426
LESSON 04 11 2011 Gavi Sutta The Cow
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-
AbhisamayΔlamkΔra:
The Noble One Resting at Ease II
AN 9.35
PTS: A iv
418
Gavi Sutta: The Cow
translated from the Pali
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
“Suppose
there was a mountain cow β foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with her pasture,
unskilled in roaming on rugged mountains β and she were to think, ‘What if I
were to go in a direction I have never gone before, to eat grass I have never
eaten before, to drink water I have never drunk before!’ She would lift her
hind hoof without having placed her front hoof firmly and [as a result] would
not get to go in a direction she had never gone before, to eat grass she had
never eaten before, or to drink water she had never drunk before. And as for
the place where she was standing when the thought occurred to her, ‘What if I
were to go where I have never been before… to drink water I have never drunk
before,’ she would not return there safely. Why is that? Because she is a
foolish, inexperienced mountain cow, unfamiliar with her pasture, unskilled in
roaming on rugged mountains.
“In
the same way, there are cases where a monk β foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar
with his pasture, unskilled in being quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn
from unskillful qualities, and entering & remaining in the first jhana:
rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought
& evaluation β doesn’t stick with that theme, doesn’t develop it, pursue
it, or establish himself firmly in it. The thought occurs to him, ‘What if I,
with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, were to enter &
remain in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure,
unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation β internal
assurance.’ He is not able… to enter & remain in the second jhana… The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the first
jhana… He is not able… to enter & remain in the first jhana. This is
called a monk who has slipped & fallen from both sides, like the mountain
cow, foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with her pasture, unskilled in roaming
on rugged mountains.
“But
suppose there was a mountain cow β wise, experienced, familiar with her
pasture, skilled in roaming on rugged mountains β and she were to think, ‘What
if I were to go in a direction I have never gone before, to eat grass I have
never eaten before, to drink water I have never drunk before!’ She would lift
her hind hoof only after having placed her front hoof firmly and [as a result]
would get to go in a direction she had never gone before… to drink water she
had never drunk before. And as for the place where she was standing when the
thought occurred to her, ‘What if I were to go in a direction I have never gone
before… to drink water I have never drunk before,’ she would return there
safely. Why is that? Because she is a wise, experienced mountain cow, familiar
with her pasture, skilled in roaming on rugged mountains.
“In
the same way, there are some cases where a monk β wise, experienced, familiar
with his pasture, skilled in being quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn
from unskillful qualities, and entering & remaining in the first jhana:
rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought
& evaluation β sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, &
establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if, with the stilling of directed thoughts &
evaluations, I were to enter & remain in the second jhana: rapture &
pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought
& evaluation β internal assurance.’ Without jumping at the second jhana, he
β with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations β enters &
remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure,
unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation β internal
assurance. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, &
establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if, with the fading of rapture, I… were to enter
& remain in the third jhana…’ Without jumping at the third jhana, with
the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses
pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which
the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.’
He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, & establishes himself firmly
in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the fourth
jhana…’ Without jumping at the fourth jhana, with the abandoning of pleasure
& stress β as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress β he
enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity &
mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sticks with that theme, develops it,
pursues it, & establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the dimension
of the infinitude of space.’ Without jumping at the dimension of the infinitude
of space, he, with the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form,
with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding
perceptions of diversity, [perceiving,] ‘Infinite space,’ enters & remains
in the dimension of the infinitude of space. He sticks with that theme,
develops it, pursues it, & establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the dimension
of the infinitude of consciousness.’ Without jumping at the dimension of the
infinitude of consciousness, he, with the complete transcending of the
dimension of the infinitude of space, [perceiving,] ‘Infinite consciousness,’
enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. He
sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, & establishes himself
firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the
dimension of nothingness.’ Without jumping at the dimension of nothingness, he,
with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of
consciousness, [perceiving,] ‘There is nothing,’ enters & remains in the
dimension of nothingness. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues, it
& establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I… were to enter & remain in the
dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’ Without jumping at the
dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, he, with the complete transcending
of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of
neither perception nor non-perception. He sticks with that theme, develops it,
pursues it, & establishes himself firmly in it.
“The
thought occurs to him, ‘What if I, with the complete transcending of the
dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, were to enter & remain
in the cessation of perception & feeling.’ Without jumping at the cessation
of perception & feeling, he, with the complete transcending of the dimension
of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation
of perception & feeling.
“When
a monk enters &
emerges from that very attainment, his mind is pliant & malleable. With his
pliant, malleable mind, limitless concentration is well developed. With his
concentration well developed & limitless, then whichever of the six higher
knowledges he turns his mind to know & realize, he can witness them for himself
whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes
many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes
unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives
in and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking
as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a
winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so
mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the
Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, he hears β by means of the divine ear-element, purified and
surpassing the human β both kinds of sounds: divine and human, whether near or
far. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, he knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having
encompassed it with his own awareness. He discerns a mind with passion as a
mind with passion, and a mind without passion as a mind without passion. He
discerns a mind with aversion as a mind with aversion, and a mind without
aversion as a mind without aversion. He discerns a mind with delusion as a mind
with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. He
discerns a restricted mind as a restricted mind, and a scattered mind as a
scattered mind. He discerns an enlarged mind as an enlarged mind, and an
unenlarged mind as an unenlarged mind. He discerns an excelled mind [one that
is not at the most excellent level] as an excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind
as an unexcelled mind. He discerns a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind,
and an unconcentrated mind as an unconcentrated mind. He discerns a released
mind as a released mind, and an unreleased mind as an unreleased mind. He can
witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, he recollects his manifold past lives (lit: previous homes), i.e.,
one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty,
fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic
contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction
and expansion, [recollecting], ‘There I had such a name, belonged to such a
clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure
and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose
there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an
appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the
end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.’ Thus he
remembers his manifold past lives in their modes and details. He can witness
this for himself whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, he sees β by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the
human β beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are
inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in
accordance with their kamma: ‘These beings β who were endowed with bad conduct
of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and
undertook actions under the influence of wrong views β with the break-up of the
body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad
destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings β who were endowed
with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones,
who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views β
with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good
destinations, in the heavenly world.’ Thus β by means of the divine eye,
purified and surpassing the human β he sees beings passing away and
re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and
ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma. He can witness
this for himself whenever there is an opening.
“If
he wants, then through the ending of the mental fermentations, he remains in
the fermentation-free awareness-release and discernment-release, having known
and made them manifest for himself right in the here and now. He can witness
this for himself whenever there is an opening.”
FREE ONLINE CONCENTRATION
PRACTICE INSTITUTE FOR STUDENTS(FOCPIS)-
DOB 711 AbhisamayΔlamkΔra:
The Noble One Resting at Ease II - 2 credits
Delivery Mode: Residential & Online
Course Description:
This course is a continuation of the in-depth study of AbhisamayΔlamkΔra
by
Maitreya
(ca. 4th century), based on the commentary by the Eight
Karmapa, MikyΓΆ Dorje (1507-
1554). We will study the second and the third abhisamaya: Chapter two -
“The
Knowledge of the Path,” which is direct
realizations that the three paths are primordial
peace, and Chapter three - “The
All-knowledge,” the direct realization that all bases are
primordial peace without abiding in existence or peace.
Prerequisite: DOB 710