THE BLESSED NOBLE AWAKENED ONE - THE TATHAGATA
sensuality
The Rod Embraced
“When embraced, the rod of violence breeds danger & fear: Look at people quarreling. I will tell of how I experienced dismay. Seeing people floundering like fish in small puddles, competing with one another β as I saw this, fear came into me. The world was entirely without substance. All the directions were knocked out of line. Wanting a haven for myself, I saw nothing that wasn’t laid claim to. Seeing nothing in the end but competition, I felt discontent. And then I saw an arrow here, so very hard to see, embedded in the heart. Overcome by this arrow you run in all directions. But simply on pulling it out you don’t run, you don’t sink. [Here the trainings are recited.] Whatever things are tied down in the world, you shouldn’t be set on them. Having totally penetrated sensual pleasures, sensual passions, you should train for your own Unbinding. Be truthful, not insolent, not deceptive, rid of divisiveness. Without anger, the sage should cross over the evil of greed & avarice. He should conquer laziness, weariness, sloth; shouldn’t consort with heedlessness, shouldn’t stand firm in his pride β the man with his heart set on Unbinding. He shouldn’t engage in lying, shouldn’t create a sense of allure in form, should fully fathom conceit, and live refraining from impulsiveness; shouldn’t delight in what’s old, prefer what’s new, grieve over decline, get entangled in what’s dazzling & bright. I call greed a ‘great flood’; hunger, a swift current. Preoccupations are ripples; sensuality, a bog hard to cross over. Not deviating from truth, a sage stands on high ground : a brahman. Having renounced All, he is said to be at peace; having clearly known, he is an attainer-of-wisdom; knowing the Doctrine-Practice of The True Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Tathagata, he’s independent. Moving rightly through the world, he doesn’t envy anyone here. Whoever here has gone over & beyond sensual passions β an attachment hard to transcend in the world, doesn’t sorrow, doesn’t fret. He, his stream cut, is free from bonds. Burn up what’s before, and have nothing for after. If you don’t grasp at what’s in between, you will go about, calm. For whom, in name & form, in every way, there’s no sense of mine, and who doesn’t grieve over what is not: he, in the world, isn’t defeated, suffers no loss. To whom there doesn’t occur ‘This is mine,’ for whom nothing is others,’ feeling no sense of mine-ness, doesn’t grieve at the thought ‘I have nothing.’ Not harsh, not greedy, not perturbed, everywhere in tune: this is the reward β I say when asked β for those who are free from pre- conceptions. For one unperturbed β who knows β there’s no accumulating. Abstaining, unaroused, he everywhere sees security. The sage doesn’t speak of himself as among those who are higher, equal, or lower. At peace, free of selfishness, he doesn’t embrace, doesn’t reject,” the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. Nd. I: The rod of violence takes three forms: physical violence (the three forms of bodily misconduct), verbal violence (the four forms of verbal misconduct), and mental violence (the three forms of mental misconduct). See AN 10.176.
2. Nd. I: “One doesn’t run” to any of the destinations of rebirth; “one doesn’t sink” into any of the four floods of sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance (see SN 45.171 and AN 4.10).
3. This phrase, a kind of stage direction, seems to indicate that this poem had a ritual use, as part of a ceremony for giving the precepts.
4. “Sensual pleasure, sensual passions”: two meanings of the word kama.
5. Nd. I: “Old” and “new” mean past and present aggregates.
6. Nd. I: “what’s dazzling & bright” = craving and other defilements.
7. For the definition of All, see the discussion in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 31-32.
8. Nd. I: “Before,” “after,” and “in between” = past, future, and present.
9. “Isn’t defeated, suffers no loss” β two meanings of the Pali phrase, na jiyyati.
Heirless (1)
At Savatthi. Then King Pasenadi Kosala went to the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him, “Well now, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?”
“Just now, lord, a money-lending householder died in Savatthi. I have come from conveying his heirless fortune to the royal palace: eight million in silver, to say nothing of the gold. But even though he was a money-lending householder, his enjoyment of food was like this: he ate broken rice & pickle brine. His enjoyment of clothing was like this: he wore three lengths of hempen cloth. His enjoyment of a vehicle was like this: he rode in a dilapidated little cart with an awning of leaves.”
“That’s the way it is, great king. That’s the way it is. When a person of no integrity acquires lavish wealth, he doesn’t provide for his own pleasure & satisfaction, nor for the pleasure & satisfaction of his parents, nor for the pleasure & satisfaction of his wife & children; nor for the pleasure & satisfaction of his slaves, servants, & assistants; nor for the pleasure & satisfaction of his friends. He doesn’t institute for priests & contemplatives offerings of supreme aim, heavenly, resulting in happiness, leading to heaven. When his wealth isn’t properly put to use, kings make off with it, or thieves make off with it, or fire burns it, or water sweeps it away, or hateful heirs make off with it. Thus his wealth, not properly put to use, goes to waste and not to any good use.
“Just as with a pond in a place haunted by non-human beings, with clear water, cool water, fresh water, clean, with good fords, delightful: No people would draw water from it or drink it or bathe in it or apply it to their needs. And so that water, not properly put to use, would go to waste and not to any good use. In the same way, when a person of no integrity acquires lavish wealth… his wealth, not properly put to use, goes to waste and not to any good use.
“But when a person of integrity acquires lavish wealth, he provides for his own pleasure & satisfaction, for the pleasure & satisfaction of his parents, the pleasure & satisfaction of his wife & children; the pleasure & satisfaction of his slaves, servants, & assistants; and the pleasure & satisfaction of his friends. He institutes for priests & contemplatives offerings of supreme aim, heavenly, resulting in happiness, leading to heaven. When his wealth is properly put to use, kings don’t make off with it, thieves don’t make off with it, fire doesn’t burn it, water doesn’t sweep it away, and hateful heirs don’t make off with it. Thus his wealth, properly put to use, goes to a good use and not to waste.
“Just as with a pond not far from a town or village, with clear water, cool water, fresh water, clean, with good fords, delightful. People would draw water from it or drink it or bathe in it or apply it to their needs. And so that water, properly put to use, would go to a good use and not to waste. In the same way, when a person of integrity acquires lavish wealth… his wealth, properly put to use, goes to a good use and not to waste.”
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:
Like water in a haunted place that, without being imbibed, dries up: such is the wealth acquired by a worthless person who neither enjoys it himself nor gives. But one awakened & knowing, on acquiring wealth, enjoys it & performs his duties. He, a bull among men, having supported his kin, without blame goes to the land of heaven.