Visuddhimagga - THE ASCETIC PRACTICES III

THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka


An open-air dweller is allowed to enter the Uposatha-house for the
purpose of hearing the Dhamma or for the purpose of the Uposatha. If it
rains while he is inside, he can go out when the rain is over instead of
going out while it is still raining. He is allowed to enter the eating hall or
the fire room in order to do the duties, or to go under a roof in order to
ask elder bhikkhus in the eating hall about a meal, or when teaching and
taking lessons, or to take beds, chairs, etc., inside that have been wrongly
left outside. If he is going along a road with a requisite belonging to a
senior and it rains, he is allowed to go into a wayside rest house. If he
has nothing with him, he is not allowed to hurry in order to get to a rest
house; but he can go at his normal pace and enter it and stay there as
long as it rains. These are the directions for it. And the same rule applies
to the tree-root dweller too.
61. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to
live near a iree or a rock or a house. He should make a robe-tent right
out in the open and live in that. The medium one is allowed to live near
a tree or a rock or a house so long as he is not covered by them. The
mild one is allowed these: a [rock] overhang without a drip-ledge cut in
it,
15
a hut of branches, cloth stiffened with paste, and a tent treated as a
fixture, that has been left by field watchers, and so on.
The moment any one of these three goes under a roof or to a tree
root to dwell there, [76] his ascetic practice is broken. The reciters of the
Ahguttara say that it is broken as soon as he knowingly meets the dawn
there. This is the breach in this case.
62. The benefits are these: the impediment of dwellings is severed; stiff-
ness and torpor are expelled; his conduct deserves the praise *Like deer
the bhikkhus live unattached and homeless' (S.i,199); he is detached; he
is [free to go in] any direction; he lives in conformity with [the prin-
ciples of] fewness of wishes, and so on.
63. The open air provides a life
That aids the homeless bhikkhu's strife,
Easy to get, and leaves his mind
Alert as a deer, so he shall find
Stiffness and torpor brought to halt.
Under the star-bejewelled vault
The moon and sun furnish his light,
And concentration his delight.
The joy seclusion's savour gives
He shall discover soon who lives
In open air, and that is why
The wise prefer the open sky.


This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach,
and benefits, in the case of the open-air-dweller's practice.
64. xi. The charnel-ground-dweller
1
s practice is undertaken with one
of the following statements: * I refuse what is not a charnel ground' or 'I
undertake the charnel-ground-dweller's practice'.
Now the charnel-ground dweller should not live in some place just
because the people who built the village have called it "the charnel
ground' for it is not a charnel ground unless a dead body has been burnt
on it. But as soon as one has been burnt on it, it becomes a charnel
ground. And even if it has been neglected for a dozen years, it is so
still.
65. One who dwells there should not be the sort of person who gets
walks, pavilions, etc., built, has beds and chairs set out and drinking and
washing water kept ready, and preaches Dhamma; for this ascetic prac-
tice is a momentous thing. Whoever goes to live there should be diligent.
And he should first inform the senior elder of the Order or the king's
local representative in order to prevent trouble. When he walks up and
down, he should do so looking at the pyre with half an eye. [77] On his
way to the charnel ground he should avoid the main roads and take a by-
path. He should define all the objects [there] while it is day, so that they
will not assume frightening shapes for him at night. Even if non-human
beings wander about screeching, he must not hit them with anything. It
is not allowed to miss going to the charnel ground even for a single day.
The reciters of the Ahguttara say that after spending the middle watch in
the charnel ground he is allowed to leave in the last watch. He should not
take such foods as sesamum flour, pease pudding, fish, meat, milk, oil,
sugar, etc., which are liked by non-human beings. He should not enter the
homes of families,
16
These are the directions for it.
66. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict should live
where there are always burnings and corpses and mourning. The medium
one is allowed to live where there is one of these three. The mild one is
allowed to live in a place that possesses the bare characteristics of a
charnel ground already stated.
When any one of these three makes his abode in some place not a
charnel ground, his ascetic practice is broken. It is on the day on which
he does not go to the charnel ground, the Ahguttara reciters say. This is
the breach in this case.
67. The benefits are these. He acquires mindfulness of death; he lives
diligently; the sign of foulness is available (see Ch. VI); greed for sense
desires is removed; he constantly sees the body's true nature; he has a
great sense of urgency; he abandons vanity of health, etc.; he vanquishes
fear and dread (see M. Sutta 4); non-human beings respect and honour


him; he lives in conformity with [the principles of] fewness of wishes,
and so on.
68. Even in sleep the dweller in a charnel ground shows naught
.Of negligence, for death is ever present to his thought;
He may be sure there is no lust after sense pleasure preys
Upon his mind, with many corpses present to his gaze.
Rightly he strives because he gains a sense of urgency,
While in his search for final peace he curbs all vanity.
Let him that feels a learning to nibbana in his heart
Embrace this practice for it has rare virtues to impart.
This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach,
and benefits, in the case of the charnel-ground dweller's practice. [78]
69. xii. The any-bed-user's practice is undertaken with one of the fol-
lowing statements: 'I refuse greed for resting places' or 'I undertake the
any-bed-user's practice'.
The any-bed user should be content with whatever resting place he
gets thus: 'This falls to your lot'. He must not make anyone else shift
[from his bed]. These are the directions.
70. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to
ask about the resting place that has fallen to his lot 'Is it far?' or 'Is it too
near?' or 'Is it infested by non-human beings, snakes, and so on?' or 'Is
it hot?' or 'Is it cold?'. The medium one is allowed to ask, but not to go
and inspect it. The mild one is allowed to inspect it and, if he does not
like it, to choose another.
As soon as greed for resting places arises in any one of these three,
his ascetic practice is broken. This is the breach in this instance.
71. The benefits are these. The advice 'He should be content with what
he gets' (Ja.i,476; Vin.iv,259) is carried out; he regards the welfare of
his fellows in the life of purity; he gives up caring about inferiority and
superiority; approval and disapproval are abandoned; the door is closed
against excessive wishes; he lives in conformity with [the principles] of
fewness of wishes, and so on.
72. One vowed to any bed will be
Content with what he gets, and he
Can sleep in bliss without dismay
On nothing but a spread of hay.
He is not eager for the best,
No lowly couch does he detest,
He aids his young companions too
That to the monk's good life are new.


So for a wise man to delight
In any kind of bed is right;
A noble one this custom loves
As one the sages' Lord approves.
This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach,
and benefits, in the case of the any-bed-user's practice.
73. xiii. The sitter's practice is undertaken with one of the following
statements: 'I refuse lying down' or 'I undertake the sitter's practice'.
The sitter can get up in any one of three watches of the night and
walk up and down: for lying down is the only posture not allowed. These
are the directions. [79]
74. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed a
back-rest or cloth band or binding-strap [to prevent falling while asleep].
17
The medium one is allowed any one of these three. The mild one is
allowed a back-rest, a cloth band, a binding-strap, a cushion, a * five-
limb* and a 'seven-limb'. A 'five-limb' is [a chair] made with [four legs
and] a support for the back. A 'seven-limb'is one made with [four legs,]
a support for the back and an [arm] support on each side. They made
that, it seems, for the Elder Pithabhaya (Abhaya of the Chair). The elder
became a non-returner, and then attained nibbana.
As soon as any one of these three lies down, his ascetic practice is
broken. This is the breach in this instance.
75. The benefits are these. The mental shackle described thus,
4
He dwells
indulging in the pleasure of lying prone, the pleasure of lolling, the
pleasure of torpor' (M.i,102), is severed; his state is suitable for devotion
to any meditation subject; his deportment inspires confidence; his state
favours the application of energy; he develops the right practice.
76. The adept that can place crosswise
His feet to rest upon his thighs
And sit with back erect shall make
Foul Mara's evil heart to quake.
No more in supine joys to plump
And wallow in lethargic dump;
Who sits for rest and finds it good
Shines forth in the Ascetics' Wood.
The happiness and bliss it brings
Has naught to do with worldly things;
So must the sitter's vow befit
The manners of a man of wit.
This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach,
and benefits, in the case of the sitter's practice.


77. Now there is the commentary according to the stanza:
(4) As to the profitable triad,
(5) * Ascetic' and so on distinguished,
(6) As to groups, and also (7) singly,
The exposition should be known (see §3).
78. 4. Herein, as to the profitable triad (see Dhs., p.l): all the ascetic
practices, that is to say, those of trainers, ordinary men, and men whose
cankers have been destroyed, may be either profitable or [in the Ara-
hant's case] indeterminate. [80] No ascetic practice is unprofitable.
But if someone should say: There is also an unprofitable ascetic
practice because of the words 'One of evil wishes, a prey to wishes,
becomes a forest dweller' (A.iii,219), etc., he should be told: We have
not said that he does not live in the forest with unprofitable conscious-
ness. Whoever has his dwelling in the forest is a forest dweller; and he
may be one of evil wishes or of few wishes. But, as it was said above
(§11), they 'are the practices (ahga) of a bhikkhu who is ascetic {dhuta)
because he has shaken off {dhuta) defilement by undertaking one or
other of them. Or the knowledge that has got the name "ascetic" {dhuta)
because it shakes off {dhunana) defilement is a practice {anga) belong-
ing to these, thus they are "ascetic practices" {dhutahga). Or alterna-
tively, they are ascetic {dhuta) because they shake off {niddhunana)
opposition, and they are practices {ahga) because they are a way
{patipatti)\ Now no one called 'ascetic' on account of what is unprofit-
able could have these as his practices; nor does what is unprofitable
shake off anything so that those things to which it belonged as a practice
could be called 'ascetic practices'. And what is unprofitable does not both
shake off cupidity for robes, etc., and become the practice of the way.
Consequently it was rightly said that no ascetic practice is unprofitable.
79. And those who hold that an ascetic practice is outside the profitable
triad18
have no ascetic practice as regards meaning. Owing to the shak-
ing off of what is non-existent could it be called an ascetic practice?
Also there are the words 'Proceeded to undertake the ascetic qualities'
(Vin.iii,15), and it follows
19
that those words are contradicted. So that
should not be accepted.
This, in the first place, is the commentary on the profitable triad.
80. 5. As to 'ascetic and so on distinguished*, the following things
should be understood, that is to say, ascetic, a preacher of asceticism,
ascetic states, ascetic practices, and for whom the cultivation of ascetic
practices is suitable.
81. Herein, ascetic means either a person whose defilements are shaken
off, or a state that entails shaking off defilements.


A preacher of asceticism: one is ascetic but not a preacher of asceti-
cism, another is not ascetic but a preacher of asceticism, another is
neither ascetic nor a preacher of asceticism, and another is both ascetic
and a preacher of asceticism.
82. Herein, one who has shaken off his defilements with an ascetic prac-
tice but does not advise and instruct another in an ascetic practice, like
the Elder Bakkula, is 'ascetic but not a preacher of asceticism', accord-
ing as it is said: 'Now the venerable Bakkula was ascetic but not a
preacher of asceticism'.
One who [81] has not shaken off his own defilements but only
advises and instructs another in an ascetic practice, like the Elder
Upananda, is 'not ascetic but a preacher of asceticism', according as it is
said: 'Now the venerable Upananda son of the Sakyans was not ascetic
but a preacher of asceticism'.
One who has failed in both, like Laludayin, is 'neither ascetic nor a
preacher of asceticism', according as it is said: 'Now the venerable
Laludayin was neither ascetic nor a preacher of asceticism'.
One who has succeeded in both, like the General of the Dhamma, is
'both ascetic and a preacher of asceticism', according as it is said: 'Now
the venerable Sariputta was ascetic and a preacher of asceticism'.
83. Ascetic states: the five states that go with the volition of an ascetic
practice, that is to say, fewness of wishes, contentment, effacement,
seclusion, and that specific quality20
are called 'ascetic states' because of
the words 'Depending on fewness of wishes' (A.iii,219), and so on.
84. Herein, fewness of wishes and contentment are non-greed. Efface-
ment and seclusion belong to the two states, non-greed and non-delusion.
That specific quality is knowledge. Herein, by means of non-greed a man
shakes off greed for things that are forbidden. By means of non-delusion
he shakes off the delusion that hides the dangers in those same things.
And by means of non-greed he shakes off indulgence in pleasure due to
sense desires that occurs under the heading of using what is allowed.
And by means of non-delusion he shakes off indulgence in self-mortifi-
cation that occurs under the heading of excessive effacement in the
ascetic practices. That is why these states should be understood as 'as-
cetic states'.
85. Ascetic practices: these should be understood as the thirteen, that is
to say, the refuse-rag-wearer's practice ... the sitter's practice, which
have already been described as to meaning and as to characteristic, and
so forth.
86. For whom the cultivation of ascetic practices is suitable: [they are
suitable] for one of greedy temperament and for one of deluded tem-
perament. Why? Because the cultivation of ascetic practices is both a


difficult progress
21
and an abiding in effacement; and greed subsides
with the difficult progress, while delusion is got rid of in those diligent
by effacement. Or the cultivation of the forest-dweller's practice and the
tree-root-dweller's practice here are suitable for one of hating tempera-
ment; for hate too subsides in one who dwells there without coming into
conflict.
This is the commentary 'as to "ascetic" and so on distinguished'.
[82]
87. 6. and 7. As to groups and also singly. Now 6. as to groups: these
ascetic practices are in fact only eight, that is to say, three principal and
five individual practices. Herein, the three, namely, the house-to-house-
seeker's practice, the one-sessioner's practice, and the open-air-dweller's
practice, are principal practices. For one who keeps the house-to-house-
seeker's practice will keep the alms-food-eater's practice; and the bowl-
food-eater's practice and the later-food-refuser's practice will be well
kept by one who keeps the one-sessioner's practice. And what need has
one who keeps the open-air-dweller's practice to keep the tree-root-
dweller's practice or the any-bed-user's practice? So there are these
three principal practices that, together with the five individual practices,
that is to say, the forest-dweller's practice, the refuse-rag-wearer's prac-
tice, the triple-robe-wearer's practice, the sitter's practice, and the char-
nel-ground-dweller's practice, come to eight only.
88. Again they come to four, that is to say, two connected with robes,
five connected with alms food, five connected with the resting place, and
one connected with energy. Herein, it is the sitter's practice that is con-
nected with energy; the rest are obvious.
Again they all amount to two only, since twelve are dependent on
requisites and one on energy. Also they are two according to what is and
what is not to be cultivated. For when one cultivating an ascetic practice
finds that his meditation subject improves, he should cultivate it; but
when he is cultivating one and finds that his meditation subject deterio-
rates, he should not cultivate it. But when he finds that, whether he
cultivates one or not, his meditation subject only improves and does not
deteriorate, he should cultivate them out of compassion for later genera-
tions. And when he finds that, whether he cultivates them or not, his
meditation subject does not improve, he should still cultivate them for
the sake of acquiring the habit for the future. So they are of two kinds as
what is and what is not to be cultivated.
89. And all are of one kind as volition. For there is only one ascetic
practice, namely, that consisting in the volition of undertaking. Also it is
said in the Commentary: 'It is the volition that is the ascetic practice,
they say'.


90. 7. Singly: with thirteen for bhikkhus, eight for bhikkhunis, twelve
for novices, seven for female probationers and female novices, and two
for male and female lay followers, there are thus forty-two.
91. If there is a charnel ground in the open that complies with the forest-
dweller's practice, one bhikkhu is able to put all the ascetic practices
into effect simultaneously.
But the two, namely, the forest-dweller's practice and the later-
food-refuser's practice, are forbidden to bhikkhunis by training precept.
[83] And it is hard for them to observe the three, namely, the open-air-
dweller's practice, the tree-root-dweller's practice, and the charnel-ground-
dweller's practice, because a bhikkhuni is not allowed to live without a
companion, and it is hard to find a female companion with like desire for
such a place, and even if available, she would not escape having to live
in company. This being so, the purpose of cultivating the ascetic practice
would scarcely be served. It is because they are reduced by five owing to
this inability to make use of certain of them that they are to be under-
stood as eight only for bhikkhunis.
92. Except for the triple-robe-wearer's practice all the other twelve as
stated should be understood to be for novices, and all the other seven for
female probationers and female novices.
The two, namely, the one-sessioner's practice and the bowl-food-
eater's practice, are proper for male and female lay followers to employ.
In this way there are two ascetic practices.
This is the commentary 'as to groups and also singly'.
93. And this is the end of the treatise on the ascetic practices to be
undertaken for the purpose of perfecting those special qualities of fewness
of wishes, contentment, etc., by means of which there comes about the
cleansing of virtue as described in the Path of Purification, which is
shown under the three headings of virtue, concentration, and understand-
ing, contained in the stanza/When a wise man, established well in vir-
tue' (Ch. I, §1).
The second chapter called 'The Description of
the Ascetic Practices' in the Path of Purification
composed for the purpose of gladdening good
people.