238 LESSON
25 04 2011
Malunkyaputta Sutta To Malunkyaputta Free ONLINE
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LESSON 238
Malunkyaputta
Sutta: To Malunkyaputta
Then Ven. Malunkyaputta, who was ardent & resolute, 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 so that, having heard the
Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone in seclusion: heedful, ardent,
& resolute.”
“Here now, Malunkyaputta: What will I say to the young
monks when you β aged, old, elderly, along in years, come to the last stage of
life β ask for an admonition in brief?”
“Lord, even though I’m aged, old, elderly, along in years,
come to the last stage of life, may the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma in
brief! May the One Well-gone teach me the Dhamma in brief! It may well be that
I’ll understand the Blessed One’s words. It may well be that I’ll become an
heir to the Blessed One’s words.”
“What do you think, Malunkyaputta: the forms cognizable via
the eye that are unseen by you β that you have never before seen, that you
don’t see, and that are not to be seen by you: Do you have any desire or
passion or love there?”
“No, lord.”[1]
“The sounds cognizable via the ear…
“The aromas cognizable via the nose…
“The flavors cognizable via the tongue…
“The tactile sensations cognizable via the body…
“The ideas cognizable via the intellect that are uncognized
by you β that you have never before cognized, that you don’t cognize, and that
are not to be cognized by you: Do you have any desire or passion or love
there?”
“No, lord.”
“Then, Malunkyaputta,
with regard to phenomena to be seen, heard, sensed, or cognized: In reference
to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the
heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the
cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for
you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in
reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the
cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Malunkyaputta, there is no youin
connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder
nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress.”[2]
“I understand in detail, lord, the meaning of what the
Blessed One has said in brief:
Seeing a form
β
mindfulness lapsed β
attending
to
the theme of ‘endearing,’
impassioned in mind,
one
feels
and
remains fastened there.
One’s feelings, born of the form,
grow
numerous,
Greed & annoyance
injure
one’s mind.
Thus amassing stress,
one
is said to be far from Unbinding.
Hearing a sound…
Smelling an aroma…
Tasting a flavor…
Touching a tactile sensation…
Knowing an idea
β
mindfulness lapsed β
attending
to
the theme of ‘endearing,’
impassioned in mind,
one
feels
and
remains fastened there.
One’s feelings, born of the idea,
grow
numerous,
Greed & annoyance
injure
one’s mind.
Thus amassing stress,
one
is said to be far from Unbinding.
Not impassioned with forms
β
seeing a form with mindfulness firm β
dispassioned in mind,
one
knows
and
doesn’t remain fastened there.
While one is seeing a form
β
and even experiencing feeling β
it falls away and doesn’t accumulate.
Thus one fares mindfully.
Thus not amassing stress,
one
is said to be
in the presence of Unbinding.
Not impassioned with sounds…
Not impassioned with aromas…
Not impassioned with flavors…
Not impassioned with tactile sensations…
Not impassioned with ideas
β
knowing an idea with mindfulness firm β
dispassioned in mind,
one
knows
and
doesn’t remain fastened there.
While one is knowing an idea
β
and even experiencing feeling β
it falls away and doesn’t accumulate.
Thus one fares mindfully.
Thus not amassing stress,
one
is said to be
in the presence of Unbinding.
“It’s in this way, lord, that I understand in detail the
meaning of what the Blessed One said in brief.”
“Good, Malunkyaputta. Very good. It’s good that you
understand in detail this way the meaning of what I said in brief.”
[The Buddha then repeats the verses.]
“It’s in this way, Malunkyaputta, that the meaning of what
I said in brief should be regarded in detail.”
Then Ven. Malunkyaputta,
having been admonished by the admonishment from
the Blessed One, got up from his seat and bowed down to the Blessed One,
circled around him, keeping the Blessed One to his right side, and left. 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 Ven. Malunkyaputta became another one of the arahants.