Digha Nikaya - Dasuttara Sutta

Dasuttara Sutta

Thus have I heard: Once the Lord was staying at Campa beside the Gaggara lotus
pond, with a large company of some five hundred monks. Then the venerable
Shariputra addressed the monks: ‘Friends, monks!’
‘Friend!’ replied the monks, and the venerable Shariputra stated:
‘In growing groups from one to ten I’ll teach
Dhamma for the gaining of Nibbana,
That you may make an end of suffering,
And be free from all the ties that bind.
There is, friends,
1. One thing that greatly helps
2. One thing to be developed
3. One thing to be thoroughly known
4. One thing to be abandoned
5. One thing that conduces to diminution
6. One thing that conduces to distinction
7. One thing hard to penetrate
8. One thing to be made to arise
9. One thing to be thoroughly learnt
10. and One thing to be realized.
Now which one thing greatly helps?
1. Tirelessness in wholesome states.
Which one thing is to be developed?
2. Mindfulness with regard to the body, accompanied by pleasure.
Which one thing is to be thoroughly known?
3. Contact as a condition of the corruptions and of grasping.
Which one thing is to be abandoned?
4. Ego-conceit.
Which one thing conduces to diminution?
5. Unwise attention
Which one thing conduces to distinction?
6. Wise attention
Which one thing is hard to penetrate?
7. Uninterrupted mental concentration
Which one thing is to be made to arise?
8. Unshakable knowledge
Which one thing is to be thoroughly learnt?
9. All beings are maintained by nutriment
Which one thing is to be realized?
10. Unshakable deliverance of mind.
Two things greatly help; two things are to be developed… (as above)
Which two things greatly help?
1. Mindfulness and clear awareness
Which two things are to be developed?
2. Calm and Insight
Which two things are to be thoroughly known?
3. Mind and Body
Which two things are to be abandoned?
4. Ignorance and craving for existence
Which two things conduce to diminution?
5. Roughness and friendship with evil
Which two things conduce to distinction?
6. Gentleness and friendship with good
Which two things are hard to penetrate?
7. That which is the root, the condition of the defilement of beings, and that
which is the root, the condition of the purification of beings
Which two things are to be made to arise?
8. Knowledge of the destruction of the defilements and of their non-recurrence
…learnt?
9. Two Elements, the conditioned and the unconditioned
…realized?
10. Knowledge and liberation.
That makes twenty things that are real and true, so and not otherwise,
unerringly and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
Three things greatly help; three things are to be developed… (as above.)
Which three things greatly help?
1. Association with good people, hearing the true Dharma, practice of the Dharma
in its entirety
Which three things are to be developed?
2. Three kinds of concentration.
…thoroughly known?
3. Three feelings
…abandoned?
4. Three kinds of craving
…conduce to diminution?
5. Three unwholesome roots
…conduce to distinction?
6. Three wholesome roots
…hard to penetrate?
7. Three elements for making deliverance:
a. Deliverance from sensuality
b. Deliverance from material forms
c. That is, the immaterial, whatever has become, is compounded, is conditionally
arisen – the deliverance from that is cessation.
…made to arise?
8. Three knowledges of past, present and future.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Three elements: The element of sense-desire, the element of form, the
formless element.
…realized?
10. Three knowledges; of one’s past lives, of the decease and rebirth of beings,
of the destruction of the corruptions.
Four things greatly help, four things are to be developed…
Which four things greatly help?
1. Four "wheels"
a. A favorable place of residence
b. Association with good people
c. Perfect development of one’s personality
d. Past meritorious actions
Which four things are to be developed?
2. Four foundations: Four foundations of mindfulness: Here a monk abides
contemplating body as body, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside
hankering and fretting for the world; he abides contemplating feelings as
feelings...he abides contemplating mind as mind...he abides contemplating mind
objects as mind objects, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside
hankering and fretting for the world.
…thoroughly known?
3. Four Nutriments: Material, food, gross or subtle; contact as second; mental
volition as third, consciousness as fourth.
…to be abandoned?
4. Four Floods:
a. Sensuality,
b. Becoming,
c. Wrong Views
d. Ignorance.
…conducive to diminution?
5. Four Yokes
a. Sensuality,
b. Becoming,
c. Wrong Views
d. Ignorance
…conducive to distinction?
6. Four unyokings from’
a. Sensuality
b. Becoming
c. Views
d. Ignorance
…hard to penetrate?
7. Four concentrations:
a. Conducing to decline
b. Conducing to stasis
c. Conducing to distinction
d. Conducive to penetration
…made to arise?
8. Four knowledges: knowledge of Dhamma, of what is consonant with it, knowledge
of others minds, conventional knowledge.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Four Noble Truths knowledge of suffering, it’s origin, it’s cessation, and
the path.
…to be realized?
10. Four fruits of the ascetic life: the fruits of stream entry, of the once
returner, of the non-returner, of Arahantship.
That makes forty things that are real and true, so and not otherwise, unerringly
and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
Five things greatly help, five things are to be developed.
Which five things greatly help?
1. Five factors of endeavor: Here, a monk\
a. Has faith, trusting in the enlightenment of the Tathágata: ‘This Blessed Lord
is an Arahant, a fully enlightened Buddha, perfected in knowledge and conduct, a
well-farer, knower of the worlds, unequalled trainer of men to be tamed, teacher
of gods and humans, a Buddha, a Blessed Lord.’ He proclaims this world with its
gods, Maras, Brahmas, the world of ascetics and Brahmins with its princes and
people, having come to know it by his own knowledge. He teaches a Dhamma that is
ending, in the spirit and in the letter, and he displays the fully perfected,
thoroughly purified holy life. And indeed it is good to see such Arahants."
b. Is in good health, suffers little distress or sickness, having a good
digestion that is neither too cool nor too hot but is of a middling temperature
suitable for exertion,
c. Is not fraudulent or deceitful, showing himself as he really is to his
teacher or to the wise among his companions in the holy life
d. Keeps his energy constantly stirred up for abandoning unwholesome states and
arousing the wholesome states,
e. Is a man of wisdom endowed with wisdom concerning rising and cessation with
the Aryan penetration that leads to the complete destruction of suffering.
Which five things are to be developed?
2. Fivefold perfect concentration:
a. Suffusion with delight
b. Suffusion with happiness
c. Suffusion with will
d. Suffusion with light
e. The reviewing sign.
…thoroughly known?
3. Five aggregates of grasping:
a. Body
b. Feelings
c. Perceptions
d. Mental Formations
e. Consciousness
…to be abandoned?
4. Five Hindrances:
a. Sensuality
b. ill-will
c. sloth and torpor
d. worry and flurry
e. skeptical doubt
…conduce to diminution?
5. Five mental blockages: here a monk has doubts and hesitations
a. About the teacher, is dissatisfied and cannot settle his mind. Thus his mind
is not inclined toward ardor, devotion, persistence and effort
b. About the Dhamma, is dissatisfied and cannot settle his mind. Thus his mind
is not inclined toward ardor, devotion, persistence and effort
c. About the Sangha, is dissatisfied and cannot settle his mind. Thus his mind
is not inclined toward ardor, devotion, persistence and effort
d. About the Training, is dissatisfied and cannot settle his mind. Thus his mind
is not inclined toward ardor, devotion, persistence and effort
e. He is angry with his fellows in the holy life, he feels depressed and
negative towards them. Thus his mind is not inclined toward ardor, devotion,
persistence and effort
…conduce to distinction?
6. Five faculties:
a. Faith
b. Energy
c. Mindfulness
d. Concentration
e. Wisdom
…hard to penetrate?
7. Five elements making for deliverance:
a. a. Here, when a monk considered sense desires, his mind does not leap forward
and take satisfaction in them, fix on them or make free with them, but when he
considers renunciation it does leap forward, take satisfaction in it, fix on it,
and make free with it. And he gets this thought well set, well developed, well
raised up, well freed from the corruptions, the vexations and fevers that arise
from sense desires, and he does not feel that sensual feeling. This is called
the deliverance from sense desires. And the same applies to
b. Ill will
c. Cruelty
d. Forms
e. Personality
…made to arise?
8. The fivefold knowledge of right concentration: the knowledge that arises
within one that:
a. This concentration is both present happiness and productive of future
resultant happiness
b. This concentration is Ariyan and free from worldliness
c. This concentration is not practiced by the unworthy
d. This concentration is calm and perfect, has attained tranquillization, has
attained unification, and is not instigated , it cannot be denied or prevented,
e. I myself attain this concentration with mindfulness, and emerge from it with
mindfulness
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Five bases of deliverance: here
a. the teacher or a respected fellow disciple teaches a monk Dhamma. And as he
receives the teaching, he gains a grasp of both the spirit and the letter of the
teaching. At this, joy arises in him, and from this joy, delight; and by this
delight his senses are calmed, he feels happiness as a result, and with this
happiness his mind is established;
b. he has not heard it thus, but in the course of the teaching Dhamma to others
he has learnt it by heart as he has heard it, or
c. as he is chanting the Dhamma... or
d. ...when he applies his mind to the Dhamma, thinks and ponders over it and
concentrates his attention on it; or
e. When he has properly grasped some concentration sign, has well considered it,
applied his mind to it, and has well penetrated it with wisdom. At this, joy
arises in him; and from this joy, delight, and by this delight his senses are
calmed, he feels happiness as a result, and with this happiness his mind is
established.
…to be realized?
10. Five branches of Dhamma, as above, plus knowledge and vision of liberation.
That makes fifty things that are real and true, and not otherwise, unerringly
and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
Six things greatly help, six things are to be developed…
Which six things greatly help?
1. Six things to be remembered: as long as monks both in public and in private
show living kindness to their fellows in acts of body, speech and
thought...share with their virtuous fellows whatever they receive as a rightful
gift, including the contents of their alms-bowls, which they do not keep for
themselves...keep consistently, unbroken and unaltered those rules of conduct
that are spotless, leading to liberation, praised by the wise, unstained and
conducive to concentration, and persist therein with their noble fellows in both
public and private...continue in that noble view that leads to liberation, to
the utter destruction of suffering, remaining in such awareness with their
fellows both in public and in private so long as in respect of what they receive
as due offerings, even the contents of their alms bowls, they do not make use of
them without sharing them with virtuous members of the community; so long as, in
company with their brethren, they train themselves, openly and in private, in
the rules of conduct, which are complete and perfect, spotless and pure,
liberating, praised by the wise, uninfluenced (by mundane concerns), and
favorable to concentration of mind; and in company with their brethren,
preserve, openly and in private, the insight that is noble and liberating, and
leads one who acts upon it to the utter destruction of suffering.
Which six things are to be developed?
2. Six subjects of recollection: The Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, Morality,
Renunciation, the Devas
…thoroughly known?
3. Six internal sense spheres:
a. Eye sphere
b. Ear sphere
c. Nose sphere
d. Tongue sphere
e. Body sphere
f. Mind Sense sphere
…to be abandoned?
4. Six groups of craving, one for each sense sphere.
…conducive to diminution?
5. Six kinds of disrespect: Here, a monk behaves disrespectfully and
discourteously towards the teacher, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the training, in
respect of earnestness, of hospitality.
…conducive to distinction?
6. Six kinds of respect: Here, a monk behaves respectfully and courteously
towards the teacher, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the training, in respect of
earnestness, of hospitality.
…hard to penetrate?
7. Six elements making for deliverance:
a. Here a monk might say, "I have developed the emancipation of the heart by
loving kindness, expanded it, made it a vehicle and a base, established, worked
well on it, set it will in train. And yet Ill-Will still grips my heart." He
should be told, "No! Do not say that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord, it
is not right to slander him thus, for he would not have said such a thing! Your
words are unfounded and impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the heart
through loving kindness, ill will has no chance to envelop your heart. This
emancipations through loving kindness is the cure for ill will."
b. Or he might say, "I have developed the emancipation of the heart through
compassion, and yet cruelty still grips my hearts..." He should be told, "No! Do
not say that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord, it is not right to slander
him thus, for he would not have said such a thing! Your words are unfounded and
impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the heart through compassion,
cruelty has no chance to envelop your heart. This emancipations through
compassion is the cure for cruelty."
c. Or he might say, "I have developed the emancipation of the heart through
equanimity, and yet lust grips my heart." He should be told, "No! Do not say
that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord, it is not right to slander him thus,
for he would not have said such a thing! Your words are unfounded and
impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the heart through equanimity,
lust has no chance to envelop your heart. This emancipations through equanimity
is the cure for lust."
d. Or he might say, "I have developed the emancipation of the heart through
sympathetic joy, and yet aversion still grips my heart..." He should be told,
"No! Do not say that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord, it is not right to
slander him thus, for he would not have said such a thing! Your words are
unfounded and impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the heart through
sympathetic joy, aversion has no chance to envelop your heart. This
emancipations through sympathetic joy is the cure for aversion."
e. Or he might say, "I have developed the sign-less emancipation of the heart
and yet my heart hankers after signs..." He should be told, "No! Do not say
that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord, it is not right to slander him thus,
for he would not have said such a thing! Your words are unfounded and
impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the heart through the sign-less
emancipation, hankering after signs has no chance to envelop your heart. This
emancipations through the sign-less emancipation is the cure for hankering after
signs."
f. Or he might say, "The idea "I am" is repellent to me, I pay no head to the
idea "I am this." Yet doubts, uncertainties and problems still grip my heart..."
He should be told, "No! Do not say that! Do not misrepresent the Blessed Lord,
it is not right to slander him thus, for he would not have said such a thing!
Your words are unfounded and impossible. If you develop the emancipation of the
heart through void, the idea "I am this" has no chance to envelop your heart.
This emancipation through void is the cure for the idea "I am this."


Which six things are to be made to arise?
8. Six stable states: on seeing an object with the eye, hearing a sound with the
ear, smelling a smell with the nose, tasting a flavor with the tongue, touching
a tangible object with the body, or cognizing a mental object with the mind, one
is neither pleased not displeased, but remains equitable, mindful, and clearly
aware.
…thoroughly known?
9. Six unsurpassed things: certain sights, things heard, gains, trainings, forms
of service, objects of recollection.
…to be realized?
10. Here, a monk applies and bends his mind to, and enjoys different supernormal
powers:
a. Being one, he becomes many
b. With the divine ear he hears sounds both divine and human
c. He knows and distinguishes the minds of other beings
d. He remembers past existences
e. With the divine eye…he sees beings passing away and arising
f. He abides, in this life, by his own super-knowledge and realization, in the
attainment of the corruption-less liberation of heart and liberation through
wisdom.
That makes sixty things that are real and true, so and not otherwise, unerringly
and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.’
Seven things help greatly, seven things are to be developed…
Which seven things greatly help?
1. Seven Treasures:
a. Faith
b. Morality
c. Moral Shame
d. Moral Dread
e. Learning
f. Renunciation
g. Wisdom
…to be developed?
2. Seven factors of enlightenment:
a. Mindfulness
b. Investigation of phenomena
c. Energy
d. Delight
e. Tranquility
f. Concentration
g. Equanimity
…thoroughly known?
3. Seven stations of consciousness: beings
a. Different in Body, different in perception
b. Different in Body, alike in perception
c. Alike in body, different in perception
d. Alike in body, alike in perception
e. Who have attained to the sphere of infinite space
f. ...of infinite consciousness
g. ...of no-thing-ness
…abandoned?
4. Seven latent proclivities: Sensuous greed, resentment, views, doubt, conceit,
craving for becoming, and ignorance.
…conduce to diminution?
5. Seven wrong practices: here a monk
a. Lacks Faith
b. Lacks Moral Shame
c. Lacks Moral Dread
d. Has little Learning
e. Is slack
f. Is unmindful
g. Lacks wisdom
…conduce to distinction?
6. Seven right practices: here a monk has faith, moral shame and moral dread,
has much learning, has aroused vigor, has established mindfulness, possesses
wisdom.
…hard to penetrate?
7. Seven qualities of a true man: here a monk is a knower of the Dhamma, of
meanings, of self, of moderation, of the right time, of groups of persons.
…made to arise?
8. Seven perceptions: perception of impermanence, of not self, of foulness, of
danger, of abandonment, of dissipation, of cessation.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Seven grounds for commendation: here a monk is keenly anxious
a. to undertake the training and wants to persist in this
b. To make a close study of the Dhamma
c. To get rid of desires
d. To find solitude
e. To arouse energy
f. To develop mindfulness and discrimination
g. To develop penetrative insight
…to be learnt?
10. Seven powers of an Arahant. Here, for a monk who has destroyed the
corruptions,
a. The impermanence of all compounded things is well seen, as it really is, by
perfect insight. This is one way whereby he recognizes that for him the
corruptions are destroyed
b. …sense-desires are well seen as being like a pit of glowing embers…
c. …his heart is bent on and inclined toward detachment and detachment is its
object; rejoicing in renunciation, his heart is totally unreceptive to all
things pertaining to the corruptions…
d. …the four foundations of mindfulness have been well and truly developed…
e. …the five faculties have been well developed…
f. …the seven factors of enlightenment have been well and truly developed…
g. The Noble Eightfold Path has been well and truly developed… this is one of
the powers whereby he recognizes that for him the corruptions are destroyed.
That makes seventy things that are real and true, so and not otherwise,
unerringly and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
Eight things greatly help…
Which eight things greatly helps?
1. Eight causes, eight conditions conduce to wisdom in the fundamentals of the
holy life, to gaining what has not been gained and to increasing, expanding and
developing what has been gained. Here
a. One lives close to the teacher or to a fellow monk with the standing of a
teacher, being thus strongly established in moral shame and moral dread, in love
and veneration… He who is so placed
b. From time to time goes to his teacher, asks and interrogates him: "How is
that, Lord? What does this mean?" Thus his venerable teachers can reveal what is
hidden and clarify obscurities, in this way helping him to solve his problems.
c. Then, having heard Dhamma from them, he achieves withdrawal of body and mind.

d. Further, a monk is moral, he lives restrained according to the restraint of
the discipline, persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest
fault and keeping to the rules of training. Also
e. A monk, having learned much, remembers and bears in mind what he has learnt,
and those things that are beautiful in the beginning, in the middle, and in the
ending, which in spirit and letter proclaim the absolutely perfected and
purified holy life, he remembers and reflects on, and penetrates them with
vision. Again,
f. A monk, having stirred up energy, continues to dispel unwholesome states,
striving strongly and firmly, and not casting off the yoke of the wholesome.
Again,
g. A monk is mindful, with the highest mindfulness and discrimination,
remembering and bearing in mind what has been done or said in the past. Also,
h. A monk continually contemplates the rise and fall of the five aggregates of
grasping, thinking: "Such is material form, its arising and passing; such are
feelings, such are perceptions, such are the mental formations, such is
consciousness, its arising and passing.
…to be developed?
2. The Noble Eightfold Path.
…thoroughly known?
3. Eight worldly conditions: gain and loss, fame and shame, blame and praise,
happiness and misery.
…abandoned?
4. Eight wrong factors: wrong view, wrong thought, wrong action, wrong speech,
wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration.
…conduce to diminution?
5. Eight occasions of indolence: here a monk
a. Has a job to do. He thinks, "I have got this job to do, but it will make me
tired. I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir up enough energy to
complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished, to realize the
unrealized, or
b. He has done some work. He thinks, "I have done this work, now I am tired.
I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir up enough energy to
complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished, to realize the
unrealized. Or
c. He has to go on a journey, and thinks, He thinks, "I have to go on this
journey, it makes me tired. I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir
up enough energy to complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished,
to realize the unrealized. Or
d. He has been on a journey, and thinks, "He thinks, "I have done this work, now
I am tired. I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir up enough
energy to complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished, to realize
the unrealized. Or
e. He goes on the alms round in a village or town. He does not get his fill of
food. He thinks, "I’ve gone for alms, my body is tired and useless. I’ll have a
rest." So he lays down...
f. He goes on the alms round and gets his fill of food, and thinks, "I’ve gone
for alms, my body heavy and useless as if I were pregnant. I’ll have a rest" So
he lays down...
g. He has developed some slight indisposition, and he thinks, "I’d better have a
rest" so he lies down...
h. He is recuperating having not long recovered from an illness, and he thinks,
"My body is weak and useless, I’ll have a rest." So he lays down...
…conduce to distinction?
6. Eight occasions for making an effort. Here a monk
a. Has a job to do, he thinks, "I’ve got this job to do, but in doing it I wont
find it easy to pay attention to the teachings of the Buddhas. So I will stir up
sufficient energy to complete the uncompleted. To accomplish the unaccomplished,
to realize the unrealized. Or
b. He has done some work, he thinks, "Well, I did the job, but because of it I
was not able to pay sufficient attention to the teaching of the Buddhas, so I
will stir up sufficient energy..."
c. He has to go on a journey...
d. He has been on a journey... "I’ve been on this journey, but because of it, I
wasn’t able to pay sufficient attention...
e. He goes for alms without getting his fill, so he thinks, "My body is light
and fit, I’ll stir up energy..."
f. He goes for alms and gets his fill, so he things, "My body is strong and fit,
I’ll stir up energy..."
g. He has some slight indisposition, so he thinks, "This might get worse, so
I’ll stir up energy..."
h. He is recuperating having not long recovered, and he thinks, "it might be
that the illness with recur, so I’ll stir up energy..."
…hard to penetrate?
7. Eight unfortunate, inopportune times for leading the holy life here a monk
a. Has a job to do. He thinks, "I have got this job to do, but it will make me
tired. I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir up enough energy to
complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished, to realize the
unrealized, or
b. He has done some work. He thinks, "I have done this work, now I am tired.
I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir up enough energy to
complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished, to realize the
unrealized. Or
c. He has to go on a journey, and thinks, He thinks, "I have to go on this
journey, it makes me tired. I’ll have a rest." So he lies down and does not stir
up enough energy to complete the uncompleted, to accomplish the unaccomplished,
to realize the unrealized. Or
d. He goes on the alms round in a village or town. He does not get his fill of
food. He thinks, "I’ve gone for alms, my body is tired and useless. I’ll have a
rest." So he lays down...
e. He goes on the alms round and gets his fill of food, and thinks, "I’ve gone
for alms, my body heavy and useless as if I were pregnant. I’ll have a rest" So
he lays down...
f. He has developed some slight indisposition, and he thinks, "I’d better have a
rest" so he lies down...
g. He is recuperating having not long recovered from an illness, and he thinks,
"My body is weak and useless, I’ll have a rest." So he lays down...
…made to arise?
8. Eight thoughts of a great man: "This Dhamma is
a. For one of few wants, not one of many wants
b. For the contented, not for the discontented,
c. For the withdrawn, not for those delighting in company
d. For the energetic, not for the lazy,
e. For one of established mindfulness, not for one of lax mindfulness,
f. For one of concentrated mind, not for one who is not concentrated.
g. For one who has wisdom, not for one who lacks wisdom
h. For one who delights in non-proliferation, not for one who delights in
proliferation.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Eight stages of mastery:
a. Perceiving forms internally, one sees external forms limited and beautiful or
ugly;
b. Perceiving forms internally, one sees external forms unlimited and beautiful
or ugly
c. Not perceiving forms internally, one sees external forms limited...
d. Not perceiving forms internally, one sees external forms unlimited...; not
perceiving forms internally, one perceives forms that are
i. Blue
ii. Yellow
iii. Red
iv. White...
…realized?
10. Eight liberations:
a. Possessing form one sees forms;
b. Not perceiving material forms in oneself, on sees them outside;
c. Thinking: "It is beautiful" one becomes intent on it;
d. One enters the sphere of infinite space;
e. The sphere of infinite consciousness
f. The sphere no-thing-ness
g. The sphere of neither perception or non-perception
h. The cessation of perception and feeling.
Nine things greatly help…
Which nine things greatly help?
1. Nine conditions rooted in wise consideration. When a monk practices wise
consideration,
a. Joy arises in him and
b. From his being joyful, delight arises, and
c. From his feeling delight, his senses are calmed;
d. As a result of this calming he feels happiness and;
e. From his feeling happy, his mind becomes concentrated;
f. With his mind thus concentrated, he knows and sees things as they really are;

g. With his thus knowing and seeing things as they really are, he becomes
disenchanted,
h. With disenchantment he becomes dispassionate, and
i. By dispassion he is liberated.
…to be developed?
2. Nine factors of effort for perfect purity:
a. The factor of effort for purity of morality
b. …for purity of mind
c. …for purity of view
d. …of purification by overcoming doubt
e. …of purification by knowledge and vision of path and not-path
f. …of purification by knowledge and vision of progress…
g. …of purification by knowledge and vision
h. …of purity of wisdom.
i. …of purity of deliverance.
…thoroughly known?
3. Nine abodes of beings:
a. Beings different in body and different in perception
b. Beings different in body and alike in perception
c. Beings alike in body and different in perception
d. Beings alike in body and like in perception
e. The realm of unconscious beings
f. The realm of neither perception nor non perception
g. Beings who have attained to the sphere of infinite space
h. Beings who have attained to the sphere of infinite consciousness
i. Beings who have attained to the sphere of no-thing-ness
…to be abandoned?
4. Nine things rooted in craving: Craving conditions searching…
acquisition…decision making…lustful
desire…attachment…appropriation…avarice…guarding of possessions, and because of
the guarding of possessions there arise the taking up of stick and sword,
quarrels… lying and other evil unskilled states.
…conduce to diminution?
5. Nine causes of malice: Malice is stirred up by the thought,
a. He has done me an injury
b. He is doing me an injury
c. He will do me an injury
d. He has done an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me
e. He is doing an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me
f. He will do an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me
g. He has done a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me
h. He is doing a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me
i. He will do a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me
…conduce to distinction?
6. Nine ways of overcoming malice: Malice is overcome by the thought:
a. He has done me an injury – what good would it do to harbor malice?
b. He is doing me an injury – what good would it do to harbor malice?
c. He will do me an injury – what good would it do to harbor malice?
d. He has done an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me – what good
would it do to harbor malice?
e. He is doing an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me – what good
would it do to harbor malice?
f. He will do an injury to someone who is dear and pleasant to me – what good
would it do to harbor malice?
g. He has done a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me – what
good would it do to harbor malice?
h. He is doing a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me – what
good would it do to harbor malice?
i. He will do a favor for someone who is hateful and unpleasant to me – what
good would it do to harbor malice?
…hard to penetrate?
7. Nine differences: Owing to difference of element there is difference of
contact, owing to the difference of contact there is feeling, owing to the
difference of feeling there is difference of perception; owing to the difference
of perception, there is difference of thought, owing to the difference of
thought there is difference of intention, owing to the difference of intention
there is difference in obsession, owing to the difference of obsession, there is
difference of quest, owing to the difference of quest, there is difference of
what is gained.
…made to arise?
8. Nine perceptions of the foul, of death, of the loathsomeness of food, of
distaste for the whole world, of impermanence, of the suffering in impermanence,
of impersonality in suffering, of relinquishment, of dispassion.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Nine successive abidings: The Jhanas and spheres of infinite space, infinite
consciousness, no-thing-ness, neither perception nor non perception, and
cessation of perception and feeling.
…realized?
10. Nine successive cessations: By the attainment of the first Jhana,
perceptions of sensuality cease, by the attainment of the second jhana thinking
and pondering cease, by the attainment of the third Jhana delight ceases, by the
attainment of the fourth Jhana in and out breathing ceases, by the attainment of
the sphere of infinite space the perception of materiality ceases, by the
attainment of the sphere of infinite consciousness, the perception of the sphere
of infinite space ceases. By the attainment of the sphere of no-thing-ness the
perception of the sphere of infinite consciousness ceases. By the attainment of
the sphere of neither perception nor non perception, the perception of the
sphere of no-thing-ness ceases. By the attainment of the cessation of perception
and feeling, perception and feeling cease.
That makes ninety things that are real and true so and not otherwise, unerringly
and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
Ten things greatly help…
Which ten things greatly help?
1. Ten things that give protection: Here a monk
a. Is moral, he lives restrained according to the restraint of the disciple,
persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest fault. He keeps to
the rules of training.
b. He has learnt much and bears in mind and retains what he has learnt. In these
teaching, beautiful in the beginning, the middle and the ending which in spirit
and in letter proclaim the absolutely perfected and purified holy life, he is
deeply learned, he remembers them, recites them, reflects on them, and
penetrates them with vision.
c. He is a friend, associate, and intimate of good people.
d. He is affable, endowed with gentleness and patience. Quick to grasp
instruction.
e. Whatever various jobs there are to be done for his fellow monks he is
skillful, not lax, using foresight in carrying them out, and is good at doing
and planning.
f. He loves the Dhamma and delights in hearing it. He is especially fond of the
advanced doctrine and discipline.
g. He is content with any kind of requisites, robes, alms food, lodgings,
medicines in case of illness.
h. He ever strives to arouse energy, to get rid of unwholesome states, to
establish wholesome states, untiringly and energetically striving to keep such
good states, and never shaking off the burden.
i. He is mindful, with a great capacity for clearly recalling things done and
said long ago.
j. He is wise with wise perception of arising and passing away, that Aryan
perception that leads to the complete destruction of suffering.
…be developed?
2. Ten objects for the attainment of absorption. He perceives the earth-kasina,
the water kasina, the fire kasina, the wind kasina, the blue kasina, the yellow
kasina, the red kasina, the white kasina, the space kasina, the consciousness
kasina, above, below, on all sides, undivided, unbounded.
…thoroughly known?
3. Ten sense spheres: eye and sight-object, ear and sound, nose and smell,
tongue and taste, body and tactile object.
…abandoned?
4. Eight wrong factors: wrong view, wrong thought, wrong action, wrong speech,
wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration, wrong
knowledge and wrong liberation.
…conduce to diminution?
5. Ten unwholesome courses of action. Taking life, taking what is not given,
sexual misconduct, lying speech, slander, rude speech, idle chatter, greed,
malevolence, wrong view.
…conduce to distinction?
6. Ten wholesome courses of action. Avoidance of taking life, avoidance of
taking what is not given, avoidance of sexual misconduct, avoidance of lying
speech, avoidance of slander, avoidance of rude speech, avoidance of idle
chatter, avoidance of greed, avoidance of malevolence, and avoidance of wrong
view.
…hard to penetrate?
7. Ten Aryan dispositions: here a monk
a. Has got rid of the five factors,
b. Possesses six factors
c. Has established one guard
d. Observes the four supports,
e. Has got rid of sectarian opinions
f. Has quite abandoned quest
g. Is pure of motive
h. Has tranquilized his emotions, Is well liberated
i. In heart
j. By wisdom.
...made to arise?
8. Nine perceptions of the foul, of death, of the loathsomeness of food, of
distaste for the whole world, of impermanence, of the suffering in impermanence,
of impersonality in suffering, of relinquishment, of dispassion and the
perception of cessation.
…thoroughly learnt?
9. Ten causes of wearing away: by right view wrong view is worn away, and
whatever evil and unwholesome states arise on the basis of wrong view are worn
away too. And by right view many wholesome states are developed and perfected.
By right thought, wrong thought is worn away… by right speech wrong speech is
worn away… right action… right livelihood… right effort… right mindfulness…
right concentration… right knowledge… right liberation… and by right liberation
many wholesome states are developed and perfected.
… to be realized?
10. Ten qualities of the non-learner: the non learners right view, right
thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, right concentration, right knowledge, right liberation.

That makes one hundred things that are real and true, so and not otherwise,
unerringly and perfectly realized by the Tathágata.
So said the Venerable Shariputra. And the monks were delighted and rejoiced at
his words.