Ubi Bene^[*]

[1][pts][ntbb][upal][than] THUS have I heard:

Once when the Lord was staying at Sāvatthī in Jeta's grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's pleasaunce, the Lord addressed the Almsmen, saying:

I will expound to you the principles of the forest life.

Give ear and pay attention,
and I will speak.

Yes, Lord, was their response to the Lord,
who then went on to speak as follows:

Take the case of an Almsman
who, dwelling in the forest,
finds that the mindfulness
which was not his before
is still not his,
that the stedfastness of heart
which was not his before
is still not his,
that the Cankers
which had not passed before
are not passing away from him now,
that the Peace beyond compare
which he had not won before
is still to win,
and that in the forest
it is hard to satisfy a Pilgrim's needs
in the matter of clothing,
food,
bed,
and medicaments.

In such case, the Brother should ponder this over and -
be it by night or be it by day -
should quit that forest
and reside there no longer.

Next, take an Almsman
who, dwelling in the forest,
has just the same experiences
except that he has no difficulty there
in satisfying a Pilgrim's needs.

He too should ponder this over
and reflect that it was not for clothing and the like
that he went forth from home to homelessness
but that here he is acquiring
neither mindfulness nor stedfastness of heart,
is not getting rid of the Cankers
nor winning the Peace beyond com- [75] pare.

Realizing this,
he should quit that forest
and reside there no longer.

Take now an Almsman
who, dwelling in the forest,
finds that the mindfulness
which was not his before
is now his,
that the stedfastness of heart
which was not his before
is now his,
that the Cankers
which had not passed away before
have now passed away from him,
and that he is now winning that Peace beyond compare
which he had not won before, -
but that he finds it hard there
to satisfy a Pilgrim's needs
in the matter of clothing,
food,
bed,
and medicaments.

Pondering over this,
he should reflect that it was not for these latter things
that he went forth from home to homelessness
but that by residing in that forest
the mindfulness which was not his before
is now his ...
not won before.

Realizing this,
he should dwell on in that forest
and not quit it.

Lastly, if, in addition
to growth in mindfulness and so forth,
he finds no difficulty there
in satisfying a Pilgrim's needs,
he should similarly dwell on in that forest
and not quit it.

(The same considerations should guide him)
if his abode is near a village,
a township,
a city,
a country,
or an individual.

If all goes well with his growth Within,
he will cleave to that individual
while life lasts;
he will not quit him,
although hounded away.

Thus spoke the Lord.

Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.

^[*] Ubi Bene: Placed Well.

Majjhima Nikāya 1. Mūla-Paṇṇāsa 2. Sīhanāda Vagga

Sacred Books of the Buddhists Volume V Dialogues of the Buddha Part IV

Further Dialogues of the Buddha Volume I

Sutta 17

Vana-Pattha Suttaɱ

Ubi Bene[*]

Majjhima Nikāya
1. Mūla-Paṇṇāsa
2. Sīhanāda Vagga

Sacred Books of the Buddhists
Volume V
Dialogues of the Buddha
Part IV

Further Dialogues of the Buddha
Volume I

Ubi Bene^[*]