Majjhima Nikāya
II. Majjhima-Paṇṇāsa
2. Bhikkhu Vagga

Sutta 64

Mahā Māluṇkya Suttaṃ

The Path of the Non-Returner

Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds

[1][chlm][pts][ntbb][upal] I hear tell:

{1} Once upon a time, The Lucky Man,
Sāvatthi-town revisiting,
Jeta Grove,
Anathapiṇḍika's Park.

There then The Lucky Man addressed the beggars, saying:

"Beggars!"

And the beggars responding "Bhante!"
The Lucky Man said this to them:

"Have you, beggars,
not carried in mind
what I have taught about
the five own-yokings connected to the lower?"^[1]

{2} This said, Old Man Māluṇkya-putta
said this to The Lucky Man:

"I have, Bhante,
carried in mind
what Bhaggava taught about
the five own-yokings connected to the lower."

"Following just what, Māluṇkya-putta,
do you carry in mind
what I have taught about
the five own-yokings connected to the lower?"

[1] "One-true-own-body-view then
I, Bhante, carry in mind
as what the Lucky Man taught
of the five own-yokings connected to the lower.^[2]

[2] "Doubt and vacillation then
I, Bhante, carry in mind
as what the Lucky Man taught
of the five own-yokings connected to the lower.

[3] "Attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals then
I, Bhante, carry in mind
as what the Lucky Man taught
of the five own-yokings connected to the lower.

[4] "Wishing for sense pleasures then
I, Bhante, carry in mind
as what the Lucky Man taught
of the five own-yokings connected to the lower.

[5] "Deviance, hate, malevolence then
I, Bhante, carry in mind
as what the Lucky Man taught
of the five own-yokings connected to the lower.

Even these, then, have I, Bhante,
carried in mind
as what Bhaggava taught about
the five own-yokings connected to the lower."

{3} "Tell me then, Māluṇkya-putta,
in whose imagination
this is thus to be
carried in mind
as taught about
the five own-yokings connected to the lower?"

{4} Even, Māluṇkya-putta,
the wanderers of other-sects will confute you
with this reproach of the tender-little one:^[3]

[1] Indeed, Māluṇkya-putta,
if there were not "one-true-own-body"^[4] carried in mind,
by the immature little devil lying stretched out on his back
whither thereafter would be produced
one-true-own-body-view?

There is latent there^[5] "one-true-own-body-view".

[2] Indeed, Māluṇkya-putta,
if there were not "Dhammas"^[6] carried in mind,
by the immature little devil lying stretched out on his back
whither thereafter would be produced
doubt and vacillation concerning Dhammas?

There is latent there "doubt and vacillation".

[3] Indeed, Māluṇkya-putta,
if there were not "ethical standards" carried in mind,
by the immature little devil lying stretched out on his back
whither thereafter would be produced
"attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals" concerning ethical standards?

There is latent there "attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals".

[4] Indeed, Māluṇkya-putta,
if there were not "sense pleasures" carried in mind,
by the immature little devil lying stretched out on his back
whither thereafter would be produced
"wishing for sense pleasures" concerning sense pleasures?

There is latent there "lust for sense pleasures".

[5] Indeed, Māluṇkya-putta,
if there was not beings carried in mind,
by the immature little devil lying stretched out on his back
whither thereafter would be produced in beings
"deviance, hate, malevolence"?

There is latent there "deviance, hate, malevolence".

Even, Māluṇkya-putta,
the wanderers of other-sects will confute you
with this reproach of the tender-little one."

{5} This said, Old Man Ānanda said this to The Lucky Man:

"Now is the time, Venerable!

Now is the time, Well-Gone,
for Venerable to teach the five own-yokes to the lower!

Hearing Venerable, the beggars will carry it in mind."

"Then give ear!

Give your mind over to studious attention!

I will speak!"

Then, the beggars saying "Even so, Bhante!" in response,
the Lucky Man said this to them:

{6} "Here Ānanda, the unhearing commoner,
not seeing the aristocrats,
not wise to the Dhamma^[7] of the aristocrats,
not guided by the Dhamma of the aristocrats,
not seeing the good man,
not wise to the Dhamma of the good man,
not guided by the Dhamma of the good man,
[1] possessed by one-true-own-body-view,
lives with mind encompassed by one-true-own-body-view,
and the real escape^[8] from the arising of
one-true-own-body-view he does not know.

So his one-true-own-body-view,
firmly established,
not removed,
yokes him to the lower.

[2] Possessed by doubt and vacillation,
he lives with mind encompassed by doubt and vacillation,
and the real escape from the arising of
doubt and vacillation he does not know.

So his doubt and vacillation,
firmly established,
not removed,
yokes him to the lower.

[3] Possessed by attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals,^[9]
he lives with mind encompassed by attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals,
and the real escape from the arising of
attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals he does not know.

So his attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals,
firmly established,
not removed,
yokes him to the lower.

[4] Possessed by lust for sense pleasures,
he lives with mind encompassed by lust for sense pleasures,
and the real escape from the arising of
lust for sense pleasures he does not know.

So his lust for sense pleasures,
firmly established,
not removed,
yokes him to the lower.

[5] Possessed by deviance, hate, malevolence,
he lives with mind encompassed by deviance, hate, malevolence,
and the real escape from the arising of
deviance, hate, malevolence he does not know.

So his deviance, hate, malevolence,
firmly established,
not removed,
yokes him to the lower.

{7} "Here Ānanda, the hearing student of the aristocrats,
seeing the aristocrats,
wise to the Dhamma of the aristocrats,
guided by the Dhamma of the aristocrats,
seeing the good man,
wise to the Dhamma of the good man,
guided by the Dhamma of the good man,
[1] is not possessed by one-true-own-body-view,
does not live with mind encompassed by one-true-own-body-view,
and the real escape from the arising of
one-true-own-body-view he knows.

So he lets go latent one-true-own-body-view.

[2] Not possessed by doubt and vacillation,
not living with mind encompassed by doubt and vacillation,
and the real escape from the arising of
doubt and vacillation he knows.

So he lets go latent doubt and vacillation.

[3] Not possessed by attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals,
not living with mind encompassed by attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals,
and the real escape from the arising of
attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals he knows.

So he lets go latent attachment to good works, ethics, and rituals.

[4] Not possessed by lust for sense pleasures,
not living with mind encompassed by lust for sense pleasures,
and the real escape from the arising of
lust for sense pleasures he knows.

So he lets go latent lust for sense pleasures.

[5] Not possessed by deviance, hate, malevolence,
not living with mind encompassed by deviance, hate, malevolence,
and the real escape from the arising of
deviance, hate, malevolence he knows.

So he lets go latent deviance, hate, malevolence.

{8} Indeed that Way, Ānanda,
indeed that walk-to-walk
for letting go the five self-yokes to the lower —
that without knowing or
training in
that Way,
that walk-to-walk,
he would let go
the five self-yokes to the lower —
this does not stand examination.

In the same way, Ānanda,
as a great tree,
known to possess heartwood —
that without cutting away the bark
without cutting away the pulpwood —
one would come to a cutting away of the heartwood,
this does not stand examination.

Even so, Ānanda, indeed that Way,
indeed that walk-to-walk
for letting go the five self-yokes to the lower —
that without knowing or
training in
that Way,
that walk-to-walk,
he would let go
the five self-yokes to the lower —
this does not stand examination.

{9} Indeed that High Way, Ānanda,
indeed that walk-to-walk
for letting go the five self-yokes to the lower —
that with knowing or
training in
that Way,
that walk-to-walk,
he would let go
the five self-yokes to the lower —
this stands up to examination.

In the same way, Ānanda,
as a great tree,
known to possess heartwood —
that with cutting away the bark
with cutting away the pulpwood —
one would come to a cutting away of the heartwood,
this stands up to examination.

Even so, Ānanda, indeed that Way,
indeed that walk-to-walk
for letting go the five self-yokes to the lower —
that with knowing or
training in
that Way,
that walk-to-walk,
he would let go
the five self-yokes to the lower —
this stands up to examination.

{10} In the same way, Ānanda,
as when the river Gaṇgā
is overflowing with water,
full to the brim,
drinkable by crows,
there some weak fool of a man
comes along thinking:

'I will cut across this river Gaṇgā
using my arms
safely getting to the further.

He could not possibly
cut across this river Gaṇgā
using his arms
safely get to the further.

Even so, Ānanda, if anyone
is being taught Dhamma
for ending self-yokes to the lower,
his heart not uplifted,
not pacified,
not firmed up,
not freed —
in the same way
this foolish person
is thus to be seen.

In the same way, Ānanda,
as when the river Gaṇgā
is overflowing with water,
full to the brim,
drinkable by crows,
and there some strong man
comes along thinking:

'I will cut across this river Gaṇgā
using my arms
safely getting to the further.

He could possibly cut across this river Gaṇgā
using his arms
safely get to the further.

Even so, Ānanda, if anyone
is being taught Dhamma
for ending self-yokes to the lower,
his heart uplifted,
made peaceful,
made firm,
freed —
in the same way
this strong man
is thus to be seen.

{11} And what, Ānanda,
is that Way to walk the walk
to let go of the five self-yokes to the lower?

Here, Ānanda, a beggar
separated from unskillful things,
letting go of all bodily wickedness,
thoroughly impassive,
thus separated from sense-pleasures,
separated from unskillful things,
with thinking,
with pondering
separation-born excitement and pleasure,
takes up living in the first knowing.^[10]

He, whatever is there that has got form,
got sense experience,
got perception,
got own-making,
got re-knowing-knowing-knowledge,
sees these things as
[1] changeable,
[2] painful,
(diseased,
an abscess,
an arrow,
an abyss,
a malady,
extraneous,
breaking up,
empty,)
[3] not self.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.^[11]

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

If he does not attain
the destruction of the corrupting influences,
then, through his passion for Dhamma,
delight in Dhamma,
the five self-yokes to the lower destroyed,
he is of spontaneous uprising,
there attaining thorough Nibbāna,
not a thing to come again to this world.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{12} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
by the disappearance of
thinking and pondering,
internally impassive,
whole-heartely single minded,
without thinking,
without pondering
serenity-born excitement and pleasure,
takes up living in the second knowing.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

If he does not attain
the destruction of the corrupting influences,
then, through his passion for Dhamma,
delight in Dhamma,
the five self-yokes to the lower destroyed,
he is of spontaneous uprising,
there attaining thorough Nibbāna,
not a thing to come again to this world.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{13} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
with the vanishing of enthusiasm,
and living detached,
minding,
self-aware,
and pleased,
experiencing in his own body
that of which the Aristocrats speak
when they say:

'Detached, minding, he lives pleasantly'

takes up living in the Third Burning Knowledge.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{14} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
letting go of pleasures,
letting go of pains,
settling down the antecedent mental ease and mental pain,
without pain,
but without pleasure,
detached,
recollected,
surpassingly pure
takes up living in the Fourth Burning Knowledge.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{15} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
passing beyond all perception of form,
settling down perception of repugnance,
paying no attention to perception of differences,
thinking:
'Endless is space'
he takes up living in the Realm of Space.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{16} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
entirely passing beyond the Realm of Space,
thinking:
'Endless is Re-knowing-knowing-knowledge'
he takes up living in the Realm of Re-knowing-knowing-knowledge.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower.

{17} Again, Ānanda, deeper than that,
a beggar,
entirely passing beyond the Realm of Re-knowing-knowing-knowledge,
thinking:
'There is nothing'
he takes up living in the Realm of Nothing's Had There.

He turns away in heart
from these three things.

He, turned away in heart
from these three things,
focuses his heart on
the characteristics of deathless,
thinking:

'This is the tranquil,
this is the ultimate,
that is to say the settling down of all own-making,
the rejection of all bindups,
the slaking of thirst,
dispassion,
ending,
Nibbāna.'

He, based on that,
attains the destruction of the corrupting influences.

Just this, then, Ānanda,
is the Way,
the walk-to-walk,
to let go of
the five self-yokes to the lower."

{18} "If this, Bhante, is the Way,
is the walk-t0-walk,
to let go
the five self-yokes to the lower,
how is it then,
that there is one sort of beggar that is heart-freed,
and that there is another sort of beggar that is wisdom freed?"

"I say, Ānanda, that this is a difference of forces^[12]."

This is what the Lucky Man said."

Delighted in mind, Old Man Ānanda said this to The Lucky Man:

"Wonderful!"

The Greater Māluṇkya Sutta

^[1] Ora-m-bhāgiya saṃyojanānī. Yokes, which obsessed over by the self, bind to the lower worlds: The rūpa lokas, worlds characterized by form. Hell, animal birth, demonic births, ghostly births, human birth and birth in the lowest heavenly realms: the Four Kings of the Four Directions, beings that reside with the gods of the Chamber of the Three and Thirty, beings that reside in Yama's Paradise, beings that resides with the gods of the Heaven of Delight (the Tusita realm), beings that reside with the gods of Creation (Nimmanarati), beings that reside with the gods of Manipulation (paranimmita-vasavati). Obsession with the first three of these yokes must be given up to attain Streamwining.

^[2] His error is that the way he has phrased it, is saying that this and the other yokes are the problem whereas the real problem is the obsession with them.

^[3] These things, though latent (maybe "latent" is not the best word that could be found for the background state of these things; they are "sub-conscious", "minimally conscious") in the infant, were the things obsessed with which the individual came to rebirth in the first place. How could they not be there, however latent, in an infant? This is correctly translated by Ms. Horner; the other translators have these things as missing in the infant.

^[4] Sakkāya-diṭṭhi. 'Sakkāya' = 'own-body'. The 'own' part is 'saka'; 'kāya' is body, in all the senses of the word in English but with the primary meaning not of the physical human body but of the grouping together and identification with the khandhas, (rūpa: form; vedanā: sense experience; saññā: perception; saṇkhārā: own-making, the making of ones own personal world; viññāṇa: re-knowing-knowing-knowledge, re-knowing-knowing-knowledge, awareness of knowing) so the meaning is, for some sorts of beings, more along the lines of 'personal world'. To hold on to one way of seeing things as being the one true way of seeing them is "ditthi". Both Rhys Davids and Hare: error of permanent individual entity; Hare: delusion of self; Horner: own-body view; Bhk. Punnaji: self-concept, personalized self, personality perspective; Bhks: Bodhi and Ñanamoli: personality view; Bhk. Thanissaro: self-identity views; Walshe: personality-belief; Woodward: individual group.

^[5] This is somewhat obscurely put. I think the way to think about this is to imagine the being that has been reborn as standing away from the infant, obsessed with these matters, but that the infant is not yet in sync with the individual he will become. Our difficulty in thinking of this comes from not having a belief in rebirth which would explain the presence of these issues in the new-born infant.

^[6] Here "Dhammas" means any way of thinking about things that involves the idea of "this is the right way to see things." The right "form." The reference is probably to "Views", that is: There is giving, there is sacrifice, there is having sacrificed, there is pleasurable and painful fruitional result of kamma, there is this world, there is the other world, there is mother, there is father, there is spontaneous birth, there are in this world shaman or Brahman that have attained the consummate reach for themselves, and knowing this world and the world beyond, are able to make it known and realized.

^[7]Here "Dhamma" refers specifically to the teachings of Gotama, the Buddha.

^[8] "The real escape" means the letting go of the obsession with these things; the letting go that is the result of following the Magga (Consummate views, principles, talk, works, lifestyle, effort at self control, mind, serenity, knowledge and vision. For the details of these, see the end of DN 22.) It is necessary to understand this to make sense of what follows.

^[9] With the exception of obsession with rituals, this may seem strange. Are we to give up ethical standards and doing good works? First understand that it is the obsession that is to be got rid of. The error here is thinking that these things will bring and end to pain. Then the intentional doing is got rid of because there is no ending of kamma without also the ending of intentional doings. In the early part of ones training one is encouraged to give, do good deeds etc. and to bring ones behavior into line with high ethical standards. Here one can see the intent of the sutta where it speaks of obsession with the disadvantages of these things without saying that these things are (can be!) eliminated. The harm comes from the attachment, not the thing itself.

^[10] Note the difference here in the formula for the first jhāna. It usually does not contain "letting go of all bodily wickedness, thoroughly impassive" (pahānā sabbaso kāya-du-ṭ-ṭhullānaṃ paṭipassaddhiyā). The other jhānas are either not spelled out or are the same as usual. It seems to me to be an emphasis on body which would be appropriate for the discussion of own-body-identification.

^[11] The three being change, pain, and not-self. This looks like it has been tampered with. The original was likely just the three by themselves, the rest being added "for clarity."

^[12] This sutta is not so much about attaining arahantship, though the latter portion speaks of destroying the corrupting influences. It is primarily speaking about falling a little short of arahantship, that is, only of the five yokes that lead to spontaneous rebirth in some realm where Nibbāna would be the next step. Arahantship requires that all ten of the yokes be broken (the five spoken of here and lust for form (rūpa-rāga), lust for the formless (a-rūpa-rāgo), pride (māna), trembling (from fear and anxiety) (uddhaccan) and blindness (avijjā). Breaking the hold of these would be implied by the statement that the corrupting influences were destroyed. Freedom here is spoken of in the two terms used to describe it of the arahant. The Buddha's answer says "forces" (indriya), not "powers" (balani). The difference is that forces are apart from the will of the individual. They are native attributes presumably the result of previous kamma.

Majjhima Nikāya II. Majjhima-Paṇṇāsa 2. Bhikkhu Vagga

Sutta 64

Mahā Māluṇkya Suttaṃ

The Path of the Non-Returner

Majjhima Nikāya
II. Majjhima-Paṇṇāsa
2. Bhikkhu Vagga