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- Anguttara Nikaya III.102
- The Dirt-washer
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"There are these gross impurities in gold: dirty sand, gravel, & grit. The
dirt-washer or his apprentice, having placed [the gold] in a vat, washes it again &
again until he has washed them away.
"When he is rid of them, there remain the moderate impurities in the gold: coarse
sand & fine grit. He washes the gold again & again until he has washed them away.
"When he is rid of them, there remain the fine impurities in the gold: fine sand
& black dust. The dirt-washer or his apprentice washes the gold again & again
until he has washed them away.
"When he is rid of them, there remains just the gold dust. The goldsmith or his
apprentice, having placed it in a crucible, blows on it again & again to blow away the
dross. The gold, as long as it has not been blown on again & again to the point where
the impurities are blown away, as long as it is not refined & free from dross, is not
pliant, malleable, or luminous. It is brittle and not ready to be worked. But there comes
a time when the goldsmith or his apprentice has blown on the gold again & again until
the dross is blown away. The gold, having been blown on again & again to the point
where the impurities are blown away, is then refined, free from dross, plaint, malleable,
& luminous. It is not brittle, and is ready to be worked. Then whatever sort of
ornament he has in mind -- whether a belt, an earring, a necklace, or a gold chain -- the
gold would serve his purpose.
"In the same way, there are these gross impurities in a monk intent on heightened
mind: misconduct in body, speech, & mind. These the monk -- aware & able by nature
-- abandons, destroys, dispels, wipes out of existence. When he is rid of them, there
remain in him the moderate impurities: thoughts of sensuality, ill will, &
harmfulness. These he abandons, destroys, dispels, wipes out of existence. When he is rid
of them there remain in him the fine impurities: thoughts of his caste, thoughts of his
home district, thoughts related to not wanting to be despised. These he abandons,
destroys, dispels, wipes out of existence.
"When he is rid of them, there remain only thoughts of the Dhamma. His
concentration is neither calm nor refined, it has not yet attained serenity or unity, and
is kept in place by the fabrication of forceful restraint. But there comes a time when his
mind grows steady inwardly, settles down, grows unified & concentrated. His
concentration is calm & refined, has attained serenity & unity, and is no longer
kept in place by the fabrication of forceful restraint.
"And then whichever of the 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 -- by means of the divine ear-element, purified and
surpassing the human -- 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 -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the
human -- 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 -- 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
-- 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 -- 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 -- with the
break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the
heavenly world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human --
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 effluents, he remains in the
effluent-free release of awareness and release of discernment, 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."
Note
1. The traditional title for this sutta (Sangha Sutta) has
nothing to do with its content. Thus I have given it a new title. -- The translator. [Go back]