251 LESSON 08 05 2011 Bhikkhu Sutta The Monk and Satta Sutta A Being FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research
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LESSON 251
Bhikkhu Sutta: The Monk
Translator’s note: Some people
have said that the Buddha’s teachings on the aggregates constitute his analysis
of what we truly are; and that because the aggregates are impermanent and
interdependent, we have an impermanent, interdependent self. This sutta,
however, shows that we can be analyzed into the aggregates only if we feel
obsession or attachment for them. If we don’t feel these things, there’s no way
we can be measured, classified, or defined.
At Savatthi. Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on
arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he
said to the Blessed One: “It would be good, lord, if the Blessed One would
teach me the Dhamma in brief such that, having heard the Dhamma from the Blessed
One, I might dwell alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute.”
“Monk,
whatever one stays obsessed with,[1]
that’s what one is measured by. Whatever one is measured by, that’s how one is
classified. Whatever one doesn’t stay obsessed with, that’s not what one is
measured by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is
classified.”
“I
understand, O Blessed One! I understand, O One Well-gone!”
“And
how, monk, do you understand the detailed meaning of what I have said in
brief?”
“If
one stays obsessed with form, lord, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever
one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.
“If
one stays obsessed with feeling…
“If
one stays obsessed with perception…
“If
one stays obsessed with fabrications…
“If
one stays obsessed with consciousness, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever
one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.[2]
“But
if one doesn’t stay obsessed with form, lord, that’s not what one is measured
by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified.
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with feeling…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with perception…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with fabrications…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with consciousness, that’s not what one is measured
by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified. [3]
“Lord,
this is how I understand the detailed meaning of what you have said in
brief.”
“Good,
monk. Very good. It’s good that this is how you understand the detailed meaning
of what I have said in brief.
“If
one stays obsessed with form, monk, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever
one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.
“If
one stays obsessed with feeling…
“If
one stays obsessed with perception…
“If
one stays obsessed with fabrications…
“If
one stays obsessed with consciousness, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever
one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.
“But
if one doesn’t stay obsessed with form, monk, that’s not what one is measured
by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified.
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with feeling…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with perception…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with fabrications…
“If
one doesn’t stay obsessed with consciousness, that’s not what one is measured
by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified.
“This
is how the detailed meaning of what I have said in brief should be seen.”
Then the
monk, delighting in and approving of the Blessed One’s words, got up from his
seat and bowed down to the Blessed One, circled around him, keeping the Blessed
One to his right, and departed. Then, dwelling alone, secluded, heedful,
ardent, & resolute, he in no long time reached & remained in the
supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home
into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in the here &
now. He knew: “Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done.
There is nothing further for the sake of this world.” And thus he became
another one of the arahants.
Satta Sutta: A Being
Translator’s note: A number of
discourses (among them, SN 35.191; AN 6.63) make the
point that the mind is fettered, not by things like the five aggregates or the
objects of the six senses, but by the act of passion & delight for them.
There are two ways to try to cut through this fetter. One is to focus on the
drawbacks of passion & delight in & of themselves, seeing clearly the
stress & suffering they engender in the mind. The other is to analyze the
objects of passion & delight in such a way that they no longer seem worthy
of interest. This second approach is the one recommended in this discourse:
when the Buddha talks of “smashing, scattering, & demolishing form
(etc.) and making it unfit for play,” he is referring to the practice of
analyzing form minutely into its component parts until it no longer seems a fit
object for passion & delight. When all five aggregates can be treated in
this way, the mind is left with no conditioned object to serve as a focal point
for its passion, and so is released — at the very least — to the stage of
Awakening called non-return.
I have
heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi
at Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. Then Ven. Radha
went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him sat to one
side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: “‘A being,’
lord. ‘A being,’ it’s said. To what extent is one said to be ‘a being’?”
“Any
desire, passion, delight, or craving for form, Radha: when one is caught up[1] there, tied up[2] there, one is
said to be ‘a being.’[3]
“Any
desire, passion, delight, or craving for feeling… perception…
fabrications…
“Any
desire, passion, delight, or craving for consciousness, Radha: when one is
caught up there, tied up there, one is said to be ‘a being.’
“Just as when boys or girls are playing with little sand castles:[4]
as long as they are not free from passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, &
craving for those little sand castles, that’s how long they have fun with those
sand castles, enjoy them, treasure them, feel possessive of them. But when they
become free from passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, & craving for those
little sand castles, then they smash them, scatter them, demolish them with
their hands or feet and make them unfit for play.
“In
the same way, Radha, you too should smash, scatter, & demolish form, and
make it unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for form.
“You
should smash, scatter, & demolish feeling, and make it unfit for play.
Practice for the ending of craving for feeling.
“You
should smash, scatter, & demolish perception, and make it unfit for play.
Practice for the ending of craving for perception.
“You
should smash, scatter, & demolish fabrications, and make them unfit for
play. Practice for the ending of craving for fabrications.
“You
should smash, scatter, & demolish consciousness and make it unfit for play.
Practice for the ending of craving for consciousness — for the ending of
craving, Radha, is Unbinding.”
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