439 LESSON 17 11 2011 Sakunagghi Sutta The HawK
FREE ONLINE
eNΔlandΔ Research and Practice UNIVERSITY &
BUDDHIST
GOOD NEWS LETTER Through
FREE
ONLINE CONCENTRATION PRACTICE INSTITUTE FOR STUDENTS(FOCPIS)-
The
Narratives for the Levels of Departmental Curricula- Course Descriptions-
THE BUDDHIST ONLINE GOOD NEWS LETTER
COURSE
PROGRAM
LESSON
439
Practice a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
SN 47.6
PTS: S v 146
CDB ii
1632
Sakunagghi
Sutta: The Hawk
translated
from the Pali by
Thanissaro
Bhikkhu
“Once a hawk suddenly swooped down on a quail and seized
it. Then the quail, as it was being carried off by the hawk, lamented, ‘O, just
my bad luck and lack of merit that I was wandering out of my proper range and
into the territory of others! If only I had kept to my proper range today, to
my own ancestral territory, this hawk would have been no match for me in
battle.’
“‘But what is your proper range?’ the hawk asked. ‘What is
your own ancestral territory?’
“‘A newly plowed field with clumps of earth all turned up.’
“So the hawk, without bragging about its own strength,
without mentioning its own strength, let go of the quail. ‘Go, quail, but even
when you have gone there you won’t escape me.’
“Then the quail, having gone to a newly plowed field with
clumps of earth all turned up and climbing up on top of a large clump of earth,
stood taunting the hawk, ‘Now come and get me, you hawk! Now come and get me,
you hawk!’
“So the hawk, without bragging about its own strength,
without mentioning its own strength, folded its two wings and suddenly swooped
down toward the quail. When the quail knew, ‘The hawk is coming at me full
speed,’ it slipped behind the clump of earth, and right there the hawk
shattered its own breast.
“This is what happens to anyone who wanders into what is
not his proper range and is the territory of others.
“For this reason, you should not wander into what is not
your proper range and is the territory of others. In one who wanders into what
is not his proper range and is the territory of others, Mara
gains an opening, Mara gains a foothold. And what, for a monk, is not his
proper range and is the territory of others? The five strands
of sensuality. Which five? Forms cognizable by the eye β agreeable, pleasing,
charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. Sounds cognizable by the
ear… Aromas cognizable by the nose… Flavors cognizable by the tongue…
Tactile sensations cognizable by the body β agreeable, pleasing, charming,
endearing, fostering desire, enticing. These, for a monk, are not his proper
range and are the territory of others.
“Wander, monks, in what is your proper range, your own
ancestral territory. In one who wanders in what is his proper range, his own
ancestral territory, Mara gains no opening, Mara gains no foothold. And what,
for a monk, is his proper range, his own ancestral territory? The
four frames of reference. Which four? There is the case where a monk
remains focused on the body in & of itself β ardent, alert, & mindful β
putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains
focused on feelings in & of themselves… mind in & of itself… mental
qualities in & of themselves β ardent, alert, & mindful β putting aside
greed & distress with reference to the world. This, for a monk, is his
proper range, his own ancestral territory.”
Buddha
Kanchi
everything - JC
