROL OF THE SENSES (6th Step)
|
|
|
|
Now, in perceiving a form with the eye- a sound with the ear- an
|
|
odor with the nose- a taste with the tongue- a touch with the body- an
|
|
object with his mind, he sticks neither to the whole, nor to its
|
|
details. And he tries to ward off that which, by being unguarded in
|
|
his senses, might give rise to evil and unwholesome states, to greed
|
|
and sorrow; he watches over his senses, keep his senses under control.
|
|
By practicing this noble "Control of the Senses" he feels in his heart
|
|
an unblemished happiness.
|
|
|
|
ATTENTIVENESS AND CLEAR CONSCIOUSNESS (7th Step)
|
|
|
|
Clearly conscious is he in his going and coming; clearly conscious
|
|
in looking forward and backward; clearly conscious in bending and
|
|
stretching his body; clearly conscious in eating, drinking, chewing
|
|
and tasting; dearly conscious in discharging excrement and urine;
|
|
clearly conscious in walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep and
|
|
awakening; clearly conscious in speaking and keeping silent.
|
|
Now, being equipped with this lofty Morality, equipped with this
|
|
noble Control of the Senses, and filled with this noble "Attentiveness
|
|
and Clear Consciousness, he chooses a secluded dwelling in the forest,
|
|
at the foot of a tree, on a mountain, in a cleft, in a rock cave, on a
|
|
burial ground, on a woody table-land, in the open air, or on a heap of
|
|
straw. Having returned from his alms-round, after the meal, he sits
|
|
himself down with legs crossed, body erect, with attentiveness fixed
|
|
before him.
|
|
|
|
ABSENCE OF THE FIVE HINDRANCES
|
|
|
|
He has cast away Lust; he dwells with a heart free from lust; from
|
|
lust he cleanses his heart.
|
|
He has cast away Ill-will; he dwells with a heart free from
|
|
ill-will; cherishing love and compassion toward all living beings,
|
|
he cleanses his heart from ill-will.
|
|
He has cast away Torpor and Dullness; he dwells free from torpor and
|
|
dullness; loving the light, with watchful mind, with clear
|
|
consciousness, he cleanses his mind from torpor and dullness.
|
|
He has cast away Restlessness and Mental Worry; dwelling with mind
|
|
undisturbed, with heart full of peace, he cleanses his mind from
|
|
restlessness and mental worry.
|
|
He has cast away Doubt; dwelling free from doubt, full of confidence
|
|
in the good, he cleanses his heart from doubt.
|
|
|
|
THE TRANCES (8th Step)
|
|
|
|
He has put aside these five Hindrances and come to know the
|
|
paralyzing corruptions of the mind. And far from sensual
|
|
impressions, far from unwholesome things, he enters into the Four
|
|
Trances.
|
|
|
|
INSIGHT (1st Step)
|
|
|
|
But whatsoever there is of feeling, perception, mental formation, or
|
|
consciousness-all these phenomena he regards as "impermanent,"
|
|
"subject to pain," as infirm, as an ulcer, a thorn, a misery, a
|
|
burden, an enemy, a disturbance, as empty and "void of an Ego"; and
|
|
turning away from these things, he directs his mind towards the
|
|
abiding, thus: "This, verily, is the Peace, this is the Highest,
|
|
namely the end of all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of
|
|
rebirth, the fading away of craving; detachment, extinction: Nirvana."
|
|
And in this state he reaches the "Cessation of Passions."
|
|
|
|
NIRVANA
|
|
|
|
And his heart becomes free from sensual passion, free from the
|
|
passion for existence, free from the passion of ignorance. "Freed am
|
|
I!": this knowledge arises in the liberated one; and he knows:
|
|
"Exhausted is rebirth, fulfilled the Holy Life; what was to be done,
|
|
has been done; naught remains more for this world to do."
|
|
|
|
Forever am I liberated,
|
|
This is the last time that I'm born,
|
|
No new existence waits for me.
|
|
|
|
This, verily, is the highest, holiest wisdom: to know that all
|
|
suffering has passed away.
|
|
This, verily, is the highest, holiest peace: appeasement of greed,
|
|
hatred and delusion.
|
|
|
|
THE SILENT THINKER
|
|
|
|
"I am" is a vain thought; "I am not" a vain thought; "I shall be" is
|
|
a vain thought; "I shall not be" is a vain thought. Vain thoughts
|
|
are a sickness, an ulcer, a thorn. But after overcoming all vain
|
|
thoughts, one is called silent thinker." And the thinker, the Silent
|
|
One, does no more arise, no more pass away, no more tremble, no more
|
|
desire. For there is nothing in him that he should arise again. And as
|
|
he arises no more, how should he grow old again? And as he grows no
|
|
more old, how should he die again? And as he dies no more, how
|
|
should he tremble? And as he trembles no more, how should he have
|
|
desire?
|
|
|
|
THE TRUE GOAL
|
|
|
|
Hence, the purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring
|
|
alms, honor, or fame, nor in gaining morality, concentration, or the
|
|
eye of knowledge. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that,
|
|
verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is
|
|
its goal.
|
|
And those, who formerly, in the past, were Holy and Enlightened
|
|
Ones, those Blessed Ones also have pointed out to their disciples this
|
|
self-same goal, as has been pointed out by me to my disciples. And
|
|
those, who afterwards, in the future, will be Holy and Enlightened
|
|
Ones, those Blessed Ones also will point out to their disciples this
|
|
self-same goal, as has been pointed out by me to my disciples.
|
|
However, Disciples, it may be that (after my passing away) you
|
|
might think: "Gone is the doctrine of our Master. We have no Master
|
|
more." But you should not think; for the Law and the Discipline, which
|
|
I have taught you, Will, after my death, be your master.
|
|
|
|
The Law be your light,
|
|
The Law be your refuge!
|
|
Do not look for any other refuge!
|
|
|
|
Disciples, the doctrines, which I advised you to penetrate, you
|
|
should well preserve, well guard, so that this Holy Life may take
|
|
its course and continue for ages, for the weal and welfare of the
|
|
many, as a consolation to the world, for the happiness, weal and
|
|
welfare of heavenly beings and men.
|
|
THE END
|