Sn 4.14
Tuvataka Sutta
Quickly
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 915-934
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
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"I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
about seclusion & the state of peace.
Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop
to the root of complication-classifications:
'I am the thinker.'1
He should train, always mindful,
to subdue any craving inside him.
Whatever truth he may know,
within or without,
he shouldn't get entrenched
in connection with it,
for that isn't called
Unbinding by the good.
He shouldn't, because of it, think himself
better,
lower, or
equal.
Touched by contact in various ways,
he shouldn't keep conjuring self.
Stilled right within,
a monk shouldn't seek peace from another
from anything else.
For one stilled right within,
there's nothing embraced,
so how rejected?2
As in the middle of the sea
it is still,
with no waves upwelling,
so the monk — unperturbed, still —
should not swell himself
anywhere."
"He whose eyes are open has described
the Dhamma he's witnessed,
subduing danger.
Now tell us, sir, the practice:
the code of discipline & concentration."
"One shouldn't be careless with his eyes,
should close his ears to village-talk,
shouldn't hunger for flavors,
or view anything in the world
as mine.
When touched by contact
he shouldn't lament,
shouldn't covet anywhere any
states of becoming,
or tremble at terrors.
When gaining food & drink,
staples & cloth,
he should not make a hoard.
Nor should he be upset
when receiving no gains.
Absorbed, not foot-loose,
he should refrain from restlessness,
shouldn't be heedless,
should live in a noise-less abode.
Not making much of sleep,
ardent, given to wakefulness,
he should abandon sloth, deception,
laughter, sports,
fornication, & all that goes with it;
should not practice charms,
interpret physical marks, dreams,
the stars, animal cries;
should not be devoted to
practicing medicine or inducing fertility.
A monk shouldn't tremble at blame
or grow haughty with praise;
should thrust aside selfishness, greed,
divisive speech, anger;
shouldn't buy or sell
or revile anyone anywhere;
shouldn't linger in villages,
or flatter people in hopes of gains.
A monk shouldn't boast
or speak with ulterior motive,
shouldn't train in insolence
or speak quarrelsome words;
shouldn't engage in deception
or knowingly cheat;
shouldn't despise others for their
life,
discernment,
precepts,
or practices.
Provoked with many words
from contemplatives
or ordinary people,
he shouldn't respond harshly,
for those who retaliate
aren't calm.
Knowing this teaching,
a monk inquiring
should always
train in it mindfully.
Knowing Unbinding as peace,
he shouldn't be heedless
of Gotama's message —
for he, the Conqueror unconquered,
witnessed the Dhamma,
not by hearsay,
but directly, himself.
So, heedful, you
should always train
in line with that Blessed One's message,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. On complication-classifications and their role in leading to conflict, see Sn
4.11 and the introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at
the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a
set of distinctions — I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought;
identity/non-identity — that then can proliferate into mental and physical
conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms a fetter on the
mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine these distinctions — which we
all take for granted — to see that they are simply assumptions that are not
inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to drop them.
2. This reading follows the version of the verse given in the Thai edition of
Nd.I, as well as an alternative reading given as a footnote to the Sri Lankan
edition of Sn 4.14: n'atthi atta,m kuto niratta,m vaa. The Burmese and Sri
Lankan editions of this verse read, n'atthi attaa kuto nirattaa vaa: "There is
no self, so how what's opposed to self?" The Thai edition reads, n'atthi attaa
kuto niratta,m vaa: "There is no self, so how what's rejected?" This last
reading makes no sense; the Burmese and Sri Lankan readings depend on the notion
that nirattaa is an actual word, although it appears nowhere in the Canon except
in two other verses of the Atthaka Vagga, where it appears as a possible
alternative to niratta (Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.10). Because the Buddha in SN 44.10
refuses to take the position that there is no self, all of the readings of this
verse that say n'atthi attaa would appear to be wrong. Thus I have adopted the
reading given here.
See also: DN 2; AN 4.37.
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