MN 62
Maha-Rahulovada Sutta
The Greater Exhortation to Rahula
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: M i 420
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2006 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2006
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
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I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi, in
Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Monastery. Then the Blessed One, early in the
morning, put on his robes and, carrying his bowl and outer robe, went into
Savatthi for alms. And Ven. Rahula, early in the morning, put on his robes and,
carrying his bowl and outer robe, went into Savatthi for alms following right
behind the Blessed One.1 Then the Blessed One, looking back at Rahula, addressed
him: "Rahula, any form whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or
external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every form is to be
seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not
my self. This is not what I am.'"
"Just form, O Blessed One? Just form, O One Well-gone?"
"Form, Rahula, & feeling & perception & fabrications & consciousness."
Then the thought occurred to Ven. Rahula, "Who, having been exhorted
face-to-face by the Blessed One, would go into the town for alms today?" So he
turned back and sat down at the foot of a tree, folding his legs crosswise,
holding his body erect, & setting mindfulness to the fore.
Ven. Sariputta saw Ven. Rahula sitting at the foot of a tree, his legs folded
crosswise, his body held erect, & with mindfulness set to the fore. On seeing
him, he said to him, "Rahula, develop the meditation2 of mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing. The meditation of mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed &
pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit."
Then Ven. Rahula, emerging from his seclusion in the late afternoon, went to the
Blessed One and, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he
said to him, "How, lord, is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing to be developed &
pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit?"
"Rahula, {any form whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or
external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every form is to be
seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not
my self. This is not what I am.' There are these five properties, Rahula. Which
five? The earth property, the water property, the fire property, the wind
property, & the space property.
"And what is the earth property? The earth property can be either internal or
external. What is the internal earth property?}3 Anything internal, within
oneself, that's hard, solid, & sustained [by craving]: head hairs, body hairs,
nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver,
membranes, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, contents of the
stomach, feces, or anything else internal, within oneself, that's hard, solid,
and sustained: This is called the internal earth property. Now both the internal
earth property & the external earth property are simply earth property. And that
should be seen as it actually is present with right discernment: 'This is not
mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one sees it thus as it actually
is present with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the earth
property and makes the earth property fade from the mind.
"And what is the water property? The water property may be either internal or
external. What is the internal water property? Anything internal, belonging to
oneself, that's water, watery, & sustained: bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat,
fat, tears, oil, saliva, mucus, oil-of-the-joints, urine, or anything else
internal, within oneself, that's water, watery, & sustained: This is called the
internal water property. Now both the internal water property & the external
water property are simply water property. And that should be seen as it actually
is present with right discernment: 'This is not mine, this is not me, this is
not my self.' When one sees it thus as it actually is present with right
discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the water property and makes the
water property fade from the mind.
"And what is the fire property? The fire property may be either internal or
external. What is the internal fire property? Anything internal, belonging to
oneself, that's fire, fiery, & sustained: that by which [the body] is warmed,
aged, & consumed with fever; and that by which what is eaten, drunk, chewed, &
savored gets properly digested; or anything else internal, within oneself,
that's fire, fiery, & sustained: This is called the internal fire property. Now
both the internal fire property & the external fire property are simply fire
property. And that should be seen as it actually is present with right
discernment: 'This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one
sees it thus as it actually is present with right discernment, one becomes
disenchanted with the fire property and makes the fire property fade from the
mind.
"And what is the wind property? The wind property may be either internal or
external. What is the internal wind property? Anything internal, belonging to
oneself, that's wind, windy, & sustained: up-going winds, down-going winds,
winds in the stomach, winds in the intestines, winds that course through the
body, in-and-out breathing, or anything else internal, within oneself, that's
wind, windy, & sustained: This is called the internal wind property. Now both
the internal wind property & the external wind property are simply wind
property. And that should be seen as it actually is present with right
discernment: 'This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one
sees it thus as it actually is present with right discernment, one becomes
disenchanted with the wind property and makes the wind property fade from the
mind.
"And what is the space property? The space property may be either internal or
external. What is the internal space property? Anything internal, belonging to
oneself, that's space, spatial, & sustained: the holes of the ears, the
nostrils, the mouth, the [passage] whereby what is eaten, drunk, consumed, &
tasted gets swallowed, and where it collects, and whereby it is excreted from
below, or anything else internal, within oneself, that's space, spatial, &
sustained: This is called the internal space property. Now both the internal
space property & the external space property are simply space property. And that
should be seen as it actually is present with right discernment: 'This is not
mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one sees it thus as it actually
is present with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the space
property and makes the space property fade from the mind.
"Rahula, develop the meditation in tune with earth. For when you are developing
the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions
that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people throw
what is clean or unclean on the earth — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood —
the earth is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way,
when you are developing the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable &
disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of
your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with water. For when you are developing the
meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people wash what
is clean or unclean in water — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the water
is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are
developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory
impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with fire. For when you are developing the
meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when fire burns what
is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified,
humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the
meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with wind. For when you are developing the
meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when wind blows what
is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified,
humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the
meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with space. For when you are developing the
meditation in tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that
have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as space is not
established anywhere, in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in
tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen
will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation of good will. For when you are developing the meditation
of good will, ill-will will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of compassion. For when you are developing the
meditation of compassion, cruelty will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of appreciation. For when you are developing the
meditation of appreciation, resentment will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of equanimity. For when you are developing the
meditation of equanimity, irritation will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of the unattractive. For when you are developing the
meditation of the unattractive, passion will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of the perception of inconstancy. For when you are
developing the meditation of the perception of inconstancy, the conceit 'I am'
will be abandoned.
"Develop the meditation of mindfulness of in-&-out breathing. Mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great
benefit.
"And how, Rahula, is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing developed & pursued so as
to be of great fruit, of great benefit?
"There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of
a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding
his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore.4 Always mindful, he
breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
"[1] Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out
long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' [2] Or breathing in short, he
discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am
breathing out short.' [3] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the
entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire
body.' [4] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He
trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming the bodily fabrication.'
"[5] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.' [6] He trains himself, 'I
will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out
sensitive to pleasure.' [7] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to
mental fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to mental
fabrication.' [8] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental
fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming mental
fabrication.'
"[9] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the mind.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the mind.' [10] He trains himself, 'I
will breathe in satisfying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out
satisfying the mind.' [11] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in steadying the
mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out steadying the mind. [12] He trains
himself, 'I will breathe in releasing the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will
breathe out releasing the mind.'
"[13] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.' [14] He trains himself,
'I will breathe in focusing on dispassion.'5 He trains himself, 'I will breathe
out focusing on dispassion.' [15] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing
on cessation.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on cessation.'
[16] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on relinquishment.' He
trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on relinquishment.'
"This, Rahula, is how mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued
so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit.
"When mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued in this way, even
one's final in-breaths & out-breaths are known as they cease, not unknown."6
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Ven. Rahula delighted in the
Blessed One's words.
Notes
1. According to the Commentary, Ven. Rahula was 18 years old when this discourse
took place.
2. Bhavana.
3. The preceding passage in braces is missing from the editions on which both
The Middle Length Sayings and The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha are
based.
4. For notes on these sixteen steps, see MN 118.
5. Literally, "fading."
6. I.e., one dies fully alert.
See also: MN 28; MN 61; MN 140; MN 147.
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