I have heard that on one occasion Ven. Maha Kaccana was staying in Avanti at Osprey’s Haunt, on Sheer-face Peak. Then Haliddakani the householder went to him and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to Ven. Maha Kaccana: “Venerable sir, this was said by the Blessed One in Magandiya’s Questions in the Atthaka Vagga:

“How is the detailed meaning of this, the Blessed One’s brief statement, to be understood?”

[Ven. Maha Kaccana:] “The property of form, householder, is the home of consciousness. When consciousness is in bondage through passion to the property of form, it is said to be living at home. The property of feeling… perception… fabrication is the home of consciousness. When consciousness is in bondage through passion to the property of fabrication, it is said to be dwelling at home.

“And how does one not live at home? Any desire, passion, delight, craving, any attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases, or obsessions with regard to the property of form: these the Tathagata has abandoned, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Therefore the Tathagata is said to be not dwelling at home.

“Any desire, passion, delight, craving, any attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases or obsessions with regard to the property of feeling… perception… fabrication…

“Any desire, passion, delight, craving, any attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases or obsessions with regard to the property of consciousness: these the Tathagata has abandoned, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Therefore the Tathagata is said to be not dwelling at home.

“And how does one live with society? One who is in bondage to the distraction of the society of form-impressions is said to be living in society. One who is in bondage to the distraction of the society of sound-impressions… aroma-impressions… flavor-impressions… tactile-sensation-impressions… idea-impressions is said to be living in society. This is how one lives with society.

“And how does one live free from society? The Tathagata has abandoned bondage to the distraction of the society of form-impressions, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Therefore the Tathagata is said to be living free from society.

“The Tathagata has abandoned bondage to the distraction of the society of sound-impressions… aroma-impressions… flavor-impressions… tactile-sensation-impressions… idea-impressions, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Therefore the Tathagata is said to be living free from society.

“And how is one intimate in villages? There is the case where a certain person lives entangled with householders. Delighting together with them, sorrowing together with them, happy when they are happy, pained when they are pained, he takes on any of their arisen business affairs as his own duty. This is how one is intimate in villages.

“And how is one not intimate in villages? There is the case where a monk lives unentangled with householders. Not delighting together with them, not sorrowing together with them, not happy when they are happy, not pained when they are pained, he does not take on any of their arisen business affairs as his own duty. This is how one is not intimate in villages.

“And how is one not rid of sensual passions? There is the case where a certain person is not free of passion for sensual pleasures, not free of desire, not free of love, not free of thirst, not free of fever, not free of craving for sensual pleasures. This is how one is not rid of sensual passions.

“And how is one rid of sensual passions? There is the case where a certain person is free of passion for sensual pleasures, free of desire, free of love, free of thirst, free of fever, free of craving for sensual pleasures. This is how one is rid of sensual passions.

“And how does one have yearnings? There is the case where a certain person thinks, ‘May form be like this in the future. May feeling… May perception… May fabrication… May consciousness be like this in the future.’ This is how one has yearnings.

“And how is one free from yearning? There is the case where a certain person does not think, ‘May form be like this in the future. May feeling… May perception… May fabrication… May consciousness be like this in the future.’ This is how one is free from yearning.

“And how does one engage with people in quarrelsome debate? There is the case where a certain person is a fomenter of this kind of debate: ‘You understand this doctrine & discipline? I’m the one who understands this doctrine & discipline. How could you understand this doctrine & discipline? You’re practicing wrongly. I’m practicing rightly. What should be said first you said last. What should be said last you said first. I’m being consistent. You’re not. What you took so long to think out has been refuted. Your doctrine has been overthrown. You’re defeated. Go and try to salvage your doctrine, or extricate yourself if you can!’ This is how one engages with people in quarrelsome debate.

“And how does one not engage with people in quarrelsome debate? There is the case where a certain person is not a fomenter of this kind of debate: ‘You understand this doctrine & discipline? I’m the one who understands this doctrine & discipline. How could you understand this doctrine & discipline? You’re practicing wrongly. I’m practicing rightly. What should be said first you said last. What should be said last you said first. I’m being consistent. You’re not. What you took so long to think out has been refuted. Your doctrine has been overthrown. You’re defeated. Go and try to salvage your doctrine, or extricate yourself if you can!’ This is how one does not engage with people in quarrelsome debate.

“So, householder, what was said by the Blessed One in Magandiya’s Questions in the Atthaka Vagga:

“This is how the detailed meaning of this, the Blessed One’s brief statement, is to be understood.”

U.P. House votes for split

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday moved a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha for splitting the State into Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Avadh Pradesh and Pashchim Pradesh and it was passed by voice vote amid pandemonium. The House was adjourned sine die within 20 minutes after the winter session began.

The resolution went through as members of the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party stormed the well. The adjournment stunned the two parties, as they had served a no-confidence notice against the government and demanded a discussion. Nor was there any discussion on the resolution, though it was supported by the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Before the resolution was moved, a vote-on-account for the first four months of 2012-13 was passed by voice vote. The winter session was to have lasted for two days, and the decision of the Business Advisory Committee was read out by Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar. However, after the vote-on-account and the resolution were passed, he adjourned the House sine die at 12.35 p.m.

Barring five minutes after the House assembled, the entire question hour was lost. When the House re-assembled at 12.20 p.m. for zero hour, the rest of the proceedings were concluded in 15 minutes, before the curtains were down on the session, possibly the last of the 15th Vidhan Sabha.

U.P. to send resolution to Centre soon

The Central government was being asked to reorganise Uttar Pradesh into Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Avadh Pradesh and Pashchim Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati said while reading out the resolution in the Vidhan Sabha on the issue. She defended her move saying her government had fulfilled its responsibility in people’s interest.

After the resolution was passed, Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Lalji Verma urged the Speaker that the passage of the vote-on-account be taken as a vote of confidence in the government. This, too, was passed by a voice vote

Ms. Mayawati later told journalists that the resolution would soon be sent to the Centre. She rejected the Opposition charge that the decision was an election stunt.

She parried a question whether the division would form her Bahujan Samajwadi Party’s agenda for the Assembly elections due next year. She said the reorganisation was necessary for development.

The House got off to a stormy start when it assembled for question hour, with Samajwadi Party members demanding the dismissal of the government and BJP members trooping into the well.

While the BJP said it had no confidence in the government, the Samajwadi Party said the government was in a minority.

As bedlam prevailed, the Speaker adjourned the House till 12.20 p.m.

The commotion continued when the session resumed after question hour, before the House was adjourned.

Talking to journalists, Leader of the Opposition Shivpal Singh Yadav accused the government of violating the Constitution as the no-confidence motion was not put up for discussion.

“In a minority”

He said the government was in a minority and the people did not want any division of the State.

He later led a Samajwadi Party delegation to Governor B.L. Joshi and demanded that a special session of the Assembly be convened, and the proposal be put to vote.

BJP Legislature Party leader Om Prakash Singh said the decision to table the resolution was ill-intentioned, as it was passed without any discussion.