Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Anguttara Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Anguttara Nikaya X.96
- Kokanuda Sutta
- To Kokanuda (On Viewpoints)
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
On one occasion Ven. Ananda was staying near Rajagaha,
at Tapoda monastery. Then, as night was ending, he got up & went
to the Tapoda Hot Springs to bathe his limbs. Having bathed his limbs and having gotten
out of the springs, he stood wearing only his lower robe, drying his limbs. Kokanuda the wanderer, as night was ending, also got up & went to
the Tapoda Hot Springs to bathe his limbs. He saw Ven. Ananda from afar, and on seeing him
said to him, "Who are you, my friend?"
"I am a monk, my friend."
"Which kind of monk?"
"A son-of-the-Sakyan contemplative."
"I would like to ask you about a certain point, if you would give me leave to pose
a question."
"Go ahead and ask. Having heard [your question], I'll inform you."
"How is it, my friend: 'The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything
otherwise is worthless.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Very well, then: 'The cosmos is not eternal. Only this is true; anything
otherwise is worthless.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Very well, then: '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.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Then in that case, do you not know or see?"
"No, my friend. It's not the case that I don't know, I don't see. I do know. I do
see."
"But on being asked, 'How is it, my friend: "The cosmos is eternal.
Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless." Is this the sort of view you
have?' you inform me, 'No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view.' On being asked,
'Very well then: "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." Is this the sort of
view you have?' you inform me, 'No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view.' But on
being asked, 'Then in that case, do you not know, I don't see?' you inform me, 'No, my
friend. It's not the case that I don't know or see. I do know. I do see.' Now, how is the
meaning of this statement to be understood?"
"'The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless,' is a viewpoint. '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,' is a viewpoint. The extent to which
there are viewpoints, view-stances, the taking up of views, obsessions with views, the
cause of views, & the uprooting of views: that's what I know. That's what I see.
Knowing that, I say 'I know.' Seeing that, I say 'I see.' Why should I say 'I don't know,
I don't see'? I do know. I do see."
"What is your name, my friend? What do your fellows in the chaste life call
you?"
"My name is Ananda, my friend, and that's what my fellows in the chaste life call
me."
"What? Have I been talking with the great teacher without realizing that it was
Ven. Ananda? Had I recognized that it was Ven. Ananda, I would not have cross-examined him
so much. May Ven. Ananda please forgive me."
See also: AN IV.42; AN X.93; Sn IV.12