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PTS: A v 193
Uttiya Sutta: To Uttiya
translated from the Pali
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Then Uttiya the wanderer went to the Blessed One and, on
arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly
greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he
said to the Blessed One,
“Master Gotama, is it the case that ‘The cosmos is
eternal: Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“Uttiya, I haven’t declared that ‘The cosmos is eternal:
Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless.’”
“Very well, then, Master Gotama, is it the case that: ‘The
cosmos is not eternal: Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless’?”
“Uttiya, I haven’t declared that ‘The cosmos is not
eternal: Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless.’”
“Very well, then, Master Gotama, is it the case that ‘The
cosmos is finite… The cosmos is infinite… The soul & the body are the
same… The soul is one thing and the body another… After death a Tathagata
exists… After death a Tathagata does not exist… After death a Tathagata
both does & does not exist… After death a Tathagata neither does nor does
not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“Uttiya, I haven’t declared that ‘After death a
Tathagata neither does nor does not exist: Only this is true; anything
otherwise is worthless.’”
“But, Master Gotama, on being asked, ‘Is it the case that “The
cosmos is eternal: Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless”?’ you inform me, ‘Uttiya, I haven’t declared that “The
cosmos is eternal: Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless.”‘ On being asked, ‘Is it the case that “The cosmos is
not eternal… The cosmos is finite… The cosmos is infinite… The soul &
the body are the same… The soul is one thing and the body another… After
death a Tathagata exists… After death a Tathagata does not exist… After
death a Tathagata both does & does not exist… After death a Tathagata
neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless”?’ you inform me, ‘Uttiya, I haven’t declared that “After
death a Tathagata neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true;
anything otherwise is worthless.”‘ Now is there anything you have
declared?”
“Uttiya, having directly known it, I teach the Dhamma to my
disciples for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow &
lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment
of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding.”
“And, Master Gotama, when having directly known it, you
teach the Dhamma to your disciples for the purification of beings, for the
overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain &
distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of
Unbinding, will all the cosmos be led [to release], or a half of it, or a
third?”
When this was said, the Blessed One was silent.
Then the thought occurred to Ven. Ananda:
“Don’t let Uttiya the wanderer acquire the evil viewpoint that, ‘When I
asked him an all-encompassing question, Gotama the contemplative faltered and
didn’t reply. Perhaps he was unable to.’ That would be for his long-term harm
& suffering.” So he said to Uttiya, “In that case, my friend, I
will give you an analogy, for there are cases where it is through the use of
analogy that intelligent people can understand the meaning of what is being
said.
“Uttiya, suppose that there were a
royal frontier fortress with strong ramparts, strong walls & arches, and a
single gate. In it would be a wise, competent, & knowledgeable gatekeeper
to keep out those he didn’t know and to let in those he did. Patrolling the path
around the city, he wouldn’t see a crack or an opening in the walls big enough
for even a cat to slip through. Although he wouldn’t know that ‘So-and-so many
creatures enter or leave the city,’ he would know this: ‘Whatever large
creatures enter or leave the city all enter or leave it through this gate.’
“In the same way, the Tathagata isn’t concerned with
whether all the cosmos or half of it or a third of it will be led to release by
means of that [Dhamma]. But he does know this: ‘All those who have been led,
are being led, or will be led [to release] from the cosmos have done so, are
doing so, or will do so after having abandoned the five hindrances — those
defilements of awareness that weaken discernment — having well-established[1]
their minds in the four frames of reference, and having developed, as they have
come to be, the seven factors for Awakening. When you asked the Blessed One
this question, you had already asked it in another way.[2]
That’s why he didn’t respond.”
1. S. v.
420; Vinaya (Mahavagga, i.
10. No. 17).
2. The Perfect One, one attained
to Truth. The Buddha used it when
referring to himself. For
details, see The Buddha’s Ancient Path,
Piyadassi Thera, Buddhist
Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, p
17, n.4.
3. For a very comprehensive
account of the Four Noble Truths read
The Buddha’s
Ancient Path, Piyadassi Thera, Buddhist Publication
Society. Kandy, Sri Lanka
(Ceylon).
4. As the previous paragraphs
indicate, there are three aspects of
knowledge with regard to each
of the Four Noble Truths: 1. The
knowledge that it is the
Truth (sacca-ñana). 2.
The knowledge that a
certain function with regard
to this Truth should be performed (kiccañana).
3. The knowledge that the
function with regard to this Truth
has been performed (kata-ñana). The twelve ways or modes are
obtained by applying these
three aspects to each of the Four Noble
Truths.
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Notes
1. M. 141.
2. For a very comprehensive
account of the Four Noble Truths read
The Buddha’s
Ancient Path, Piyadassi Thera, Buddhist Publication
Society. Kandy, Sri Lanka
(Ceylon).
3. Literally ‘fruit’, ‘sotapatti phale’.
4. To train in the path of
stream-attainment is more difficult than to
train in the path of
arahantship for the reason that in the former case
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one has to deal with
undeveloped beings, and in the latter case with
those who are already
developed, and who are, by virtue of their
development, not destined to
fall back.
5. This is another epithet of
the Buddha.
NOTES
Ahara, Food
or nutriment is of four kinds: 1. ordinary material food
(kabalinkarahara); 2.
contact (of sense organs with sense objects,
phassahara); 3.
consciousness (viññanahara); and
4. mental volition
(manasañcetanahara).
See The Four Nutriments of Life by
Nyanaponika Thera, Wheel No.
105/106, Buddhist Publication
Society, (BPS) Kandy, Sri
Lanka.
Asubha, Non-attractiveness,
foulness, literally non-beautifulness.
Vedana, Feeling
or sensation is of three kinds: pleasant, unpleasant,
and neutral feeling.
Pañca-upadanakkhandha,
The five aggregates subject to grasping:
matter, feeling or sensation,
perceptions, mental formations, and
consciousness.
Salayatana, The
internal six-fold base: the five physical sense organs
(eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body, and the mind base (see Dependent
Origination or Paticca samuppada, by Piyadassi Thera, Wheel No.
15, BPS).
Satta
Bojjhanga, Seven Factors of Enlightenment: 1. Mindfulness; 2.
Investigation of the dhamma;
3. Energy; 4. Rapture or happiness; 5.
Calm; 6. Concentration; and
7. Equanimity (see Seven Factors of
Enlightenment, by
Piyadassi Thera, Wheel No. 1, BPS).
The Noble Eightfold Path: see
Discourse on the Analysis of the
Truths.
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The four pairs of persons constitute
the four kinds of noble disciples
who have attained the four
paths (or stages) and four fruits of sanctity
(magga and phala). The four stages are: sotapatti (‘Stream Entry’)
where self-illusion, doubt,
and ritualism are ended, sakadagami
(‘Once-return’) where
sensuality and ill-will are weakened, anagami
(‘Non-return’) where
sensuality and ill-will are ended, and arahattha
(‘Arahantship’) where craving
for form, craving for formless
phenomena, conceit,
restlessness, and ignorance are ended. (Ten
bonds or fetters (sanyojanas) that bind the mind to the cycle of
rebirths are in Pali: sakkaya ditti, vicikiccha, silabbata-paramasa,
kama-raga, vyapada,
rupa-raga, arupa-raga, mana, uddhacca and
avijja, respectively.
See Maha-parinibbana Sutta, D.16
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/digha/dn16.html);
also see
‘Buddhism in a Nutshell’ by
Narada Mahathera.)
Navasattavasa, Nine
abodes of beings: the abodes where beings such
as humans, animals, devas, ghosts,
and brahmas are born, and the
realms of the infinity of
space, infinity of consciousness, of nothiness,
and of neither perception and
non-perception (see Minor Readings
and Illustrator, by
Bhikkhu Ñanamoli, Pali Text Society, London,
p.92).
The ten attributes of an Arahant, or Asekha, one
who has
completed his moral and
spiritual training, i.e., the Consummate One:
1. Right Understanding, 2.
Right Thought, 3. Right Speech, 4. Right
Action, 5. Right Livelihood,
6. Right Effort, 7. Right Mindfulness, 8.
Right Concentration, 9. Right
Knowledge (Sammañana), 10.
Right
Deliverance (Samma vimutti) which is the fruit of
Arahantship.
Abbreviations
A. Books
All references to Pali texts
are to the editions of the PTS.
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