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- Anguttara Nikaya IX.35
- Gavi Sutta
- The Cow
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"Suppose there was a mountain cow -- foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with her
pasture, unskilled in roaming on rugged mountains -- 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 -- 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unfamiliar with his pasture, unskilled in being quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn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 -- 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 thought &
evaluation, were to enter & remain in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of
composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation --
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 -- wise, experienced, familiar with her
pasture, skilled in roaming on rugged mountains -- 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 -- 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 -- 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 thought &
evaluation, I were to enter & remain in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born
of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation --
internal assurance.' Without jumping at the second jhana, he -- with the stilling of
directed thought & evaluation -- enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture
& pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought
& evaluation -- 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 in equanimity, mindful & alert, and physically sensitive
to pleasure, entering & remaining in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare,
'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable 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
-- as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress -- 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 sphere
of the infinitude of space.' Without jumping at the sphere 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, thinking,
'Infinite space,' enters & remains in the sphere 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 sphere
of the infinitude of consciousness.' Without jumping at the sphere of the infinitude of
consciousness, he, with the complete transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of
space, thinking, 'Infinite consciousness,' enters & remains in the sphere 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 sphere
of the nothingness.' Without jumping at the sphere of nothingness, he, with the complete
transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness, thinking, 'There is
nothing,' enters & remains in the sphere 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 sphere
of neither perception nor non-perception.' Without jumping at the sphere of neither
perception nor non-perception, he, with the complete transcending of the sphere of
nothingness, enters & remains in the sphere 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
sphere 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 sphere 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 well-developed, limitless concentration, 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 -- 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 mental fermentations, 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."