Aṅguttara Nikāya
IX. Navaka Nipāta
I. Sambodha Vagga

The Book of Nines

Sutta 1

Sambodhi-Pakkhiya Suttaṃ

Aspects of Self-awakening

Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds

 

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[1][pts][than][upal] I hear tell

Once upon a time The Lucky Man
Sāvātthi-town revisiting
Anāthapiṇḍika's Jetavana sporting ground.

There then The Lucy Man addressed the beggars:

"Beggars!" he said, and

"Venerable!" they responded,
in the polite formula
for giving permission to speak.

And The Lucky Man said this:

"If, beggars,
wanderers of another discipline^[1]
thus question you:

'For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
what things should be made to becme?'

This question put to you, beggars,
by the wanderers of another discipline,
what should be your response?"

"The Bhagava is the root of things for us, bhante;
the Bhagava is the resource;
the Bhagava is the recourse.

Good for us, bhante,
if that response
which was well said
occurred to the Bhagava.

Hearing it from the Bhagava
the beggars will retain it in mind."

"In that case, beggars,
pay attention,
give ear,
I will speak!"

"Even so, bhante!"

And this is what The Lucky Man said to them:

"If, beggars, wanderers of another discipline
thus question you:

'For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
what things should be made to becme?'

This question put to you, beggars,
by the wanderers of another discipline,
this should be your response:

'Here, friend, one has
a virtuous friend,
a virtuous companion,
a virtuous confidant.

For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
this is the first thing
that should be made to becme.

Again, deeper than that, friend,
a beggar has ethics,
controlling himself by
the restraint
imposed by high ethical standards —
he lives walking the walk of
the self-possessed,
seeing the smallest thing
that should be avoided
as a source of fear,
controlling himself by
training in the trainee's path.

For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
this is the second thing
that should be made to becme.

Again, deeper than that, friend,
whatever a beggar talks of,
it is serious,
liberating to the heart,
such as
talk of having few wants,
talk of contentment,
talk of doing without,
talk of being without contact,
talk of energetic starting,
talk of ethics,
talk of serenity,
talk of wisdom,
talk of freedom,
talk of knowing and seeing freedom,
gaining the pleasure of this sort of talk
without difficulty,
without trouble.

For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
this is the third thing
that should be made to becme.

Again, deeper than that, friend,
a beggar sets up living energeticly;
letting go of unskillful things
taking up skillful things
consistantly preservering,
strong,
vigorous,
he does not put down
the burden of skillful things.

For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
this is the fourth thing
that should be made to becme.

Again, deeper than that, friend,
a beggar is possessed of
that body of penetrative wisdom
concering the ways things
arise and fall
that leads to
pain's consummate eradication.

For the arising of
aspects of self-awakening, friend,
this is the fifth thing
that should be made to becme.'^[2]

For a beggar, beggars, with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous companion,
virtuous confidant,
there is reason to expect
that he will become ethical,
controlling himself by
the restraint
imposed by high ethical standards,
live walking the walk of
the self-possessed,
seeing the smallest thing
that should be avoided
as a source of fear,
controlling himself by
training in the trainee's path.

For a beggar, beggars, with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous companion,
virtuous confidant,
there is reason to expect
that whaatever he talks of
it will be serious,
liberating to the heart,
such as
talk of having few wants,
talk of contentment,
talk of doing without,
talk of being without contact,
talk of energetic starting,
talk of ethics,
talk of serenity,
talk of wisdom,
talk of freedom,
talk of knowing and seeing freedom,
gaining the pleasure of this sort of talk
without difficulty,
without trouble.

For a beggar, beggars, with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous companion,
virtuous confidant,
there is reason to expect
that he will set up living energeticly;
letting go of unskillful things
taking up skillful things
consistantly preservering,
strong,
vigorous,
he will not put down
the burden of skillful things.

For a beggar, beggars, with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous companion,
virtuous confidant,
there is reason to expect
that he will become one who is possessed of
that body of penetrative wisdom concering
the ways things
arise and fall
that leads to pain's consummate eradication.

And then, beggars,
that beggar,
established in these five things,
four more things
need to be developed:

The unattractive
sould be made to become for
the letting-go of the attractive.

Friendliness
should be made to become for
the letting go of deviance.

Minding the in-and-out-breaths
should be made to become for
the cutting off of thinking.

Perception of change
should be made to become for
the uprooting of the arrogance "I-am".

Perception of change, Meghiya sets up
perception of not-self.

Perception of not-self
uproots
the arrogance "I-am"
uprooting
the arrogance "I-am"
one arrives at Nibbāna
in this visible state."

 

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^[1] titthiyā tittha The followers of a different method. To call them a sect (as per PED and the other translations) would imply that they had broken off from Gotama's teaching. This may or may not be the case.

^[2] From this point Gotama's instructions are directed at the listening bhikhus. He has answered the question asked by the followers of a different method, and is now explaining why these answers work.