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Translated
from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
I
have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in
Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the monks:
"Monks!"
"Yes,
lord," the monks replied.
"Monks,
there are these four ways of taking on practices. Which
four? There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but
yields pain in the future. There is the taking on of a practice that is painful
in the present and yields pain in the future. There is the taking on of a
practice that is painful in the present but yields pleasure in the future.
There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields
pleasure in the future.
"Now, what is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in
the present but yields pain in the future? There are some priests &
contemplatives who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: 'There is no harm in
sensual pleasures.' Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures.
They consort with women wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot.
"The
thought occurs to them: 'Now what future danger concerning sensual pleasures do
those [other] priests & contemplatives foresee that they have spoken of the
relinquishment of sensual pleasures and describe the full comprehension of
sensual pleasures? It's pleasant, the touch of this woman wanderer's soft,
tender, downy arm.'
"Thus
they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with
their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the break-up of the body, after
death, they go to a bad bourn, destitution, the realm of the hungry shades,
hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say: 'This was
the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those priests &
contemplatives foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual
pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures. It's
because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we're now
experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
"Just as if a maluva creeper pod were to burst open in the last
month of the hot season, and a maluva creeper seed were to fall at the foot of
a sala tree. The deity living in the tree would become frightened,
apprehensive, & anxious. Her friends & companions, relatives & kin
-- garden deities, forest deities, tree deities, deities living in herbs,
grass, & forest monarchs -- would gather together to console her: 'Have no
fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this maluva
creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or
woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably
isn't really a seed.'
"And
then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush fire burned it up, no
woodsmen picked it up, no termites carried it off, and it really was a
seed. Watered by a rain-laden cloud, it sprouted in due course and curled its
soft, tender, downy tendril around the sala tree.
"The
thought occurred to the deity living in the sala tree: 'Now what future danger
did my friends & companions, relatives & kin -- garden deities, forest
deities, tree deities, deities living in herbs, grass, & forest monarchs --
foresee in that maluva creeper seed that they gathered together to console me:
"Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to
swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will
burn it up, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway
it probably isn't really a seed." It's pleasant, the touch of this maluva
creeper's soft, tender, downy tendril.'
"Then
the creeper, having enwrapped the sala tree, having made a canopy over it,
& cascading down around it, caused the massive limbs of the sala tree to
come crashing down. The thought occurred to the deity living in the tree: 'This
was the future danger my friends... foresaw in that maluva creeper seed,
that they gathered together to console me... It's because of that maluva
creeper seed that I'm now experiencing sharp, burning pains.'
"In
the same way, monks, there are some priests & contemplatives who hold to a
doctrine, a view like this: 'There is no harm in sensual pleasures.' Thus they
meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with women
wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot.
"The
thought occurs to them: 'Now what future danger do those [other] priests &
contemplatives foresee that they teach the relinquishment & analysis of
sensual pleasures? It's pleasant, the touch of this woman wanderer's soft,
tender, downy arm.'
Thus
they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with
their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the break-up of the body, after
death, they go to a bad bourn, destitution, the realm of the hungry shades,
hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say: 'This was
the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those priests &
contemplatives foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures
and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures. It's because of
sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we're now
experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
"This
is called the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but
yields pain in the future.
"And
what is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present and yields
pain in the future?
"There
is the case where someone is a cloth-less1 ascetic, rejecting conventions,
licking his hands, not coming when asked, not staying when asked. He doesn't
consent to food brought to him or food dedicated to him or to an invitation to
a meal. He accepts nothing from the mouth of a pot or from the mouth of a bowl.
He accepts nothing from across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating
together, from a pregnant woman, from a nursing woman, from a woman lying with
a man, from a food collection, from where a dog is waiting or flies are
buzzing. He takes no fish or meat. He drinks no liquor, wine, or fermented
drink. He limits himself to one house & one morsel a day, or two houses
& two morsels... seven houses & seven morsels. He lives on one
saucerful a day, two... seven saucerfuls a day. He takes food once a day, once
every two days... once every seven days, and so one up to a fortnight, devoted
to regulating his intake of food. He is an eater of greens, millet, wild rice,
hide-parings, moss, rice bran, rice-scum, sesame flour, grass, or cow dung. He
lives on forest roots & berries. He feeds on fallen fruits. He wears hemp,
canvas, shrouds, refuse rags, tree bark, antelope hide, strips of antelope
hide, kusa-grass garments, bark garments, wood-shaving garments, head-hair
garments, animal wool, owl's wings. He is a hair-&-beard puller, one
devoted to the practice of pulling out his hair & beard. He is a stander,
one who rejects seats. He is a hands-around-the-knees sitter, one devoted to
the exertion of sitting with his hands around his knees. He is a
spike-mattresser, one who makes his bed on a bed of spikes. He is a
third-time-in-the-evening bather, one who stays devoted to the practice of
bathing in water. Thus in a variety of ways he stays devoted to the practice of
tormenting & afflicting the body. With the break-up of the body, after
death, he goes to a bad bourn, destitution, the realm of the hungry shades,
hell.
"This
is called the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present and yields
pain in the future.
"And
what is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present but yields
pleasure in the future? There is the case of a person who is normally strongly
passionate by nature and frequently experiences pain & grief born of
passion; a person who is normally strongly aversive by nature and frequently
experiences pain & grief born of aversion; a person who is normally
strongly deluded by nature and frequently experiences pain & grief born of
delusion. Even though touched with pain & grief, crying with a tearful
face, he lives the holy life that is utterly perfect, surpassingly pure. With
the break-up of the body, after death, he reappears in the good bourn, the
heavenly world. This is called the taking on of a practice that is painful in
the present but yields pleasure in the future.
"And
what is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields
pleasure in the future? There is the case of a person who is not normally
strongly passionate by nature and doesn't frequently experience pain &
grief born of passion; who is not normally strongly aversive by nature and
doesn't frequently experience pain & grief born of aversion; who is not
normally strongly deluded by nature and doesn't frequently experience pain
& grief born of delusion. Quite withdrawn from sensual pleasures, withdrawn
from unskillful (mental) qualities, he enters & remains in the first jhana:
rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought
& evaluation. With the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he
enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of
concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought &
evaluation -- internal assurance. With the fading of rapture, he remains in
equanimity, mindful & fully aware, and physically sensitive of pleasure. He
enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare,
'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' With the abandoning
of pleasure & pain -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation &
distress -- he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity
& mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. With the break-up of the body,
after death, he reappears in the good bourn, the heavenly world. This is called
the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields pleasure
in the future.
"And
these are the four ways of taking on practices."
That
is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed
One's words.
See
also: AN IV.192.
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