Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
54. Ānāpāna Saṃyutta
2. Ānanda or Dutiya Vagga
The Aspiration Collection
Book 2: Ānanda
Sutta 12
Kaṅkheyya Suttaṃ
Clearing up An Uncertainty
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
[1][pts][bodh][than] I Hear Tell:
Once upon a time the Venerable Lomasavangiso,
Sakka-land,
Kapilavatthu,
Nigrodha's park revisiting.
There then Mahanamo the Sakkyan
approached the venerable Lomasavangiso
and drew near.
Drawing near
he exchanged greetings with the Venerable Lomasavangiso
and took a seat to one side.
Seated to one side then,
Mahanamo the Sakkyan said this
to the Venerable Lomasavangiso:
"How is it then, Bhante,
is the seeker's life
such as the Tathāgata's life
or is the seekers life one thing
and the Tathāgata's life another?"[1]
"No, friend Mahanama,
the seeker's life
is not such as the Tathāgata's life,
the seeker's life is one thing,
the Tathāgata's life is another.
That bhikkhu, friend Mahanama,
a seeker,
a little developed in mind,
short of his intended goal,
one who lives preparing to throw off the yoke,
the throwing off of which there is nothing better,
lives letting go of the five diversions.[2]
What five?
He lives letting go of the pleasure-wishing diversion.
He lives letting go of the deviance diversion.
He lives letting go of the lazy ways and inertia diversion.
He lives letting go of the anxiety and fear diversion.
He lives letting go of the doubt and wavering diversion.
It is so, friend Mahanama, that a seeker,
a little developed in mind,
short of his intended goal,
one who lives preparing to throw off the yoke,
the throwing off of which there is nothing better,
lives letting go of the five diversions.
On the other hand, friend Mahanama,
that bhikkhu, an arahant,
without corruptions,
one who is finished,
duty's doing done,
laid down the load,
his own best interest brought forth,
the yokes to becoming thoroughly destroyed,
by highest answer-knowledge liberated,
has let go the five diversions,
made them like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
What five?
He lives having let go of the pleasure-wishing diversion,
made it like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
He lives having let go of the deviance diversion,
made it like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
He lives having let go of the lazy ways and inertia diversion,
made it like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
He lives having let go of the anxiety and fear diversion,
made it like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
He lives having let go of the doubt and wavering diversion,
made it like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
It is thus, friend Mahanama, that a bhikkhu, an arahant,
without corruptions,
one who is finished,
duty's doing done,
laid down the load,
his own best interest brought forth,
the yokes to becoming thoroughly destroyed,
by highest answer-knowledge liberated,
has let go the five diversions,
made them like a palm
torn out from the ground by the roots,
without basis for life,
unable rise up again in future.
It is in this way, friend Mahanama,
that you should understand that the seeker's life
is not such as the Tathāgata's life,
the seeker's life is one thing,
the Tathāgata's life is another.
§
Once upon a time, friend Mahanama,
the Lucky Man
Icchanangale revisiting,
Icchanangala jungle grove.
Then The Lucky Man said this
to the beggars there:
'I wish, beggars, to retire to chambers for three months.
No one should approach me
except the one who brings my mess-bowl food.'
'Even so, Bhante',
the beggars responded in agreement
and subsequently no one approached the Lucky Man
except the one who brought his mess-bowl food.
Then after the lapse of three months,
The Lucky Man emerged from his retirement chambers
and said this to the beggars there:
'Should wanderers of other views, beggars, question you thus:
"In what manner, friends, does the Shaman Gotama
largely live during the rains residency?"
This being put to you, beggars,
by wanderers of other views,
this is how you should make response:
"The Lucky Man, friends,
largely lives during the rains residency
serenely remembering his respiration."
§
Breathing in deeply, I know:
"I am inspiring deeply."
Breathing out deeply, I know:
"I am expiring deeply."
Breathing in shallowly, I know:
"I am inspiring shallowly."
Breathing out shallowly, I know:
"I am expiring shallowly."
Reflecting on the totality of bodily experience,
I breath in knowingly.
Reflecting on the totality of bodily experience,
I breath out knowingly.
Pacifying own-body-making,
I breath in knowingly.
Pacifying own-body-making,
I breath out knowingly.
Reflecting on enthusiasm,
I breath in knowingly.
Reflecting on enthusiasm,
I breath out knowingly.
Observing pleasure,
I breath in knowingly.
Observing pleasure,
I breath out knowingly.
Reflecting on the own-making of the heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Reflecting on the own-making of the heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Pacifying the own-making of the heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Pacifying the own-making of the heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Reflecting on the heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Reflecting on the heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Abundantly content in heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Abundantly content in heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Composing the heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Composing the heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Liberating the heart,
I breath in knowingly.
Liberating the heart,
I breath out knowingly.
Reflecting on giving up,
I breath in knowingly.
Reflecting on giving up,
I breath out knowingly.
He, beggars, who speaking highly would say:
"This is the Aristocratic life,
this is the Brahma life,
this is the life of the Getter of the Getting"
speaking highly of this serene remembering of the respiration would say:
"This is the Aristocratic life,
this is the Brahma life,
this is the life of the Getter of the Getting."
He who is a seeker, beggars,
a little developed in mind,
short of his intended goal,
one who lives preparing to throw off the yoke,
the throwing off of which there is nothing better,
such a one,
developing serene remembering of the respiration,
making a big thing of it,
will achieve the destruction of the corruptions.
He who, beggars, is an arahant beggar,
corruptions eliminated,
unoccupied,
duty's doing done,
load laid down,
his own good gained,
yokes to living thoroughly broken,
highest answer-knowledge free,
even for such a one,
developing serene remembering of the respiration,
making a big thing of it,
is useful for living pleasantly in this seen thing
mindfully self-aware.
He, beggars, who speaking highly would say:
"This is the Aristocratic life,
this is the Brahma life,
this is the life of the Getter of the Getting."
speaking highly of this serene remembering of the respiration would say:
"This is the Aristocratic life,
this is the Brahma life,
this is the life of the Getter of the Getting."'
It is in this way, friend Mahanama,
that you should understand that the seeker's life
is not such as the Tathāgata's life,
the seeker's life is one thing,
the Tathāgata's life is another."
[1] This is deeper than the simple question it appears to be. There is a state where it appears that one has achieved arahantship and that the resulting life is the same as the life that came before. This is often brought up in Zen Buddhist contexts.
"The Way is fundamentally perfect. It penetrates everything. How could it depend on practice and realization. The Dharma vehicle is free and unhindered. What need can there be for the concentrated efforts of men? In truth, the Great Body is well beyond the dust of the world. Who could think it possible to clean it? It is never separate from anyone; it is always exactly where you are. Why go here or there to practice?" —Master Dogen (1200-1253), Fukanzazengi. Quoted from Coupey, Zen Simply Sitting.
The view is not confined to Zen or Mahayana schools. It is based on a real perception and is a problem similar to the one of understanding how although there is no thing there that can be called a self, there is no saying that there is no self.
Considered to be one of the more pernicious views in that it conduces to lack of striving.
Tathāgata here means 'one who has got the getting' and is not a specific reference to Gotama.
[2] Nīvaraṇa. Diversion. The five: kāma-c-chanda: sensuality, pleasure-wishing; (abhijjhā-)vyāpāda: ill-will, anger, via the not-path; thīna-middha: sluggishness, sloth and torpor, lazy ways and inertia; uddhaccakukkucca: worry, fear, anxiety — Bhk. Bodhi: restlessness and remorse; vicikicchā: doubt, wavering, backsliding, turning back.
