Aṇguttara Nikāya
Sattaka Nipāta
Avyākata Vagga
Sutta 58
Pacalāyana Suttaṃ
Nodding
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Proofed against and modified in accordance with the revised edition at dhammatalks.org
Provenance, terms and conditons
[1][pts][olds] Once the Blessed One was living among the Bhaggas
in the Deer Park at Bhesakaḷā Forest,
near Crocodile Haunt.
At that time Ven. Mahā Moggallāna [prior to his awakening] sat nodding
near the village of Kallavālamutta,
in Magadha.
The Blessed One,
with his purified divine eye,
surpassing the human,
saw Ven. Mahā Moggallāna
as he sat nodding
near the village of Kallavālamutta,
in Magadha.
As soon as he saw this
— just as a strong man
might extend his flexed arm
or flex his extended arm —
he disappeared from among the Bhaggas
in the Deer Park at Bhesakaḷā Forest,
near Crocodile Haunt,
and re-appeared
near the village of Kallavālamutta,
in Magadha,
right in front of Ven. Mahā Moggallāna.
There he sat down on a prepared seat.
As he was sitting there,
the Blessed One said to Ven. Mahā Moggallāna,
"Are you nodding, Moggallāna?
Are you nodding?"
"Yes, lord."
[2][pts][olds] "Well then, Moggallāna,
whatever perception you have in mind
when drowsiness descends on you,
don't attend to that perception,
don't pursue it.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[3][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then recall to your awareness
the Dhamma as you have heard and memorized it,
re-examine it and
ponder it over in your mind.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[4][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then repeat aloud in detail
the Dhamma as you have heard and memorized it.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[5][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then pull both you earlobes
and rub your limbs with your hands.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[6][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then get up from your seat and,
after washing your eyes out with water,
look around in all directions
and upward to the major stars and constellations.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[7][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then attend to the perception of light,
resolve on the perception of daytime,
[dwelling] by night as by day,
and by day as by night.
By means of an awareness
thus open and unhampered,
develop a brightened mind.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[8][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then — percipient of what lies in front and behind —
set a distance to meditate
walking back and forth,
your senses inwardly immersed,
your mind not straying outwards.
It's possible
that by doing this
you will shake off your drowsiness.
[9][pts][olds] "But if by doing this
you don't shake off your drowsiness,
then — reclining on your right side —
take up the lion's posture,
one foot placed on top of the other,
mindful, alert,
with your mind set on getting up.
As soon as you wake up,
get up quickly,
with the thought,
'I won't stay indulging
in the pleasure of lying down,
the pleasure of reclining,
the pleasure of drowsiness.'
That is how you should train yourself.
[10][pts][olds] "And further, Moggallāna,
should you train yourself:
'I will not visit families
with my pride [literally: my trunk (i.e., an elephant’s trunk)] lifted high.'
That is how you should train yourself.
Among families there are many jobs
that have to be done,
so that people don't pay attention
to a visiting monk.
If a monk visits them
with his trunk lifted high,
the thought will occur to him,
'Now who, I wonder,
has caused a split
between me and this family?
The people seem to have no liking for me.'
Getting nothing,
he becomes abashed.
Abashed, he becomes restless.
Restless, he becomes unrestrained.
Unrestrained, his mind is far from concentration.
"And further, Moggallāna,
should you train yourself:
'I will speak no confrontational speech.'
That is how you should train yourself.
When there is confrontational speech,
a lot of discussion can be expected.
When there is a lot of discussion,
there is restlessness.
One who is restless
becomes unrestrained.
Unrestrained, his mind is far from concentration.
"It's not the case, Moggallāna,
that I praise association of every sort.
But it's not the case
that I dispraise association of every sort.
I don't praise association
with householders and renunciates.
But as for dwelling places
that are free from noise,
free from sound,
their atmosphere devoid of people,
appropriately secluded
for resting undisturbed by human beings:
I praise association
with dwelling places of this sort."
[11][pts][olds] When this was said,
Ven. Moggallāna said to the Blessed One:
"Briefly, lord, in what respect is a monk released
through the ending of craving,
utterly complete,
utterly free from bonds,
a follower of the utterly holy life,
utterly consummate:
foremost among devas and human beings?"
"There is the case, Moggallāna,
where a monk has heard,
'All phenomena are unworthy of attachment.'
Bhk. Thanissaro here changes his previous: "knows all things" to "knows every dhamma". This inserts a doubt where the simple "all things" was clear. Is this to refer to The Dhamma (caps) or 'things'? What is intended by theinstructions is 'all things'. In what way does he know 'all things'? Understanding the statement he knows of all things that they are unworthy of attachment as not being stable, as being painful because they are unstable and he can conclude, deduce infer the fact that because they are out of control in this way such things as are own-made are also not the self.
— p.p.
Having heard that
all phenomena are unworthy of attachment,
he directly knows every dhamma.
Directly knowing every dhamma,
he comprehends every dhamma.
Comprehending every dhamma,
then whatever feeling he experiences
— pleasure, pain, neither pleasure nor pain —
he remains focused on inconstancy,
focused on dispassion,
focused on cessation,
focused on relinquishing
with regard to that feeling.
As he remains focused on inconstancy,
focused on dispassion,
focused on cessation,
focused on relinquishing
with regard to that feeling,
he is unsustained by [doesn’t cling to]
anything in the world.
Unsustained, he is not agitated.
Unagitated, he totally unbinds right within.
He discerns:
'Birth is ended,
the holy life fulfilled,
the task done.
There is nothing further for this world.'
"It is in this respect, Moggallāna,
that a monk,
in brief,
is released through the ending of craving,
utterly complete,
utterly free from bonds,
a follower of the utterly holy life,
utterly consummate:
foremost among devas and human beings."
Of Related Interest:
SN 22:23;
SN 35:23–24;
SN 35:80;
AN 3:134; DTO #137
AN 4:37;
Dhp 277–279;
Sn 2:10;
Thag 1:84;
Thag 2:37
