To: K-list
Recieved: 2004/04/08 13:33
Subject: [K-list] What is Enlighenment?
From: Jeffrey Brooks
On 2004/04/08 13:33, Jeffrey Brooks posted thus to the K-list:
What is Enlighenment?
While conducting my daily practice of study and
reflection upon the discourses of the Buddha (sutta
pitaka) I recently came accross this really excellent
sutta. This sutta seems to discusses the ten
qualities in a teacher of the dhamma that inspiring
confidence, however it seesms to really be talking
about the qualities that one would find in an
enlighened teacher, not just any old teacher of the
dhamma.
Since the concept of enlightenment,and the path to
enlightenment seems to be of central importance to
this list I thought I would post portions of this
sutta, because I found this sutta seems to focus very
precisely upon what the historic Buddha had found in
his enlightenment.
Gopaka Moggallana Sutta, MN 108
Moggallana the Guardsman
Ten Qualities in a teacher of the dhamma that
Inspiring Confidence
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
"When asked, 'Is there, Master Ananda, any one monk
you now honor, respect, revere, & venerate, on whom --
honoring & respecting -- you live in dependence?' you
said, 'Yes, brahman, there is a monk we now honor,
respect, revere, & venerate, on whom -- honoring &
respecting -- we live in dependence.' Now how is the
meaning of what you have said to be understood?"
13.
"Brahman, there are ten inspiring qualities expounded
by the Blessed One -- the one who knows, the one who
sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. In whoever among
us those ten qualities are found, we now honor,
respect, revere, & venerate him; honoring & respecting
him, we live in dependence on him. Which ten?
[1] "There is the case where a monk is virtuous. He
dwells restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha,
consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He
trains himself, having undertaken the training rules,
seeing danger in the slightest faults.
[2] "He has heard much, has retained what he has
heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever
teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in
the middle, admirable in the end, that -- in their
meaning & expression -- proclaim the holy life
entirely perfect & pure: those he has listened to
often, retained, discussed, accumulated, examined with
his mind, and well-penetrated in terms of his views.
[3] "He is content with robes, alms food, lodgings, &
medicinal requisites for curing the sick.
[4] "He attains -- whenever he wants, without strain,
without difficulty -- the four jhanas that are
heightened mental states, pleasant abidings in the
here-&-now.
[5] "He experiences manifold supranormal powers.
Having been one he becomes many; having been many he
becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes
unimpeded through walls, ramparts, & mountains as if
through space. He dives in & out of the earth as if it
were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it
were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through
the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches &
strokes even the sun & moon, so mighty & powerful. He
exercises influence with his body even as far as the
Brahma worlds.
[6] "He hears -- by means of the divine ear-element,
purified & surpassing the human -- both kinds of
sounds: divine & human, whether near or far.
[7] "He knows the awareness of other beings, other
individuals, having encompassed it with his own
awareness. He discerns a mind with passion as a mind
with passion, and a mind without passion as a mind
without passion. He discerns a mind with aversion as a
mind with aversion, and a mind without aversion as a
mind without aversion. He discerns a mind with
delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without
delusion as a mind without delusion. He discerns a
restricted mind as a restricted mind, and a scattered
mind as a scattered mind. He discerns an enlarged mind
as an enlarged mind, and an unenlarged mind as an
unenlarged mind. He discerns an excelled mind [one
that is not at the most excellent level] as an
excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind as an unexcelled
mind. He discerns a concentrated mind as a
concentrated mind, and an unconcentrated mind as an
unconcentrated mind. He discerns a released mind as a
released mind, and an unreleased mind as an unreleased
mind.
[8] "He recollects his manifold past lives (lit:
previous homes), i.e., one birth, two births, three
births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty,
one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many
aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic
expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction &
expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name,
belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such
was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain,
such the end of my life. Passing away from that state,
I re-arose there. There too I had such a name,
belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such
was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain,
such the end of my life. Passing away from that state,
I re-arose here.' Thus he remembers his manifold past
lives in their modes & details.
[9] "He sees -- by means of the divine eye, purified &
surpassing the human -- beings passing away and
re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior &
superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in
accordance with their kamma: 'These beings -- who were
endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, & mind, who
reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook
actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the
break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in
the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the
lower realms, in hell. But these beings -- who were
endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who
did not revile the noble ones, who held right views
and undertook actions under the influence of right
views -- with the break-up of the body, after death,
have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the
heavenly world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye,
purified & surpassing the human -- he sees beings
passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how
they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly,
fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their
kamma.
[10] "Through the ending of the mental fermentations,
he remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release
& discernment-release, having known & made them
manifest for himself right in the here & now.
"These, brahman, are the ten inspiring qualities
expounded by the Blessed One -- the one who knows, the
one who sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. In
whoever among us these ten qualities are found, we now
honor, respect, revere, & venerate him; honoring &
respecting him, we live in dependence on him...."
27. "And what sort of mental absorption did he praise?
There is the case where a monk -- quite withdrawn from
sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental)
qualities -- 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 & alert, 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. This is the sort of mental absorption that
the Blessed One praised.
Kindest regards,
Jeff Brooks
The Fruits of the Path
Bell Springs 100 Day Summer Rains Retreat
May 27 - Sept. 7, 2004
http://www.bellsprings.org
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