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I
have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Ukkattha, in the shade of a royal Sal tree in the Very
Blessed Grove. There he addressed the monks, "Monks!"
"Yes,
lord," the monks responded.
The
Blessed One said, "Monks, I will teach you the sequence of the root of all
phenomena [or: the root sequence of all phenomena]. Listen & pay close
attention. I will speak."
"As
you say, sir," they responded.
The
Blessed One said: "There is the case, monks, where an uninstructed
run-of-the-mill person -- who has no regard for noble ones, is not well-versed
or disciplined in their Dhamma; who has no regard for men of integrity, is not
well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma -- perceives earth as earth.
Perceiving earth as earth, he conceives [things] about earth, he conceives
[things] in earth, he conceives [things] coming out of earth, he conceives
earth as 'mine,' he delights in earth. Why is that? Because he has not
comprehended it, I tell you.
"He
perceives water as water... fire as fire... wind as wind1...
beings as beings... gods as gods...Pajapati as Pajapati...Brahma as Brahma... the luminous gods as luminous gods... the
gods of refulgent glory as gods of refulgent glory... the gods of abundant
fruit as the gods of abundant fruit... the Great Being as the Great
Being2... the sphere of the infinitude of space as the sphere of
the infinitude of space... the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness as the
sphere of the infinitude of consciousness... the sphere of nothingness as the
sphere of nothingness... the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception as
the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception3...
the seen as the seen... the heard as the heard... the sensed as the sensed... the cognized as the cognized4... singleness as
singleness... multiplicity as multiplicity5...
the All as the All6...
"He
perceives Unbinding as Unbinding.7 Perceiving Unbinding
as Unbinding, he conceives things about Unbinding, he conceives things in
Unbinding, he conceives things coming out of Unbinding, he conceives Unbinding
as 'mine,' he delights in Unbinding. Why is that? Because he has not
comprehended it, I tell you.
The
Trainee
"A monk who is a trainee -- yearning for the unexcelled relief from
bondage, his aspirations as yet unfulfilled -- directly knows earth as earth.
Directly knowing earth as earth, let him not conceive things about earth, let
him not conceive things in earth, let him not conceive things coming out of
earth, let him not conceive earth as 'mine,' let him not delight in earth. Why
is that? So that he may comprehend it.
"He
directly knows water as water... fire as fire... wind as wind... beings as
beings... gods as gods... Pajapati as Pajapati... Brahma as Brahma... the
luminous gods as luminous gods... the gods of refulgent glory as gods of
refulgent glory... the gods of abundant fruit as the gods of abundant fruit...
the Great Being as the Great Being... the sphere of the infinitude of space as
the sphere of the infinitude of space... the sphere of the infinitude of
consciousness as the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness... the sphere of
nothingness as the sphere of nothingness... the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception as the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception... the seen as the seen... the heard as
the heard... the sensed as the sensed... the cognized as the cognized...
singleness as singleness... multiplicity as multiplicity... the All as the
All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
let him not conceive things about Unbinding, let him not conceive things in
Unbinding, let him not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, let him not
conceive Unbinding as 'mine,' let him not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? So
that he may comprehend it.
The
Arahant
"A monk who is a Worthy One, devoid of mental fermentations -- who has
attained completion, finished the task, laid down the burden, attained the true
goal, destroyed the fetters of becoming, and is released through right
knowledge -- directly knows earth as earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he
does not conceive things about earth, does not conceive things in earth, does
not conceive things coming out of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,'
does not delight in earth. Why is that? Because he has comprehended it, I tell
you.
"He
directly knows water as water... fire as fire... wind as wind... beings as
beings... gods as gods... Pajapati as Pajapati... Brahma as Brahma... the
luminous gods as luminous gods... the gods of refulgent glory as gods of
refulgent glory... the gods of abundant fruit as the gods of abundant fruit...
the Great Being as the Great Being... the sphere of the infinitude of space as
the sphere of the infinitude of space... the sphere of the infinitude of
consciousness as the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness... the sphere of
nothingness as the sphere of nothingness... the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception as the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception... the seen as the seen... the heard as
the heard... the sensed as the sensed... the cognized as the cognized...
singleness as singleness... multiplicity as multiplicity... the All as the
All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because he has
comprehended it, I tell you.
"A
monk who is a Worthy One, devoid of mental fermentations... directly knows
earth as earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he does not conceive things
about earth, does not conceive things in earth, does not conceive things coming
out of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,' does not delight in earth. Why
is that? Because, with the ending of passion, he is devoid of passion, I tell
you.
"He
directly knows water as water... the All as the All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because, with
the ending of passion, he is devoid of passion, I tell you.
"A
monk who is a Worthy One, devoid of mental fermentations... directly knows
earth as earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he does not conceive things
about earth, does not conceive things in earth, does not conceive things coming
out of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,' does not delight in earth. Why
is that? Because, with the ending of aversion, he is devoid of aversion, I tell
you.
"He
directly knows water as water... the All as the All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because, with
the ending of aversion, he is devoid of aversion, I tell you.
"A
monk who is a Worthy One, devoid of mental fermentations... directly knows
earth as earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he does not conceive things
about earth, does not conceive things in earth, does not conceive things coming
out of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,' does not delight in earth. Why
is that? Because, with the ending of delusion, he is devoid of delusion, I tell
you.
"He
directly knows water as water... the All as the All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because, with
the ending of delusion, he is devoid of delusion, I tell you.
The
Tathagata
"The Tathagata -- a worthy one, rightly self-awakened -- directly knows
earth as earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he does not conceive things
about earth, does not conceive things in earth, does not conceive things coming
out of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,' does not delight in earth. Why
is that? Because the Tathagata has comprehended it to the end, I tell you.
"He
directly knows water as water... fire as fire... wind as wind... beings as
beings... gods as gods... Pajapati as Pajapati... Brahma as Brahma... the
luminous gods as luminous gods... the gods of refulgent glory as gods of
refulgent glory... the gods of abundant fruit as the gods of abundant fruit...
the Great Being as the Great Being... the sphere of the infinitude of space as
the sphere of the infinitude of space... the sphere of the infinitude of
consciousness as the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness... the sphere of
nothingness as the sphere of nothingness... the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception as the sphere of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception... the seen as the seen... the heard as
the heard... the sensed as the sensed... the cognized as the cognized...
singleness as singleness... multiplicity as multiplicity... the All as the
All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because the
Tathagata has comprehended it to the end, I tell you.
"The
Tathagata -- a worthy one, rightly self-awakened -- directly knows earth as
earth. Directly knowing earth as earth, he does not conceive things about
earth, does not conceive things in earth, does not conceive things coming out
of earth, does not conceive earth as 'mine,' does not delight in earth. Why is
that? Because he has known that delight is the root of suffering & stress,
that from coming-into-being there is birth, and that for what has come into being
there is aging & death. Therefore, with the total ending, fading away,
cessation, letting go, relinquishment of craving, the Tathagata has totally
awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening, I tell you.
"He
directly knows water as water... the All as the All...
"He
directly knows Unbinding as Unbinding. Directly knowing Unbinding as Unbinding,
he does not conceive things about Unbinding, does not conceive things in
Unbinding, does not conceive things coming out of Unbinding, does not conceive
Unbinding as 'mine,' does not delight in Unbinding. Why is that? Because he has
known that delight is the root of suffering & stress, that from
coming-into-being there is birth, and that for what has come into being there
is aging & death. Therefore, with the total ending, fading away, cessation,
letting go, relinquishment of craving, the Tathagata has totally awakened to
the unexcelled right self-awakening, I tell you."
That
is what the Blessed One said. Displeased, the monks did not delight in the
Blessed One's words.
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