A Discourse On The Hemavata Sutta

A Discourse on the
Hemavata Sua
Venerable Mahsi Saydaw
An English Rendering by
U On Pe (Tet Toe)
First printed and published in the Socialist
Republic of the Union of Burma
December 1980
Buddha Ssannuggaha Organisation
Mahsi Translation Committee, Rangoon
A Discourse On The
HEMAVATA SUTTA
Venerable Mahsi Saydaw
of Burma
An English Rendering by
U On Pe (Tet Toe)
First printed and published in the Socialist
Republic of the Union of Burma
December 1980
NEW EDITION
Edited by
Bhikkhu Pesala
August 2013
Contents
Editors Foreword.....................................................................................................vii
Preface.....................................................................................................................viii
A Discourse on the Hemavata Sua.................................................................................1
Date for This Discourse..............................................................................................1
Concenated Aention is Essential.....................................................................2
Proper Way of Listening to A Discourse..............................................................2
The Woman Who Overheard the Guardian Spirits...............................................4
Invitation by Stgiri............................................................................................4
Aibutes of the Buddha.......................................................................................5
Is the Buddha Impartial?............................................................................................8
A Searching Question............................................................................................9
The Buddha is Perfectly Equanimous.........................................................................9
The Buddha is Very Adorable.............................................................................10
The Arising of Great Compassion.......................................................................10
Wrong Beliefs Are Most Deplorable ...................................................................13
King Korabya and Venerable Rahaplas Dialogue..........................................13
A Shrewd Question ............................................................................................16
The Buddhas Equanimi....................................................................................17
Mahkassapa and A Leper..................................................................................17
Does the Buddha Steal? ...........................................................................................19
The Buddha is Free From Stealing......................................................................19
The Buddha is Free From Remorse and Lassitude.............................................19
Rude Words of the Heretic Kassapa...................................................................20
The Buddha Never Neglected Jhna...................................................................20
The Buddha Does Not Steal .....................................................................................21
The Bogus Buddhas.............................................................................................21
Nobody Wants to Be Killed Or Robbed .............................................................22
Resaint From Stealing.......................................................................................22
Stealing is Without Sympathy............................................................................23
Resaint by Insight ............................................................................................23
Resaint Through the Noble Path......................................................................23
One Who Kills is Not a Seam-winner...............................................................25
Samatha Jhna.....................................................................................................26
Vipassan Jhna...................................................................................................27
The Buddha Entered Jhna Very Rapidly...........................................................28
Correct Usage of Sdhu......................................................................................28
Does the Buddha Tell Lies?.......................................................................................31
Vassakras Slander..............................................................................................31
The Buddha Reains From Falsehood......................................................................32
Perfect Speech.....................................................................................................34
The Aibute of Sugata.......................................................................................37
Is the Buddha Free From Desire?.............................................................................38
Three Kinds of Wrong View................................................................................38
The Buddhas Mind is Always Pure..........................................................................39
The Bodhisaa Was Free From Wrong View......................................................40
vi Contents
The Origin of False Views...................................................................................41
Free of All Delusion............................................................................................41
The Buddha Has the Eye of Knowledge.............................................................42
Knowledge of Others Predispositions...............................................................44
Is the Buddha Wise and Moral?................................................................................47
Three Kinds of Special Knowledge.....................................................................48
Eight Kinds of Special Knowledge ....................................................................51
Insight Knowledge..............................................................................................51
Psychic Powers ...................................................................................................53
Mind Reading.....................................................................................................53
The Story of Mtikamt.....................................................................................53
No Mischief Near a Mind reader........................................................................57
The Divine Ear ....................................................................................................58
Fieen Kinds of Moral Conduct.........................................................................59
Knowledge and Conduct Are Noblest...............................................................61
Meditators Have These Aibutes .....................................................................63
The Story of Suppabuddha.................................................................................63
K Was Honoured for Her Faith.......................................................................65
Hemavatas Praise of the Buddha.............................................................................66
How Does A Living Being Arise?.............................................................................67
A Being Arises From Six Things..........................................................................67
Where the Six Are, the World Is..........................................................................67
The Six Are in Company.....................................................................................69
Siving is Not Self-mortication........................................................................71
The Buddhas Admonition ..................................................................................72
Sensual Indulgence and Self-mortication.........................................................72
Three Aspects of the Middle Way.......................................................................73
No Encroachment...............................................................................................73
Venerable Arihas False Views...........................................................................74
Must Not Encroach on Samdhi.........................................................................75
Six Sense-Bases Make Up Man...........................................................................75
Suering in the Six..............................................................................................75
What is the Way to Liberation?.................................................................................77
Insuctions to Venerable Mlukyapua............................................................79
Discarding the Craving That Occurs on Seeing..................................................79
Who Can Gain Liberation?........................................................................................81
The Moral, Mindful, and Wise Can Escape ........................................................81
The Current of Sensuali ...................................................................................81
The Current of Existence.....................................................................................82
The Current of Wrong Views..............................................................................82
The Current of Ignorance....................................................................................83
Qualications of A Successful Swimmer............................................................84
Do Not Talk Rashly About Eko-dhammo...........................................................85
The Arahant Overcomes All Feers..........................................................................87
Past History of Hemavata...................................................................................87
vii
Editors Foreword
About thir of the late Venerable Mahsi Saydaws lectures have been
anslated into English and printed in Burma. Several of these valuable books,
including this discourse on the Hemavata Sua, have been reprinted in
Malaysia. It was comprehensively revised when I rst published an edition
for ee disibution in 1993 with the sponsorship of Mrs Sarojini Fernando
in memory of her parents, Mr Hector de Fonseka and Mrs Inez de Fonseka.
This edition was updated in December 2013 with some minor revisions,
some more footnotes, and numerous hyperlinks for the convenience of
nding cross-references while reading in a PDF Viewer.
The Venerable Saydaws discourses were addressed to meditators
practising intensively at Mahsi Ssana Yeikth, in Rangoon, so they contain
many Pi words which, though familiar to those who have heard regular
discourses, may not be familiar to others. I have revised this edition for the
benet of those who may be unfamiliar with Pi terms. However, it is not
desirable to remove technical terms altogether because no anslation can
convey the full meaning. Although I have replaced most of the Pi words
with a anslation, I have given the Pi word in brackets the rst time it is
used. I have polished the English to make comprehension easier, but nothing
has been omied or changed substantially om the original anslation.
To further help the reader I have added some footnote references.
References are to the page numbers of the Pi texts of the Pali Text Socie
which, in the anslations, are given at the top of the page or sometimes in
the body of the text. However, in the case of the Dhammapada or Sua Nipta,
references are simply given to verse numbers.
The Hemavata Sua is om the Sua Nipta verses 153180.
An excellent anslation of the Sua Nipta in contemporary language by
the late Venerable Hammalawa Saddhtissa is available om Wisdom Books.
viii
Preface
Honour to the Fully Enlightened One. Homage to the Omnis-
cient Sage who spread the radiance of the Dhamma. Long may
the Dhamma illumine the world.
This book is the anslation of the Venerable Mahsi Saydaws discourse
on the Hemavata Sua, by U On Pe, a well-known Burmese writer. The
Hemavata Sua belongs between the Dhammacakka and Anaalakkhaa
Suas in chronological order. Although it is not as famous as the former two
discourses, it is no less valuable to those who seek the uth and wish to gain
knowledge about the Buddha and his teachings.
I would like to mention briey the circumstances under which the
preparation of the original book started. Once, the Venerable Mahsi Saydaw
delivered a series of discourses on the Dhammacakka Sua at the request of
his disciples. The discourses contained much information about the Dham-
macakka Sua and its practical application, leaving a deep impression on
the audience. I was fortunate to hear the talks, and tape-recorded them. With
the approval of the Saydaw, the discourses were anslated into English
and published for the benet of those who dont read Burmese.
At the instigation of the Venerable Ashin Vaita, who helped me in
preparing the book on the Dhammacakka Sua, I requested the Venerable
Mahsi Saydaw for a discourse on the Hemavata Sua, and the Venerable
Saydaw kindly consented. He began a series of talks at the start of the
Burmese New Year, in 1963, at the Mahsi meditation cene. It was then
crowded with meditators, including many high-school and college students.
Six discourses were tape-recorded, anscribed, and submied to the
Venerable Saydaw. They were rst published in 1973.
The Venerable Mahsi Saydaws discourse on the Hemavata Sua is a
highly informative and illuminating Dhamma talk in simple language that
can be understood by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. His discourse
contains interesting stories and superb maxims in stanzas that can be easily
memorized. The erudition and wisdom underlying the discourse will surely
enable the reader to appreciate the taste of Dhamma, which excels all other
tastes. As the Buddha said in the Vinaya, Aguaranikya, and Udna:
As the great ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt, this
Dhamma and discipline have but one taste, the taste of eedom.
Preface ix
Finally, as the saying goes, The proof of the pudding is in the eating of
it and the readers can judge for themselves and enjoy the taste of the
Dhamma if they practise accordingly. The discourse provides practical lessons
that will be immensely benecial to all spiritual aspirants regardless of sex,
race, nationali, status, or occupation. We wish that this book the rst of
its kind on the subject in English will be a great benet to the readers.
May all beings aain the insight as pointed out in this book and achieve the
liberation and peace of nibbna, the abode of the Arahants and the Buddhas.
U Thein Han, BA., BL (Mahsi Yogi)
Honorary Treasurer,
Buddha Ssannuggaha Organisation
Rangoon, Burma
Venerable Mahsi Saydaw in 1982
1
A Discourse on the Hemavata Sua
Date for This Discourse
This Hemavata Sua is really a short piece, and so it is apt to be overlooked
by many. In fact, it is the second of the discourses of the Buddha, for it was
delivered just aer the Dhammacakka Sua, the Buddhas rst discourse. The
well-known Anaalakkhaa Sua was delivered aer the Hemavata Sua,
which was delivered on the night of the same day as the Dhammacakka Sua.
This discourse is suitable for everyone. It is a conversation between two
guardian spirits (yakkhas), Hemavata and Stgiri,
describing the admirable

aibutes of the Buddha, and the ways of conduct for the Buddhas disciples.
The woman who overheard the conversation was so inspired by the aibutes
of the Buddha that she became a Seam-winner (sotpanna), although she
had not yet learnt of his aainment of Buddhahood.
It would be really wonderful if my audience were to gain realisation of
the Dhamma like that woman. She heard only a short conversation whereas
my audience will be hearing a discourse that will last more than two hours
daily for three or four days. My audience would be learning more om an
elaborate discourse than the woman had learnt om a short talk. I hope that
they will earn at least some perfections (pram) conducive to aaining the
path of a Seam-winner, if not the path itself.
The Buddha taught the Dhamma for for-ve years to human beings,
devas, and brahms before his nal passing away (parinibbna). From the time
of his parinibbna to this day is a period of 2,506 years,
and adding the

for-ve years of his life as a teacher, the age of the Hemavata Sua is 2,551
years. Being as old as the Dhammacakka Sua, it is among the earliest
discourses delivered by the Buddha.
At dawn following the full-moon of May 2,551 years ago Gotama aained
Buddhahood. He stayed on at seven nearby places, for seven days each. Aer
the for-nine days, the Buddha went to the Mgadavana forest near the ci
of Benares (Varanasi) to deliver his rst discourse to the group of ve ascetics.
The date of the First Discourse was the full moon day of the month of July,
2,551 years ago. The time was the evening when the reddened ball of the
sun was about to sink into the western horizon while the yellowish disc of
the full moon was rising om the eastern horizon.
The rst edition of this book calls themdevas. In the Pi text Stgiri and Hemavata were
earthbound guardian spirits (yakkhas). (Ed.)
In 1963, when this discourse was given.

2 A Discourse on the Hemavata Sua
Myriads of devas and brahms also assembled around the Buddha to listen
to his First Discourse. Of the ve ascetics, the oldest one, Venerable Koaa,
aained to the stage of a Seam-winner while 180 million brahms and
innumerable devas aained the realisation of the Dhamma, according to the
Milinda Paha.
Among the celestial audience was Stgiri, who was named aer the St
mountain, which was his residence. He was delighted to hear the Dhamma-
cakka Sua, but aer looking around, he found that his iend was absent.
He wished his iend to be present because myriads of world-periods had
passed since the last discourse of the preceding Buddha (Buddha Kassapa)
and this was the rst time such a discourse had been heard since then. So
he was wondering why his iend had not come to hear the First Discourse.
Stgiri failed to aain realisation of the Dhamma owing to such disactions.
Concenated Aention is Essential
To aain realisation of the Dhamma while listening to a discourse, one must
have a serene mind. Only serene and careful aention will lead to concenation,
and insight can only develop through deep concenation. If the mind wanders
during the discourse to domestic, economic, or other secular aairs, concena-
tion will not be gained. If anxie sets in, it will be worse. When disaction
and anxie occur, the essence of the Dhamma will be missed, and as
concenation is lacking, insight will not mature. If one cannot aain insight
(vipassan), how can one aain realisation of the Dhamma? So serene aention
while listening to a discourse is crucial. The way to conduct oneself while
listening to a discourse is described in the Kassapa Sayua as follows.
Proper Way of Listening to A Discourse
A discourse must be aended to with a motive of benet, just as in a
commercial ansaction a fair bargain must be suck with due consideration.
In harvesting crops care must be taken so that not a grain of corn, nor a sing
of beans is le behind. The utmost care with which gold and gems must be
kept is obvious. Similarly, in listening to a discourse one must y to realise
the meaning of every word uered. According to that eatise, the listener
must listen carefully, with full mental involvement, and the Dhamma must
be followed in practice.
That is the proper way of aending to a discourse. If one listens to a
discourse in this way, ones mind will be calm and absorbed in the discourse,
i.e. without disaction, so one will aain puri of mind. Many beings
Proper Way of Listening to A Discourse 3
aained realisation of the Dhamma while listening aentively to the
discourse on the Four Noble Truths. The aainment of liberation om
sasra by Venerable Koaa, and the devas and brahms when the
discourse of the Dhammacakka was heard on that day, was due to paying
concenated aention to the Buddhas words. In this instance, Stgiri might
have missed some words as he had been thinking about his iend Hemavata.
If he had not missed the words, he might have pondered deeply upon their
meaning. It appears that he did not quite understand the discourse as he
was wondering why his iend had not turned up; he was thinking that his
iend could be under the spell of pleasures and enjoyment. Thus, Stgiri
did not come to the realisation of the Dhamma.
Hemavata was under the spell of pleasures, or in other words, Beguiled
by worldly pleasures. Worldly pleasures beguile people though they have
no ininsic value. Some individuals cannot come to aend this discourse
because they are presently beguiled by worldly pleasures. The practice of
the Dhamma is far away for such people. They usually think that the Dhamma
can be practised later and that, for the present, making a living, making a
headway in life, and enjoying pleasures, are more urgent. That is the
beguilement of worldly pleasures. However, practising the Dhamma is really
urgent and important. Such practice can be done only during the Buddhas
dispensation, whereas worldly pleasures can be sought at any time. Therefore
one should pay careful aention to the practice of the Dhamma aer having
found sucient means of livelihood.
By the practice of the Dhamma, one could aain to a stage of spiritual
achievement and thus escape om the dangers of the realms of misery (apya)
and om hell (niraya). Even if one cannot yet aain to the stages of the path
(magga) and its uition (phala), one can become involved in the Dhamma
and regularly make wholesome kamma. Thus, one could be reborn as a
human being, reach the spiritual realms of devas, or ascend to the higher
realms of existence, and obtain some benets. If, however, one wastes ones
time in the aairs of secular life, one will be ill-equipped to aain a good life
in the next existence. Therefore, believing that worldly pleasures are more
important and urgent, although they are not, is due to the beguilement of
worldly pleasures. It is, in fact, an illusion. Stgiri was giving a thought to
his absent iend and leing his mind wander during the Buddhas discourse.
That is why he missed the chance to realise the Dhamma.
Aer the Buddhas discourse on the Dhammacakka Sua, Stgiri le the
assembly to invite his iend. Stgiri was a leading yakkha, and so was
accompanied by his ve hundred bodyguards with chariots drawn by
elephants, horses, and garudas (huge and powerful birds). Simultaneously,
Hemavata was on his way to invite Stgiri to a celestial festival of owers
wonderful owers that were then in full bloom in the Himalayan
mountains. Stgiri too, came in full force with his bodyguards and chariots.
As both were making an aerial journey, Hemavata heading for the south and
Stgiri heading for the north, they met over the ci of Rjagiri.
When the two iends met, Hemavata said: Friend Stgiri, the Himalayas
are now full of owers as never before. So I have come to invite you to a
feast to celebrate the occasion.
Stgiri asked his iend why so many ees were blooming in the
Himalayas. Hemavata said that he did not know the reason. Then Stgiri
said: Not only the Himalayas are so resplendent with owers; owers bloom
as abundantly and as resplendently everywhere else. The reason is that the
Fully Self-Enlightened One (Sammsambuddha) aained enlightenment two
months ago. Today he delivered his First Discourse, the Dhammacakka Sua,
and all the ees on earth have blossomed by way of making obeisance to
the Enlightened One. I remembered you while I was aending the discourse,
so I have come to invite you to it.
The Woman Who Overheard the Guardian Spirits
While Hemavata and Stgiri were conversing, a rich mans daughter
named K was enjoying the breeze, having opened a window of her boudoir.
The month of July at Rjagiri ci was hot, as it is at Mandalay or Shwebo. K
was then in the family way, and was feeling hot. So she opened the window,
and was cooling herself in the breeze when she heard the two yakkhas
overhead. She listened very aentively to their conversation. She realised that
the conversation was not between two human beings, and guessed that it
must be between two guardian spirits. She must have been about sixteen or
seventeen, for in India in those days, women were married early and got into
the family way at that age. The child she was carrying was none other than
a future disciple of the Buddha, Soakuikaa Thera. He was later extolled
by the Buddha as pre-eminent for his excellent enunciation of Dhamma.
Invitation by Stgiri
Stgiri said, Friend Hemavata, today is the eenth day of the month,
an Uposatha day, and the night is bright with celestial lights. Today the
See Anguaranikya, Vol. i. 24.

Aibutes of the Buddha 5
Buddha delivered his rst discourse, so the ees are in full bloom, not only
in the Himalayas, but also in the St mountains. The owers blossom not
only in those regions, but all over the world, making obeisance to the Buddha
for his rst discourse. So many devas and brahms are aending the discourse
that the world is aglow with celestial lights. In the east the full moon shines
clearly along with the sh planet. This night is therefore full of light om
all these sources, and is sacred.
The world must have been so beautiful with blossom
and celestial lights in the all-seeing eyes of the devas. Even
to human eyes it must have been beautiful. Incidentally,
once I went on a pilgrimage to the Kyaik-htiyoe Pagoda.
It was the night of the 14 of February in 1931. The moon
was nearly full, and shining clearly. Looking out om
the mountain range, I found the hills and valleys
all around beautiful under the ooded moonlight.
Some ees were full of owers. The ees standing
on the mountain slopes added to the scenic beau
of the panorama. The entire world must have been
very beautiful to celestial beings on the day of the
rst discourse. So Stgiri invited his iend Hemavata
to go to make obeisance to the Buddha.
Let us go now to make obeisance to our great teacher, the Buddha of the
noble and glorious lineage of Gotama, said Stgiri to his iend, Hemavata.
Continuing, he said that the great teacher Siddhaha of the Gotama
lineage of the Sakyan clan, had practised the Dhamma in Uruvela forest for
six years. Now he had become the Fully Enlightened One possessing the
nine incomparable aibutes beginning with the aibute of araha. I will
explain briey the nine aibutes of the Enlightened One.
Aibutes of the Buddha
The word araha means deserving. What does the Buddha deserve?
He deserves special adoration and worship. People worship various objects:
ees, forests, mountains, oceans, the sky, the sun, the moon, the planets.
Some people worship various kinds of celestial beings, some worship God
in heaven, while others worship brahm. Some people worship men such as
the leaders of various sects and denominations. Why do people worship?
They worship because they want to be ee om danger and disasters.
Everybody wants to be ee om danger, and wants to be prosperous, healthy,

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Kyaik-htiyoe
Pagoda
long-lived, and wealthy. Not only human beings but celestial beings share
similar desires. People want to achieve greater things than their own skill
alone can do, so they depend on all sorts of deities, such as mountain and
ee spirits. They worship and make oerings to them. Some imagine a
super-powerful being who creates the world and its people and things, and
worship that imagined being. Although no one has ever seen such a being,
and no one can describe his appearance, people worship that being because
someone in the past was reported to have said that he had seen that being.
That person might have been dreaming.
Each generation of religionists worships according to their own beliefs
without being critical. Even in this scientic age, aditional beliefs have
remained. Believing that those who pray will be saved om adversi just by
praying is groundless. If the gods or God could save these prayerful people,
all of them would be rich, healthy, and prosperous, but they are not. Those
who work, without praying, in any line of protable ade or occupation
become rich and prosperous. Every person is rewarded for his or her work
according to its worth. Idlers obviously do not get rich. It is ones own eort
that gives the reward, and prosperi is not due to worship of the gods.
The Buddha did not say, Venerate me, and I will save you. He said that
one would taste the uits of ones own wholesome and unwholesome deeds.
Nevertheless, one can gain special merit if one worships a person who uly
possesses morali(sla) and other noble qualities. If the merit thus gained nds
an occasion to give its result, the worshipper will get the reward during his or
her own lifetime, and the reward will be certainly be gained in future existences
the Buddha said so. However, if one adores a person who has no qualities
that would make him noble and holy, such adoration is futile. It is like keeping
bricks and gravel, thinking that they are precious stones. How can you expect
to get the price of precious stones if you sell bricks and gravel? If, however, you
keep genuine precious stones, then you can sell them at their ue worth.
In the same way, if you worship noble and holy persons, you will gain the
kind of merit you expect to get. As for the Buddha, he is the highest among those
possessing morali and other noble qualities. So if the devas, brahms, and human
beings adore the Buddha, they will gain merit and receive rich rewards ranging
om the benets of human and celestial lives to the realisation of nibbna. Such
benets are not given by the Buddha, but they are the natural result of merit
accruing om adoration of the Buddha. The Buddha thus deserves the
appellation Araha one deserving the adoration of human and celestial
beings. So Stgiri praised the Buddha with this noble appellation.
Aibutes of the Buddha 7
The other meaning of araha is, to be far om something. The meaning
is that the Buddha is far om the mental delements (kilesa). Beings in all
realms of existence hanker aer things that are desirable, or in other words,
they have greed (lobha). They become angry when they come across things
that excite their anger (dosa), and are under delusions or mistaken notions
(moha). On the conary, the Buddha is remote and ee om greed, anger, and
delusion. That is why the Buddha deserves the noble appellation of araha.
The next aibute is Sammsambuddha. Samm means uthfully; sam
means by oneself; buddha means knowing. So the termSammsambuddha
means knowing the uth fully by oneself. Though the Buddha had earlier
received meditation insuctions om ra and Uddaka (ascetics who
practised deep concenation), his aainment to Buddhahood was by
methods evolved by his own insight. He gained the stages of absorption
(jhna) using mindfulness of breathing (npnasati), and perceived the Law
of Dependent Origination (paiccasamuppda) with his own insight. He
analysed mental and physical phenomena and thus became enlightened.
This is a brief summary of the Buddhas realisation of the uth by himself.
That is why the Buddha deserves the noble appellation of Sammsambuddha.
When the Buddha aained Buddhahood, he gained full knowledge of the
past, present, and future he knew immediately whatever he thought about.
His knowledge was without any defect. The Buddha deserves the noble
appellation Buddha because he knew the Dhamma fully and completely.
This is what Stgiri said in praise of the Buddha.
Stgiri told Hemavata that the noble aibutes of the Buddha were so
many that one could not count them one would have to explain them for
myriads of years to do them full justice. Then he invited his iend to the
Buddhas discourse.
Aer hearing out his iend, Hemavata queried several points to nd out
whether the one referred to by Stgiri was really a Buddha. He put questions
to his iend, and Stgiri answered them. At that time the leaders of several
sects Pura Kassapa, Makkhali Gosla, and four others were all
claiming to be Buddhas, so it was necessary to make a proper investigation.
8
Is the Buddha Impartial?
Friend Stgiri, can your teacher keep his mind well disposed? Is your
teacher well disposed to all beings without any discrimination? Friend
Stgiri, in this world many claim to be Buddhas. May I ask you if your
Buddha is impartial to his disciples and those of others? Can he keep his
mind well disposed towards all living beings? Does he have loving-kindness
(me) towards all, and wish them well-being and happiness? Does he have
equal kindness and compassion (karu) for all?
This was a pertinent question because some who claimed to be Buddhas
were partial extending loving-kindness and compassion only to those who
followed them and worshipped them. They said that they would save only
those who adored and followed them, and those who did not would be relegated
to hell. Such claimants to Buddhahood should not be regarded as real Buddhas
for a ue Buddha would be well disposed towards all living beings.
Hemavata continued: Friend, can your Buddha conol his mind and
remain equanimous to what is pleasant and to what is unpleasant?
In this world, people are pleased when they meet pleasant things, and
enjoy them. When they meet unpleasant things they are displeased, angry,
and disappointed, and show their anger. They follow their emotions and
cannot conol their minds. However, a ue Buddhas mind is always under
conol, so Hemavatas question is important.
Ordinary people let their minds follow their sensations and emotions.
They smile if anything evokes a smile, and curl their lips if a thing invites
contempt. They laugh when amused and weep when they are sad. At rst,
they resist going to improper places, but when temptation becomes too song,
they go. Similarly, they say and do improper things aer a short period of
resaint. This is called leing ones mind follow the sensations and emotions.
Let alone others, some meditators get disappointed because they cannot make
progress, and give up. When they are making preparations to leave, their mentors
have to urge them to stay. When they are thus coaxed to resume meditation, they
make progress and are pleased. Yet some cannot be persuaded, and go home.
That is another instance of allowing the mind to follow the sensations. Instances
could be cited of meditators aaining the knowledge of disgust (nibbida-a),
who became disappointed because they found things wearisome, and went
home. If such meditators had continued with their work, they would have
aained full insight, but they could not conol their minds and gave up. What
a loss! However, most of the meditators listened to the admonitions of their
meditation insuctors and managed to conol their minds.
The Buddha is Perfectly Equanimous 9
In secular life too, there are many things over which one could conol
ones mind. The Buddhas message was for the conol of ones mind. Those
who have practised meditation can conol their minds to a considerable
extent. However, those who have not are outside the Dhammas inuence.
Since they are without a sense of shame (hir) or fear (oappa), they do or say
whatever they like. Hemavata therefore asked his iend if the Buddha was
one who could conol his mind. That is quite a relevant question.
A Searching Question
Puing searching questions is important. A certain Saydaw told me that
he was once questioned by an American visitor at an alms-giving in a house.
The questions were incisive and searching, and the Saydaw said that it was
quite an ordeal to be questioned like that. Yet he was well-known as a
conversationalist. The visitor asked the Saydaw how long he had practised
the Dhamma and what perceptions (rammaa) he had had. The Saydaw
said that such questions were embarrassing. Yet to me such questions were
justied because an intelligent inquirer into the Dhamma would put such
searching questions to the one who ought to know. To a seven-year-old
monk who had a reputation for deep learning, the enquirer should put such
searching questions regarding personal experiences in the practice of
meditation. It is important to be able to make bold and denitive replies to
such questions and not to be embarrassed.
Hemavata was no ordinary individual. During the time of Kassapa
Buddha, he was a venerable monk teaching ve hundred disciples. That is
why he asked questions about the aibutes of the Buddha. Stgiri was also
a venerable monk then, who had entered the Holy Order with Hemavata
and, like him, had taught ve hundred disciples.
The Buddha is Perfectly Equanimous
To the questions put by Hemavata, Stgiri gave a precise answer:
Friend Hemavata, our teacher, the Buddha, looks upon all beings
with equanimi. He has full conol of his mental disposition
towards pleasant and unpleasant sensations.
This was Stgiris answer. He implied that the Buddhas disposition towards
beings was based on the principle of equali, whether they adored him or not.
His close disciples were those who had gained enlightenment on hearing his
rst discourse, and ordinary disciples who were only within the fold of his
dispensation. Of course, some were outside the Buddhas dispensation, and
followers of Mra (the evil one) were actively opposed to the Buddha. Our
teacher, the Buddha, is equally disposed to all beings with no discrimination,
radiating his loving-kindness and compassion to all, said Stgiri.
That was at the beginning of the Buddhas dispensation. Later, the Buddha
would be equally well disposed to his devout followers who provided the
four essential requisites, and to the brahmins and heretics who were opposed
to him. The Buddha adopted the same aitude towards his arch-enemy,
Devadaa, as towards his own son, Rhula, having regard for both of them
as beings. The Buddha did not act partially towards anyone; he radiated his
loving-kindness and compassion to all beings alike.
So Stgiri replied, Our teacher, the Buddha, has the aibute of absolute
impartiali towards all beings in all realms of existence.
The Buddha is Very Adorable
When one considers the partiali of people towards iends and family, and
their prejudice against their enemies, one cannot fail to be full of adoration for
the Buddha. Partiali is manifest in every sphere of human activi. To those
they favour, people give all the help they can, making concessions and giving
blessings. However, they have no desire to help those who oppose them. They
render help grudgingly if asked to help complete sangers. Genuine imparti-
ali is exemely rare. Let alone outsiders, people cannot even maintain perfect
impartiali towards every member of their own family.
Let alone ordinary human beings, even those who are worshipped as
gods in other religions are seldom impartial. These gods say, in eect, I will
save only my own followers and relegate the others to hell. Compared with
such gods the Buddha is most adorable.
The Buddha wished all beings to be happy just as he wished for his son,
Rhula; he wanted all beings to aain nibbna just as he wanted Rhula to
aain nibbna; he had the same compassion and sympathy for all beings that
he had for Rhula. To be uly impartial is very dicult, but when the Buddha
radiated great compassion, he did so to all beings in all realms of existence.
The Arising of Great Compassion
According to the Path of Discrimination (Paisambhidmagga), because
the Buddha perceived the successive miseries of old age, disease, and death
in all beings, great compassion (mahkaru) arose his mind. Surveying entire
realms of existence, he perceived the pitiable condition of beings, so great
The Arising of Great Compassion 11
compassion arose in his mind. It is like a kind man taking pi on persons in
great disess. The compassion of the ordinary person is not very deep, but
the compassion of the Buddha was exemely profound, and unlimited. The
Buddha took pi on human beings for their present state of disess, and
perceiving that in the next existence some would be reborn in the realms of
misery: hell, the animal realm(tiracchna), demons (asura), or hungry ghosts
(petas), his compassion was even greater. Perceiving that all beings would
suer om old age, disease, and death in every future existence, the Buddha
took pi on them all. Consider this human existence. From early childhood
one has to study to learn as much as one can. On reaching maturi, one is
obliged to take up a profession. One works until one is old and decrepit.
Then one suers om many kinds of diseases. Finally, unable to get the
diseases cured, one has to die. People are usually oblivious to the inexorable
deterioration of their bodies. With the onset of some terminal disease, when
nothing can be done to cure it, death awaits. Only then do they perceive the
agedy of life. The relatives of a dying person do their best to allay the
suering, but nothing can be done. Surrounded by weeping relatives, he or
she passes away. For a few months or years the relatives remember the
deceased, and feel sad, but gradually they forget. That, in brief, is the life of
a human being, which is just one drop in the vast ocean of sasra.
The same paern applies to the next existence the gradual deterioration
of the body, the onset of old age and disease, and eventually death. The
Buddha perceived this clearly. He surveyed millions of ailing and dying
beings, and, seeing the sorrow of those near and dear to them, great
compassion arose in him. Millions is the current term, but the ue number
is uncountable. If the history of one beings existences could be illusated,
the pictures would ll the entire surface of the earth and yet more space
would be needed. The birth, old age, disease, and death of beings, were
perceived by the Buddha who felt great pi for them; that was how great
compassion arose in him.
Thus, we learn, Impermanence drives human beings to old age, disease,
and death. The Buddha foresaw that unless he could motivate living beings
to follow his teachings and gain salvation, they would remain apped in
sasra, and would suer in the realms of misery. So the Buddha felt great
pi for all beings in all realms of existence just as he felt for his own son, Rhula.
Thus Stgiri said, in reply to Hemavatas rst query; All sentient beings in
all the realms of existence are helpless; they have no one to depend on for
protection and support. So the Buddha has great compassion for all beings.
One can depend on other people for protection and support. Parents
protect their children, and children support their parents in old age. Teachers
look aer their disciples, disciples serve their teachers, and relatives oer
mutual help and support. However, such help and support are just temporary.
Real help and support cannot be provided by others. For instance, children
cannot prevent their parents om geing old. Parents cannot ensure that
their children remain young. Children cannot accept and share with their
siblings the advancing years of their parents. Nor can anyone remove and
disibute the sickness of a patient to give them some relief. Of course, doctors
and surgeons can usually alleviate suering to some extent, but for many
diseases they can do nothing eective. They cannot avert impending death,
nor can the relatives or intimate iends of a dying person do anything to
avert their death. All they can do is look on with compassion. People have
all died in this way. No protection or support can help another to gain
eedom om old age, disease, and death. No one can save another om
going to the realms of misery aer death if their kamma is bad.
Only the Buddha could save beings om these aictions by guiding them
onto the right path by his teachings and making them practise according to
the Dhamma. This is how a doctor eats a patient by prescribing
appropriate medicine, and by proscribing deimental food and harmful
activities. There is no way of performing miracles by demanding, May you
be cured. If the patient does not follow the physicians directions, the disease
will not be cured. Similarly, the Buddha only pointed out the correct path
and gave directions. Those who follow his insuctions can save themselves
om old age, disease, and death, and gain liberation om sasra.
A Buddha arises only aer a lapse of many aeons (kappa), and each Buddha
lives only for a limited period according to the normal life expectancy in that
particular era. To hear the discourses of a Buddha is therefore an exemely
rare opportuni. Though the Buddha is no longer alive, one can still hear
discourses on his teachings delivered by learned and saintly teachers. Then
one can follow the insuctions contained in them to save oneself om further
suering in sasra. However, such rare opportunities cannot be obtained in
every era. Besides, many wrong beliefs are prevalent in the world, so one may
adopt the wrong path. This is a grave danger, because one would then be
siving for wrong aims. Then one would be dragged deeper and deeper into
the whirlpool of existence. The Buddha felt great pi for all beings, whatever
beliefs they held. His compassion was even greater, realising that so many
beings in the various realms of existence were following wrong paths.
King Korabya and Venerable Rahaplas Dialogue 13
Wrong Beliefs Are Most Deplorable
One with wrong belief is really more pitiable than others because
although he is seeking the path to happiness and well-being, he is
following a path that leads to greater adversi the more he sives.
Followers of the Buddha should not be complacent about having found
the right path. They should work to aain at least the rst stage of
liberation, for only then will they be sure of being saved om adversi.
In the next existence they will not have the same parents and teachers.
They may be reborn with parents holding other beliefs. Then they will
probably follow the wrong path. For that reason, the Buddha took great
pi on beings who have no one to save them om the onset of old age,
disease, and death, or om hell and misguided beliefs. His compassion
was the same for all beings, with no discrimination.
King Korabya and Venerable Rahaplas Dialogue
In this world, kings have large armies to protect themselves, and it may
be said that they can place their reliance on them in worldly aairs. However,
such kings too, have to become old in due course, and no army could protect
them om old age, disease, and death when such ibulations assail them.
Venerable Rahapla was an Arahant in the time of the Buddha. He was the
son of a rich man, and a iend of King Korabya. One day, the king asked the
venerable Rahapla why he had become a monk.
Venerable Rahapla replied that he had become a monk aer he had
heard the Buddhas discourse relating to the helplessness of all beings om
the ibulations of old age, disease, and death.
The king did not understand what helplessness meant. He said that as a
king, he had large armies to protect him om all harm, and that he did not
understand what was meant by helplessness.
Then Venerable Rahapla said, O king, did you ever suer om any
serious illness?
The king replied, Yes venerable sir, I did.
Then Venerable Rahapla asked him if he could seek relief om that
illness by asking his relatives to share the suering with him.
That is impossible. I had to suer alone, the king replied.
Venerable Rahapla then said, That is precisely what the Buddha meant
when he said that all beings are without anyone to help them, or anyone on
whom they could depend for protection and support.
Majjhimanikya Vol. ii. 66, Rahapla Sua.

So even if one has many people to help and protect oneself in worldly
maers, one is helpless in the face of old age, disease, and death. The
scriptures say that no proper can be called ones own because one has to
leave everything when one dies, and take rebirth in a new existence. The
Buddha realised this fact and so his compassion for all beings was great. In
other words, great compassion arose in the mind of the Buddha.
People have what they call their personal and private proper such as
gold, silver, food, cale, vehicles, etc., but when they die they have to leave
all these things behind, and the body too. Death may come today or tomorrow
to anybody, so we cannot say that the time for such separation is far o. Even
while one is alive, these worldly things can be taken away by force, so they
are not really ones own possessions.
Ones real possessions comprise meritorious deeds, such as giving alms,
observing precepts, and practising meditation. These cannot be taken away,
whether by stealth or by force, and they are taken om one existence to
another. Individuals who are rich in meritorious deeds will obtain well-being
in future existences. It is therefore essential to accumulate merit by giving
alms (dna), observing morali, and practising mental culture (bhvan) to
cultivate insight, the last two being the most important. You should sive to
do these even if it is just for one or two days, for such deeds are very valuable
and can be done without incurring any expense.
Those who have done meritorious deeds have something to rely on at the
time of death. At the door of death one could die peacefully by practising
meditation until the last breath, aer which one would surely aain the
celestial realms. So you should assiduously perform these three meritorious
deeds generosi, morali, and mental culture.
Your proper is not really your own, you have to leave it to those who
survive you aer your death. If you are aached to it, you will probably
become a hungry ghost, or another being in the lower realms, suering
exeme misery. The Buddha perceived the helplessness of all beings and felt
great compassion for them.
The Buddha also saw that beings were assailed by insatiable desire for
worldly things, and were slaves to lust and greed. For this reason too, his
compassion for them was great. He saw that all beings were obsessed with
craving (tah); that they hankered aer desirable and pleasant things to
satis their six senses; that they were never satised with long life and fame
that they might be fortunate enough to obtain; that they were never content
with all the best endowments that life could oer them. Their desires multiply
King Korabya and Venerable Rahaplas Dialogue 15
inexorably, and dominate all aspects of their lives, so they are never satiated.
In some counies many multi-millionaires have more money than they can
ever spend. However, their desires have no limits, and they are never satised.
Kings have never stopped their imperialistic plans; they always want more
counies under their dominion.
It is said that devas are even more greedy. Powerful devas usually have
ve hundred or a thousand celestial maidens in their harems, but they never
have enough. They enjoy all the delights and pleasures of celestial life, and
yet they want more. So Sakka, the king of the gods, likened them to hungry
ghosts who are always starving because they do not have enough to eat. The
Buddha realised that all beings were slaves to craving and greed, and that
moved him to great compassion.
It is ue that beings are the slaves of craving and greed. Craving and
greed urges them to search the things they want, and they risk their lives to
get them. They have to work daily for the whole life to serve their desires.
In the next existence, too, they remain slaves of the same master. There is no
respite for them.
An ordinary slave may remain a slave only during one lifetime, but a slave
of craving has an unending term of servitude until aaining Arahantship
thus escaping om sasra. Ignorance (avijj) colours all things, concealing their
defects, and craving makes them seem delightful, urging beings to sive to get
them. They sive all their lives, but are never satised with what they get. Since
they are never satiated, they are always usated or disappointed. Realising
this, the Buddha felt great compassion for all beings in every realm of existence.
Unsatiated, all beings are slaves of craving.
Men are driven to old age, disease, and death.
Beings are so weak and helpless.
They have no genuine personal proper, and whatever they have, has
to be abandoned.
These are the four points in the dialogue between Venerable Rahapla
and King Korabya. The venerable monk said that the Buddha saw this
deplorable plight of all beings, and so was moved to great compassion. The
Buddha saw that there was no one except him who could save them.
Thus Stgiri said that the Buddhas great compassion was without partiali
or discrimination. Besides, our teacher, the Buddha, can bear with equanimi
all desirable and undesirable sensations, continued Stgiri. It was a reply to
Hemavatas question whether the Buddha could resain his pleasure when
in contact with pleasant things and his displeasure at unpleasant things, unlike
other beings who are moved and swayed by sensations of all kinds. This was
a pertinent question, and the answer was apt.
Nowadays, if someone asks an irreligious iend to aend a discourse by
ones revered teacher, such a person is likely to retort, What can your teacher
do? Is he adept in asology, or can he do some chanting to enable me to
prosper? Can he reconcile a separated couple, or recover lost proper? Can
he help me to gain promotion?
Such questions are quite impertinent. This is not just a hypothetical
example; I have heard of several instances like this. Questions like these are
only asked by ignorant, irreverent persons.
A Shrewd Question
Hemavatas question in this context was most pertinent and shrewd. At
the time of the Buddha, many claimed to be Buddhas. Prominent among
those pretenders were Pura Kassapa, Makkhali Gosla, Ajita Kesakambal,
Pakudha Kaccyana, Nigaha Napua, and Sacaya Belahapua. These
six each had their own respective followers who believed in their divinations
of the past, present, and future. Their followings were quite large.
Hemavata, however, knew that these so-called great teachers were not
able to view pleasant and unpleasant things with equanimi. He wanted to
know if his iends teacher was uly equanimous, so he asked, Friend
Stgiri, can your Buddha conol his mind and remain neual to pleasant
and unpleasant things?
Stgiri gave him a categorical answer. The Buddha could view these
things with mindful indierence, that is, rejecting both the pleasant and
unpleasant with evenmindedness, over which he had full conol. However
beautiful and lovely a thing was, the Buddha could view it to realise that it
was, aer all, undesirable. He could look at the beautiful lady Mgaiy
and perceive that her body was composed of thir-two repulsive components,
and therefore remain unaected. In the same way, in looking at the three
beautiful daughters of Mra, he could regard them as merely a heap of
loathsome physical elements.
Not only the Buddha, but all the Arahants could view things in the same
manner, keeping their minds fully under conol. Even those who are not
Arahants can view physical elements in the same realistic way if they
practised meditation on impuri (asubha-kammahna). Once, in Sri Lanka,
the great elder Venerable Mahtissa of Cetiya mountain looked at a laughing
woman on his almsround and saw the repulsiveness of the physical elements.
Mahkassapa and A Leper 17
He thus gained absorption, and via that stage reached Arahantship.
Meditators who have reached the stage of knowledge of dissolution
(bhaga-a) can view things in their ue nature of incessant decay and
thus as unpleasant and undesirable.
The Buddhas Equanimi
The Buddha ansformed repugnant beings into lovable ones by means
of his loving-kindness. He viewed such beings with compassion so that they
became as lovable and deserving of compassion as his own son, Rhula.
Thus he was unaected by unpleasant and undesirable elements in their
appearance. The Buddha viewed Devadaa, who ied to kill him by rolling
a rock down onto him om Vultures Peak, as kindly and as lovingly as he
viewed Rhula. He had the same goodwill for Devadaa as he had for his
own son, thus he could turn the unpleasant into the pleasant.
Since he could view unpleasant things as pleasant, the Buddha picked
up the sari om the dead body of Pu the slave woman, and wore it as a
robe without any feeling of disgust. For the same reason he ate without
disgust the cake om the folds of Queen Malliks skirt, and the leavings of
a meal eaten by a brahmin named Pacaggadyaka.
Mahkassapa and A Leper
The Great Elder Mahkassapa was also ee om feelings of disgust. Once,
the Venerable Mahkassapa stood for almsfood at the place where a leper
was eating his meal. He did so to enable the leper to gain merit, which would
result in his prosperi and happiness in the next existence. The leper was
so full of good volition for giving alms that he put the remainder of the food
he had been eating into the almsbowl of the venerable monk. In doing so,
the leper unwiingly dropped one of his disease-ridden ngers into the bowl.
The great Arahant knew of this, but he did not remove the nger, and ate
the meal
without any feeling of disgust.

This illusates how to view an unpleasant thing as no dierent to a
pleasant thing in respect of the elements that comprise it. All the Arahants
could view things in this manner, not to speak of the Buddha.
The Buddha could also view the unpleasant without concern. It is
important to be detached regarding the ailments occurring in ones body. The
Buddha felt pain because he was suck in the foot by a splinter om the
rock that Devadaa had rolled down om the mountain, but he viewed the
But not the nger (ed.)

pain with unconcern. Also, during the last year of his life, the Buddha
suffered om a serious illness, but he viewed the physical ailment with
perfect equanimi. Not only the Buddha, but the Arahants too could view
pleasantness and unpleasantness with equanimi.
Meditators who have reached the stage of equanimi towards formations
(sakhrupekkh-a) can ignore pleasant and unpleasant feelings simply
by noting the cognition, then dismissing it immediately. Such meditators
may be said to have temporarily gained, at least in part, the aibutes of an
Arahant. Those who have aained this stage should be encouraged by this.
Wrong thoughts (micch sakappa) are of three kinds:
1. thoughts of sensuali (kma sakappa),
2. thoughts of ill-will (bypda sakappa),
3. thoughts of cruel (vihisa sakappa).
These three evil intentions must be dismissed om ones mind. Right
thoughts (samm sakappa) are also of three kinds:
1. thoughts of renunciation (nekkhamma sakappa),
2. thoughts of loving-kindness (abypda sakappa),
3. thoughts of non-cruel (avihisa sakappa).
These are the three good intentions that must be cultivated. Worldly people
crave for pleasant things, and wish for unpleasant things to be removed or
desoyed.
However, such unwholesome thoughts were absent om the Buddhas
mind. His mind was pervaded with wholesome thoughts. He had no craving
for pleasant things, and no aversion to unpleasant things. Only spontaneous
thoughts of kindness and goodwill for all beings arose in his mind, no maer
whether they were charming or abhorrent. His mind was always clear and
fully under conol.
The Buddha could conol his mind by entering jhna or the aainment
of cessation (phala sampai) at will. He could maintain the same state of
goodwill and loving-kindness for a moment, for the entire day, or for the
entire week whenever he wished.
So Stgiri said: Our teacher, the Buddha, has his mind under full conol
regarding the three evil intentions and the three good intentions.
The Buddha is adorable. He did not discriminate between those who had
deep reverence for him and those who were antagonistic. His loving-kindness
and compassion for all beings was universal. He had good-will for all,
pleasant and unpleasant alike, and was fully in conol of his mind. So the
Buddha is most adorable.
19
Does the Buddha Steal?
The answer to the rst query gave Hemavata sucient cause to be
convinced that the Buddha referred to by Stgiri was the genuine one.
However, to be certain, Hemavata asked a second question: Friend Stgiri,
does your teacher take proper the owner has not given by action or speech?
Does he not rob or steal?
The Buddha is Free From Stealing
Taking anything that is not given by the owner is stealing. Stealing consists
in taking by stealth or by force. This question seems an insolent one to Buddhists.
To ask whether such an individual as the Buddha had ever taken anything by
stealth or by force is downright rude. If the same question were put to any monk,
it would be regarded as very oensive. Is your teacher, the monk, ee of stealing?
It is indeed an insolent question. Nevertheless, at the time such a question was
pertinent and not insolent. In those days people were eagerly looking for the
genuine Buddha, and many bogus Buddhas had appeared on the scene.
The prominent bogus ones such as Pura Kassapa, and ve others were
claiming that they were Buddhas. Their followers adored them and took
refuge in them in the belief that they were genuine Buddhas. Yet these bogus
Buddhas were giving discourses dismissing the concept of wholesome and
unwholesome deeds.
Stgiri and Hemavata had been guardian spirits since the laer part of
Kassapa Buddhas dispensation until the beginning of Gotama Buddhas
dispensation. For such a long period these two guardian spirits would have
known pretenders to Buddhahood at a time when people were eagerly awaiting
the coming of the Buddha, just as many pretenders spring up to claim the
throne when citizens of a couny are awaiting the coming of their real king.
Hemavata knew that the bogus Buddhas were not ee of stealing, so he put
this question. He wanted to examine Stgiris teacher in respect of misdeeds.
We can make comparisons with those who worship God. According to
their testament, their God does not seem to be ee om unwholesome deeds.
Their God is said to have punished some persons with death and desuction
of proper, and such acts are considered by Buddhism as unwholesome
deeds. Therefore, Hemavatas question was not impertinent; it was quite
pertinent given the prevailing situation.
The Buddha is Free From Remorse and Lassitude
Then Hemavata asked: Is your teacher, the Buddha, ee om remorse
and lassitude?
Lassitude is a kind of heedlessness. When overwhelmed by sexual desires,
one is apt to forget that it is an unwholesome deed to commit fornication.
Sexual intercourse is an ignoble act, and is an unwholesome deed if
commied in the wrong circumstances. Heedlessness (pamda) is used in
the original Pi text as a euphemism for immorali.
Rude Words of the Heretic Kassapa
A heretic named Kassapa came to see Venerable Bkula about years
aer the passing away of the Buddha. This was not, of course, Pura Kassapa,
the Buddha-pretender. This Kassapa belonged to the sect of naked ascetics
who were followers of Nigaha Napua. The present-day members of
this sect are now called Jains.
When I visited Migadavana Garden in India, I came upon a Jain temple.
In that temple were photographs of their monks, called muni. Muni means
a sage in Buddhism. Buddhist monks are fully clothed in yellow robes, but
their monks are completely naked. We found such naked munis along the
banks of the Ganges.
This Kassapa was a iend of Venerable Arahant Bkula when the laer
was a layman. Kassapa asked Bkula, Friend, how long have you been in
the Buddhas dispensation? to which Bkula replied, Eigh years.
How oen did you indulge in sexual intercourse during that period?
asked Kassapa. That was obviously an insolent question.
Then Venerable Bkula said: Friend Kassapa, you should ask, How oen
did you think of sex? That is a civilized query.
Kassapa revised the wording of his question accordingly. Then Venerable
Bkula replied, I became an Arahant on the eighth day aer my ordination,
and becoming an Arahant means becoming ee om all desire for sex. So I
have not thought of sex since the time of my ordination, which is not once
in eigh years.
This answer surprised Kassapa, who then took refuge in the Buddhas
dispensation, and aer practising meditation, became an Arahant. Hemavata
was polite because he was not ignorant of the dispensation of the Buddha,
and so he referred to heedlessness or lassitude. He meant to ask if Stgiris
teacher was ee om lust.
The Buddha Never Neglected Jhna
Hemavata asked whether Stgiris teacher, the Buddha, never neglected
jhna, or in other words, whether he was fully aware so that he could reject
The Bogus Buddhas 21
all lustful desire, which is an impediment to Arahantship. Hankering aer
pleasant things and indulging in pleasures is a basic impediment. If one is
ee of that, one is said to have aained the rst stage of jhna. Now this
question is just a corollary to the question of lassitude. Thus, Hemavata had
put these questions relating to misdeeds of a physical nature, namely, killing,
stealing, and the sexual act. He then asked about jhna.
The Buddha Does Not Steal
Friend Hemavata, our teacher is ee of stealing. He does not steal or rob,
like the bogus ones. Why was Stgiri so sure? Because the Buddha said in
his Dhammacakka discourse that he had found the middle path. He also
said that he had developed the path factors. These eight factors include right
action, which refers to reaining om killing, stealing, and the sexual act.
One must avoid these actions. Such avoidance is called resaint (virat).
Resaint is of three kinds: reaining om evil deeds by aainment of
virtue (sampaa virat), reaining om evil deeds aer formally undertaking
the precepts (samdna virat), and permanent avoidance by cuing o
delements (samuccheda virat).
Stgiri knew that the Buddha was ee of physical misdeeds because the
Buddha had declared that he had completed the practice of the Noble Path
which embraces all avoidance of all physical misdeeds. So he said, Our
teacher, the Buddha, is ee of stealing.
The Bogus Buddhas
I will give a further explanation regarding stealing. The bogus Buddhas
claimed to be Buddhas long before the enlightenment of the genuine Buddha.
Of the six bogus ones, Pura Kassapa said that killing, stealing, and robbing
were not unwholesome deeds, and that alms-giving and other good deeds
were not wholesome.
Another bogus Buddha, Makkhali Gosla, said that there was no cause
for either misery or happiness, for such states were predestined, and so,
however much one did evil deeds one would not suer. Similarly, one would
not gain any merit by doing good deeds. He maintained that sasra did
not exist, and that all beings would be saved when their turn came.
Pakudha Kaccyana, a leader of another sect, said that all beings were
composed of the four elements together with misery, happiness, and life. So
if one were to cut a being with a sword, the sword would cut into these seven
components, without aecting the being.
Ajita Kesakambal, another bogus Buddha, maintained that there was no
aerlife for any being, therefore wholesome and unwholesome deeds would
not produce any eect.
From the teachings of these bogus Buddhas, we can surmise that they
encouraged commiing unwholesome deeds they seemed to be urging
people to kill and steal.
Nobody Wants to Be Killed Or Robbed
Naturally, every being would like to enjoy a long life, and would not want
to be killed, or to be robbed of his or her hard-earned possessions. Therefore,
no one should kill any living being. Sacrices should not be made by killing
living beings under a mistaken notion that such sacrices are meritorious
deeds. For the same reason, no one should steal anyones proper, either for
himself or for others.
Yet in those days the bogus leaders of the sects maintained that killing
and stealing were not unwholesome deeds. It may be inferred that since they
said so, they themselves were not ee of such unwholesome deeds. As for
the genuine Buddha, he declared these deeds to be unwholesome. He did
not commit them himself, and would not urge anyone to commit them. This
was what made Hemavata put the question about stealing, to which Stgiri
made a prompt answer saying that his teacher, the Buddha, was ee of the
unwholesome deed of stealing because he was perfect as regards right action.
Resaint From Stealing
If one were not fully endowed with right action, one would not be totally
ustworthy, even though one might declare that one avoids taking things
not given. One may steal when one has a chance to and cannot resist the
temptation. To give an example, at the time of the British evacuation of Burma,
just before the coming of the Japanese oops, most of the people in the towns
ed, leaving their proper. Then, the couny-folk swarmed into the towns
to loot. It is said that it was amusing to see cabinets too large for the hovels
in which these looters lived. These looters were normally observers of the
ve precepts, but when they were given the opportuni to steal with
impuni, their precepts were broken. That is because of the absence of
resaint by cuing o delements, i.e. avoidance of unwholesome deeds
by means of the Noble Path. The Buddha had perfected right action, and
was therefore ee of the unwholesome deeds of stealing and killing.
Resaint Through the Noble Path 23
Stealing is Without Sympathy
One who steals om others is devoid of the sympathetic feeling that a
moral person would have. Nobody likes to be robbed, so nobody should rob
another. A uly moral person would have sympathy for others, and would
not want to steal even without formally taking the precepts. This kind of
avoidance is called resaint by aainment (sampaa virat). Avoidance aer
taking the precepts is called resaint by undertaking (samdna virat).
On the subject of stealing, a Jain master once said, A mans proper is
his outer life, so stealing his proper is taking his life. This is quite a
plausible argument, though a bit conived. What he meant to say is that
killing is taking another persons life directly. Stealing is tantamount to killing
since a mans proper constitutes his outer life because he depends upon it
for his living. A person gets his proper by hard work, careful budgeting,
and thri. So his proper is really part of his life. Some people die of grief
for the loss of their proper. That is why the Jain master declared that
proper is ones outer life.
Resaint by Insight
Even if one is not ee om greed one should reain om stealing through
sympathy or scrupulous observance of the precepts. To meditators who note
the arising and passing away of phenomena, avoidance of stealing is already
accomplished. To them, everything is incessantly arising and passing away.
The entire process is beyond ones conol (anaa), and so the desire to kill
or steal will not occur. The practice of resaint is already accomplished by
meditators.
Resaint Through the Noble Path
When the meditation practice reaches an advanced stage, one can
comprehend the cessation of mentali (nma) and materiali (rpa), and
gain the insight of the Noble Path. At that stage no desire to steal or commit
any unwholesome deed ever occurs. At that moment the delements are
uprooted by means of the resaint of the Noble Ones. This complete
abandonment is called resaint by cuing o delements (samuccheda virat).
This occurs not only when one reaches the higher stages of insight, but even
at the rst stage when one becomes a Seam-winner. At that point all the
unwholesome deeds referred to in the ve precepts have been uprooted.
According to the Dhammadsa Sua, a Seam-winner possesses insight
that enables him or her to know fully the aibutes of the Buddha, so he or
she has a deep reverence for him. Similarly, he or she comes to have a song
conviction of the aibutes of the Dhamma and Sagha. Thus the Seam-
winner has the abili to observe fully the ve precepts that the Noble Ones
hold in high esteem. So a Seam-winner has full condence in the aibutes
of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sagha, and has joined the fold of the Noble
Ones.
The Noble Ones adore the ve precepts, and do not want to break them.
They are always eager to preserve their morali. They observe the precepts,
not because they are aaid that others would censure them, but because they
want to keep their minds pure, for puri of mind can only be achieved by
observance of the ve precepts. Not only during this life but in all future
existences, they do not ansgress the precepts. They may not know that they
have become a Seam-winner in a previous existence, but they do know that
they must observe the ve precepts fully and with no defect.
Sometimes one comes across a person who has never done any unwhole-
some deed such as killing or stealing since infancy. Though not given any
particular insuctions by his or her parents, he or she knows what is wrong,
and reains om it, keeping pure morali since childhood. Maybe he or she
had achieved a special insight in a previous existence. There are also instances
of persons who, though born of non-Buddhist parents, have come all the
way to this couny to practise meditation. Maybe such persons have had
some practice of the Buddhas Dhamma in their previous existences. These
are interesting cases, but must be evaluated in accordance with the extent
and depth of their study and practice of the Dhamma.
A genuine Seam-winner has already entered the fold of the Noble Ones,
so sictly observes the ve precepts having completely uprooted all immoral
deeds. Though not entirely ee om greed and anger, a Seam-winner is
not driven by them to ansgress the ve precepts. A Seam-winner would
not dream of stealing if he or she wanted something, he or she would buy
it or ask the owner to give it in chari. That is the natural behaviour of a
Noble One. The Buddha had already removed all the unwholesome deeds
by means of all three resaints, so stealing was entirely out of the question.
When he was preaching the Dhammacakka Sua, he declared that he had
rejected all wrong-doing. That is why Stgiri said:
Gotama Buddha is ee om the unwholesome deed of taking
anything that was not given by the owner by word or action.
This I declare with the courage of conviction.
One Who Kills is Not a Seam-winner 25
Hemavata did not put this question relating to the unwholesome deed
of stealing to know a mere temporary and occasional abstinence, but to be
convinced that the Buddha had completely puried himself of the unwhole-
some deed of stealing. Stgiris answer was categorical.
Then the second answer was, Gotama Buddha is also ee of the unwhole-
some deed of torturing living beings. He is ee of harming and killing beings.
This answer seems not to be needed, considering the aibutes of the Buddha,
but the question had to be asked because at the time several bogus Buddhas
had appeared. The intention was to distinguish the genuine Buddha om the
bogus ones. Some people at the time believed in God as the Creator of all beings
and things. In their own books such a Creator is said to mete out punishment
to those who went against his wishes. Punishment consisted of rousing great
storms and oods to kill people, causing great earthquakes and desuction to
crops for the same purpose. If so, then their God was not ee om the
unwholesome deed of killing. Hemavatas question about the unwholesome
deeds of killing and stealing, was pertinent in the prevailing situation.
One Who Kills is Not a Seam-winner
A writer once stated in a journal that a Seam-winner will not kill others,
but if anyone comes to kill him, he will kill his aacker. The writer declared
that he said that aer researching into the nature of the human mind.
That is ridiculous. I wonder whose mind he researched, and how he did
it. He must have made a research of his own mind. Perhaps he thought that
he was a Seam-winner. Maybe he asked himself if he would allow an
aacker to kill him if he had an eective weapon to defend himself. Thus,
he got his own answer that he would kill the aacker rst. From his own
reasoning he obtained the conclusions that he expressed in his article.
However, according to the tenets of Buddhism, this is a ridiculous statement.
The very fact that one thinks one can and should retaliate against an aacker
proves that one is not a Seam-winner. According to the Buddhas teaching,
one who entertains such an idea is just an ordinary person (puthujjana), not
a Seam-winner. A genuine Seam-winner would not even kill a bug, let
alone a human being. This fact must be fully understood and remembered.
As for the Buddha, the rejection of such unwholesome deeds is complete.
So Stgiri gave a categorical answer: I declare with the courage of conviction
that our teacher, the Buddha, never kills or tortures any living being.
Then comes the third answer: Our teacher, the Buddha, is never forgetful.
He is far removed om heedlessness.
Forgetfulness in the secular sense is well known. You forget to do
something, or you forget someones name, etc. However, forgetfulness in the
present context is not like that. Here it means to be absorbed in the ve kinds
of enjoyments of the senses, allowing the mind to be lost in enjoyment, or
heedlessness, which is called pamda in Pi.
Heedlessness means allowing the mind to eely enjoy all kinds of sense
objects. It is like leing loose the ropes tied around the necks of cale, and
allowing them to wander and graze wherever they wish. Such forgetfulness
is very enjoyable. Enjoying the beau of a woman, or a man the tender
voice, the agrant odour, the sweet taste, and the so touch of an individual
are pleasurable. To think about the good things of life, even if you cannot
actually have them, is also enjoyment of the senses such fantasising is
exemely pleasurable.
All your waking hours are spent thinking about sensual pleasures and
planning how to enjoy them. You do that not just for one day, one month, or
one year, but you do it all your life. If you do not have time to think about
such pleasures, you get bored. Without sensual pleasures to think about, or
to plan to get, people wouldnt really want to live in this world. Geing lost
in thought and enjoyment of sensual pleasures is heedlessness. Of those
sensual pleasures, sexual pleasures are most prominent. So Hemavata asked
his iend whether his teacher, the Buddha, was ee of the unwholesome
deed of indulgence in sexual pleasure.
To this question Stgiri gave a denite answer, Our teacher, the Buddha,
is absolutely ee of lust.
Then, this apparently impertinent question, was pertinent. The answer
was denitive. The Buddha was not only totally ee om indulgence in sexual
pleasures, but also did not indulge in pleasurable sights, sounds, odours,
tastes, or tactile pleasures. He was always heedful in the practice of the four
foundations of mindfulness (satipahna), and he never neglected jhna.
There are two kinds of jhna: samatha jhna concenation on one object,
and vipassan jhna constant mindfulness of mental and physical
phenomena. By contemplating incessantly on the arising and passing away
of phenomena, one perceives the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and
soullessness of all phenomena.
Samatha Jhna
Concenation of ones mind on a certain object is called samatha jhna.
For instance, a circle of clay (pathav kasia) is used for concenating on the
Vipassan Jhna 27
earth element. Such concenation does not lead to insight into the arising
and passing away of phenomena. As the mind is xed on one object, sensual
thoughts do not have a chance to enter the mind. Using this method, one
can aain to the four stages of absorption on forms (rpa jhna). Then one
can progress to the four formless absorptions (arpa jhna). These absorptions
would not give the practitioner any insight into the impermanence of the
aggregates of existence. They are good only for obtaining concenation and
keeping the mind calm and collected.
Further progress in jhna will lead to aainment of the divine eye
(dibbacakkhu), the divine ear (dibbasota), knowledge of former existences
(pubbenivsa-a), and knowledge of the minds of others (cetopariya-a).
One can practise insight meditation based on samatha jhna, and in due
course aain the path and its uition, so samatha jhna should not be held
in contempt. If one practises mindfulness of breathing, or contemplation
of the thir-two parts of the body, one can keep ones mind calm and
collected, and aain jhna. However, if one does not observe the arising
and passing away of phenomena, one would gain only concenation and
mental anquilli.
Vipassan Jhna
Observing the three characteristics means vipassan jhna. The three
characteristics are impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and soullessness.
However, to begin with the observation of these three characteristics is
impossible. One must start by observing the consciousness arising at the six
sense-doors as seeing, hearing, etc. To observe physical actions, one must
note them as they occur, thus: the rising and falling of the abdomen; the
liing, moving forward, and dropping of the foot as one is walking. Similarly,
one must note the standing, siing, and lying postures, or the bending and
setching of the limbs as they occur.
While noting these mental and physical activities, one will come to
perceive their arising and passing away, which are followed by a new series
of activities. Thus, one will come to know their impermanence or instabili,
which entails dicul, disess, and misery, and the absence of any
conolling enti or self.
The awareness of these characteristics in psychophysical phenomena takes
a meditator to the beginning of knowledge by comprehension (sammasana-
a). The meditator repeatedly notes any movement or action, whether
physical or mental, deriving a measure of anquilli born of concenation.
This kind of concenation is called one-pointedness (ekaggat), and is
equivalent to the rst jhna.
As the meditator progresses, the actions and movements will spontane-
ously present themselves for noting. The meditator no longer has to y to
note, and has reached the knowledge of arising and passing away (udayabbaya-
a). At this point, initial application (vitakka) and sustained application
(vicra) are absent, but joy (pti) and bliss (sukha) abound as concenation
sengthens further. So the early part of this stage of insight is equivalent to
the second jhna.
In the advanced phase of knowledge of arising and passing away, the
light emanating om joy will be overcome by bliss (sukha), and concenation
will become prominent. The advanced phase of this stage of insight is
equivalent to the third jhna.
Later, even bliss dims and fades when aention is focused on the constant
passing away of phenomena, when knowledge of dissolution develops. Here,
equanimi (upekkh) is prominent. This stage is equivalent to the fourth
jhna. Equanimi and one-pointedness become even more prominent in the
next stage of insight, knowledge of equanimi with regard to formations.
Those meditators who have advanced to this stage will know what it is.
When Stgiri said that the Buddha was not out of jhna, he meant that
the Buddha never neglected jhna.
The Buddha Entered Jhna Very Rapidly
The Buddha was consistently in jhna, and for that he is adorable. At the
end of part of a discourse, while the audience exclaimed in one voice, Sdhu!
Sdhu! Sdhu! (Well said!), the Buddha went into jhna even during that
brief interval. Then he resumed the discourse. Such consistency is really
marvellous.
Correct Usage of Sdhu
During my discourses there are only a few occasions for the audience to
say sdhu. In Burma it is usual for the audience to say sdhu at the end
of a Pi verse of which the preaching monk gives a literal anslation. When
the monk ends in a long drawn-out voice with the [Burmese] phrase phyitkya
le dawt tha dee the audience says without any hesitation, sdhu. They do
not take care to distinguish whether the verse so recited and anslated calls
for exultation or not, they just note the ending words tha dee, and drone
out sdhu.
Correct Usage of Sdhu 29
For instance, in the Vessantara Jtaka, King Vessantara gave away his
two children, a son and a daughter of tender ages of four and ve, to Jujak
Brahmin. The Pi verse about that describes the brahmins cruel eatment
of the children who wept desolately; how the brahmin beat them cruelly
and dragged them away. When the preaching monk recited that verse and
anslated it into Burmese, ending his anslation with the usual tha dee
the audience droned out the usual sdhu. However, that part of the story
calls for sympathy and sadness om the listeners, not exultation, and so
the sdhu went awry. In Burma the audience do not care to discriminate.
In Sri Lanka, however, the audience intones sdhu three times only where
a discourse refers to the aainment of Arahantship or nibbna. That is an
occasion for exultation when a congratulatory exclamation such as sdhu,
is called for.
In the time of the Buddha the practice of saying sdhu must have been
of the Sri Lankan paern. When the audience exclaimed sdhu three times,
the Buddha paused, and during that brief interval he went into jhna. Soon
aer the exclamation of sdhu by the audience, he resumed his discourse
he never remained idle. How adorable!
The preaching monks of today may not be entering jhna; that brief interval
is probably the time to rest his voice or consider the words he will use when
he resumes his discourse.
Moreover, the Buddha looked on all beings with great compassion,
abiding in the aainment of great compassion (mahkaru sampai) and
the uition of Arahantship (arahaa sampai) for 120 million times each,
altogether 240 million times daily. That shows that the Buddha did not miss
a single opportuni for entering into jhna. So Stgiri said in reply to his
iends query, The Buddha who knows all the Dhamma fully never neglected
jhna.
To sum up, the Buddha was ee of the unwholesome deed of stealing,
the unwholesome deed of torture and killing, and was always remote om
heedlessness, nor did he ever neglect jhna.
As the Buddha was Omniscient, he did not need to consider in advance
what he would say in a discourse, he was always prepared. He also knew
the appropriate teaching to suit the maturi of any individual. Not only did
he enter into jhna aer the discourse, but he utilised even brief intervals
during the discourse to enter into jhna. He never remained idle for a moment.
If we consider this, we will realise just how adorable the Buddha is, thus
we should take refuge in him with concenated aention. While doing so,
we should note the arising of the joy emanating om the adoration, and the
immediate fading away of that joy. By using the vipassan method we should
sengthen our insight until we reach the nal stage of the Noble Path.
To end todays session, I urge the meditators to continue their practice by
rst noting the actions of the body, such as the rising and falling of the
abdomen, and then the thoughts and imaginations of the mind. Noting
mental phenomena is cinupassan. Noting the stiness and aching of the
limbs, and all the other physical discomfort is vedannupassan. Noting
seeing, hearing, etc., and anger, disappointment, and other mental states
is dhammnupassan. Noting the various movements and actions of the body
is kynupassan.
The meditators at this cene are doing this practice, and all of them are
ying to win eedom om heedlessness. In due course, they will aain
advanced stages of insight.
Of the four path knowledges, the path of a Seam-winner enables one to
gain deep concenation. Then advancing om that stage to the next, the
path of a Once-returner, the meditator will have his concenation power
sengthened further. When one reaches the third stage, the path of a
Non-returner, there will not be any wandering of the mind, and the
concenation will be very deep. With diligence, one can advance to the
ultimate stage of arahaa magga and thus aain the state of an Arahant. At
that nal stage heedlessness is impossible because mindfulness is ever present.
So in praising the insight of an Arahant, it is said: The Arahant is always
mindful whether walking, standing, sleeping, or siing.
An Arahant never misses a moment in his mindfulness of mental and
physical phenomena. His awareness is all-encompassing. By sleeping it
means that there is mindfulness till the point of falling asleep, and mindful-
ness resumes at the point of waking up. Of course, there is no question of
mindfulness while one is asleep. That is how mindfulness is practised every
moment of ones waking life, according to the Buddhas admonition
appamdena sampdetha sive on with heedfulness.
Our meditators have been developing mindfulness, which is really
heartening. They must work hard enough to aain at least the rst stage of
the path the path of seam-winning. When one aains that stage, one
will never again fall into the realms of misery.
31
Does the Buddha Tell Lies?
The two questions put by Hemavata relate to physical commission of
unwholesome deeds, and to whether the Buddha neglected jhna. Then
Hemavata put questions relating to unwholesome speech:
Friend Stgiri, does your teacher, the Buddha, reain om telling lies?
Does he reain om using rude, abusive, and contemptuous words? Does
he reain om uering words that desoy iendliness and uni? Does he
uer ivolous speech?
Hemavata wanted to know whether the Buddha commied unwholesome
speech, such as using abusive words, telling lies, and telling tales that could
set one person against another. Uni between iends and allies could be
disrupted by someone dropping a few words, quite politely, hinting at
something that could create misunderstanding.
Vassakras Slander
At the time of the Buddha, King Ajtasau wanted to invade the Vajj
kingdom where the Licchav princes were reigning. These princes were
ruling the couny in harmony and uni, and their uni was their sength.
Ajtasau ied to disrupt the uni and undermine the sength of the
Licchav princes by employing a subterfuge. He sent Vassakra, one of his
ministers, into exile, and Vassakra went to the Licchav princes to seek
refuge. Some princes said to others, This brahmin, Vassakra, is a cunning
man, dont let him take refuge. Others replied, This brahmin was exiled
because he spoke for us against his own king. So we should take him on.
Vassakra was consequently received by the Licchav princes, and was
appointed as the teacher of the children of the princes.
Vassakra taught the princes children well, and thus earned the ust of
the princes. Once he had obtained the ust and condence of the princes,
Vassakra started his campaign of seing one prince against another. The
ruse he employed was subtle: he called one prince aside and asked in a
whisper, Have you taken your meal? What curry did you eat?
The other princes saw this, and asked the prince what the teacher had
told him. The prince said uthfully that the old man asked him whether he
had taken his meal and what curry he ate, but the other princes did not
believe him. They thought to themselves, One would not ask such questions
in a whisper. There must be some important secret.
Next, the brahmin asked another prince, Does your father plough the
eld? How many bullocks draw his plough? When the other princes asked
him what had passed between the brahmin and him, the prince told them
uthfully, but none of them believed him.
Then the brahmin called another prince and asked in a whisper, Are you
a coward? The prince asked him in surprise, Why? Who told you that?
Then the brahmin said, Oh your iend, that prince, and pointed to another
prince. The prince was angry at being so accused, and began to misust the
other prince.
Using such simple deceits, Vassakra continued seing one prince against
another. Within three years he had created disharmony among the Licchav
princes. The disruption of their uni was so great that no prince would look
at the face of another. Then Vassakra sent a secret message to King Ajtasau
who led an army against the Vajj kingdom of the Licchav princes. Since
each prince thought that the others had accused him of cowardice, none of
them went out to ght the invading army. They said to themselves, If they
say I am a coward, let them go out and ght. So King Ajtasau captured
the couny easily. This furnishes a good lesson about backbiting. Hemavata,
therefore, asked, Is your teacher, the Buddha, ee of speech calculated to
create misunderstanding?
He further questioned, Is your teacher, the Buddha, ee om ivolous
speech? Such talk includes present-day novels and fables, which lack
morals and valuable messages for the good of the secular or spiritual life
of the people; they are wrien merely for pleasurable reading. Hemavata
asked his iend, Stgiri, whether his teacher, the Buddha, was ee of such
ivolous speech.
The Buddha Reains From Falsehood
Stgiri said in reply, Friend Hemavata, Gotama Buddha does not tell
lies; he always reains om falsehood. Since the time when the Bodhisaa
received the assurance om Buddha Dpakara, he had reained om telling
lies. Since then, he had always been ee of that unwholesome deed; he always
spoke the uth. A person who tells lies does not hesitate to commit any
unwholesome deed because he or she will lie when asked about it. So a liar
dares to do any kind of unwholesome deed. The Dhammapada says:
For one who ansgresses the uth and resorts to lies, who is
unconcerned with the next existence, there is no unwholesome
deed he cannot commit. (Dhp v 176)
The Buddha Reains From Falsehood 33
Transgressing the uth means abandoning uth, which means telling
lies. One who does not hesitate to tell lies can commit any kind of
unwholesome deed for he or she is ready with a false explanation. Such a
person will do anything for personal gain. One who dares to do unwhole-
some deeds has no good prospects for the next existence, which means he
or she is unconcerned about the next existence. He or she cares only for
welfare in the present existence and not for what will happen in the next
existence. Such a person will do any kind of unwholesome deed if it brings
some benet in the present life. So unuthfulness leads to all kinds of
other unwholesome deeds.
The Bodhisaa had avoided this unwholesome deed of false speech in all
his existences. His avoidance of this unwholesome deed was, of course,
resaint by aainment and formally undertaking the precepts, but not by
resaint by cuing o delements. Only when he became the Buddha did
he avoid this unwholesome deed through the third form of resaint; that is,
avoidance through the path of Arahantship.
To explain further, the Bodhisaa avoided lying though he had not
formally taken the precepts. He did not lie, and always told the uth. This
is avoidance through aainment. If a person has taken the precepts formally,
saying, I undertake the precept of avoidance of telling lies, then he avoids
telling lies through undertaking.
Such instances of avoidance of falsehood are usually in consideration of
some factors such as advanced age, reputation, fear of censure or fear of
commiing an unwholesome deed.
However, if one has aained the path of a Seam-winner through
meditation practice, one abandons false speech completely. At that stage
falsehood is foreign to his nature. The Buddha had abandoned this
unwholesome deed since his aainment of this early stage of the path of a
Seam-winner. When he reached the ultimate stage of arahaa magga, this
maer was entirely out of the question. The Buddha had declared that he
had already aained that ultimate stage. So Stgiri gave a denite reply to
the query, saying, Our teacher, the Buddha, has completely abandoned the
unwholesome deed of false speech.
Then to the question concerning rude speech, Stgiri replied, The
Buddha is also ee of using rude, abusive, and contemptuous speech
calculated to desoy iendliness and uni.
Some Arahants used rude speech out of habit, but they had no evil motives.
For instance, Venerable Pilindavaccha had the habit of calling people
outcaste since he was a brahmin. Even aer he had become an Arahant, he
did not abandon this habit. However, the Buddha had retained no ace of
any habits, whether good or bad, aer his enlightenment. He was completely
ee om the habits that are usually carried along through ones lives.
To the question concerning ivolous speech Stgiri replied: Our teacher,
the Buddha, speaks only what is appropriate and benecial either to worldly
or spiritual aairs.
By that, Stgiri meant that the Buddha saw the uth of any maer by
his knowledge, and spoke what was conducive to well-being, and never
indulged in any ivolous speech.
Right Speech has four aspects:
1. Not lying, but speaking the uth,
2. Avoiding rude and coarse words, but using gentle speech benecial
to the listener,
3. Not slandering, but promoting iendliness and uni,
4. Avoiding ivolous speech, but saying only what is appropriate and
benecial.
These four aspects apply to communication in worldly aairs as well as
religious aairs. If one observes these four rules of speech, one can be said
to be of pure speech.
Perfect Speech
Six kinds of speech are used in human communication:
1. False speech that is not benecial, and displeasing to others.
For instance, if one makes an accusation of immorali against a person
who is virtuous, then the accusers speech is false. His accusation might be
believed by another person who would then disust the accused person,
and thus unwiingly earn demerit. The accused person will also feel unhappy
because he has been unjustly accused. The false accusation will not be liked
by the wise, so such speech is malicious and inappropriate.
2. False speech that is not benecial, but pleasing to many.
Included in this category are ctional tales, backbiting, which causes
misunderstanding and disuni, and erroneous religious discourses. Tales,
novels, and stories are mere fabrications. They are not accounts of real events,
and do not benet the reader, who may become sexually aroused, sad, angry,
or dejected. Yet these tales and stories are liked by many people. The backbiter
Perfect Speech 35
makes false accusations and one-sided statements, designed to cause
desuction of iendliness and uni. Propaganda of the present-day contains
many such lies and unwarranted accusations. Though slander causes disess,
the listener may feel that it is intended for his own good.
I shall now refer to some statements in the Tipiaka. In ancient times
before the Buddha aained enlightenment, some teachings advocated the
sacricial oering of animals. This was said to neualise the eects of
unwholesome deeds and bring prosperi and happiness. Even King
Pasenadi of Kosala once arranged for such a sacrice to propitiate the gods.
He arranged to have young cows, bulls, goats, and sheep (ve hundred
of each) sacriced.
On the advice of Queen Mallik, the king approached the Buddha and
asked his advice. The Buddha said that the sacricing of animals for
propitiation of the gods, was deimental to the kings interests. The Buddha
advised him that if the animals were released and allowed to live, it would
be a meritorious act, which would bring him peace and happiness. Realising
his error, the king ordered the sacricial animals to be released.
Killing animals to obtain prosperi and happiness is illogical. To believe
that inicting misery on animals will lead to happiness is irrational, yet many
people still have faith in such sacrices.
During the Buddhas time, Ajita Kesakambal, a leader of a sect, main-
tained, There are neither wholesome (kusala) nor unwholesome deeds
(akusala), and these deeds have no eect because there is no next existence.
This is annihilationism(uccheda dihi). A subscriber to such a belief will not
shun unwholesome deeds, so will have no moral qualities worth praising.
Aer death, the annihilationist will go to one of the realms of misery, which
he or she has denied, and suer greatly. This is the plight of those who deny
life aer death, according to the Buddhas teachings.
Such beliefs are of no benet, yet many people subscribe to them. So the
statement, There is no kamma, or its result, because there is no aerlife is
not ue and has no benet, though many people like it. This is an example
of the second category of speech. Many people like such beliefs, though they
are neither ue nor benecial. The Buddha censured such speech, so it must
be avoided.
3. Speech that is ue, not benecial, and displeasing to others.
This category includes, for instance, calling a thief a thief, a cheat a
cheat, a fool a fool, or a blind person blind. Though it is ue, it has no
benet, nor is it liked by the person concerned. The Buddha never used
this kind of speech.
4. Speech that is ue, not benecial, but pleasing to many.
This category includes, for instance, quoting somebody and seing him
against another. Such speech causes disharmony and disess, but the listener
might be pleased because the speaker is sharing a condence. This kind of
speech includes political rumour and gossip, which may be ue and relished
by many, but is of no benet. Moreover, it disturbs those who are cultivating
a spiritual path. Such speech was never used by the Buddha.
5. Speech that is ue and benecial, though not pleasing to some.
Such speech includes admonitions like, You are suering now because
you have done many unwholesome deeds in your previous existences.
If
you do not reform, but continue doing unwholesome deeds, saving yourself
om hell will be dicult. This admonition is motivated by good intentions
for the welfare of others. Such forthrightness may be displeasing to others,
nevertheless, it should sometimes be used. The Buddha used such speech
when necessary.
The Buddha stated that Devadaa would fall into hell and suer misery
there for the entire aeon because he persuaded some monks to form a new
group, thus causing a schism (saghabheda). This prediction was not liked
by Devadaas group, but the Buddha made it for the benet of others who
might otherwise dare to commit a similar heinous deed. The Buddha used
such speech because it was ue and benecial to many, though it was not
liked by some.
This kind of speech is disliked by materialists who do not believe in rebirth, and think that
everything can be explained by scientic methods. For example, they say that all diseases
have genetic or environmental causes, which will sooner or later be discovered by medical
research. They support vivisection and other cruel tests on animals to nd a cure for diseases
in human beings. How ironic, therefore, that according to the Buddhas teaching, cruel to
animals leads to rebirth in hell the residual result of that kamma when eventually reborn
again as a human being, is to suer om many diseases (Cakammavibhaga Sua).
It is a wrong view(Pubbekatahetudihi), according to Buddhism, to say that all eects are
the result of previous kamma, because food, climate, and thought are also important causes,
but previous kamma is one of the four possible causes. One should make a careful and
thorough study of the law of kamma before jumping to facile conclusions. All that one can
say with certain is that disagreeable results are the product of unwholesome kamma, while
wholesome kamma always gives agreeable results. As the Buddha said, It is impossible that
an evil deed could give an agreeable result. (Ahnapi, Dutiyavaggo, A.i..284) (ed.)
The Aibute of Sugata 37
6. Speech that is ue, benecial, and pleasing to many.
This category includes discourses on chari, morali, and mental culture.
Religious discourses are benecial and liked by wise and moral persons, so
the Buddha used such speech whenever it was appropriate. The Buddha
mostly used this kind of speech.
Of the six categories, false speech, which is never benecial, should not
be used, whether it is pleasing to others or not. The Buddha never used such
speech. True, but unbenecial speech, whether pleasing to others or not, was
never used by the Buddha. So the Buddha never used these four kinds of
speech. True speech that was benecial, though it was sometimes displeasing
to others, was used by the Buddha. Of course, the Buddha chose the
appropriate occasion for such speech. He never said anything irrelevant to
the situation.
Choosing the right words for the occasion is important. Saying something
ue and benecial may be inappropriate when festivities are being held. For
instance, at a wedding ceremony or a novice initiation, when people are
light-hearted, talking about serious subjects like meditation on death or the
stages of insight leading to nibbna is inappropriate. Conversely, giving a
discourse on blessings (magala) is inappropriate at a memorial ceremony.
To summarise, the Buddha used only words that expounded the Dhamma
and were of benet to many. So Stgiri said, in reply to Hemavatas question,
that the Buddha spoke aer considering the benet in mundane and spiritual
aairs.
The Aibute of Sugata
Since the Buddha used the appropriate speech for every occasion, he
possessed the Sugata aibute,
which means saying appropriate words.

The Buddha said what was ue and benecial to many, though it may be
displeasing to some. So we can summarise, The Buddha had the aibute
of saying the right thing whether it was pleasing or not.
Aer Stgiri had replied about the Buddhas abstention om the four
unwholesome deeds of speech, Hemavata put questions relating to unwhole-
some states of mind.
This sublime virtue to break bad news gently whenever possible, and on rare occasions
sictly when unavoidable, is exemplied by the Buddhas teachings to Kisagotam in the
former case, and to six evil-minded monks in the laer case. (ed.)
38
Is the Buddha Free From Desire?
Hemavata said, Friend Stgiri, is your teacher, the Buddha, ee om
desire for sensual pleasures? Is he ee om the desire to kill or desoy? Has
he overcome delusion? Does your teacher, the Buddha, have the eye of
knowledge to see all the Dhamma?
Of the three unwholesome deeds of the mind, covetousness refers to the
desire to get others possessions and scheming to achieve that purpose.
Hemavata wanted to know whether the Buddha was ee om covetousness
(abhijjh). People generally want to possess beautiful things. Even those who
declared themselves to be Buddhas were not ee om covetousness.
To be ee om the desire to kill or desoy means to be ee om ill-will
(bypda) the wish entertained by a person to see others dead or desoyed.
People generally wish someone they hate to be dead, and some even express
that wish. The bogus Buddhas of those days were not ee om this ill-will.
They said that one could kill with impuni. The God who punishes his creatures
with death cannot be said to be ee om ill-will. The wish for others death is,
aer all, an expression of anger, so it can never be accepted as mental puri.
Hemavata wanted to know whether the Buddha was mentally pure so he asked,
Is the mind of your teacher the Buddha ee om the stain of evil wishes?
Wrong view (micch dihi), is a combination of delusion and ignorance.
When Hemavata asked whether the Buddha had overcome delusion he
wanted to know whether the Buddha was ee om wrong view, which is
one of the mental delements. Puing such a question about the Buddha
seems very rude, but in those days many leaders of heretics were claiming
to be Buddhas, so this question was pertinent.
Three Kinds of Wrong View
Among the bogus Buddhas, Pura Kassapa preached that killing, stealing,
and other unwholesome deeds were not demeritorious, and that alms-giving
and other wholesome deeds were not meritorious. This belief, which rejects
the principle of kamma, is called akiriya dihi or no-eect belief.
Ajita, another heretical leader, held that deeds had no eect because aer
death there was no rebirth, since life ends at death. This belief is called
nihilism(nahika dihi).
Another heretical leader, Makkhali Gosla, preached that no cause existed
for the delement and misery of beings, or for their puri and happiness.
This no-cause belief is called ahetuka dihi. This belief also rejected the
principle of kamma.
The Buddhas Mind is Always Pure 39
The last of the heretics, Pakudha Kaccyana, said that all beings were
composed of the four elements, and happiness (sukha), pain (dukkha), and
life (jva). These seven elements could not be annihilated by any force, so no
deeds could aect this composite enti. Therefore, neither demerit nor merit
had any meaning, he added.
These heretics, holding wrong conceptions, were sunk in delusion and
ignorance. Hemavatas question whether the Buddha was ee of delusion
was therefore pertinent.
Questions relating to the unwholesome deeds of the body, speech, and
mind had been presented, and categorical answers given. However, that did
not convince Hemavata that the Buddha was the real Sammsambuddha,
for these aibutes could also be possessed by Paccekabuddhas and Arahants.
(A Paccekabuddha is a non-preaching, lesser Buddha). So Hemavata asked
further; Does your teacher, the Buddha, have the eye of knowledge to see
all the Dhamma?
The Buddhas Mind is Always Pure
This is the answer to the question, Friend Stgiri, is your teacher, the
Buddha, ee om desires for sensual pleasures?
Since the time of renunciation at the age of twen-nine, the Buddha had
been ee om sensual desires. Even when he was suering acutely om
exeme asceticism, his mind did not revert to the former joys and pleasures
of the palace, and he was ee om covetousness. When he aained
Buddhahood, he rejected all aspects of craving through the path of Arahant-
ship. He declared this in giving his rst discourse, saying that he had
abandoned the cause of suering, i.e. craving.
To the question, Is your teacher, the Buddha, ee om the desire to kill
or desoy? Stgiri replied, The mind of our teacher is not sullied and is
always pure.
The Buddhas mind was permeated with loving-kindness for all beings,
without a ace of ill-will or aversion. When Agulimla was chasing him
with a sword, the Buddha had nothing but loving-kindness and compassion
for him. When the drunken elephant, Ngiri, rushed to gore him, the Buddha
was radiating pure love. So too, aer Devadaa rolled down a huge rock
upon him om a mountain. Even on such critical occasions his mind was ee
om negative emotions; nothing further needs to be said of other occasions.
The Buddha, who had puried his mind of ill-will and anger through the path
of Arahantship, was always of pure mind, hence Stgiris answer.
In reply to the question Has he overcome delusion? Stgiri said,
Our teacher, the Buddha, has overcome all delusion and ignorance through
the four Noble Paths.
Hemavata meant to ask whether the Buddha had overcome wrong view
based on delusion, but Stgiris answer went beyond that and was
all-embracing. He said that the Buddha had overcome all delusion, which
was a comprehensive answer.
The Bodhisaa Was Free From Wrong View
Since the time of conrmation by Dpakara Buddha that he would
become a Buddha, the Bodhisaa was ee om beliefs that deny the
principles of kamma, such as eternalism(sassata dihi) and annihilationism
(uccheda dihi). When he aained Buddhahood, he eradicated all delements,
which of course includes heresy (duccarita micch dihi). This refers to the
heresies propagated by the heretical leaders, Pura Kassapa, and others.
The Buddha exhorted his audience not to follow these wrong paths.
The Buddha said that heretical views like Killing, stealing, and other
unwholesome deeds do not produce bad eects were due to aachment to
the ve aggregates: materiali, feeling, perception, mental formations, and
consciousness. He asserted that no one who knew the ve aggregates were
impermanent, unsatisfactory, and insubstantial could adopt such heresies.
The Buddha likened the views of a leading heretic, Makkhali Gosla, to
a dragnet and urged his disciples to reject the heresy. Let us briey outline
Makkhalis view. According to him, no cause existed for either pover or
prosperi, and nothing could change or improve the situation, because all
beings lives were predestined. They would each have their share of pover
and prosperi, and would be reborn in higher or lower realms according to
predestination. Bad or foolish beings did not suer any longer. Good or wise
beings did not suer for a shorter period. Each being was alloed a share of
misery and happiness, of pover and prosperi. Just as a rolling ball of
thread stops when all the thread has unwound, the cycle of existences will
end when each being has lived out a predestined period of existence.
This view of predestination asserts that one just has to live out ones time,
and need not y for improvement. The idea that one will mature automati-
cally, suits those who are too lazy to do wholesome deeds, and those who
delight in unwholesome deeds. It is an ideal philosophy for skivers and
rogues. It also accords well with the current belief that those who have
already aained human status will not sink any lower aer death, but will
Free of All Delusion 41
gradually mature automatically. This belief is assumed in the Burmese term,
lu the lu phyit man dies, becomes man.
Once one gets caught in the dragnet of Makkhalis view, one cannot escape
and has to die in it. The Buddha meant that those who favoured this view
would not do any good volitional act that would enable them to aain
celestial realms or nibbna, so they would fall into hell.
I have heard that some teachers maintain that it is enough merely to listen
to what they preach, and practising meditation is unnecessary. Such preachers
should take note of the metaphor of the dragnet used by the Buddha for
Makkhali, the most blameworthy of the heretics. The views of Pura
Kassapa and Ajita Kesakambal also fall into the category of dragnet views,
which preclude the possibili for beings to reach celestial realms, or to aain
nibbna.
The Origin of False Views
When did the false views denying kamma and its eect originate?
According to the Cakkavai Sua, they arose during the era in which mans
life-span was one thousand years. Until that era, people probably had less
greed, anger, and delusion, and so were not enamoured of this argument
about kamma. Since then, people became ever more depraved, and began
to subscribe to these views. However, these views were not very popular,
for even at the time of the Buddha, when the span of mans life was reduced
to one hundred years, they were not liked by many.
As moral standards are deteriorating, people are becoming more depraved,
and false views are beginning to ourish. According to the Cakkavai Sua,
in the future, when mans expectation of life is reduced to just ten years,
morali will disappear and even the expression an unwholesome deed will
become obsolete. The denial of the law of kamma is gradually gaining more
acceptance because peoples hankering aer sensual pleasures is increasing.
Even today, some think that if one avoids unwholesome deeds, one will not
achieve any useful purpose. This opinion leads people to wrong views.
Free of All Delusion
The denial of the law of kamma is now commonplace because of
overwhelming greed arising om delusion. The Buddha realised this, so he
exhorted people to sive hard to reduce greed and delusion. Those who
follow the Buddhas exhortation, y to gain realisation through meditation,
and thus ee themselves om wrong views. They come to realise that the
kamma of previous existences has moulded the present existence, and that
the kamma of the present existence, if not yet ee of craving, will determine
the next existence. Thus, they conrm their belief in right view.
The Buddha was obviously ee of wrong view, but at a time when there
were many bogus Buddhas, it was quite pertinent for Hemavata to ask
whether the Buddha had overcome delusion. Stgiris reply stated that the
Buddha had overcome all delusion and all wrong views.
The Buddha Has the Eye of Knowledge
In reply to the Hemavatas question about the Buddhas knowledge of all
the Dhamma, Stgiri said, Our teacher, the Buddha, has the eye of
knowledge that sees all the Dhamma.
There are ve kinds of eyes:
1. The physical eye (masa cakkhu).
2. The Divine Eye (dibba cakkhu).
3. The Eye of the Dhamma (dhamma cakkhu).
4. The All-seeing eye Omniscience (samanta cakkhu).
5. The Eye of the Buddha (Buddha cakkhu).
1. The physical eye is very clear and can see for a distance of one yojana
(about 7 miles).
2. The Divine Eye can see all material forms, large or small, far or near;
it can see the abodes of devas and brahms, the realms of misery such
as hell, hungry ghosts, and demons (asura); it can also see the various
universes. This eye can see anything anywhere, any shape or colour;
it can also see where a being has gone to take up its next existence. The
Buddha had aained this eye at midnight on the day when he was to
aain Buddhahood. He then saw all the thir-one realms of existence
in which various beings were either enjoying pleasure or suering
om misery.
3. As for the Eye of the Dhamma, the term Dhamma refers to the
knowledge gained om the path of insight and knowledge of reviewing
(paccavekkhaa-a), especially to the knowledge of the Noble Path.
The Eye of the Dhamma is synonymous with the path of the Seam-winner.
4. Samanta cakkhu is synonymous with Omniscience (sabbauta-a).
It is the eye that sees all the Dhamma. The Buddha declared while
giving his rst discourse, the Dhammacakka Sua, that he had gained
this eye in becoming the Buddha.
The Buddha Has the Eye of Knowledge 43
5. The Eye of the Buddha includes indriyaparopariyaa-a, which is
the insight into the grades of spiritual maturi of beings. Indriya
(faculties) here refers to condence (saddh), energy (viriya), mindful-
ness (sati), concenation (samdhi), and wisdom(pa). The Buddha
could see to what extent these faculties were mature. He examined
the spiritual maturi of beings to nd out their readiness to realise
the Dhamma and aain nibbna. If a certain individual was still lacking
in maturi, the Buddha would not teach him the Dhamma at once.
The period of postponement was sometimes months or years, but
occasionally it was just a maer of minutes.
To illusate such postponement there is the story of Bhiya-drucriya.
He was an ascetic om Suppraka (in the region of Aparanta on the western
coast of India) who came to Jetavana Monastery (near the ci of Svahi,
about 1,400 miles away). When he arrived, the Buddha was out collecting
alms-food in the ci. Bhiya did not wait at the monastery, but went into
the ci to nd the Buddha. When he met the Buddha, he made obeisance
and requested him to teach the Dhamma.
The Buddha saw that he was not yet mature enough to receive his teaching,
and said that it was not ing to give teachings while on alms-round. Bhiya
made the request a second time, and the Buddha refused. When he made
the third request, the Buddha saw that his faculties had aained sucient
maturi, and gave the following brief discourse:
Bhiya, when you see an object, be conscious of just the seeing;
when you hear a sound, be conscious of just the hearing; when
you smell or taste or touch something, be conscious of just the
smell, taste or the touch; and when you think of anything, be
conscious of just the thinking.
While listening to the discourse, Bhiya became an Arahant aer passing

through the stages of insight, and the four paths and uitions. This is an
instance of postponement for a few minutes.
Commentary to the Dhammapada, v 101.
The Commentary to the Dhammapada, v 70 tells the story of the naked ascetic Jambuka.
He had to endure the result of his previous unwholesome kamma before his perfections
(pram) ripened to a stage where he was ready to understand the Dhamma. This is an
instance of postponement for -ve years.
This exaordinary knowledge that the Buddha possessed to fully appreciate the spiritu-
al maturi of other beings made him the incomparable ainer of ainable persons. His
abili to tame even ferocious animals like Nlgiri has already been mentioned above. (ed.)
Knowledge of Others Predispositions
saynusaya-a means the insight into the idiosyncrasies of an
individual. Predispositions are called saya. There are two aspects to the
psychology of an individual, namely wrong view (dihi) and knowledge
(a). Those who are worldly usually have wrong view deep in their
minds. They hold either eternalistic or nihilistic views. Those who prefer
eternalism do not like nihilism since they cherish the idea of the souls
immortali. Those who prefer nihilism do not like eternalism since they
favour the idea of the disappearance of a being aer death. Though either
pe may change their view for some reason or other, they usually revert
to their preferred view later. They are like dogs that wander during the
day and come back to their sleeping places at night. The Buddha knew
whether an individual was inclined to eternalism or nihilism, and directed
his teachings accordingly to enable that individual to gain right view and
quickly aain the path.
Among those who want to escape om sasra and aain nibbna, some
have gained insight knowledge (vipassan-a). Although they have not
reached the stage of the Noble Path, and still hold the views of permanence
(nicca), happiness (sukha), and self (aa), they will regain insight into
impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and non-self (anaa)
when they hear the Buddhas discourse. Similarly, those who have gained
insight knowledge, but have stopped noting the three characteristics for
some time, can regain their insight soon aer they resume their practice. This
is like returning to ones home.
As Seam-winners and Once-returners are not fully ee om sensual
desire (kma), lust (rga), and ill-will (bypda), these delements may recur
during lapses of mindfulness. Once they regain mindfulness, they will
reieve their insight into the uth. It is like leaving the comfort and securi
of ones home, to visit several places during the day for some reason and
returning for the night. The Buddha saw this nature of the mind and gave a
teaching best suited to the inclinations and idiosyncrasies of individuals so
that they could aain the stages of the path and its uition.
There are seven kinds of latent delements (anusaya kiles); namely, sexual
desire (kma rga), lust for life (bhava rga), aversion (paigha), conceit (mna),
wrong view (dihi), doubt (vicikicch), and ignorance (avijj). The Buddha
discerned which one was predominant in the mind of an individual and gave
the most appropriate teaching. That is why those who had the opportuni
to hear the Buddhas teaching personally, quickly aained nibbna.
Knowledge of Others Predispositions 45
These two kinds of knowledge, namely insight into the spiritual maturi
of beings, and insight into the predispositions of individuals, are together
called the Eye of the Buddha (Buddha cakkhu). This twin insight was possessed
only by the Buddha and by no other Arahant. Even Venerable Sripua didnt
have it. Venerable Sripua could not determine the spiritual maturi or the
mental inclination of an individual to give him the appropriate teaching.
Venerable Sripua once taught a disciple to contemplate the repulsive-

ness of the body, asking him to practice it for the whole rainy season. The
disciple could make no progress, so Venerable Sripua took him to the
Buddha. Aer considering the predispositions of that monk, the Buddha
created and gave him a lotus of ruddy gold, and asked him to focus aention
on it, noting the redness of the ower. The monk did as directed, and by
meditating on the golden lotus, gained the four stages of absorption. Then
the Buddha caused the ower to wilt, and the monk, coming out of jhna,
perceived the decay. He then realised the instabili of his own body through
inospection. Appearing before him, the Buddha gave him a discourse, and
the monk aained Arahantship.
The monk in this episode had been a goldsmith for ve hundred existences,
and naturally liked everything beautiful and delicate. He was not the least
interested in contemplating decomposing corpses. Venerable Sripua did
not know of his predisposition, and gave him an unsuitable object for
contemplation. The Buddha, on the conary, knew about the individuals
predisposition om previous lives, and so asked him to contemplate redness
(lohitakammahna) aer giving him a lotus of ruddy gold. Because of the
Buddhas very specic teaching, the monk could aain Arahantship within
a few hours.
As the Buddha alone possessed these two kinds of insight, Stgiri replied
denitely: Our teacher, the Buddha, has the eye to see the Dhamma in all
its aspects.
Of the ve kinds of eyes enumerated earlier, all except the physical eye,
which needs no special mention, pertain to insights into the Dhamma. The
Buddha possessed all four, hence Stgiris reply.
To reiterate, Stgiri said to his iend, Hemavata, that the Buddha was
ee om all desire and lust, was of pure mind, and had eradicated anger
Because this abili is unique to the Buddha, we should visit and listen to many dierent
teachers to nd the best guidance for our personal needs. There may be some teachers who
jealously guard their disciples, and some cults who reject members if they dont show
unquestioning loyal to their group, but wise teachers who are aware of their own limita-
tions actively encourage their disciples to learn om other teachers. (ed.)
and ill-will through the Path of Non-returning (angmimagga). This means
that the Buddhas mind was never sullied by feelings of anger or anxie.
Incidentally, Venerable Sripua was praised for his patience. He was never
angry. A certain brahmin could not believe this. He maintained that Venerable
Sripua was never angry because nobody ever provoked his anger. So one
day, while Venerable Sripua was on alms-round, he gave the Arahants back
a he slap. Venerable Sripua did not even look back at him, and continued
walking with composure. Only then did the unbelieving brahmin realise the
uth, and he humbly begged the Venerable Sripuas pardon. Not only
Venerable Sripua, but all Arahants are ee om anger. Yet they still have
some idiosyncrasies that are vestiges of anger. Only the Buddha had eliminated
all character aits. His mind was exceedingly pure.
Stgiri said that the Buddha had overcome all aspects of delusion.
Delusion means not understanding the Four Noble Truths, i.e. having wrong
notions of them. For instance, regarding what is suering (dukkha) as
happiness (sukha). Since one is subject to the process of incessant arising and
passing away, nothing is pleasant or stable. So there is no happiness at all,
but only suering. Yet delusion leads one to mistake suering for happiness.
Whatever is seen, heard, smelt, tasted, touched, or thought of is just mind
and maer undergoing constant arising and passing away. However, delusion
persuades one to regard these unstable phenomena as dependable and
pleasant, which encourages one to be mentally aached to them. This
aachment the cause of suering (samudaya sacca) leads to new existences.
The cessation of existence is the uth of the end of suering (nirodha sacca),
but delusion makes one dislike it, because cessation is taken to mean the
nal death, and is therefore not relished.
Chari, morali, and mental culture are the basis for aaining nibbna
but delusion makes one dislike them. They are taken to be arduous. Likewise
with the practice of insight meditation. This is the nature of delusion, which
gives us wrong notions. Stgiri meant to say that the Buddha had overcome
all aspects of delusion, and was ee om delusion and ignorance.
47
Is the Buddha Wise and Moral?
The next series of Hemavatas questions runs as follows:
Friend Stgiri, is your teacher, the Buddha, fully endowed with
knowledge (vijj) and moral conduct (caraa)? Has he completely
eradicated the ood of delements? Is he ee om sasra? Is
there no future existence for him?
In reply, Stgiri gave categorical answers to the eect that the Buddha
was fully endowed with all the qualities referred to by Hemavata.
As mentioned before, K, the rich mans daughter who overheard the
exchange between the two guardian spirits, aained the stage of Seam-
winner. She became a Seam-winner because she heard about the aibutes
of the Buddha. While joyously adoring him, she passed through all the stages
of insight, perceiving the three characteristics of mind and maer. Her
achievement was uly remarkable.
Stgiri said that the Buddha was fully endowed with knowledge.
Vijj means special knowledge or wisdom. According to one classica-
tion there are three kinds and, according to another, eight kinds. The Buddha
had fully developed all of these.
Besides, our teacher, the Buddha, has pure moral conduct, that is, all the
virtues that pave the way to nibbna.
Also, our teacher, the Buddha, has rid himself of the ood of delements
(kilessava), the ood of sensuali (kmsava), the ood of wrong views
(dihsava), and the ood of ignorance (avijjsava).
Our teacher, the Buddha, will have no more new existences; he is ee
om rebirth.
Stgiri gave denitive answers because he had heard the Buddha declare
in the Dhammacakka Sua that he had already completely developed the
Fourth Noble Truth (magga sacca) or, in other words, had fully developed
the eight factors of the path. Of them, Right View (samm dihi) and Right
Thought (samm sakappa) are the factors relating to wisdom, or what is also
called vijj special knowledge and mental powers. Right Speech, Right
Action (samm kammanta) and Right Livelihood (samm jva) make up the
path of morali, and Right Eort (samm vyma), Right Mindfulness (samm
sati) and Right Concenation (samm samdhi) make up the path of
concenation (samdhi magga). These laer two paths of morali and
concenation together make up caraa or moral conduct.
In the Dhammacakka Sua is a declaration by the Buddha that he was
the Fully Self-Enlightened One (Sammsambuddha), the genuine Buddha,
who was fully endowed with the special virtues called vijj and caraa. That
is why Stgiri gave his answers with the courage of conviction. He gave a
denite answer about the oods of the delements because, in the Dhamma-
cakka Sua, the Buddha said that he had completely rid himself of the cause
of suering (samudaya sacca) or craving. This statement, with the declaration
of himself as Sammsambuddha, convinced Stgiri that his teacher, the
Buddha, was the genuine Buddha.
The answer to the question regarding the Buddhas future existences was
based on the Buddhas declaration in the Dhammacakka Sua, My
deliverance om delements is permanent. By that, he meant his deliverance
was complete and not just for a few moments or for a certain period; it was
nal and inviolable. The Buddha armed that his present existence was his
last, and that no future new existence would result.
Three Kinds of Special Knowledge
Depending upon the method of classication we can enumerate three
kinds of special knowledge, or eight kinds. The three kinds are the knowledge
of former existences (pubbenivsa-a), the divine eye (dibbacakkhu-a)
and the knowledge of desuction of the delements (savakkhaya-a).
1. The knowledge of former existences was gained by the Buddha during
the rst watch of the full-moon night of May, the night on which he aained
Buddhahood.
2. The divine eye is the abili to see as if with the eye of a deva. The
metaphor of the eye of a deva is used to explain the nature of this knowledge,
but the range of this abili far exceeds that of a deva. Those who possess this
knowledge can see various beings at vast distances, and they can see what
the human eye cannot. They can see through walls, mountains, and other
barriers. They can see beings suering in the realms of misery in hell, the
animal kingdom, and the world of hungry ghosts. They can see the entire
human world, and the celestial realms.
The human eye cannot see even the guardian spirits of the forests, mountains,
and ees. Some say that such beings do not exist, because they cannot see
them. Nevertheless, they are aaid to remain under ees or in places reputed
to be haunted by ghosts. They dare not behave in a way that oends the spirits.
Guardian spirits and ghosts do sometimes reveal their forms and ighten
people. Many people report seeing them. Among the spirits that ighten
Three Kinds of Special Knowledge 49
people, some are guardian spirits. The Mea Sua refers to spirits revealing
various forms to the monks, who had come to reside in their forest, to ighten
them. Such spirits were the guardian deities of ees.
Hungry ghosts show themselves occasionally. Once, King Bimbisra
oered alms-food to the Buddha and the Sagha and returned to his palace.
That night, hungry ghosts haunted the royal chamber and ightened the
king. These beings were told by Kassapa Buddha, a previous Buddha, that
they would obtain sustenance if they said sdhu (well done) when the king
shared his merits gained om the wholesome deed of oering alms-food.
So they gathered around the Buddhas monastery and waited to say sdhu.
Unfortunately, King Bimbisra returned to his palace, forgeing to share his
merit. So the hungry ghosts entered his chamber to ighten him.
When the king told the Buddha about this, the Buddha told the king that
these hungry ghosts had been the kings relatives nine-two aeons ago, and
that they ightened him to remind him to share his merit with them. So the
king oered alms-food to the Buddha and the Sagha again on the following
day, sharing his merit with all beings. The hungry ghosts said sdhu and
thus obtained celestial food. These are just a few instances of haunting and
ightening by spirits. The human eye cannot see these spirits but the divine
eye can.
Once, Venerable Moggallna and Venerable Lakkhaa were coming down
om Vultures Peak for their alms-round, when Venerable Moggallna saw
various kinds of ghosts. Some were only skeletons, some were only esh,
and others had bodies that were on re. The former two kinds were being
pecked at by crows, vultures, and kites, and were shrieking om pain and
running about in the sky. Venerable Moggallna smiled at the thought that
he was ee of the possibili of such an existence of suering. Venerable
Lakkhaa asked him why he smiled. He said, Ask me aer the alms-round.
Soon aer having had their meal, Venerable Lakkhaa asked Venerable
Moggallna in the presence of the Buddha, why he had smiled. Venerable
Moggallna replied simply that he had smiled because he saw the sange
sight of hungry ghosts. Then the Buddha said, My disciples have gained
the eye of knowledge, and can therefore see what a human eye cannot, such
as hungry ghosts. Now my disciples can bear witness to the fact that there
are such beings. I myself, had seen them on the night when I was to aain
Buddhahood while siing on the seat under the Bodhi ee. I have withheld
a discourse on these beings because I was sympathetic with those who would
have earned demerit by their scepticism in this maer.
One sange ghost was a butcher in this ci of Rjagiri. He had fallen into
hell and suered many hundreds of thousands of years before he became
this ghost to work o the residue of his unwholesome deeds. Moggallna
was not mistaken when he said he had seen sange ghosts. The Buddha
continued to describe more than twen kinds of ghosts. Some beings had
to suer pain om swords, lances, arrows and spikes that fell upon their
bodies and pierced them. Some had lumps of iron of various sizes piercing
their bodies and were running about, screaming om the excruciating pain
they were suering in the process. No other human being in that area could
hear or see them, nor could Venerable Lakkhaa, since he had not yet gained
the divine eye. Such miserable beings were found not only on Vultures Peak,
but elsewhere too, in places where they had done unwholesome deeds in
their previous existences. Only the divine eye can see such beings, the
ordinary human eye cannot.
The divine eye can see not only ghosts, but all other beings too, including
beings in hell, devas, and brahms. Venerable Anuruddha could see one
thousand universes at once with his divine eye, and the Buddha could see
innumerable universes. He gained this knowledge on the night of the
full-moon day of May, before aaining Buddhahood.
3. The knowledge of desuction of the delements is the abili to
eradicate all lust, desire, and other delements. It is synonymous with the
knowledge of the four stages of the Noble Path: the path of seam-winning,
the path of once-returning, the path of non-returning, and the path of
Arahantship.
Of these four knowledges, the path of seam-winning eradicates the
delements concerning wrong view (dihi). The path of once-returning
eradicates the coarse delements of sexual desire (kma rga) and ill-will
(bypda). The path of non-returning eradicates the subtlest manifestations
of lust and anger, and the path of Arahantship eradicates all the remaining
delements. Collectively, these four paths are called the knowledge of
desuction of the delements. Since only Arahantship can desoy all the
delements, it alone is called savakkhaya-a. The Buddha aained this
knowledge on the night of the full-moon of May just before dawn.
When he emerged om the absorption on mindfulness of breathing, the
Buddha contemplated the Law of Dependent Origination (paiccasamuppda)
by observing the arising and passing away of the ve aggregates of grasping.
Observing the arising and passing away of the aggregates means the
observation of seeing, hearing, knowing, etc., which is practised by the
Insight Knowledge 51
meditators here. However, an important distinction regarding the Buddhas
practice is that he entered all the absorptions, simultaneously observing the
arising and passing away of phenomena inside and outside the body. Nothing
was le unobserved that is the important distinction. The process of
observation was, of course, the same.
The Buddha continued towards the aainment of the Noble Path following
the process of insight knowledge. When he aained Arahantship, he realised
nibbna and aained Buddhahood, gaining Omniscience, and all the other
aibutes of a Buddha. The Buddha declared this when he gave the rst
discourse, stating that he was the Fully Self-Enlightened One. That is why
Stgiri said that the Buddha had the three knowledges: knowledge of former
existences (pubbenivsa-a), the divine eye (dibbacakkhu-a), and the
knowledge of desuction of the delements (savakkhaya-a).
Eight Kinds of Special Knowledge
The rst three of the eight kinds of special knowledge have already been
explained. The remaining ve are: insight knowledge (vipassan-a),
psychic powers (manomayiddhi-a and iddhividha-a), mind reading
(cetopariya-a), and the divine ear (dibbasota-a).
Insight Knowledge
Insight knowledge is obtained by observing the three characteristics of
mind and maer. It cannot be aained by casual observation, but only by
close observation of the processes as they occur, without missing any.
Observation should be sustained on seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, etc.,
as they occur, without omiing anything. Initially one should observe ones
gross physical actions. The Buddha said in the Mahsatipahna Sua,
Gacchantova gacchmi ti, pajnti as one goes, one knows I am going.
That means that one should observe the propelling force, or the element of
motion (vyodhtu) as one walks.
The Buddha continued, As one sits, one knows I am siing. This means
that as you are concenating on the posture of siing, you observe the mental
and physical feelings generated by siing. In the same way, you observe
bending, setching, moving, etc., as these actions occur. I have insucted
you in the simple practice of observing the rising and falling of the abdomen
as you sit in meditation. The Mahsatipahna Sua gives full insuctions
for observing the changing state of the body, so my insuction to observe
the rising and falling of the abdomen while siing accords with the discourse.
If you think that there is a gap between the rising and the falling of the
abdomen, you can insert a mental note of the siing posture, e.g. rising,
falling, siing, rising, falling, siing, to make the observation continuous.
This is observation of physical phenomena kynupassan. While siing,
if you feel tension, heat, or pain in the body, you should observe these feelings
(vedan), which is vedannupassan. If a thought occurs, you should note it,
which is cinupassan. Observing the seeing, hearing, etc., as just a series
of phenomena, is dhammnupassan. Together, these four make up the practice
of mindfulness meditation (satipahna).
As you practise these four foundations of mindfulness, your mind will
cease to wander, and will become fully concenated on the actions as they
occur, without any omission. In this way the mind becomes puried, and
you obtain purication of mind (cia visuddhi).
While in that state of puri, the object observed and the observing mind will
become distinct phenomena. When you observe the rising of the abdomen, the
rising itself is distinct om the mind that knows the rising. The same principle
applies to the falling of the abdomen, the bending and setching of the limbs,
and so forth. The action and the noting mind become separate, i.e. the physical
action, which knows nothing, and the knowing mind are seen as separate
phenomena. In other words, the meditator can distinguish mentali om
materiali. That stage of insight is called analytical knowledge of mind and
maer (nmarpa-pariccheda-a), which is the foundation of insight knowledge.
Without aaining this knowledge, the other stages of insight cannot be reached.
Going on with the practice, the meditator will come to discern the cause
and eect of actions. For example, that the motion occurs because of the
desire to move, that knowing occurs because of the object to be known, that
seeing occurs because of the object to be seen, etc. The meditator will realise
that the causes and eects are inherent in mind and maer, and that there is
no other cause. This realisation is knowledge by discerning conditionali
(paccaya-pariggaha-a).
Later, the meditator notes the appearance and disappearance of actions
and feelings. For example, if pain arises, the meditator notes the pain as it
occurs, e.g. pain, pain, pain until the pain disappears, noting the entire
process om the beginning to the end. This noting of successive occurrences
leads to the realisation of the three characteristics. These successive realisa-
tions are insight knowledge.
The noting mind becomes sharper and quicker as the meditator continues
the practice. This kind of insight knowledge can be aained by an ordinary
The Story of Mtikamt 53
meditator, but for the Buddha, the aainment of insight knowledge was an
easy maer since he had already aained jhna and purication of mind.
Psychic Powers
Manomayiddhi and iddhividha-a are both powers for creating forms.
Manomayiddhi-a can create multiple copies of ones own body, and Iddhi-
vidha-a can create a varie of objects whatever one wants to create. The
laer special knowledge has a wider scope. The sky can be made solid like the
earth, so that one can walk on it. It can make ones body as light as coon wool
so that one could be blown away by the wind. The earth can be made to become
water or a tunnel so that one can dive into it. One can make oneself invisible, or
create any physical thing. Such creative powers are based on the fourth jhna.
Mind Reading
Mind reading (cetopariya-a) also arises om the fourth jhna. One who
possesses this higher knowledge can read the thoughts of others, and know
what has happened to them in the past week, or the thoughts that will come
up in the forthcoming week. Current thoughts are like an open book to
someone with this knowledge. To live with such a person might be dicult,
but it would be a check on any vices that one might have. This is the story
of Mtikamt, a woman who possessed this knowledge.
The Story of Mtikamt
When the Buddha was residing at the Jetavana monastery in Svahi,
six monks came to take meditation insuctions om him and then looked
for a suitable place to sele down for meditation practice. They came to a
village by the name of Mtika. Mtikamt, the mother of the village
headman, invited them to reside for the rainy season. Dwellings were built
for them, and the six monks seled down.
The monks assembled and agreed, We should not be heedless and
negligent, for the eight great hells are like an open pit. We have received
meditation insuctions om the Buddha, so we must follow them. We should
not reside two in one place, but in solitude. So they each began their solitary
meditation reeats.
One day, Mtikamt sent some buer, oil, and molasses to the monastery,
but when she went with her retinue in the evening no monks were to be seen.
Those who knew told her that the monks would come to the meeting place
when a signal was given. They gave the signal and the monks assembled
om their separate places of meditation, thinking that perhaps one of them
had fallen sick, and needed help.
Mtikamt misunderstood the situation, and asked, Have you quarrelled?
The monks said they had not, and when asked why they did not come together
as they did when they came to her house for alms-food, they said that they
were living separately to practise the ascetics duties. They said that practising
the ascetics duties helped the aainment of concenation and insight.
Mtikamt had never heard of the ascetics duties, and asked the monks
what it was. The monks explained that the anatomical parts of the body had
to be contemplated to observe their decay and deterioration. She asked
whether this Dhamma was exclusively for the monks or whether it could be
practised by lay people. They said that it could be practised by anyone. Then
Mtikamt asked the monks to give her insuctions for meditation, and
the insuctions were given.
Of course, that did not take more than an hour or two. Nowadays, some
people say that meditation practice can be undertaken only aer one has
completed a course of Abhidhamma. This amounts to discouraging people
om taking up meditation practice.
Mtikamt went home and began the practice. It is not known how many
days she took to aain the path and uition of non-returning, but she aained
it before any of the monks. Simultaneously, she gained the four analytical
knowledges (paisambhid-a), and the special knowledge of mind-reading,
referred to above. On reection she discovered that the monks had not
aained any jhna or insight knowledge owing to lack of suitable food. So
she had suitable food sent to the monks who, being properly nourished,
practised meditation more vigorously and aained Arahantship during the
rainy season. From this story we can see that suitable, nourishing food is an
important factor for meditators.
When the rainy season was over, the six monks went to pay their respects
to the Buddha at Jetavana monastery. They praised Mtikamt in ont of
the Buddha, saying that she knew their minds and fullled their wishes.
They were inspired to apply themselves to the meditation practice, and soon
achieved concenation and insight. Hearing this, a certain monk wanted to
go to that village to practise meditation. So he requested meditation
insuctions om the Buddha and went there.
When he reached the monastery, he thought to himself, This woman is
said to know others thoughts. I am tired om the journey, and cannot sweep
the monastery. It would be good if she sent someone to sweep the monastery.
The Story of Mtikamt 55
Mtikamt knew the monks thoughts and so sent a man to sweep the
monastery. Then the monk was thirs and wanted to drink some sugar-cane
juice. The drink was accordingly sent to him. On the following morning he
wanted to eat meat salad and so porridge, and his wishes were fullled.
He then wanted to meet Mtikamt, and, knowing his wish, she went
to see him at the monastery, bringing alms-food. Aer eating the food, the
monk asked her whether she was Mtikamt. Yes, reverend son, she
replied. When she asked him why he asked about her, the monk said that he
did so because he had found that she knew his every wish. She replied
modestly that many monks possessed similar powers. The monk then asked
her directly whether she knew others thoughts. Mtikamt replied that
those who possessed such powers behaved in such and such a way. Her
reply was an indirect admission. This is the case with Noble Ones, they have
no pride, and do not want to reveal their capabilities. When cononted with
a direct question, they usually give an indirect reply.
When the monk conrmed that Mtikamt had the power to read others
thoughts, he felt uneasy to reside in the monastery built by her chari. He
thought that, being an ordinary person, he might entertain some unwhole-
some thoughts and desires. This woman would know his thoughts, so he
would be found out, reprimanded, and put to shame. So he said that he was
leaving the monastery.
She asked him where he would go, and the monk replied that he would
go back to the Buddha. She asked him to stay on, but the monk could not be
persuaded. He was really aaid of her.
When the Buddha asked him why he had returned, he said that he was
aaid to reside in that monastery because Mtikamt knew his every thought,
and would know if he entertained some unwholesome thoughts. The Buddha
realised that Mtikamts monastery was the ideal place for such a monk,
who was in the habit of entertaining unwholesome thoughts and desires.
With the presence of Mtikamt to curb his random thoughts, this monk
would be consained to achieve concenation.
Some meditators need a meditation insuctor who knows their thoughts.
When they are asked to note the actions of the mind and body systematically,
they cannot help geing sideacked by speculations and fantasies. Some
meditators waste their time by chaing. When the meditation insuctor
questions them, their remissness usually becomes known. If a thorough
investigation could be made, they would not dare to entertain say thoughts
and fantasies.
For this monk, the place where the woman was present to watch his
thoughts was ideal. So the Buddha told him to go back to the monastery
om which he had ed. He told the monk to conol his mind, and said that
if he could note mental activities, he had nothing to fear.
The Buddha said, The mind is hard to conol, it is igh and lands
wherever it pleases. To tame the mind thoroughly is good, for the well-tamed
mind brings happiness. (Dhp v 35)
The mind is dicult to conol, and rebellious. If asked not to think about
certain things, it thinks about those very things. It is unruly, but cannot be
beaten and punished. The mind is exceedingly quick. At the beginning of
the meditation practice the noting of the wandering mind is a hard task. The
igh mind alights on multifarious thoughts and desires. Unlike the body,
the mind cannot be chained up or imprisoned. Though the body stays in the
meditation cell, the mind goes out, and roams about wherever it wants. To
discipline the mind is good, because a disciplined mind brings happiness.
Everyone wants to be happy; no one wants to be miserable. The best way
to gain happiness is to tame the wild mind and ain it. The way to ain the
mind is by the application of wise aention (yoniso manasikra), observing
the mind however it happens to be. Happiness will develop according to
ones mental discipline.
If one can keep ones mind on devotion to the Buddha, Dhamma, and
Sagha, and thus discipline it, one can nd bliss in human and celestial
existences. Otherwise, one could not possibly obtain such rewards, and
would be aicted by suering in the human world or the realms of misery.
The mind will become more disciplined and civilised if one could
successfully observe one or two of the ve precepts besides having devotion
to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sagha. Of course, if all the ve precepts could
be observed properly, it would be much beer. Besides that, if one could
practise the meritorious deeds of chari, morali, and mental culture, it
would be beer still. Of the two kinds of meditation, bliss could be obtained
in the realms of form(rpaloka) and the formless realms (arpaloka) through
the practice of samatha bhvan, while insight meditation could lead one to
the aainment of nibbna.
Noting the rapidly changing phenomena is not so easy for beginners.
They should persist in the noting until the arising and disappearing process
is clearly perceived. As you know, the mind is dicult to ain, it its about
incessantly, and is hard to catch and resain. I would describe the wayward-
ness of the mind as follows:
No Mischief Near a Mind reader 57
The mind is unconollable and igh, iing to wherever it
wants. If this unruly mind could be caught by watching and
noting its activities, and thus be disciplined, it would become
tame and civilized, thus giving happiness.
The unresained mind its om one thought to another at random. Say
and idle thoughts occur to those who do not bother to note the activities of
the mind. If ones imagination is given a ee rein, ckle thoughts and desires
multiply. These thoughts and desires are liable to drive people to acts of
immorali or violence, which causes unlimited misery. Unresained
thoughts and desires could easily lead one to hell, or to other realms of misery.
The Pi saying ciena nyate loko means the world is lead by the mind.
In other words, the mind leads one to various realms of existence, it can take
one to the celestial realms if it is wholesome, and it can take one to the realms
of misery if it is unwholesome. So it is our responsibili to discipline the
mind so that it takes us to the higher realms.
The meditation practice starting with the noting of the rising and falling
of the abdomen is helpful for grasping the eeting mind and preventing it
om dwelling on unwholesome desires. If persistent eorts are made to
conol the mind by repeatedly noting its activities, it will become docile.
When a meditator reaches the stage of equanimi regarding formations
(sakhrupekkh-a) the mind will become considerably tame and docile.
Such a tame and docile mind could eventually lead one to the ultimate stage
of insight the path and uition of Arahantship.
I will now return to the story of Mtikamt. She saw the return of the
monk by her special knowledge of mind-reading, and prepared suitable food,
which she oered to him when he arrived. The monk resumed his meditation,
and in just a few days became an Arahant. Not only the Buddha, but some
lay persons like Mtikamt possess the abili to read others thoughts. One
could soon aain the highest stage of insight if one could just get rid of ckle
and unwholesome thoughts.
No Mischief Near a Mind reader
It is ue that while near a mind reader, one dare not entertain any
unwholesome thoughts. In 1931 when I was in my eighth year as a monk, I
had not done any meditation practice. I was then in search of a suitable
meditation teacher and arrived at the monastery of Saydaw U On Gaing,
at Shweyaungpya Hill, near Donwun rail depot, in Thaton. This Saydaw
Samyuanikya, Cia Sua, S. i. 39.

always practised austeri and did his meditation practice at a cemetery. He
passed his nights there. He went om one cemetery to another near the
villages where he went for his alms-food.
When I arrived at the Saydaws monastery, I went along with his disciples
who were following him to a cemetery. Before long, the Saydaw was
approached by some villagers with a request that he go and keep watch on
the grave of a eshly buried corpse. The corpse was that of a een-year-old
suicide. The villagers asked the Saydaw to watch over the grave and guard
it against possible exhumation by black magicians who were usually out to
cut the wrists o the corpses of suicides to use them in their black magic.
The Saydaw and his disciples, including myself, accepted the oer and
went to that cemetery. All eight of us got to the cemetery just before sunset.
Mats were spread around the grave, and pots of drinking water were set
out at convenient places. When we took our seats, I was nearest the grave,
only about a yard away. Other monks were experienced, but I was not. It
was my rst time at a cemetery, so I felt uneasy. However, I could not change
places with any other monk because I was the most senior of the Saydaws
disciples. The other monks recited the Mea Sua and lay down to sleep.
I didnt lie down; I didnt dare. I remembered the words in the Visuddhi-
magga to the eect that ogres usually haunted a grave and sat near the
corpse. I had to sit tight for four nights conolling my thoughts for fear
that the guardian deities of the cemetery and the ogres, who were near the
corpse, would probably know my thoughts and ighten me. So my
thoughts were kept within limits. From this experience I surmise that the
monk near Mtikamt was obliged to conol his mind and keep it pure,
enabling him to aain Arahantship quickly.
The Divine Ear
This is the last of the remaining ve knowledges. Just as the divine eye
can see objects regardless of size or distance, the divine ear (dibbasota) can
hear sounds regardless of volume or distance. It can hear not only the sounds
om the human abode, but also the sounds om the abodes of devas or
brahms. The sounds om other universes can also be heard.
So Stgiri told his iend Hemavata, that the Buddha was in full
possession of the three knowledges and the eight knowledges the supreme
mental abilities. Besides, said Stgiri, our teacher, the Buddha, possesses
pure and excellent moral conduct (caraa).
Fieen Kinds of Moral Conduct 59
Fieen Kinds of Moral Conduct
Stgiri replied, when Hemavata asked, that the Buddha was in full
possession of the een categories of moral conduct. They are as follows:
1. Resaint by fundamental precepts (pimokkha savara sla). The
meaning of this term is that the one who keeps this morali will be duly
protected by it. This morali protects the one who keeps it om the
misfortunes arising in the present and future existences in the cycle of rebirth.
For lay people, Pimokkha savara sla means the ve precepts, but for
monks it is the 227 precepts (or nine billion precepts in detail). If one keeps
these precepts, one will be ee om slander or contempt, and om
punishment by the law. Moreover, one will be ee om the realms of misery.
2. Resaint of the sense-faculties (indriya savara sla). This morali is
guarding the senses as one sees, hears, smells, or tastes so that the delements
of jealousy, greed, lust, ill-will, dejection, and anger cannot arise. This morali
can be observed properly only when one is practising one kind of meditation
or another. Otherwise, it can be observed with only partial success.
3. Moderation in Food (bhojane maaut). This is the reection when
eating, or receiving alms-food, or using medicinal requisites. For example,
when taking food, one must reect as the Buddha insucted, When one
has delicious food, one should not delight in it; when, however, one has poor
food, one should not be disappointed. One should overcome all reactions,
whether good or bad.
Eating is not for pleasure, nor for intoxication, nor to become plump
and good-looking. One eats merely to sustain oneself, to be relieved of
hunger for lack of nourishment causes suering and ill-health. One has
to be healthy to practise as senuously as the Buddha exhorted. So in eating
one must know the right amount. Similarly, one wears the robes to ward
o cold and heat, to protect oneself om aacks by mosquitoes, gadies,
snakes, and scorpions.
4. Moderation in Sleep (jagariynuyoga). Jagariya means to be alert and
anuyoga means to make an eort. It refers to moderation in sleep, and to
keeping ones mind and body alert. Of course, this means for practising
meditation. If one is busy doing other things, the purpose will not be achieved.
Once, a monk told me that when he was awake, his mind used to entertain
so many unwholesome thoughts that he was obliged to sleep as long as
possible. What he said makes some sense. If one harbours unwholesome
thoughts while awake, one will be accumulating demerit. So saying that one
who is asleep has less chance of harbouring unwholesome thoughts seems
reasonable. What this rule of conduct means is that, one must be active in
meditation practice. The Buddha said that by exerting oneself in meditation
by walking and siing throughout the day, one could be ee om the
thoughts that preclude mindfulness and concenation, and thus ones mind
would be kept pure.
The insuction is that one should make ones mind pure and ee om
greed, lust, and other deimental aits by practising walking or siing
meditation. Of course, besides walking and siing, standing should also be
included. Only the one remaining of the four postures, i.e. lying down, is
not recommended. One should keep alert by alternately walking, siing, or
sometimes standing throughout the day until 10:00 p.m. Then for four hours
one may lie down to sleep to maintain ones health. However, until one falls
asleep, one should continue with the meditation. Then one should wake up
at two in the morning and resume meditation. Of the six parts of one day,
one should sleep only one part and keep awake for the remaining ve,
engaging in meditation. That is what is called jagariynuyoga.
5-8. These are the four rpa jhnas. It is possible to include arpa jhna as
the fourth jhna.
9-10. There is no need to elaborate on condence and diligence. These
two are included in the ten moral actions.
11-15. Then there are mindfulness (sati), wisdom (pa), shame of
unwholesome deeds (hir), fear of unwholesome deeds (oappa), and being
well-informed (bahusacca).
Being well-informed means, in this context, that one should have heard
and remembered the Buddhas teaching. Thus, geing information about
the Dhamma is hearing or gama suta. Discerning and realising the uth
aer the actual practice of meditation is seeing, or adhigama suta. These
two together are bahusacca. How much general knowledge should one
have? For an ordinary devotee, understanding one verse (gtha), is
sucient. For those who will teach others, many of the Buddhas teachings
should have been mastered. Then the question arises: How was the
Buddha, who had no opportuni of learning the Dhamma om others,
perfect in hearing and seeing?
The answer is, the Buddha was fully equipped with seeing; he knew
everything there was to know, and had no need to learn om others. It is
like a man who does not have to learn om others about the things that are
in his house. As the Buddha knew all the Dhamma without exception, his
knowledge was complete and sublime.
Knowledge and Conduct Are Noblest 61
Stgiri declared emphatically that his teacher, the Buddha, was fully
endowed with the three knowledges, eight knowledges and een kinds of
moral conduct.
As I have said earlier, the young lady named K who was in the family
way, heard the conversation between the two guardian spirits. As the voices
oated down om the sky, she knew that they must be the voices of spirits,
and listened aentively. K was endowed with excellent perfections so she
could hear the spirits, though an ordinary human being could not. She could
also understand their conversation, so she became devoted to the Buddha.
Knowledge and Conduct Are Noblest
In India there was, and still is, a caste system, which divides people into
dierent classes. The Brhmaa and Khaiya classes were regarded as noble,
and superior to the Vessa and Sudda classes, who were the commoners.
There were also various clans. The Kosiya and Bhradvja clans were inferior
to the Gotama and Moggallna clans. You may have heard about the
avoidance of contact with beggars, scavengers, etc., who are called untouch-
ables. These untouchables had to live in a village of their own outside the
ci. When they walked about in the ci they had to tap the ground with a
stick so that the higher castes could avoid physical contact with them. In the
story of Mtaga the rich mans daughter, Dihamagalik, happened to see
the beggar Mtaga and, saying that it was inauspicious, she turned back
om a picnic. So the rich mans servants beat Mtaga. This distinction of
caste was conspicuous in those days, and it remains in India today.
This is the hearsay evidence. The late Venerable Veluvun Saydaw of
Bahan Township in Rangoon saw it for himself. During the British rule, when
he was in India and Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage, he was received as a guest
by a wealthy Indian man. The rich man told the Saydaw, You can reside
at my house, but since we cannot occupy the place where you have stayed,
we will make a special place for you. We will also make a special bathroom
because we cannot use one that you have used.
Even that was a special concession given only to those om Burma. In
their couny, a person of lower caste cannot enter a temple used by people
of higher castes. According to their belief, one born into a low caste family
cannot improve his social position, and one born into a high caste family
remains superior and noble whatever mischief he may commit. Such beliefs
are embodied in their scriptures and are mentioned in the Buddhist books
as well. In Sri Lanka a caste division exists too, but it is not so sict. In Sri
Lanka, a monk born of a high caste family does not pay respects to a monk
born of a low caste family, and a monk om a low caste may be dident
towards high caste laymen. No such distinction exists in Burma.
Among lai, the Khaiya caste, or the ruler caste, is said to be of the
highest status. The members of this caste would not marry outside their caste
and they said that their caste was pure. The members of this caste were
brave and loyal to their caste and their couny too. They were the holders
of power. So according to the caste system the Khaiyas were the noblest,
and as such, they were said to be in possession of the aibutes of knowledge
and conduct.
From a worldly point of view, the person of Khaiya caste is the noblest,
but om the spiritual point of view, the person who has the aibutes of
knowledge and conduct is the noblest. Such a declaration was made
concerning the Buddha by Sahampati Brahm, and the Buddha replied in
support of it. A person of high caste was the noblest only as long as he lived,
but when he died he had nothing upon which to fall back. However, the
person who has knowledge and conduct, remains noble for all times. The
beer these aibutes are, the nobler he becomes.
People would have a high esteem for any person who could y in the air
and dive into the earth, read others minds, or tell the next existence of the
dead. They would have a high regard for one endowed with the hearing
and seeing power. Such powers can be developed by some meditators whose
concenation is at its keenest.
A woman living on an island in the disict of Pakokku, having practised
meditation following our insuctions, is said to have gained the hearing and
seeing powers. One day, her younger sister lost her jewellery, so she asked
her elder sister to nd it. The woman entered meditation and saw in her minds
eye that the maidservant of the house stole the jewellery and stowed it away
in the lo in the kitchen of her house. The younger sister took a policeman to
the maidservants house and searched, and the stolen proper was found at
the place suggested. It is said that the policeman was surprised.
Well, this is a present-day instance of such powers, and similar instances
are none too few. If only the powers of higher knowledge (abhia) could
be displayed, people would have the highest esteem.
Foremost among these knowledges are insight knowledge and knowledge
of the desuction of the delements. Having gained insight knowledge one
becomes a Lesser Seam-winner (cla sotpanna), but if one has gained
knowledge of desuction of the delements, one becomes a fully-edged
The Story of Suppabuddha 63
Seam-winner and is ee om the danger of falling into the realms of misery.
For seven future existences one would be assured of eedom om the realms
of misery, and within that period one would aain Arahantship and
parinibbna. If one has gained knowledge to a higher degree, one will aain
a higher status than that of a Seam-winner.
Those who have aained high status in the human, celestial, and brahm
worlds have a good standard of conduct and morali. Those who aend
religious discourses have the aibutes of conduct like the Noble Ones who
have achieved dierent stages of the path. However, if one possesses both
knowledge and conduct, one becomes nobler.
Meditators Have These Aibutes
The meditators who have been practising vipassan here have, in the rst
instance, the aibute of insight knowledge. Of course, one who has aained
the Noble Path has gained knowledge of desuction of the delements.
Among the een kinds of conduct, the meditator who possesses morali
has conol over physical and mental actions, and is alert. So the meditators
at this cene gain the aibutes of knowledge and conduct, becoming noble
according to the teachings of the Buddha. This is really gratiing.
As for the Buddha, he was fully endowed with all the aibutes of
knowledge and conduct. The Buddhas aibute of vijj caraa sampanno is
now fully explained.
The Story of Suppabuddha
In this connection is the story of Suppabuddha, a poor man who lived
during the time of the Buddha. Abandoned by his parents when he was a
child, he became a beggar. Being homeless, he had to sleep by the roadside.
He also suered om leprosy, which gave him pain during the night, so he
groaned and disturbed others sleep. He therefore became known as
Suppabuddha the waker of sleepers.
One day, on his begging-round, Suppabuddha saw a large gathering of
people. Thinking that he would get much chari om the crowd, he
approached and found that it was a congregation listening to the Buddhas
discourse. He wanted to listen, so he meekly sat at the edge of the gathering.
The Buddha saw with his divine eye that Suppabuddha would realise the
Dhamma that very day. The Buddha continued with the discourse on chari
and morali, exhorting the audience to reain om killing, stealing, etc.
Suppabuddha became determined to observe the precepts, so he gained
the aibute of morali. When the Buddha expounded the Four Noble
Truths, Suppabuddha contemplated them and became a Seam-winner.
Aer the meeting had ended, Suppabuddha went away as the crowd
dispersed. Then a lile later, he came back to the Buddha. The king of celestial
beings, wanting to test Suppabuddhas integri said, Hey, Suppabuddha.
You are very poor and sicken with leprosy. You have no one to rely on. If
you obey me, I will give you great wealth and cure your disease.
Suppabuddha replied, Who are you? What are your insuctions?
The king of celestial beings said, I am the king of celestial beings. Gotama,
who has been giving discourses, is not a ue Buddha. His disciples are not
ue bhikkhus. You must say, I dont take refuge in the Buddha; I dont take
refuge in the Dhamma; I dont take refuge in the Sagha.
Suppabuddha retorted, You are too rude to be the king of celestial beings.
You shouldnt be talking with me. Why do you say that I am very poor and
have no refuge? I am now a ue son of the Buddha. I am not poor. I am now
wealthy and noble because I am fully endowed with the seven easures of
the good and noble, namely, condence (saddh), morali (sla), shame of
unwholesome deeds (hir), fear of unwholesome deeds (oappa), being
well-informed (bahusacca), liberali(cga), and wisdom(pa), as enumer-
ated by the Buddha. You are not t to hold conversation with me. Saying
thus, he sent the king of celestial beings away.
Suppabuddha went to the Buddha and reported his realisation of the
Dhamma to him. It is the same with present-day meditators who are eager
to report their meditation experiences to the insuctor. Aer Suppabuddha
had made his report to the Buddha, he went away. As his past kamma dictated,
Suppabuddha was gored to death by a cow on his return om the Buddhas
monastery. He became a deva in the celestial abode of Tvatisa, where he
had powers superior to those of devas who had reached Tvatisa through
merits done outside the Buddhas dispensation.
These devas were disgruntled. They said that although Suppabuddha was
among the lowliest in his life as a human being, he held a position higher
than theirs. The king of devas explained why Suppabuddha had aained a
higher position. He said that in his human existence Suppabuddha had
fullled the seven duties of the good and noble, and so in this existence as
a deva he was endowed with the benets of his previous meritorious deeds.
This story illusates that a highly aained person is more noble than
others, although he or she may occupy a lowly position in secular socie.
Suppabuddha had fullled the seven duties for only a few hours before his
K Was Honoured for Her Faith 65
death, but he possessed the aibutes of knowledge and conduct. He had
been a leper because in a previous existence he had called a Pacceka Buddha
a leper. He was gored by a cow because in a previous existence he had robbed
and killed a prostitute. The Buddha, referring to Suppabuddhas fate, warned
the audience to avoid unwholesome deeds just as one avoids obstacles and
pot-holes while walking. Meditators should take the moral of this story to
heart and shun unwholesome deeds.
Then Hemavata asked, Is your teacher, the Buddha, ee om lust and
desires? Is he also ee om future existence?
Stgiri replied: Our teacher, the Buddha, is ee om lust and desires.
For him there is no future existence.
If one is not ee om lust and desires, one will have a new existence and
suer om birth, old age, disease, and other kinds of misery, although one
may have the aibutes of knowledge and conduct. Only when there is no
more existence will one be rid of all miseries. These two points are very
important.
K Was Honoured for Her Faith
To return to the story of K we nd that this young woman overheard
the two guardian spirits and was overjoyed to hear about the aibutes of
the Buddha. As she was lled with joy, she practised meditation spontane-
ously and soon reached the stage of a Seam-winner. In due course, she gave
birth to a child who later became Venerable Soakuikaa.
K was the
rst woman to become a Seam-winner. She achieved that distinction on
overhearing the aibutes of the Buddha and thus having rm condence
in him. Later she received the highest honour om the Buddha because of
her rm condence in the Buddha.
Hemavata, too, became condent of the aibutes of the Buddha and was
eager in the adoration of the Buddha. He said to his iend, Stgiri, The
mind of the Buddha is perfectly pure. His physical and mental behaviour is
also ee of faults; the Buddha has all the aibutes of knowledge and conduct.
I adore him.
Declared by the Buddha to be the monk with the clearest uerance (A.i.24), he was om
the South-western region of Avant (near Bhopal). A disciple of Mahkaccna, he obtained
om the Buddha several concessions for monks residing in regions outside of Middle India
(Majjhimadesa), including the allowance to grant bhikkhu ordination (Upasampad) with a
quorum of only ve monks. (ed.)
66
Hemavatas Praise of the Buddha
Hemavata was completely satised with Stgiris reply regarding the
Buddhas possession of the aibutes of knowledge and conduct. So he said,
Friend, Stgiri, the Buddha whom you have praised is uly of a pure mind.
He is ee om stealing; he is ee om lying and malicious speech. The
Buddha has all the aibutes of knowledge and conduct. You, my iend,
have praised the Buddha ingly.
Thus in congratulating Stgiri on his praise of the Buddha, Hemavata
said, Sdhu! Sdhu! Sdhu! (Well said! Well said! Well said!)
In reply, Stgiri congratulated Hemavata on his acceptance of his praises
of the Buddha in good faith. Then he asked Hemavata to come with him to
worship the Buddha. Hemavata accepted this invitation. He said, Friend
Stgiri, let us go to worship the Buddha who has limbs like an antelope,
who is lean, courageous, and indefatigable. He is ee of desire and obsession,
moderate in eating, and dwells meditating in the forest, the Buddha of the
Gotama clan. Then he turned to the audience of guardian spirits and asked
them to accompany him and his iend, Stgiri.
When he said that the Buddha had limbs like an antelope, Hemavata
meant that the Buddhas limbs were smooth. When he said that the Buddha
was lean, he referred to the Buddhas six years of austeri, which he had
abandoned only about two months ago. While practising austerities, the
Bodhisaa became completely emaciated, so he could not have recovered
his former weight aer just two months. According to the commentaries,
none of the Buddhas were ever overweight.
According to the commentaries, the reference to the Buddhas moderation
in eating refers to his habit of taking just one meal a day. He took more when
he had to go on a journey.
Then turning to the guardian spirits who were following him, Hemavata
said, Let us approach the Buddha who, like a lion, is hard to approach. He
lives alone, for he does not have the company of delements. He is ee om
unwholesome deeds, since he is not enmeshed in lust and desire. Let us ask
him how to escape om the snare of death.
When they reached the Buddha, Hemavata sought permission to ask
questions. He said, O Lord, the Enlightened One, who preaches the
Four Noble Truths both synthetically and analytically, who knows the
Dhamma fully like no one else, who has overcome all dangers, may we
submit a few questions?
Where the Six Are, the World Is 67
This is the usual approach in polite socie. In those days, one who wanted
to ask a question in the rened socie of kings, lords, and wise men, usually
asked for permission rst, only the poorly educated shot the questions
saight out. Hemavata had been a learned monk before he became a guardian
spirit, so he knew about good manners.
How Does A Living Being Arise?
When the Buddha assented, Hemavata put the rst question thus:
O Lord, how does a living being (saav) arise? What does
the world (loka) of beings, have as company? To what is it
aached? What is involved in the misery suered by beings
who make up the world?
The four points in this question carry deep signicance. An ordinary
guardian spirit could not have put such questions. Hemavata could because
he had been a learned monk at the time of Buddha Kassapa.
A Being Arises From Six Things
The Buddha replied, Hemavata, a being or the world arises when six
arise together. The world of beings has six in company. To six it is aached.
Six are involved in the misery suered by beings who make up the world.
Where the Six Are, the World Is
The six referred to by the Buddha are the six sense-bases (yatana). They
are the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. These are
called the inner sense-bases. If there are these six, a being comes into existence.
A being is also called the world (loka). All human beings must have these six
sense-bases. Statues and images have forms of these sense-bases, but they
are not living ones, so they do not have any senses.
With only four or ve sense-bases, a human being may still exist. One who
is blind has the other ve sense-bases. Similarly, with one who is deaf, or
who has no sense of smell. (I once came across a monk who did not have any
sense of smell). If the tongue, the body and the mind exist, there can be a
being. Some marine animals appear to be rocks or weeds, but they are living
beings. So a being can exist if there are just the tongue, the body, and the
mind. In the realm of form there is no nose, tongue, or body, yet there are
beings with the eye, the ear, and the mind only. In the formless realm, beings
have only the mind, but no other senses. All six sense-bases are absent in the
unconscious realm of existence. I assume that the Buddha meant to exclude
this realm in his answer. We can conclude that when there is only the mind
there can be a being. Of course, when there are all six there is nothing more
to say. The existence of one, two, three, four, or ve sense-bases is included
in the maximum of six, to which the Buddha referred in his answer.
Now what about the six inner sense-bases? In the human world, an
incipient mind appears in the mothers womb at the time of conception. So
the mind and body appear together, and a being comes into existence. It is
only aer conception that the eye (the material sense-base), and the seeing
(the mental sense-base) appear simultaneously. Likewise, the ear and the
hearing, the nose and the smelling, the tongue and the taste, the body and
the sense of touch appear in pairs. As for the mind, the thought comes with
it. Then all these sense-bases together make up a being.
If there is no eye and so no seeing, no ear and so no hearing, no sense of
smell, no sense of touch, nor a sense of feeling, then there is no being in the
human world. Look at a corpse. A lile aer death, a corpse is just like a
living human being. However, the dierence is that it has no conscious
sense-base of any kind. So a corpse is not a living being. If one cuts up a
corpse, one does not commit an act of killing. However, if one eats the
corpse of a person of noble character disrespectfully, then one commits an
unwholesome deed. Some people still have aachment for a corpse, which,
of course, has none of the sense-bases, and so cannot be called a being.
Some people think that death means the exit of some living thing om a
body, but it is not so. If the sense-bases continue operating, then one is
considered to be alive. At the last moment, these sense-bases cease to operate,
then death occurs. Once they cease, and if the person concerned is not ee
om delements, a new mental phenomenon pitches itself onto a suitable
material base.
The mind at the last moment of the life of a being is called decease
consciousness (cuti cia), and the new mental phenomenon on a new material
base is called relinking consciousness (patisandhi cia). This mental phenom-
enon is the sense-base of the mind (manyatana). Simultaneously, the material
base has in it the sense-base of the body (kyyatana). So, om the inception
of a being there appear two, three, four, ve, or all six sense-bases. With the
appearance of these sense-bases, a new being appears. So the Buddha said,
Where there are the six, there the world is. However, it is not that a new
being springs up, nor is the old being ansferred to a new realm of existence.
In fact, new sense-bases appear because of the previous kamma. Without
The Six Are in Company 69
the six sense-bases there can be no being. Like a owing river in which the
water moves on with no gap since the old ow is followed immediately by
the new ow, the sense-bases move on without a break or gap. This process
is considered by one without insight as stable and permanent.
By a meditator who constantly notes the successive arising and disap-
pearance of the six sense-bases, incessant change is seen and impermanence
is realised. The meditator comes to know personally that human existence
is just a series of incessant arisings and disappearances, and that nothing is
permanent.
The Six Are in Company
The Buddha said that the world or a being is constantly in the company of
the six. The six sense-bases: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, are
constantly in close association with the six sense-objects: sight, sound, odour,
taste, touch, and thought. In other words, the six sense-bases are closely related
to the six sense-objects. The sense-objects may be living or inanimate.
We distinguish between men and women by appearances. In eect, the
eye and the seeing associate themselves with the sight. Aer the eye has seen,
the mind-base takes an impression of the sight. Though the sight itself has
disappeared, the impression on the mental sense-base remains. This makes
the perception of a human being, which is a blend of the eye (cakkhyatana),
the sight (rpyatana), and the knowing of it (manyatana). Ultimately, there
is no such thing as a man, a woman, or a thing. If you think deeply and
carefully, you will come to know that seeing is just an interplay of sense-bases.
To one who meditates with well-developed concenation, such a realisation
is normal, there is nothing remarkable about it. He or she will note the
appearance and immediate disappearance of the senses. So the Buddha said:
Where there are the six, there is the world, and the world is closely associated
with the six.
Men and women can also be distinguished by hearing the male or female
voice. The ear, the hearing, and the sound are associated with one another
and the mind retains the perception of the sound, whether it is a male or
female voice, whether it is pleasing or repugnant to the ear. Ultimately, there
is no owner of the voice. There is only an association of the ear, the hearing,
the mind, and the sound. To a meditator with practical experience it is obvious.
The nose and the sense of smell associate themselves with all kinds of
odours, a mans odour, a womans odour, the agrance of a ower, etc. The
mind registers the odour. Here, it is not only the odour itself, but the possessor
of the odour, whether it is a woman or a man, that makes an impression on
the mind. For instance, if you kiss your son, there is no kisser or the kissed
the nose, the sense of smell, and the odour blend. In other words, the nose,
the sense of smell, the mind, and the odour associate with one another.
Eating food and tasting it, makes an impression of the taste on the mind.
The eater will say that this food is tas, sweet, creamy, or whatever, as the
mind registers the taste. Ultimately, however, the eater, the food, and the
taste, and the cook do not exist. Once the food is gulped down, the taste
disappears, and nothing lasts.
Touch or physical contact is the combination of three elements: earth(pathav),
temperature (tejo), and motion (vyo). Roughness or smoothness is the earth
element; warmth or coolness is temperature; stiness, pressure, or movement
is motion. The contact with another body, or inanimate things such as clothes,
the bed, etc., is ansitory. The meditator has to note these contacts.
That is why the Buddha exhorted his disciples to note going, while going.
This was, in eect, an insuction to discern the ue nature of the element of
motion. In the same way, they were asked to note every physical action such as
standing, siing, lying down. Why is this insuction given? Because if one does
not note the bodily actions, one does not know the physical phenomena. That
ignorance then spawns delements, which would make for either wholesome
or unwholesome deeds. In noting the bodily actions, one should be mindful of
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self. If one is fully mindful of them
and has developed the knowledge of the Noble Path, one will have completely
got rid of the miseries of the delements and sensual desire.
Here, I would like to point out that the rising and falling movement of
the abdomen is included in physical phenomena. I therefore insuct my
disciples to note the rising and falling of the abdomen when they begin the
practice. This insuction is easy to follow. Once the meditator has gained
concenation, he or she will come to realise the elements in the stiening
and soening of the abdomen and thus comprehend the physical and mental
sense-bases according to the Dhamma. The meditator will then know clearly
that there is no I.
The mind that dierentiates men and women associates itself with
thoughts or ideas. In other words, the mind-base associates with mental
objects. People oen say, I am meeting somebody, or I am thinking of
someone, etc. Ultimately, however, nobody meets or thinks of anyone. Such
thoughts, which occur incessantly if we are awake, are oen unwholesome.
Every time a thought occurs, the mind associates itself with it, and many
Siving is Not Self-mortication 71
people revel in such thoughts, and would resent the suggestion that they
should resain them.
Some teachers insuct their disciples to keep their minds ee and relaxed
instead of concenating on meditation objects, because concenation, they
say, resicts the mind. This is conary to the Buddhas insuctions, although
it might not seem to be. If the mind is allowed to roam eely as advised by
these teachers, it will surely indulge in fond thoughts and revel in sensual
pleasures. It would be like the idle thoughts of an opium smoker. Indulgence
in such idle thoughts is the same as indulgence in sensual pleasures. So this
statement in the Hemavata Sua, that the mind works concurrently with
sense-objects or ideas, is appropriate. To separate the mind om the ideas,
one must practice meditation to gain concenation. If concenation is weak,
the mind will say, associating itself with sense-objects outside the object of
meditation, as the meditators must have found for themselves.
Some pretentious teachers blame meditation practice for causing bodily
discomfort. This is really discrediting the Buddhas words. Those who
follow their advice would be losing the chance of gaining ue insight
and would be unwiingly commiing a serious unwholesome deed
against noble persons.
Siving is Not Self-mortication
Tiring oneself mentally and physically can be a practice of self-mortica-
tion (aakilamathnuyoga), but this does not apply to meditation practice.
The idea that sensual feelings will not occur if the body is mortied, is wrong.
Physical exertion with such an idea in mind is self-mortication. However,
if one sives ardently to aain insight, one does not commit the unwholesome
deed of self-mortication. Even if such exertions cause death, it is not an
unwholesome deed. Consider the case of an opium-addict who reains om
taking opium at the risk of great physical discomfort. Such a person is not
committing the unwholesome deed of self-mortication. Would the Buddha
blame a person who risks his life to keep his morali intact?
Likewise, reaining om adultery by resaining ones carnal desire in
the face of temptations is a great physical discomfort. Would the Buddha
blame such a person? So also, one who reains om aernoon meals to
preserve his eight precepts, is blameless. A servant of Anthapiika who
determinedly abstained om aernoon meals, though he was aicted by a
gasic disease, consequently died. This was not self-mortication. This
manservant became an arboreal guardian angel aer his death. The Buddha
praised such determined acts of abstinence to keep morali intact thus, My
disciples do not break their precepts, even at the risk of their lives.
The Buddhas Admonition
The Buddha admonished his disciples: Bhikkhus, aainment of the
Dhamma may be achieved by diligence and fortitude even though one is
reduced to a skeleton. You should sive for such aainment with determi-
nation and persistence. This is a fervent admonition of the Buddha, as
contained in the Mahgosiga Sua:
Sripua! The bhikkhu who sits cross-legged, practising meditation aer
his meal, determined not to leave that siing posture before aaining eedom
om delements, is one who adorns this Sl forest of Gosiga.
Based on these statements, one should banish doubts about siving

senuously in the meditation practice, especially regarding eorts to gain
insight. You must remember that siving your utmost in meditation cannot
be equated with ill-eating your body and thus commiing the unwhole-
some deed of self-mortication. You must avoid bogus teachers or you will
be misled.
Sensual Indulgence and Self-mortication
Failing to conol the mind, but allowing it to wander eely is sensual-
indulgence (kmasukhalliknuyoga). Mindfulness is a prerequisite to the
aainment of insight. Monks should sive to be ee om sensual-indulgence,
at least by being mindful at the time of taking meals. They should remember
that food is not for enjoyment, but for gaining sength to practise meditation.
On the other hand, tiring ones body and mind while siving to aain insight
is not the unwholesome deed of self-mortication. However, going about
naked, or heating ones body at a re or in the sun, or soaking ones body all
day in cold water, is self-mortication.
Tiring ones body and mind to keep the ve, eight, or ten precepts, or the
precepts for novices and monks, is not self-denial. It is following the middle
way of morali. Siving with the utmost physical and mental eort to gain
concenation is not self-mortication. It is following the middle way of
concenation. Incessantly noting the activities of the body and mind, without
any respite, to aain insight and the wisdom of the path and uition, is not
repression. It is following the middle way of wisdom.
Majjhimanikya i. 219.
No Encroachment 73
Three Aspects of the Middle Way
Of the three aspects of the middle way morali, concenation, and
wisdom morali is obvious and does not need any elaboration. The other
two must be dierentiated.
Concenation is just to keep the mind om its constant ights, to keep
it stable. Samatha is concenation on a certain object, such as the inhaled
breath and the exhaled breath. Making a note of the inhaled and exhaled
breaths as they brush the tip of the nosils, is called npna samatha bhvan.
As one concenates on the breaths, one gradually gains samdhi, stabili of
the mind. Similarly, by other forms of meditation such as contemplation of
a corpse, concenation can be gained. This concenation, however, does not
involve the dierentiation of mind and maer, nor does it, by itself, give
insight into the physical and mental phenomena and their three charac-
teristics. Samatha bhvan is merely for gaining concenation. The Buddha
advised his disciples to conol the mind by means of samatha.
Insight meditation begins only when one concenates on the six
sense-bases and notes their activities. The nature and characteristics of mind
and maer should be observed, and the appearance and disappearance of
activities in rapid succession should be noted. Simultaneously, one has to
contemplate deeply the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self nature of
this ux of activities. By clearly seeing the ue nature of mind and maer,
one is practising insight meditation. Those without proper knowledge think
that insight means merely noting one thing. They do not know that making
a note involves observation of the physical and mental activities, which are
in constant ux. Such observation must be made to see the three character-
istics. So the Buddha said that whatever emanates om the six doors of the
body should be noted and contemplated. The Buddha preached thousands
of discourses for the conol of the mind through insight. Only through
insight can one realise the association of the sense-bases with the senses and
the sense-objects, and that such actions and interactions make up the world
or realms of existence.
No Encroachment
There must be no encroachment om one area to another, for instance,
om the area of wisdom to the area of morali. Some people do not really
know the nature of sense-bases, but they have learnt om books and lectures,
and think much of their second-hand knowledge. From their supercial
knowledge they oen draw wrong conclusions. They argue that a gourd is
a chemical conglomerate just as is a chicken. So, they say that if no
unwholesome deed is commied by cuing the gourd, cuing a chicken is
also not an unwholesome deed. Syrup, they say, is of the liquid element, so
is liquor. So it is not an unwholesome deed to drink liquor, as it is not an
unwholesome deed to drink syrup. If the touch between man and man is
not an unwholesome deed, as it is mere touching, then the touch between a
man and a woman is also not an unwholesome deed. The touch is the same
nature, they say, as the touch of a bed-sheet, or a pillow. This kind of foolish
argument is the same as that postulated by a monk named Ariha during
the time of the Buddha.
Venerable Arihas False Views
Venerable Ariha wondered why lay people enjoying sexual pleasures
could aain the state of a Seam-winner while monks were denied such
pleasures. Although the monks were allowed to sleep on so beds, why
were they not allowed the similar so touch of the female body, for the feeling
of touch was identical.
He maintained that it was not an unwholesome deed to enjoy the touch
of the female body. The other monks reasoned with him and urged him to
give up this wrong view, but he held that it was in accordance with the
Buddhas teachings. So he was taken to see the Buddha. When the Buddha
questioned him, he said that that was what the Buddha had taught. The
Buddha then said that he had never given such a teaching, and called Ariha
a hopeless man who could not aain the stages of the path and uition.
Even then, Ariha did not discard his belief. Currently there are people like
Ariha I would even say that they are the relatives and descendants of
Ariha who still argue that such a belief is in accordance with the
teachings of the Buddha.
If they say that syrup is essentially the same as liquor because both are
liquids, then liquor is essentially the same as urine. Would they drink urine?
If a gourd is essentially the same as a chicken or, for that maer, the same as
their children, would they have their children cut up like the gourd or the
chicken? If the touch of a bed sheet or a pillow is the same as that between
a man and a woman, can they live their whole lives married only to a
bed-sheet and pillow? If we ask these questions, the correct answer will soon
become clear. The Arahants who know in their wisdom the ue nature of
the sense of feeling, have never ansgressed the bounds of morali. Only
those with supercial knowledge condone actions that violate morali. They
Suering in the Six 75
do not merely say so, but they go further and commit unwholesome deeds.
If they do that, it would be like holding a live coal, thinking that it is not hot.
An unwholesome deed will not let them o scot-ee. It will give its evil eects
according to its ininsic nature. If one holds a live coal rmly in ones grip,
one will get severely burnt.
Must Not Encroach on Samdhi
Some say that concenation is not necessary, if one just ponders upon the
two factors of wisdom Right View and Right Thought there is no need
to note arising and dissolution. This is an encroachment on the area of samdhi.
Aaining jhna samdhi is best, failing that, one should at least gain
momentary concenation (khaika samdhi), which is equivalent to access
concenation (upacra samdhi). Otherwise, one cannot gain genuine insight.
So the Buddha said, Monks, develop concenation, a monk who has
concenation knows things as they really are. What is knowing things as
they really are? It is knowing that the eye is not permanent, that the visible
object is not permanent, and that seeing is not permanent.
The Buddha said further that one bere of Right View is bere of insight
knowledge, so without concenation one clearly cannot aain insight
knowledge, or path and uition knowledge. So one can conclude that
knowledge without samdhi is not insight knowledge, and without insight
knowledge one cannot aain nibbna. Supercial knowledge is not the
monopoly of Buddhists, for non-Buddhists could gain it if they study the
Abhidhamma. It is therefore vital to y to gain genuine insight by constantly
noting the sense-bases using the vipassan method.
Six Sense-Bases Make Up Man
To the question of how the world came into existence, the Buddhas answer
was that the worlds existence was based upon the six sense-bases. It means
that the world of living beings comes into existence dependent on the six
sense-bases.
Suering in the Six
To the question Where do beings suer om the ill eects of the six
sense-bases? the Buddha replied that they suered om the ill eects in
the six sense-bases themselves. He said that beings suered because they
aempted to satis these six sense-bases. According to the commentary on
the discourse, the sensations emanating om the outer objects aack the six
sense-bases. In my opinion, the sensations such as sight, sound, taste, odour,
touch, and thought invite craving and cause beings to suer. I think that is
a beer explanation.
People are constantly ying to get beautiful things, animate or
inanimate. If they do not get them, they go on searching for them until
they succeed. When they come to possess them, they y to keep them and
prevent them om being lost or desoyed. Thus, people are constantly
siving, and constantly suering. In the same way, they long to get other
pleasant experiences, such as sweet sounds, delicious tastes, delightful
touches, and they entertain fond hopes and thoughts. They sive to keep
themselves healthy and long-lived so that they may enjoy these pleasures
longer. In making these eorts, people have to feel anxious about
themselves and others. Though they y to obtain and maintain these
pleasures, things do not happen as they wish. Pleasures go as quickly as
they come. Decay soon sets in and desoys them. Then people suer greatly,
not only physically, but mentally too. This aects not only human beings,
but celestial beings too, who also y with similar purposes. Do not imagine
that if one becomes a celestial being due to ones good deeds that one gets
to a place where every wish is fullled, and one becomes fully satised.
No one is ever satised with what they have, and will always crave for
more or beer things. To get more, further eorts must be made, and
suering will result om those eorts.
Suering will result om actions involving the sacrice of lives of other
beings under the mistaken notion that one would gain merit om such an
act. If one kills, steals, or does unwholesome deeds wanting prosperi and
happiness, even for that of ones relatives and iends, one will receive all
the suerings resulting om the act. One may even be reborn in the realms
of misery.
Enjoying sense pleasures does not bring any real happiness; it brings only
suering. Say, for instance, one continues eating good food aer having
reached the state of satie. Eating good food seems enjoyable at rst, but
the enjoyment will decline gradually and suering will follow. This also
applies to the other senses. If one looks at beautiful things constantly, one
will get bored, then suering and disgust will set in. One cannot enjoy the
same sensation constantly, suering always sets in aer one is satiated.
Enjoyment is only ansitory, and it can cover up the innate suering for just
a limited time. Siving for enjoyment is, in fact, suering.
77
What is the Way to Liberation?
Hemavata said, O Lord, a being, which is the world, is subject to misery.
What is the aachment (updna) that makes one believe This is my self, this
is my own? May I ask what is the way to liberation? Would you, O Lord,
please say how one can ee oneself om misery?
Hemavatas rst question to the Buddha related to the uth of suering
(dukkha sacca) and his second question is about the way to ee oneself om
misery.
Hemavata said the Buddha, the mind, which is the sixth of the six
sense-bases, produces desire and causes aachment for the ve other senses
and sense-bases.
The ve sands of desire (kmagua) are the desire to enjoy the sight, the
sound, the odour, the taste, and the touch. These senses carry their respective
sense-bases with them the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, and the body.
The mind also carries thoughts and feelings with it.
To those who do not practise insight meditation, any object they see gives
them the idea my eye sees it. The young, who can see well, will say that
their eyes are clear, but the old, whose eyesight is defective, will lament their
plight. The young and the old both feel that the organ of sight is their own
proper. This idea of self extends to all parts of the body, to the body as a
whole, and then to ones own proper. This notion extends further to cognition
of male and female This body is mine. I am this body. Looking at a beautiful
person and liking him or her, and wanting to possess, and having got, thinking
This is mine, my own ... all these are the products of the mind.
For instance, if you go to the market, look at clothes on display, choose
what you like and buy it, then you think that they are your own. In the same
way, one looks at another, is enamoured by his or her beau, desires that
person and wants to possess them. The three sense-bases the eye, the
object of sight, and the sense of sight cause the aachment, This is mine,
this is my own, I possess it.
The same aachment or obsession applies to the case of hearing, smelling,
tasting, or touching. Everything is a source of aachment. For instance, if
you touch somebody and know the sense of touch, then you say, I touch
him or her. If you feel hot or sti in the limbs, you say I feel hot, or I feel
sti in my limbs.
So the Buddha said: Hemavata, in the world, the ve sands of desire
(kmagua) and the mind (manyatana), or the six sense-bases cause craving,
and if that craving is discarded, deliverance om suering is achieved.
The reason for aachment and desire is ignorance of the fact that the
visible object, the seeing, and the eye are all sense-bases. This ignorance is
like insani. The mentally ill have unstable minds and cannot tell the good
om the bad, the valuable om the valueless; they do not know what is
useful, and they keep useless things in their bags. You all must have seen
such deranged people. So-called sane people act in the same way when they
are under mistaken notions.
At the end of the Second World War, those who foresaw the imminent
end of the Japanese occupation in Burma, exchanged the Japanese currency
notes that would soon be worthless, with many things. Those who did not
have such foresight, cheerfully received the notes in the hope that they would
continue to be valid. Then in a day or two, the change came. The Japanese
currency notes became worthless, and the hoarders suered the consequences.
When I was young, I came across people who lled pots of sand and
waited for them to turn into gold according to the prediction of a con-man
who posed as a master magician whom these people believed. Such people
are really fools, who cannot tell the uth om falsehood, the good om the
bad. Once they are cured of their madness, they will nd that the things they
have cherished are worthless.
During the time of the Buddha, Patcr
became raving mad. She went

about naked, but as she was insane she thought that what she was doing
was right and proper. When she came near to the Buddha, he restored her
sani by admonition. She realised her situation at once and eventually
became an Arahant, being endowed with good perfections. Patcr knew
at once om the Buddhas word of caution that she was naked. Her sense of
proprie returned, and she accepted a shawl om a person nearby and,
wrapping herself, sat down to listen to the Buddhas discourse. While
listening to the discourse she aained the stage of Seam-winning. This is
an instance of gaining right view and discarding mistaken notions.
The people I spoke of just now, found out in due course that the things
they had cherished were, aer all, worthless, and yet they could not discard
them. Those who are always mindful of the constant ux of arising and
passing away will have no aachment for the things upon which others set
so much value.
Her story is told in the Commentary to Dhammapada verse 113.

Though one should live a hundred years
not understanding how all things arise and pass away,
beer is a single days life if one sees how all things arise and pass away.
Discarding the Craving That Occurs on Seeing 79
Insuctions to Venerable Mlukyapua
The Buddha asked Venerable Mlukyapua:
Mlukyapua, do you have any desire for the forms that you
have never seen, for those that you do not see now, or those that
you never expect to see?
No sir, that is impossible, Venerable Mlukyapua replied.
Now, if I asked you the same question as the Buddha put to Venerable
Mlukyapua , you would all give the same answer as he did. You would
not have any feeling of love or haed for a person you never expect to see,
would you? There are many such persons in villages, towns, cities and
counies, and you would never have any feeling of love or haed for them.
You would not have any aachment, desire, or lust. Delements do not arise
om the unseen. This point should be noted.
In that case, one need not get rid of delements by means of insight; since
there is no seeing, no delements arise. So one does not gain merit or demerit.
As for the things seen, however, delements arise both in the act of seeing
and aer having seen, because a mental picture is retained in the memory.
On reection or recollection, delements will recur. These cherished
memories are stored up in the archives of latent tendencies (anusaya). It is
necessary to root these out by means of insight.
The Buddha taught Venerable Mlukyapua the docine of dihe diha
maa bhavissati in the seeing, only what is being seen or minding the
present.
Discarding the Craving That Occurs on Seeing

According to the Buddhas insuctions to Venerable Mlukyapua, one must
note what is seen as seen and no more. That is the general idea of the insuction.
During meditation practice, however, one must note the beginning of any process
as it is occurring. One must accordingly make a note, for example in walking,
that there is the liing, moving forward, and dropping of the foot, and realise
that each process appears and disappears in rapid succession. Only those who
have peneative mindfulness can notice clearly this rapid chain of action. If one
could concenate on each phenomenon distinctly and separately, one would
not feel any aachment or desire and thus craving would cease.
The Venerable Mahsi Saydaws Discourse on the Mlukyapua Sua expands on this
teaching in detail. It is the same as that given to Bhiya Drucriya who, among all of the
Buddhas disciples, was the one to aain Arahantship in the shortest possible time. (ed.)
To some insight meditators, hearing was taken note of as mere hearing,
and thus there was no like or dislike aached to it. Some reported having
felt the sound enter the ear, and could tell whether it entered the right or le
ear. Odours also appear and disappear in rapid succession and no aachment
of any kind occurs. The same happens with tastes, when eating food.
Touching is quite distinct. The rising and falling of the abdomen is obvious,
and aches and pains are too. Physical actions are also easy to note, and
noting each process in an action precludes any kind of aachment or desire.
As for the wandering mind, noting it is not dicult. An experienced
meditators mind seldom idles, and when it does, it is usually caught and
brought back immediately to the point of concenation. Thus, craving is
expelled om the mind.
Sometimes, mental pictures of people, bhikkhus, gardens, and many
other things appear. They are mere gments of the imagination, and will
soon disappear if one notes them, so no aachment occurs. Sometimes,
one may hear, or seem to hear, a celestial being or a teacher saying
something. However, if one notes it, the hearing will disappear and no
aachment can occur. The meditator who experiences such hearing should
not be falsely aered. If he is pleased or aered, that fact should be
noted immediately and it will disappear. This is how craving should be
expelled om a thought or feeling.
This is also the way that insight is gained, leading eventually to the Noble
Path and nibbna. As insight matures, wisdom matures too, and the
occurrence of aachment is gradually eradicated. So the Buddha said that
if craving is discarded, deliverance om suering is surely achieved.
Upon hearing the two answers of the Buddha, Hemavata and Stgiri,
and their followers aained the stage of Seam-winning.
The young lady, K, who had heard only the conversation between
Stgiri and Hemavata, became a Seam-winner before they did. They might
have reached the ultimate stage of Arahantship, but they were destined to
aain to only the rst stage.
81
Who Can Gain Liberation?
This is the last part of the discourse on the Hemavata Sua. The main
points of interest are the three questions that Hemavata put to the Buddha.
Hemavata became a Seam-winner aer hearing the Buddhas reply to the
second question, but in deference to the Dhamma, Hemavata put the third
question as follows:
Lord, in this world, who can swim out of the eddying currents of the
delements?
In the endless cycle of existences, called sasra, there is a swi current
with eddies called delements. Who can swim skilfully enough to swim out
of this current? Hemavata repeated the question in another metaphor, saying,
Who can swim out of the vast setch of deep water, called sasra?
Sasra, which is an uninterrupted ow of existences, a successive arising
and dissolution of aggregates, is likened to a swi, wide, and deep river, or
to a vast setch of water. However skilful one is at swimming, to swim out
of it is dicult.
Hemavata continued, Apparently boomless, there is nothing above the
surface of the water to hang on to, who can manage to escape om drowning
in that vast setch of water, O Lord?
The Moral, Mindful, and Wise Can Escape
To this question the Buddha gave the following reply:
Hemavata, one whose morali is pure and complete, whose concenation
is rm, who notes the physical and mental phenomena without fail, and
who is wise, can swim across the seam of sasra, which is very dicult
to cross. This is the Buddhas answer to the rst part of Hemavatas question.
The Current of Sensuali
Delightful objects invite desire and aachment, called kma, which is
likened to a current with eddies kmogha. Those who are involved in
desire, lust, and aachment are said to be driing in the current of desire.
Those who like and want the objects of desire, such as sights, sounds, odours,
tastes, touches, men or women, or proper of all sorts, have to sive to
obtain and possess them. Once they obtain them, they have to y to preserve
and maintain their possessions. They may resort to unwholesome deeds
such as the, murder, robbery, cheating, or adultery. For commiing such
unwholesome deeds they will go down to hell and other realms of misery.
That is what is called driing in the sea of sasra.
Other people do wholesome deeds and are accordingly able to gain
existence in human or celestial worlds where they are endowed with wealth,
which they enjoy immensely. That is also called being immersed in the sea
of sasra. Existence in human or celestial worlds presupposes old age and
death, om which one will surely feel anguish and suer om misery. That
is, in fact, immersion in the sea of sasra.
The Current of Existence
To be enamoured of existence or becoming (bhava) is called driing in the
eddying current of existence (bhavogha). Some want to aain higher realms
of existence such as the realms of form or the formless realms, and
accordingly work to gain rpa jhna and arpa jhna. When they reach these
higher realms of existence their life-spans are very long, to be counted in
aeons, but they are not everlasting. They have to die, and though some go
to the celestial realms, others go to the human world where misery abounds.
They get only a temporary relief, not release om the cycle of existences.
The Current of Wrong Views
To be entangled in the various currents of wrong views (dihogha) is very
common. There are many kinds of belief, some belonging to particular racial
groups and some to particular localities. The various beliefs can be broadly
categorised into two: one embracing the view that a being is indesuctible,
called eternalism (sassata dihi), and the other that a being is desoyed
completely aer its death, called annihilationism(uccheda dihi). Those who
embrace the laer belief do not care to avoid unwholesome deeds, nor do
they feel the need to do wholesome deeds. They can do whatever they like
if they avoid crimes punishable by law. They believe that they will not be
obliged to pay for the deeds they have done during their lifetime or later
because, in their view, there is no more new existence. Such people will
probably go to hell and other realms of misery, because the deeds they have
done during their lifetime will usually be far om wholesome. This is an
example of geing into ouble by following a wrong path.
Some people today turn the Buddhas teachings upside down and advise
their followers not to do wholesome deeds, nor to practise meditation, or
they would only get ouble. Their followers would most probably do only
unwholesome deeds and are very likely to go to hell.
Those who believe in the indesuctibili of beings do some deeds, which
they take to be wholesome, but such deeds may include sacrice of animals
The Current of Ignorance 83
in rites. Such unwholesome deeds done under mistaken notions will surely
send the evil-doers to hell. It is like taking the wrong medicine, which
aggravates a disease. Other people believe that they can do anything with
impuni if they have faith in their God.
There are worshippers of the sun, the moon, the mountains, the spirits
or gods. Others believe they can be delivered om misery if they starve
themselves, go naked, remain in the heat of the sun, or stay immersed in
water. Some believe that they will be ee of misery if they keep their minds
idle. How can anyone gain morali, concenation, and wisdom without
making the mind work properly and eectively? All beliefs in religious
practices that cannot lead to liberation om sasra belong to what is
belief in rites and rituals (slabbataparmsa). The followers of such faiths
will never get out of the great whirlpool of sasra. They will go through
a long series of existences as they dri along in the current of sasra. This
is really terrible.
The Current of Ignorance
Another current is the current of ignorance (avijjogha), which means
ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. People mistake suering for happiness,
they do not know the uth of suering (dukkha sacca). All actions arising
om psychophysical phenomena are really elements of suering. Yet most
people believe that the sights, sounds, odours, tastes, touches, and thoughts
that they like are good. Such a belief results om ignorance or delusion.
Liking such things is craving, to be aached to them is aachment (updna),
and to sive to gain the objects of desires is kamma, either wholesome (kusala)
or unwholesome (akusala). Owing to kamma, whether wholesome or
unwholesome, existence recurs repeatedly. The existences in the thir-one
realms of existence are due to this ignorance. This current of ignorance ows
down to the lowest hell and up the topmost realm of existence, the highest
region of Brahm. In the Bhuridaa and Campeyya Jtakas,
it is explained
that the Bodhisaa became a great snake (nga) because he longed to become
a snake, thinking that such an existence would be good. This current of
ignorance is very fearful indeed.
Geing beyond these currents is not easy. One must have great abili to
swim out of them. That is why Hemavata asked the Buddha who could swim
out of them. In answering that question, the Buddha described the qualica-
tions of the successful swimmer.
Jtakas Nos 543 and 506.

Qualications of A Successful Swimmer
The Buddha said that the rst qualication of the successful swimmer is
that he or she must always be fully equipped with pure morali. This is a
really essential qualication, so the Buddha put it rst. One with rm
condence in the Dhamma must believe that only if one is always keeps pure
morali, can one overcome the four great currents, and thus aain nibbna.
Some doubters may refer to the story of Santati, a kings minister, who
aained nibbna just before his death ... while the smell of liquor had not
yet le his mouth, and wonder whether perfect morali is essential. Well,
such instances are very rare, I should say, one in a hundred thousand. Such
individuals already had perfections of the highest order. They were rare even
in the time of the Buddha. They were exceptions. The Buddha knew about
them and their grade of perfections.
Among the rst ve disciples, only Venerable Koaa aained to the
seam-winning on the day of the Dhammacakka Sua. The other four had
to sive for four more days in succession to aain it, one aer another. Not
all of them had perfections of the same calibre. Such dierences in grades
and calibre of perfections should be noted. Some individuals realise the
Dhamma while listening to a discourse, but they are very rare. Others have
to work for some time, some for a few hours, others for days, months or
years, according to their respective perfections.
Now, in the Buddhas words about always keeping pure morali, the
word always means om the time of beginning meditation throughout the
period of practice. Only then can one be happy because one has kept ones
morali pure. That joyful feeling of non-remorse will lead to concenation.
Otherwise, doubt about ones own morali will impede the aainment of
steady concenation. Without concenation one cannot gain insight
knowledge, and without insight knowledge, the path and uition would be
far beyond ones reach. For a layperson, one must be fully equipped with
the ve precepts, for a monk, one must be equipped with the Pimokkha sla.
Morali is a prerequisite, the rst qualication for one who sives to swim
out of the four great currents.
The second qualication relates to concenation. It means that aer
becoming established in pure morali, one must work hard to aain the
states of concenation and absorption. It means that one must work for the
aainment of all the eight kinds of jhna or at least one or two of them. This
is for disciples with distinguished abilities. If one cannot sive to aain
absorption, one must work for aainment of access concenation (upacra
Do Not Talk Rashly About Eko-dhammo 85
samdhi) or its equivalent momentary concenation (khaika samdhi),
that is vipassan samdhi. This is the least requirement for one to become fully
equipped with puri of mind (ciavisuddhi), and with this, one can aain
nibbna. Otherwise, the purpose would not be achieved.
The third qualication is wisdom. Wisdom can be aained only by being
mindful of the occurrence of ones mental and physical phenomena. One can
rightly understand the incessant ux of activities and phenomena only when
one notes them within oneself. How could one gain right understanding by
noting another persons mental and physical activities? You may think that
a person is happy, but he may really be in a sad mood. In the same manner,
you may think someone is doing a wholesome deed, but he might be doing
something unwholesome. One can only uly know about oneself. If one
notes what is going on within oneself, one can know what is really happening.
To note the things in ux within oneself is not too dicult. One has only to
note things as they occur or disappear in rapid succession.
Do Not Talk Rashly About Eko-dhammo
Those who have aained jhna must note the jhna and all phenomena
arising om seeing, hearing, etc. Those who have not aained jhna must
note what they see, hear, etc. That is they must note the activities arising om
mind and maer. Some say that noting activities as they occur will lead to a
deterioration in concenation. They say that it conadicts the idea of single
purpose (eko-dhammo). Such individuals do not understand the practical
operation of vipassan. Vipassan is not concenation on a single object. One
must note all mental and physical phenomena. If one does not note them,
one will probably take them to be permanent, able to give happiness, and
possessing self. Such thinking will lead to kamma, which in turn will lead
to renewed existence. The purpose of vipassan is to remove such conse-
quences by noting phenomena, and realising the three characteristics. The
Buddha said that all phenomena must be perceived with insight.
In the texts and commentaries, eko-dhammo is never mentioned in the
sense of single purpose. In the Aguaranikya and Dasuara Sua
it is
mentioned, but the meaning there is not what some people rashly take it to
be. It means that one should persevere with one method of meditation,
though as many as ten dierent methods are mentioned in the texts. Talking
rashly about eko-dhammo without knowing its proper meaning and intent
should be discouraged.
The thir-fourth and last discourse of the Collection of Long Discourse. (ed.)
By noting whatever is happening in ones own body and mind, and thus
gaining concenation, one gains insight by perceiving mind and maer
separately, and by realising the deep signicance of cause and eect. Insight
is achieved by the profound realisation of the three characteristics. When
insight knowledge has been gained and developed, one will advance to the
Noble Path. One who has aained the Noble Path is the swimmer who can
swim out of the swi and turbulent currents of sasra. That is what the
Buddha said in reply to Hemavatas question.
The method of swimming out of these currents will now be explained for
the benet of those who still need further clarication. If one can discern
nibbna through the insight of the path of seam-winning, one is said to
have crossed the current of wrong views (dihi). That is why it is said that
a Seam-winner is ee of the obsession about self (aa), and the belief in
annihilationism(uccheda dihi). He or she is also rid of the wrong view called
slabbataparmsa, which holds that one can gain deliverance om sasra,
not by working to gain morali, concenation, and wisdom, but by
performing rites and rituals. A Seam-winner has rmly established
condence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sagha, and knows that one must
work to gain morali, concenation, and wisdom. Those who are not
Seam-winners are indecisive in their beliefs and so go around looking for
mentors. More oen than not, they get caught in the nets of bogus teachers,
and thus suer incessantly in their long journey through sasra.
As for Seam-winners, they never deviate om the right path. They will
gain liberation om the suering inherent in existence aer seven more
existences at most. So if one can swim across the current of wrong views,
one would clearly make an immense gain.
By progressing to the next stage of once-returning, one can weaken the
current of sensuali, but not yet completely eradicate it. One must continue
with the meditation practice to progress further. It is only when one has
aained the stage of non-returning that one has completely eradicated sensual
desire. A Non-returner has no desire at all, and will not even think of wanting
anything. They have no preferences, no craving, or longing. Thus, they are
blissfully happy, ee om the misery that results om desire. Yet they still
have to swim across the current of existence.
The meditator who has achieved the stage of non-returning must continue
meditation until aaining the most mature insight, arahaa magga-a. Only
then has the meditator successfully swum across all four currents, including
the current of ignorance, and escaped om sasra.
87
The Arahant Overcomes All Feers
The Buddha continued, Hemavata, the Arahant who has overcome all
the feers (sayojana), aer eeing himself om desires, never drowns in
the boomless, refugeless sea of sasra, but always remains aoat, in a
state of bliss.
According to the rst part of the Buddhas answer, one who has persisted
in the practice of meditation aains the ultimate stage and becomes an
Arahant. For the Arahant there is no new existence, as he or she has
completely escaped om the current of sasra. A Non-returner has crossed
the currents and is on the way out of the seam. A Once-returner has no
more than two existences to sive for deliverance, and a Seam-winner has
at most seven more existences to go through. All of them have saved
themselves om hell and the realms of misery. An ordinary person has no
guarantee against falling into hell, though he or she may have done many
wholesome deeds. To ordinary persons the cycle of existences is like a stormy
sea in which there is nothing to grasp, or take refuge on to keep oneself aoat.
Now is the time to work for deliverance om sasra the cycle of
existences in the thir-one realms.
The exposition of the dialogue in the Hemavata Sua is now complete.
Only Hemavatas adulation of the Buddha remains.
Having heard the words of the Buddha, and having appreciated his great
wisdom, Hemavata was full of adoration. He turned to the one thousand
guardian spirits who were his followers and urged them to worship the
Buddha, The Blessed One who is one endowed with profound and perfect
wisdom, ee of all kinds of desires, the Buddha has accomplished the path
of an Arahant. He said that, because, since they had worshipped the Buddha
and heard his discourse, they had come upon the dawn of enlightenment.
Then, turning to the Buddha, Hemavata said, We, the thousand guardian
spirits, adore and take refuge in you, the noblest Lord and Master.
The reason why these thousand guardian spirits achieved the purpose of
the Dhamma can be found in the story of their past.
Past History of Hemavata
Kassapa Buddha aained parinibbna and his relics were enshrined in a
great golden pagoda. At that time two men entered the Sagha in the
Buddhas dispensation out of their ee will and noble volition. (Incidentally,
there are two kinds of monks those who enter the Sagha out of their ee
will and noble volition, called saddh pabbajita, and those who enter it out of
fear of punishment by the law for their crimes, called bhaya pabbajita. The
former are the ue servants of the Sagha, but the laer are deactors who
weaken and disgrace it.) The duties of a monk are under two main categories.
The rst is to study and eventually teach the literature of the Dhamma, and
the second is to practice meditation to achieve the purpose of the Dhamma.
During the time of Gotama Buddha many bhikkhus, beginning with the
first five disciples, became Arahants. For instance, Yasa the son of a millionaire
and his fifty-four friends, the thirty clansmen of Bhaddavaggi, the thousand
ascetics led by Uruvela Kassapa, Upatissa and Kolita who were to become
Venerables Sriputta and Moggallna and their two hundred and fifty followers.
All of them practised the Dhamma and became Arahants. Of them, the son of
Soa, a rich man, strove very hard in the practice of the Dhamma.
This person was very genteel and delicate. As a young boy he had never
set foot on the earth, so the soles of his feet were covered with so hairs. When
this delicate man entered the Sagha, fully determined to work hard at the
duties of a bhikkhu for deliverance om the misery of sasra, a problem
arose. He worked his hardest, practising meditation by walking up and down
the walkway barefooted. Since his feet were so so and tender, they soon
blistered and started bleeding, until the walkway became stained with blood,
yet he did not give up. However, he could not achieve the purpose of the
Dhamma. Eventually, he despaired and thought of leaving the Sagha. He
was under the impression that he did not have enough perfections to achieve
the purpose of the Dhamma. Then the Buddha came to him and advised him
not to sain too much nor to relax too much, that is, to follow the middle path.
The bhikkhu followed the Buddhas advice and soon became an Arahant.
In the days of the Buddha there were countless beings who aained
Arahantship, non-returning, once-returning, or seam-winning. All these
Noble Ones fullled the exhortation of the Buddha by practising meditation
and achieving the purpose of the Dhamma. The two new monks who entered
the Sagha thought that those who practised the Dhamma were many, and
that as they were young they should rst study the Dhamma, and practise
the Dhamma only when they grew old. Thus applying themselves diligently
to the study of the literature of the Dhamma, the two monks became masters
of the Tipiaka. They then taught the Dhamma to ve hundred monks, and
became famous teachers.
Let us now consider the decision made by the monks who were later to
become Hemavata and his iend Stgiri. They decided to study the
Dhamma when young and practise it when old. Who can guarantee that a
Past History of Hemavata 89
person will not die young? If he dies young, then he will miss the opportuni
of practising the Dhamma. The Buddhas wish is for all to start the practice
of the Dhamma when young.
The Buddha said in the Dhammapada:
The bhikkhu in the Buddhas dispensation, who practises the
Dhamma while young with a view to aaining the path and its
uition, enlightens the world [which is synonymous with his
own ve aggregates] just as the moon that is unobscured by
clouds, illumines the world. (Dhp v 382)
The person who practises vipassan enlightens his or her own world in
the same way that the moon illumines the world. Starting the practice with
the regular noting of the rising and falling of the abdomen, thus coming to
know the real nature of mind and maer. Then, as the meditator goes on
noting, he or she comes to know the real nature of the mental aggregates,
realising the profound uth of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.
As practice progresses, insight matures and enlightens his or her world, or
the ve aggregates.
It may be asked whether the same kind of enlightenment will not occur
in older meditators. Certainly it will, but realisation and enlightenment may
be slow to come. Age slows down the mental and physical faculties. Someone
of thir may achieve his or her purpose within one month whereas someone
of six or seven may succeed only aer two or three months. The dierence
lies in mental and physical health and vitali. An older person also usually
has more responsibilities, and so more worries and anxieties. A young
persons intelligence is keen while an older persons is deteriorating. The
laer may have more disacting thoughts to contend with. So the Buddha
especially praised those who practise meditation while still young.
For monks too, it is beer if newly-ordained monks start the practice of
meditation while they are young and enthusiastic. Their condence is song,
and their morali is ee om doubts and defects. Although it is admiedly
important to pursue the study of the Dhamma, young monks should do
meditation practice for at least the rst three months. That is my opinion.
Perhaps the monks who were to become Hemavata and Stgiri died before
they became old. They seem to have had no opportuni to practise the Dhamma.
These two venerable monks received the high esteem of their disciples,
both monks and lai, and the Buddha Kassapas dispensation was then
ourishing. At that time, two young monks lived in a monastery, one was a
sict follower of the rules and regulations of the Sagha and the other was
a recalciant monk. When the scrupulous monk pointed out the errors of
the corrupt monk, he would not tolerate any criticism. The former told him
to wait until the time for invitation (pavra) came. All monks are obliged
to aend the invitation ceremony at the end of the rainy season, when they
invite one another to point out oences against the rules and regulations of
the Sagha. This ceremony is held annually on the full-moon day of October
at the end of the rainy season. One who is criticised for his oences or
misbehaviour thanks those who point out his faults and undertakes to be
more careful in future. This ceremony of criticism is intended to puri the
Buddhas dispensation. The Buddha Gotama also prescribed this ceremony,
and aendance is compulsory.
One should be grateful to a critic who points out ones faults, for such
criticism gives one an opportuni to make amends. An oence in a monk
is far more serious than a fault in a layman. If a monk dies without knowing
that he has commied an oence, and so has had no opportuni to make
amends, he can go to hell. If he knew his oence and made amends
accordingly, his morali would become pure. If, aer regaining puri, he
practises the Dhamma, he can gain wisdom of a high order, but if he died,
he would go to the celestial realms. So the Buddha said in the Dhammapada:
The wise man who points out others faults with wholesome
intentions is loved and respected by good people, but hated by the
corrupt and evil-minded. (Dhp v 77)
The recalciant monk was opposed to the scrupulous monk. So the laer
told the former that he would report the maer to the synod of senior monks.
The recalciant monk was aaid that he might be punished, so he approached
the members of the synod, and gave them robes and begging bowls, and paid
them respects. He rendered small services to the senior monks and behaved
meekly. The monks asked him what the maer was. He said that he had had
a dispute with his companion over his behaviour, and asked them to reserve
judgement when his case came up to the synod. The senior monks said that
they could not overlook any case, but the recalciant monk insisted. The
monks had already accepted his gis and services and felt rather dident
to deal with his case. So they promised to overlook his case when it came up.
This is, of course, partiali and corruption. Thus reassured, the recalciant
monk went back to his monastery and eated his colleague arrogantly. The
scrupulous monk had some suspicions and made discreet inquiries. He began
Past History of Hemavata 91
to wonder at the delay in the disposal of the case he had put up to the synod.
The disciples of the senior monks whom he approached were reticent.
The recalciant monk became more and more brazen-faced. He asked
the scrupulous monk about the case and insolently challenged him. Now
you have lost your case. You should not come back to the monastery. Go
elsewhere, do not live with me, he said. The scrupulous monk asked the
senior monks about the case and received an unsatisfactory answer. These
old monks were otherwise very honest, but since they had accepted favours
om the corrupt monk they deviated om the path of hones.
The scrupulous young monk shouted, Since the passing of the Kassapa
Buddha you two monks, senior and learned, have been looked up to as
another Buddha, but you have rendered yourselves unt to pass judgements
on cases relating to the rules and regulations of the Sagha. The Buddhas
dispensation has gone to decay, it is being desoyed. Of course, such corrupt
practices are to be deplored.
The two senior monks became repentant when they heard the accusation
made by the young monk and this prick of their conscience persisted
throughout their lives. They could not get rid of their doubts about their
hones even aer long years of service to the Sagha by teaching their
disciples the Dhamma and observing the rules up to the time of their death.
So they became guardian spirits (yakkhas) in the Himalayas though they
should otherwise have reached higher regions of existence in the celestial
realms because of their great services. One came to be known as Hemavata
and the other as Stgiri. They belonged to the higher echelon of the guardian
spirit hierarchy, holding the rank of commandants of the yakkha baalions.
There were twen-eight such high ocials, including these two, under the
charge of the chief, Duvera. Guardian spirits are far superior to the ordinary
spirits though they are not handsome like devas.
Hemavata and Stgiri repented their misdeeds in their past lives and
deplored their weakness when they succumbed to corruption by a wicked
monk. They said that their long and meritorious services to the dispensation
of Kassapa Buddha should have sent them to one of the higher regions of
the celestial realms. They were remorseful when they found that some of
their lay disciples had gained the upper regions, whereas they were obliged
to take lower positions. They promised each other that if one of them had
some good news he would immediately inform the other. In pursuance of
this promise, Stgiri hurried to his iend, Hemavata, and broke the good
news of the rst discourse of Buddha Gotama.
They had lived for aeons, but eventually the time came, 2,551 years ago,
when Gotama Buddha gave his rst discourse to the ve ascetics, with
millions of celestial beings in aendance. As I mentioned at the beginning
of this discourse, Stgiri failed to nd his iend, Hemavata, in the assembly,
and so hurried to tell him the good news.
Hemavata was overjoyed at hearing about the Buddhas discourse, and
went round om village to village, om mountain to mountain, of the spirit
kingdom to announce the appearance of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the
Sagha.
This is the end of the Hemavata Sua. May the audience be able to cross
the four great currents of sasra by their arduous practice of insight
meditation and thus aain the blissful state of nibbna.
In 1963, when this discourse was given.

A Discourse On The Hemavata Sutta

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A Discourse on the

describing the admirable

and adding the

In 1963, when this discourse was given.

See Anguaranikya, Vol. i. 24.

Majjhimanikya Vol. ii. 66, Rahapla Sua.

without any feeling of disgust.

But not the nger (ed.)

which means saying appropriate words.

While listening to the discourse, Bhiya became an Arahant aer passing

Commentary to the Dhammapada, v 101.

Venerable Sripua once taught a disciple to contemplate the repulsive-

Samyuanikya, Cia Sua, S. i. 39.

Based on these statements, one should banish doubts about siving

became raving mad. She went

Her story is told in the Commentary to Dhammapada verse 113.

Discarding the Craving That Occurs on Seeing

Jtakas Nos 543 and 506.

In 1963, when this discourse was given.

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