The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Nanamoli

  58 Ñm originally had rendered this phrase as “perfect in understanding,” and the corresponding phrase in the preceding section as “perfect in concentration.” However, since it seems inappropriate to ascribe perfection in samādhi and paññā to the Bodhisatta prior to his enlightenment, I have chosen to render the suffix sampanna throughout as “possessed of.” MA explains that this is neither the wisdom of insight nor of the path, but the wisdom that defines the nature of its object (ārammaṇavavatthānapañña).

  59 The Indian year, according to the ancient system inherited by Buddhism, is divided into three seasons—the cold season, the hot season, and the rainy season—each lasting for four months. The four months are subdivided into eight fortnights (pakkha), the third and the seventh containing fourteen days and the others fifteen days. Within each fortnight, the nights of the full moon and the new moon (either the fourteenth or fifteenth) and the night of the half-moon (the eighth) are regarded as especially auspicious. Within Buddhism these days become the Uposatha, the days of religious observance. On the full moon and new moon days the bhikkhus recite their code of precepts and lay people visit the monasteries to listen to sermons and to practise meditation.

  60 The four postures (iriyāpatha) often mentioned in the Buddhist texts are walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.

  61 Beginning with this section, the Buddha shows the course of practice that led him to the peak of non-delusion.

  62 MA says that the Bodhisatta developed the four jhānas using mindfulness of breathing as his meditation subject.

  63 Explained in detail at Vsm XIII, 13–71.

  64 Explained in detail at Vsm XIII, 72–101.

  65 MA: Having shown the Four Noble Truths in their own nature (that is, in terms of suffering), the passage on the taints is stated to show them indirectly by way of the defilements.

  66 According to MA, the phrase “When I knew and saw thus” refers to insight and the path, which reaches its climax in the path of arahantship; the phrase “my mind was liberated” shows the moment of the fruit; and the phrase “there came the knowledge: ‘It is liberated’” shows reviewing knowledge (see Vsm XXII, 20–21), as does the next sentence beginning “I directly knew.”

  67 This is the stock canonical announcement of final knowledge or arahantship. MA explains that the statement “Birth is destroyed” means that any type of birth that might have arisen if the path had not been developed has been rendered incapable of arising by the development of the path. The “holy life” that has been lived is the holy life of the path (maggabrahmacariya). The phrase “what had to be done has been done” (katȧ karaṇı̄yaṁ) indicates that the four tasks of the noble path—fully understanding suffering, abandoning its origin, realising its cessation, and developing the path—have now all been completed for each of the four supramundane paths. The fourth phrase, nāparaṁ itthattāya, is glossed by MA thus: “Now there is no need for me to develop the path again for ‘such a state,’ i.e., for the sixteenfold function (of the path) or for the destruction of the defilements. Or alternatively: after ‘such a state,’ i.e., the continuum of aggregates now occurring, there is no further continuum of aggregates for me. These five aggregates, having been fully understood, stand like trees that are cut at the root. With the cessation of the last consciousness, they will be extinguished like a fire without fuel.” I have opted for the second of these interpretations, but take itthattāya as a dative. The word, which literally means “the state of this” or “the state of thus,” implies manifestation in a concrete state of existence. Ñm had rendered: “There is no more of this beyond.”

  68 MA: He has “compassion for future generations” insofar as later generations of monks, seeing that the Buddha resorted to forest dwellings, will follow his example and thus hasten their progress towards making an end of suffering.

  SUTTA 5

  69 MA, picking up on the venerable Sāriputta’s use of the word “person” (puggala), explains that the Buddha has a twofold teaching—a conventional teaching (sammutidesanā ) expressed in terms of persons, beings, women, and men, etc.; and an ultimate teaching (paramatthadesanā) expressed solely in terms that possess ultimate ontological validity, such as aggregates, elements, sense bases, impermanent, suffering, not self, etc. The Buddha expounds his teaching through whichever approach is best suited to enable the hearer to penetrate the meaning, dispel delusion, and achieve distinction. The use of the word “person,” therefore, does not imply a misconception of the person as a self.

  70 Subhanimitta: an attractive object that is the basis for lust. The Buddha says that unwise attention to the sign of the beautiful is the nutriment (āhāra) for the arising of unarisen sensual desire and for the growth and increase of arisen sensual desire (SN 46:2/v.64).

  71 These are strict ascetic practices. The forest dweller, almsfood eater, house-to-house seeker and refuse-rag wearer are explained in Vsm II.

  72 These are “softer” practices than those referred to in §29, generally regarded as signs of a less earnest commitment to exertion for the sake of the goal.

  73 The Ājı̄vakas, or Ājı̄vikas, were a rival sect whose teaching emphasised severe austerities based on a philosophy bordering on fatalism. See Basham, History and Doctrines of the Ājı̄vikas.

  74 The possessive pronouns qualifying heart are not in the Pali, but the sense of the phrase has to be understood by consideration of the simile. Just as Samı̄ti planed the faults out of the felloe as if he knew Pa˚ḍuputta’s heart with his own heart, so does Sāriputta plane out the faults of the bhikkhus as if he knew Moggallāna’s wish to have them removed. MLS (1:40) misses the point by translating: “because he knows their hearts with his heart,” taking the first reference to be to the monks rather than to Ven. Moggallāna.

  75 Mahānāga. The nāgas are a class of dragonlike beings in Indian mythology believed to inhabit the nether regions of the earth and to be the guardians of hidden treasures. The word comes to represent any gigantic or powerful creature, such as a tusker elephant or a cobra and, by extension, an arahant bhikkhu. See Dhp, ch. 23, Nāgavagga.

  SUTTA 6

  76 MA says that the expression sampannası̄lā, translated here as “possessed of virtue,” can mean either “perfect in virtue” (paripuṇṇası̄lā) or “endowed with virtue” (sı̄lasamangino ). The Pātimokkha is the code of monastic discipline, which in its Pali version consists of 227 rules. “Resort” (gocara) implies a proper resort for alms, though it may also signify the proper deportment of a monk, his serene and self-possessed bearing. The key terms in this passage are analysed at Vsm I, 43–52.

  77 MA: The passage beginning with “let him fulfil the precepts,” repeated for each of the following sections until the end of the sutta, comprises the entire threefold training. The phrase about fulfilling the precepts signifies the training in higher virtue (adhisı̄lasikkhā); the phrase “be devoted to internal serenity of mind, not neglect meditation” indicates the training in concentration or the higher mind (adhicittasikkhā); and the phrase “be possessed of insight” points to the training in the higher wisdom (adhipaññāsikkhā). The phrase “dwell in empty huts” combines the latter two trainings, since one resorts to an empty hut to develop serenity and insight.

  78 That is, if the relatives who have been reborn in the realm of ghosts or in some lower deva realm recollect virtuous bhikkhus with confidence, that confidence will become a source of merit for them, protecting them from bad rebirths and becoming a positive condition for the attainment of Nibbāna.

  79 These are the four immaterial attainments for which the full formulas are to be found below at MN 8.8–11, MN 25.16–19, etc. MA glosses “body” as “mental body” (nāmakāya).

  80 The three fetters destroyed by the stream-enterer are identity view, doubt, and adherence to rules and observances, as mentioned at MN 2.11.

  81 In addition to the first three fetters, the non-returner destroys the other two “lower fetters” of s
ensual desire and ill will. The non-returner is reborn in a special region of the Brahma-world called the Pure Abodes, and there makes an end of suffering.

  82 §§14–19 present the six kinds of direct knowledge (abhiññā). See Introduction, p. 37; for details, see Vsm XII and XIII.

  83 MA: In this passage “mind” and “wisdom” signify, respectively, the concentration and wisdom associated with the fruit of arahantship. Concentration is called “deliverance of mind” (cetovimutti) because it is liberated from lust; wisdom is called “deliverance by wisdom” (paññāvimutti) because it is liberated from ignorance. The former is normally the result of serenity, the latter the result of insight. But when they are coupled and described as taintless (anāsava), they jointly result from the destruction of the taints by the supramundane path of arahantship.

  SUTTA 7

  84 For a more thorough treatment of this sutta and the following one, with helpful introductions and lengthy explanatory notes, see Nyanaponika Thera, The Simile of the Cloth and The Discourse on Effacement.

  85 An unhappy destination (duggati) is rebirth in the three states of deprivation—hell, the animal kingdom, and the realm of ghosts. A happy destination (sugati), mentioned just below, is rebirth in a superior state among humans and in the heavenly worlds.

  86 Cittassa upakkilesā. The word upakkilesā is sometimes used in the sense of blemishes or imperfections of meditative concentration, as at MN 128.27, 30; sometimes in the sense of blemishes or imperfections of insight, as at Vsm XX, 105; and sometimes to signify the minor defilements that arise from the three unwholesome roots—greed, hate, and delusion—either as their modes or their offshoots. Here it is used in this third sense, but to maintain the connection with its first two usages, it has been translated by the phrase “imperfections that defile the mind.”

  87 MA offers several tentative distinctions between covetousness (abhijjhā) and unrighteous greed (visamalobha), but then it points out that since, from the standpoint of the higher training, all greed is unrighteous, the two terms can be understood as merely different names for the same mental factor, greed or lust. Here I paraphrase MA’s explanations of some of the other mental corruptions: Resentment (upanāha) sets in after anger has repeatedly enveloped the mind. Contempt (makkha) is the devaluation of benefits conferred on one by others. Insolence (paḷāsa) is presumption (yugaggāha) arising when one puts oneself at the same level as others who have superior qualities. Envy (issā) is resentment over the honours, etc., shown to others; avarice (macchariya) is unwillingness to share one’s own possessions with others. Obstinacy (thambha) is inflexibility, stiffness, rigidity, like a bellows full of air. Rivalry (sārambha) is attempting to outdo others, the drive to surpass their achievements. Several of these corruptions are also defined at Vbh §§845–46, 891–94.

  88 MA says that the abandoning spoken of here should be understood as “abandonment by eradication” (samucchedappah̄na ), that is, complete uprooting by the supramundane path. The sixteen defilements are abandoned by the noble paths in the following order:1. The path of stream-entry abandons: contempt, insolence, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud.

  2. The path of non-returning abandons: ill will, anger, resentment, negligence.

  3. The path of arahantship abandons: covetousness and unrighteous greed, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity.

  MA maintains, by reference to an ancient exegetical source, that in this passage the path of the non-returner is being described. Therefore we must understand that those defilements to be fully abandoned by the path of arahantship have at this point only been abandoned in part, by way of their coarser manifestations.

  89 Unwavering confidence (aveccappasāda) in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha is an attribute of a noble disciple at the minimal level of a stream-enterer, whose confidence is perfect because he has seen the truth of the Dhamma for himself. The formulas for recollection of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha given here are explained at length in Vsm VII.

  90 This translation follows the reading yatodhi and MA’s explanation of this as the partial abandoning of defilements by the first three paths, contrasted with the total (anodhi) abandoning of defilements by the fourth and final path. Ñm, following the reading yathodhi, translates: “And whatever [from among those imperfections] has, according to the limitation [set by whichever of the first three paths he has attained], been given up, has been [forever] dropped, let go, abandoned, relinquished.” The two variations seem to be ancient as they are both recognized by MA.

  91 Labhati atthavedaṁ labhati dhammavedaṁ. Ven. Nyanaponika renders: “He gains enthusiasm for the goal, gains enthusiasm for the Dhamma.” MA explains veda as meaning joy and the knowledge connected with that joy, and says: “Atthaveda is the inspiration arisen in one who reviews his unwavering confidence; dhammaveda is the inspiration arisen in one who reviews the abandonment of the defilements in part, the cause of that unwavering confidence.”

  92 The Pali equivalents, in noun form, for the terms in this series are: p̄mojja, gladness; pı̄ti, rapture; passaddhi, tranquillity; sukha,pleasure;samādhi,concentration. Tranquillity, by removing the subtle bodily and mental disturbances connected with gladness and rapture, brings the serene pleasure that prepares the mind for deepened concentration.

  93 The Pali terms are: evaṁsı̄lo evaṁdhammo evaṁpañño. The middle term, in this context, obviously must refer to the second stage of the threefold training, concentration, though it is puzzling why samādhi itself is not used. The commentary to MN 123.2 glosses a parallel expression by samādhi-pakkha-dhammā, “states belonging to concentration.”

  94 This statement underscores his attainment of the stage of non-returner. Since the non-returner has eradicated sensual desire, delicious food cannot impede him in his quest for the final path and fruit.

  95 §§13–16 present the standard sutta formulas for the four “divine abodes” (brahmavihāra). Briefly, loving-kindness (mettā) is the wish for the welfare and happiness of others; compassion (karuṇā), the empathy with them in their suffering; altruistic joy (muditā), rejoicing in their virtues and success; and equanimity (upekkh̄) , the attitude of detached impartiality towards beings (not apathy or indifference). For a fuller treatment, see Vsm IX.or indifference). For a fuller treatment, see Vsm IX.

  96 MA: The present section shows the non-returner’s practice of insight meditation aimed at arahantship and the following section his attainment of arahantship. The phrase “there is this” signifies the truth of suffering; “there is the inferior,” the origin of suffering; “the superior,” the truth of the path; and “the escape from this whole field of perception” is Nibbāna, the cessation of suffering.

  97 MA: The Buddha used this phrase to arouse the attention of the brahmin Sundarika Bhāradvāja, who was in the assembly and believed in purification by ritual bathing. The Buddha foresaw that the brahmin would be inspired to take ordination under him and would attain arahantship.

  98 These are rivers and fords that were popularly believed to give purification.

  99 The Pali has phaggu, a day of brahmanical purification in the month of Phagguna (February–March), and uposatha, the religious observance days regulated by the lunar calendar. See n.59.

  100 The going forth (pabbajjā) is the formal ordination of entering the homeless life as a novice (s̄maṇera); the full admission (upasampadā) confers the status of a bhikkhu, a full member of the Sangha.

  SUTTA 8

  101 See n.84.

  102 Views associated with doctrines of a self (attavāfapaṭsaṁyuttā ), according to MA, are the twenty types of identity view enumerated at MN 44.7, though they may also be understood to include the more elaborate doctrines about a self discussed in MN 102. Views associated with doctrines about the world (lokavādapaṭisaṁyuttā) are the eight views: the world is eternal, non-eternal, both, or neither; the world is infinite, finite, both, or neither. See MN 63 and MN 72 for the Buddha’s rejection of these views.
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br />   103 MA: This question refers to one who has only reached the initial stages of insight meditation without attaining stream-entry. The type of abandonment under discussion is abandoning by eradication, which is effected only by the path of stream-entry. Ven. Mahā Cunda posed this question because some meditators were overestimating their achievement, thinking they had abandoned such views while they had not really eradicated them.

  104 MA explains that the word “arise” (uppajjanti) refers here to the arising of views that have not arisen before; “underlie” (anusenti) to their gathering strength through continued adherence to them; and being “exercised” (samudācaanti) to their gaining bodily or verbal expression. The “object” upon which they are based is the five aggregates (khandha) that constitute a person or living being—material form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

  105 By this statement the Buddha shows the means by which these views are eradicated: contemplation of the five aggregates as “not mine,” etc., with the wisdom of insight culminating in the path of stream-entry.

  106 MA explains that the Buddha, having answered the Elder’s question, now speaks of another type of overestimator—those who attain the eight meditative attainments and believe that they are practising true effacement (sallekha). The word sallekha, originally meaning austerity or ascetic practice, is used by the Buddha to signify the radical effacing or removal of defilements. Though the eight attainments are elsewhere placed securely within the Buddhist training (see MN 25.12–19, MN 26.34–41), it is here said that they should not be called effacement because the bhikkhu who attains them does not use them as a basis for insight—as described for example in MN 52 and MN 64—but only as a means of enjoying bliss and peace.