Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Majjhima Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Majjhima Nikaya 36
- Maha-Saccaka Sutta
- The Longer Discourse to Saccaka
- (excerpt)
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
... [The Buddha is speaking to Saccaka Aggivessana:]
"Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought
occurred to me: 'The household life is crowded, a dusty road. Life gone
forth is the open air. It isn't easy, living in a home, to lead the holy life that is
totally perfect, totally pure, a polished shell. What if I, having shaved off my hair
& beard and putting on the ochre robe, were to go forth from the home life into
homelessness?'
"So at a later time, when I was still young, black-haired, endowed with the
blessings of youth in the first stage of life, having shaved off my hair & beard --
though my parents wished otherwise and were grieving with tears on their faces -- I put on
the ochre robe and went forth from the home life into homelessness.
"Having gone forth in search of what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled
state of sublime peace, I went to Alara Kalama and, on arrival, said
to him: 'Friend Kalama, I want to practice in this doctrine & discipline.'
"When this was said, he replied to me, 'You may stay here, my friend. This
doctrine is such that a wise person can soon enter & dwell in his own teacher's
knowledge, having realized it for himself through direct knowledge.'
"It was not long before I learned the doctrine. As far as mere lip-reciting &
repetition, I could speak the words of knowledge, the words of the elders, and I could
affirm that I knew & saw -- I, along with others.
"I thought: 'It isn't through mere conviction alone that Alara Kalama declares,
"I have entered & dwell in this Dhamma, having realized it for myself through
direct knowledge." Certainly he dwells knowing & seeing this Dhamma.' So I went
to him and said, 'To what extent do you declare that you have entered & dwell in this
Dhamma?' When this was said, he declared the sphere of nothingness.
"I thought: 'Not only does Alara Kalama have conviction, persistence, mindfulness,
concentration, & discernment. I, too, have conviction, persistence, mindfulness,
concentration, & discernment. What if I were to endeavor to realize for myself the
Dhamma that Alara Kalama declares he has entered & dwells in, having realized it for
himself through direct knowledge.' So it was not long before I quickly entered &
dwelled in that Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct knowledge. I went to
him and said, 'Friend Kalama, is this the extent to which you have entered & dwell in
this Dhamma, having realized it for yourself through direct knowledge?'
"'Yes, my friend...'
"'This, friend, is the extent to which I, too, have entered & dwell in this
Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct knowledge.'
"'It is a gain for us, my friend, a great gain for us, that we have such a
companion in the holy life. So the Dhamma I declare I have entered & dwell in, having
realized it for myself through direct knowledge, is the Dhamma you declare you have
entered & dwell in, having realized it for yourself through direct knowledge. And the
Dhamma you declare you have entered & dwell in, having realized it for yourself
through direct knowledge, is the Dhamma I declare I have entered & dwell in, having
realized it for myself through direct knowledge. The Dhamma I know is the Dhamma you know;
the Dhamma you know is the Dhamma I know. As I am, so are you; as you are, so am I. Come
friend, let us now lead this community together.'
"In this way did Alara Kalama, my teacher, place me, his pupil, on the same level
with himself and pay me great honor. But the thought occurred to me, 'This Dhamma leads
not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to
Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the sphere of nothingness.' So,
dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I left.
"In search of what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled state of sublime
peace, I went to Uddaka Ramaputta and, on arrival, said to him:
'Friend Uddaka, I want to practice in this doctrine & discipline.'
"When this was said, he replied to me, 'You may stay here, my friend. This
doctrine is such that a wise person can soon enter & dwell in his own teacher's
knowledge, having realized it for himself through direct knowledge.'
"It was not long before I quickly learned the doctrine. As far as mere
lip-reciting & repetition, I could speak the words of knowledge, the words of the
elders, and I could affirm that I knew & saw -- I, along with others.
"I thought: 'It wasn't through mere conviction alone that Rama declared, "I
have entered & dwell in this Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct
knowledge." Certainly he dwelled knowing & seeing this Dhamma.' So I went to
Uddaka and said, 'To what extent did Rama declare that he had entered & dwelled in
this Dhamma?' When this was said, Uddaka declared the sphere of neither perception nor
non-perception.
"I thought: 'Not only did Rama have conviction, persistence, mindfulness,
concentration, & discernment. I, too, have conviction, persistence, mindfulness,
concentration, & discernment. What if I were to endeavor to realize for myself the
Dhamma that Rama declared he entered & dwelled in, having realized it for himself
through direct knowledge.' So it was not long before I quickly entered & dwelled in
that Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct knowledge. I went to Uddaka and
said, 'Friend Uddaka, is this the extent to which Rama entered & dwelled in this
Dhamma, having realized it for himself through direct knowledge?'
"'Yes, my friend...'
"'This, friend, is the extent to which I, too, have entered & dwell in this
Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct knowledge.'
"'It is a gain for us, my friend, a great gain for us, that we have such a
companion in the holy life. So the Dhamma Rama declared he entered & dwelled in,
having realized it for himself through direct knowledge, is the Dhamma you declare you
have entered & dwell in, having realized it for yourself through direct knowledge. And
the Dhamma you declare you have entered & dwell in, having realized it for yourself
through direct knowledge, is the Dhamma Rama declared he entered & dwelled in, having
realized it for himself through direct knowledge. The Dhamma he knew is the Dhamma you
know; the Dhamma you know is the Dhamma he knew. As he was, so are you; as you are, so was
he. Come friend, lead this community.'
"In this way did Uddaka Ramaputta, my companion in the holy life, place me in the
position of teacher and pay me great honor. But the thought occurred to me, 'This Dhamma
leads not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct
knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the sphere of
neither perception nor non-perception.' So, dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I left.
"In search of what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled state of sublime
peace, I wandered by stages in the Magadhan country and came to the military town of
Uruvela. There I saw some delightful countryside, with an inspiring forest grove, a
clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all sides.
The thought occurred to me: 'How delightful is this countryside, with its inspiring forest
grove, clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all
sides. This is just right for the striving of a clansman intent on striving.' So I sat
down right there, thinking, 'This is just right for striving.'
"Then these three similes -- spontaneous, never before heard -- appeared to me. Suppose there were a wet, sappy piece of timber lying in the water, and a
man were to come along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll
produce heat.' Now what do you think? Would he be able to light a fire and produce heat by
rubbing the upper fire-stick in the wet, sappy timber lying in the water?"
"No, Master Gotama. Why is that? Because the timber is wet & sappy, and
besides it is lying in the water. Eventually the man would reap only his share of
weariness & disappointment."
"So it is with any priest or contemplative who does not live withdrawn from
sensuality in body & mind, and whose desire, infatuation, urge, thirst, & fever
for sensuality is not relinquished & stilled within him: Whether or not he feels
painful, racking, piercing feelings due to his striving [for Awakening], he is incapable
of knowledge, vision, & unexcelled self-awakening. This was the first simile --
spontaneous, never before heard -- that appeared to me.
"Then a second simile -- spontaneous, never before heard -- appeared to me.
Suppose there were a wet, sappy piece of timber lying on land far from water, and a man
were to come along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll produce
heat.' Now what do you think? Would he be able to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing
the upper fire-stick in the wet, sappy timber lying on land far from water?"
"No, Master Gotama. Why is that? Because the timber is wet & sappy, even
though it is lying on land far from water. Eventually the man would reap only his share of
weariness & disappointment."
"So it is with any priest or contemplative who lives withdrawn from sensuality in
body only, but whose desire, infatuation, urge, thirst, & fever for sensuality is not
relinquished & stilled within him: Whether or not he feels painful, racking, piercing
feelings due to his striving, he is incapable of knowledge, vision, & unexcelled
self-awakening. This was the second simile -- spontaneous, never before heard -- that
appeared to me.
"Then a third simile -- spontaneous, never before heard -- appeared to me. Suppose
there were a dry, sapless piece of timber lying on land far from water, and a man were to
come along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll produce heat.' Now
what do you think? Would he be able to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the upper
fire-stick in the dry, sapless timber lying on land?"
"Yes, Master Gotama. Why is that? Because the timber is dry & sapless, and
besides it is lying on land far from water."
"So it is with any priest or contemplative who lives withdrawn from sensuality in
body & mind, and whose desire, infatuation, urge, thirst, & fever for sensuality
is relinquished & stilled within him: Whether or not he feels painful, racking,
piercing feelings due to his striving, he is capable of knowledge, vision, &
unexcelled self-awakening. This was the third simile -- spontaneous, never before heard --
that appeared to me.
"I thought: 'Suppose that I, clenching my teeth and pressing my tongue against the
roof of my mouth, were to beat down, constrain, & crush my mind with my awareness.'
So, clenching my teeth and pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I beat down,
constrained, & crushed my mind with my awareness. Just as a strong man, seizing a
weaker man by the head or the throat or the shoulders, would beat him down, constrain,
& crush him, in the same way I beat down, constrained, & crushed my mind with my
awareness. As I did so, sweat poured from my armpits. And although tireless persistence
was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my body was aroused & uncalm
because of the painful exertion. But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not
invade my mind or remain.
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to become absorbed in the trance of non-breathing.' So
I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there was
a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar
of winds coming out of a smith's bellows...So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp
sword...Extreme pains arose in my head, just as if a strong man were
tightening a turban made of tough leather straps around my head...Extreme forces carved up
my stomach cavity, just as if a butcher or his apprentice were to
carve up the stomach cavity of an ox...There was an extreme burning in my body, just as if
two strong men, grabbing a weaker man by the arms, were to roast & broil him over a
pit of hot embers. And although tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled
mindfulness established, my body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion.
But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"Devas, on seeing me, said, 'Gotama the contemplative is dead.' Other devas said,
'He isn't dead, he's dying.' Others said, 'He's neither dead nor dying, he's an arahant,
for this is the way arahants live.'
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to practice going altogether without food.' Then devas
came to me and said, 'Dear sir, please don't practice going altogether without food. If
you go altogether without food, we'll infuse divine nourishment in through your pores, and
you will survive on that.' I thought, 'If I were to claim to be completely fasting while
these devas are infusing divine nourishment in through my pores, I would be lying.' So I
dismissed them, saying, 'Enough.'
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to take only a little food at a time, only a handful
at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.' So I took only a little
food at a time, only handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.
My body became extremely emaciated. Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like
the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems...My backside became like a camel's
hoof...My spine stood out like a string of beads...My ribs jutted out like the jutting
rafters of an old, run-down barn...The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye
sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well...My scalp shriveled & withered like a
green bitter gourd, shriveled & withered in the heat & the wind...The skin of my
belly became so stuck to my spine that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold
of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine, I grabbed hold of the skin
of my belly as well...If I urinated or defecated, I fell over on my face right
there...Simply from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs
with my hands, the hair -- rotted at its roots -- fell from my body as I rubbed, simply
from eating so little.
"People on seeing me would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is black. Other people
would say, 'Gotama the contemplative isn't black, he's brown.' Others would say, 'Gotama
the contemplative is neither black nor brown, he's golden-skinned. So much had the clear,
bright color of my skin deteriorated, simply from eating so little.
"I thought: 'Whatever priests or contemplatives in the past have felt painful,
racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been
greater than this. Whatever priests or contemplatives in the future will feel painful,
racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater
than this. Whatever priests or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking,
piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this.
But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state,
any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?'
"I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was
sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then -- quite withdrawn from sensuality,
withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities -- I entered & remained in the first jhana:
rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought &
evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then, following on that memory, came the
realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.' I thought: 'So why am I afraid of that
pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental
qualities?' I thought: 'I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with
sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities, but it is not easy to achieve
that pleasure with a body so extremely emaciated. Suppose I were to take some solid food:
some rice & porridge.' So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five
monks had been attending on me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some
higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking some solid food -- some rice
& porridge -- they were disgusted and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is
living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.'
"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then -- quite withdrawn
from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in
the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed
thought & evaluation. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade
my mind or remain. With the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, I entered &
remained in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of
awareness free from directed thought & evaluation -- internal assurance. But the
pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the fading
of rapture I remained in equanimity, mindful & alert, and physically sensitive of
pleasure. I entered & remained in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare,
'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' But the pleasant feeling that
arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the abandoning of pleasure &
pain -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress -- I entered &
remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor
pain. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of
defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it
to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives,
i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many
eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction
& expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an
appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & 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 & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose
here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details.
"This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as
happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose
in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of
defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it
to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw -- by means of
the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human -- beings passing away &
re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly,
fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings -- who were
endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, & 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 & 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 & surpassing the human -- I saw beings passing
away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful
& ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma.
"This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as
happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose
in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of
defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it
to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it was
actually present, that 'This is stress...This is the origination of stress...This is the
cessation of stress...This is the way leading to the cessation of stress...These are
fermentations...This is the origination of fermentations...This is the cessation of
fermentations...This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus
knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the
fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there
was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled,
the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
"This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as
happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose
in this way did not invade my mind or remain." ...