6 : A Talk Inspiring Non-Return
There is a sutta, SN 55:3, in which a lay follower named Dīghāvu is approaching death. He asks his father, Jotiya, to invite the Buddha to visit him, and the Buddha accepts the invitation. On arrival, the Buddha—in Jotiya’s presence—instructs Dīghāvu to endow himself with the factors of stream-entry. Dīghāvu replies that he is already endowed with them. The Buddha then instructs Dīghāvu to develop six qualities siding with clear knowing: to remain focused on inconstancy with regard to all fabrications, to perceive stress in what’s inconstant, to perceive not-self in what’s stressful, to perceive abandoning, to perceive dispassion, and to perceive cessation. Dīghāvu responds that he already lives in line with those qualities. It’s just that he wanted his father not to be distressed after his passing. The Buddha ends his visit, Dīghāvu dies soon after, and when the Buddha is informed of his passing, he states that Dīghāvu was a non-returner.
This sutta is interesting for two reasons. The first concerns Dīghāvu’s etiquette. In his desire to comfort his father, he didn’t simply claim to be a non-returner. He staged the conversation with the Buddha so that he could make his claims in a more appropriate and effective way. Having the Buddha as his witness was more likely to put his father’s mind at rest.
The second reason is more related to our topic here. It appears that the six qualities siding with clear knowing were the Buddha’s standard instructions for people who have already reached stream-entry so as to inspire them to higher attainments. What’s interesting is that even though sensual desire is one of the next fetters to be abandoned after stream-entry, it’s not explicitly mentioned among the six qualities. Sensual desire would fall under the topics for which the mind should develop dispassion, but it’s striking that the Buddha makes no explicit reference to it. The six qualities could just as well be intended for a non-returner aiming at arahantship.
This same point is true of the one discourse in the Pāli Canon where the listener gains non-return while listening to the Buddha speak: At no point in the discourse is sensual desire mentioned. The discourse could have just as well taken the listener, Pukkusāti, to arahantship.
However, unlike the instructions to Dīghāvu, which make no mention of concentration, the Buddha’s instructions to Pukkusāti place a great deal of emphasis on developing concentration—the path factor mastered at non-return—and on including the development of discernment in the practice of concentration.
The story is one of the most dramatic in the Canon. The Buddha is wandering alone and, as evening falls, he arrives at the house of a potter named Bhaggava. He informs Bhaggava that he would like to spend one night in his shed and is told that another wanderer has already taken up residence there. Still, if the wanderer doesn’t mind, the Buddha is welcome to share it with him.
The Buddha goes to the shed and asks permission to stay. The wanderer, Pukkusāti, calling him “friend,” welcomes him.
They both sit up meditating late into the night. The Buddha, impressed with Pukkusāti’s demeanor, asks who his teacher is. Pukkusāti replies that he has gone forth out of faith in the Buddha, although he has never met him and wouldn’t recognize him if he saw him.
The Buddha offers to teach Pukkusāti the Dhamma. Pukkusāti responds, “As you say, friend.”
The Buddha gives him a long discourse. One of the interesting features of the discourse is that it contains many teachings that the Buddha doesn’t give anywhere else in the Canon. We don’t know how much of the Dhamma Pukkusāti had heard, but the Buddha could have tried to provide him with some hints as to his identity by giving him some of his more famous teachings. But, with only a few exceptions, he doesn’t.
He starts with a list of the topics he will touch on: six properties, six media of sensory contact, eighteen considerations, and four determinations. This is followed by a description of the arahant—who the Buddha calls a sage at peace—and then the introduction ends with an admonition: One should not neglect discernment, should guard the truth, be devoted to relinquishment, and train only for stilling. Only later do we learn that this admonition is related to the four determinations.
After a cursory explanation of the first four items on the list, the Buddha plunges into his real topic: what it means not to neglect discernment.
He reviews the six properties—earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness—and then proceeds to teach a meditation practice based on the properties in which concentration develops in tandem with discernment. The discussion places more emphasis on the discernment side of the practice than on the concentration side, probably because the Buddha had seen that Pukkusāti could already sit long hours in concentration. In fact, the discussion doesn’t explicitly deal with concentration until it picks up the topic of how to direct equanimity to the formless states, but because of Pukkusāti’s tendency toward concentration, he probably recognized the discussion as dealing with concentration from the very beginning.
The Buddha has Pukkusāti focus on each of the six properties in turn. Starting with the five physical properties, he describes how the property is found in the body, and then he recommends focusing on the fact that the property as found in the body is no different from the property as found in the world outside. This leads to the contemplation of the property as “not me, not mine, not my self”—one of the few of the Buddha’s more famous teachings included in the discussion. This contemplation gives rise to a sense of disenchantment toward the property, which then fades from the mind.
When the instructions have made the first five properties, one by one, fade from the mind, there remains only pure consciousness. Here the analysis changes. Instead of focusing on consciousness as not-self, you use pure consciousness to focus on observing how feelings arise from contact and end when the contact ends.
This insight into the fabricated nature of feelings leaves a state of equanimity. This is the point where it becomes obvious that the Buddha is describing not only a discernment practice here, but also a concentration practice. You realize that the equanimity you’ve developed could be directed to any of the dimensions of the formless states and, as a result, could last for a very long time. But then you realize that these states, too, are fabricated, so they wouldn’t last forever. Dismayed by the unreliable, fabricated nature of feelings—both those in ordinary experience and the feeling of equanimity in the formless states—you stop fabricating for the sake of anything at all: either becoming or not becoming. This develops dispassion for any activity, including the activity of the path. The mind is then without clinging, and so is totally unbound.
There follows a description of how the fully awakened mind then experiences feelings “disjoined” from them, and how it realizes that, at death, “all that is experienced, not being relished, will grow cold right here.”
Then you learn that, having learned how not to neglect discernment, you have arrived at the highest noble form of all four determinations.
The Buddha’s discourse then expands on the description of the sage at peace, but if Pukkusāti had been following along with the words of the discourse and applying them to his mind, he would have already reached non-return at the point where the Buddha described how not fabricating brought about total unbinding.
This was probably when Pukkusāti realized who the Buddha was. In other words, in seeing the Dhamma, he recognized the Buddha. His amazement at realizing that the Buddha had come to him may have prevented him from giving full attention to the remaining parts of the discourse.
At the end of the discourse, Pukkusāti asks the Buddha’s forgiveness for having called him “friend.” The Buddha readily grants forgiveness, but when Pukkusāti asks for ordination, the Buddha says he will first have to find robes and a bowl. While searching for these things, Pukkusāti is killed by a runaway cow. Monks bring the news to the Buddha, who tells them that Pukkusāti has appeared in a Brahmā realm. There he will gain total unbinding, never to return to this world.
There are several points worth noting here.
• The Buddha’s approach to inspiring Pukkusāti to have conviction in him is unusual. He doesn’t reveal his identity, and—as we’ve already noted—he focuses on teachings that he doesn’t give anywhere else in the Canon. The four determinations are mentioned by the Buddha nowhere else in the suttas, and even though he does mention the six properties in other several suttas, this is the only passage that discusses how all six can be used as objects of concentration and discernment. So, in addressing Pukkusāti, the Buddha provides very few points of doctrine by which Pukkusāti could have recognized him. Instead, he relies on what he called the “miracle of instruction,” which DN 11 defines as follows:
“There is the case where a monk gives instruction in this way: ‘Direct your thought in this way, don’t direct it in that. Attend to things in this way, don’t attend to them in that. Let go of this, enter and remain in that.’”
This mode of instruction is miraculous in that, as the listener follows the instructions, the rewards of doing so become more and more impressive, culminating, ideally, in a noble attainment. That attainment is what proves that the instruction is genuinely miraculous.
We can imagine Pukkusāti’s conviction in the Buddha growing as he sees, step by step, the rewards of following his instructions until he experiences the deathless. That’s when he knows for sure that the person teaching him is the Buddha. This is in line with the discussion of how conviction is verified, as explained in MN 27: You know the Buddha was truly awakened because you’ve directly seen the deathless by following his instructions.
• The discussion of the four determinations is quite complex. They’re described on two levels, as means and ends. As means, each is accompanied by a verb that tells how it should be developed: One should not neglect discernment, should guard the truth, should be devoted to relinquishment, and should train only for stilling. On the level of ends, each determination is associated, in its highest noble form, with the attainment of unbinding: The knowledge of the passing away of all suffering and stress is the highest noble discernment. Unbinding, the undeceptive, is the highest noble truth. The renunciation of all mental acquisitions is the highest noble relinquishment. The stilling of passions, aversions, and delusions is the highest noble stilling.
The organization of the sutta shows that you can attain these noble forms of the four determinations by focusing on the activity associated with only one: not neglecting discernment. None of the other activities associated with the other determinations are explicitly described. This implies that those activities are actually accomplished in the course of not neglecting discernment, and it’s good to reflect on how this is so.
We can start with the question that the Buddha says lies at the beginning of discernment: “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness? (MN 135)” This question lies behind the way discernment is applied to the six properties as described in the Buddha’s meditation instructions. Each property is contemplated as a possible source of a truly reliable happiness. Because unbinding is classed as a truth and is said to be true because it’s undeceptive, that means that the word “truth” is not limited to the truth of statements, as in MN 95, but can also apply to states and objects of mind. When you see that a property you focus on is unreliable—or, in the case of consciousness, when the objects on which it could be established are seen as unreliable—then you let go of it and search for something more reliable. This is how you guard the truth and stay devoted to relinquishment at the same time. This brings the mind to greater and greater levels of stillness, until arriving at the ultimate stillness of unbinding. That’s how you train only for stilling.
• The meditation practice described here is an example of calm and insight developed in tandem (AN 4:170). What’s distinctive here is that in most other descriptions of how insight is developed based on the practice of jhāna—such as those given in MN 52 [§18], MN 64 [§16], and AN 9:36 [§17]—the impression is that you first develop concentration until you’ve mastered it, then you analyze it using the perceptions that focus appropriate attention on its drawbacks. Here, however, the discernment is used in the course of the practice of concentration to take it to deeper levels. (Another example of this approach is given in MN 121.) You use the perceptions of appropriate attention to peel away, one by one, each property on which you focus, leaving just pure consciousness. You apply that consciousness to observing feelings as they are originated and pass away, leaving only equanimity. Then, when you see the prospect of reaching the highest levels of concentration based on that equanimity, the insight inherent in the concentration you’ve already developed will naturally focus on the drawbacks of whatever you could focus on, inspiring the dispassion that leads to cessation and unbinding.
• The pure consciousness that remains when the physical properties fade from the mind is sometimes mistaken for awakened consciousness. But the discussion in this sutta shows that it’s fabricated and known through the medium of the intellect, the sixth of the six senses. So it cannot qualify as the awakened consciousness described in MN 49, which is not known through the six senses at all.
• The description toward the end of the discourse as to how an arahant would experience death is very unusual. The Buddha gives this description elsewhere in the Canon, but he never does so in the context of a talk where a listener has gained a noble attainment during the talk. His reason for including it here may have to do with Pukkusāti’s emotional state while listening to the talk. When he experienced the deathless and realized who the Buddha was, his surprise and joy must have been mixed with a sense of embarrassment for not having recognized the Buddha and for having addressed him as “friend.” That cluster of emotions would then have been the factor preventing him from focusing on abandoning any Dhamma-passion or Dhamma-delight for the deathless and achieving arahantship then and there. To make up for this fact, and perhaps because he foresaw Pukkusāti’s imminent passing, the Buddha tried to prepare him for how he should deal with the feelings of pain that would come with his violent death.
The description of how an arahant experiences death is identical to the description given in Iti 44: “All that is experienced, not being relished, will grow cold right here.” This reference to “all” covers all six senses (SN 35:23). However, as we’ve noted, awakened consciousness—which the Buddha termed “consciousness without surface”—is known independently of the six sense media (MN 49), so it will not be affected when they grow cold.
• The discussion of the sage at peace toward the end of the Buddha’s talk is expressed in terms of how the sage stands where the currents of supposition do not flow. The image of currents flowing calls to mind the āsavas, or effluents, from which the arahant is freed. The suppositions are framed primarily in terms of present and future conceit: “I am,” “I shall be,” “I shall not be.” This conceit is one of the fetters of becoming from which Pukkusāti is not yet released. Perhaps the Buddha’s intention here is to give instructions that Pukkusāti can follow when he appears in a Brahmā world.
• At the end of the sutta, when the monks inform the Buddha of Pukkusāti’s death, the Buddha comments that Pukkusāti was wise, and then adds, “He practiced the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma and didn’t pester me with issues related to the Dhamma.”
This is an interesting comment coming from someone who was careful to encourage questions from his listeners, and who described the training he gave to the monks as “training in cross-questioning” (AN 2:46). Perhaps he was praising Pukkusāti for not treating the Dhamma as a topic for discussion and debate, and for instead putting the teachings into practice for the purpose of solving the problem of suffering and stress then and there.
The Buddha made the same comment with regard to Bāhiya of the Bark Cloth, as we’ll see in Chapter 8.
Readings
§ 44. I have heard that on one occasion, as the Blessed One was wandering among the Magadhans, he entered Rājagaha, went to the potter Bhaggava, and on arrival said to him, “If it’s no inconvenience for you, Bhaggava, I will stay for one night in your shed.”
“It’s no inconvenience for me, lord, but there’s a wanderer who has already taken up residence there. If he gives his permission, you may stay there as you like.”
Now at that time, a clansman named Pukkusāti had left home and gone forth into homelessness through faith, out of dedication to the Blessed One. He was the one who had already taken up residence in the potter’s shed. So the Blessed One approached Ven. Pukkusāti and, on arrival, said to him, “If it is no inconvenience for you, monk, I will stay one night in the shed.”
“The shed is roomy, my friend. Stay as you like.”
So the Blessed One, entering the potter’s shed and setting out a spread of grass to one side, sat down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore. He spent most of the night sitting (in meditation). Ven. Pukkusāti also spent most of the night sitting (in meditation). The thought occurred to the Blessed One, “How inspiring is the way this clansman behaves! What if I were to question him?” So he said to Ven. Pukkusāti, “Out of dedication to whom, monk, have you gone forth? Who is your teacher? Of whose Dhamma do you approve?”
“There is, my friend, Gotama the contemplative, a son of the Sakyans, gone forth from a Sakyan clan. Now, this excellent report about Master Gotama has been spread about: ‘Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in clear-knowing & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of people fit to be tamed, teacher of devas & human beings, awakened, blessed.’ I have gone forth out of dedication to that Blessed One. That Blessed One is my teacher. It is of that Blessed One’s Dhamma that I approve.”
“But where, monk, is that Blessed One—worthy & rightly self-awakened—staying now?”
“There is, my friend, a city in the northern lands named Sāvatthī. That is where the Blessed One—worthy & rightly self-awakened—is staying now.”
“Have you ever seen that Blessed One before? On seeing him, would you recognize him?”
“No, my friend, I have never seen the Blessed One before, nor on seeing him would I recognize him.”
Then the thought occurred to the Blessed One: “It’s out of dedication to me that this clansman has gone forth. What if I were to teach him the Dhamma?” So he said to Ven. Pukkusāti, “I will teach you the Dhamma, monk. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”
“As you say, friend,” Ven. Pukkusāti responded to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said: “A person has six properties, six media of sensory contact, eighteen considerations, & four determinations. He stands where the currents of supposition do not flow. And when the currents of supposition do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace. One should not neglect discernment, should guard the truth, be devoted to relinquishment, and train only for stilling. This is the summary of the analysis of the six properties.
“‘A person has six properties.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said? These are the six properties: the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, the wind property, the space property, the consciousness property. ‘A person has six properties.’ Thus it was said, and in reference to this was it said.
“‘A person has six media of sensory contact.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said? These are the six media of sensory contact: the eye as a medium of sensory contact, the ear… the nose… the tongue… the body… the intellect as a medium of sensory contact. ‘A person has six media of sensory contact.’ Thus it was said, and in reference to this was it said.
“‘A person has eighteen considerations.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said? These are the eighteen considerations: On seeing a form with the eye, one considers a form that can act as a basis for joy, a form that can act as a basis for sadness, or a form that can act as a basis for equanimity. On hearing a sound with the ear.… On smelling an aroma with the nose.… On tasting a flavor with the tongue.… On touching a tactile sensation with the body.… On cognizing an idea with the intellect, one considers an idea that can act as a basis for joy, an idea that can act as a basis for sadness, or an idea that can act as a basis for equanimity. Thus there are six considerations conducive to joy, six conducive to sadness, & six conducive to equanimity. ‘A person has eighteen considerations.’ Thus it was said, and in reference to this was it said.
“‘A person has four determinations.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said? These are the four determinations: the determination for discernment, the determination for truth, the determination for relinquishment, the determination for stilling. ‘A person has four determinations.’ Thus it was said, and in reference to this was it said.
“‘One should not neglect discernment, should guard the truth, be devoted to relinquishment, and train only for stilling.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said? And how does one not neglect discernment? These are the six properties: the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, the wind property, the space property, the consciousness property.
“And what is the earth property? The earth property can be either internal or external. What is the internal earth property? Anything internal, within oneself, that’s hard, solid, & sustained (by craving): head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, contents of the stomach, feces, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s hard, solid, and sustained: This is called the internal earth property. Now, both the internal earth property & the external earth property are simply earth property. And that should be seen as it has come to be with right discernment: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it has come to be with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the earth property and makes the earth property fade from the mind.
“And what is the liquid property? The liquid property may be either internal or external. What is the internal liquid property? Anything internal, within oneself, that’s liquid, watery, & sustained: bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, oil, saliva, mucus, oil-of-the-joints, urine, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s liquid, watery, & sustained: This is called the internal liquid property. Now, both the internal liquid property & the external liquid property are simply liquid property. And that should be seen as it has come to be with right discernment: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it has come to be with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the liquid property and makes the liquid property fade from the mind.
“And what is the fire property? The fire property may be either internal or external. What is the internal fire property? Anything internal, within oneself, that’s fire, fiery, & sustained: that by which (the body) is warmed, aged, & consumed with fever; and that by which what is eaten, drunk, chewed, & savored gets properly digested; or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s fire, fiery, & sustained: This is called the internal fire property. Now, both the internal fire property & the external fire property are simply fire property. And that should be seen as it has come to be with right discernment: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it has come to be with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the fire property and makes the fire property fade from the mind.
“And what is the wind property? The wind property may be either internal or external. What is the internal wind property? Anything internal, within oneself, that’s wind, windy, & sustained: up-going winds, down-going winds, winds in the stomach, winds in the intestines, winds that course through the body, in-and-out breathing, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s wind, windy, & sustained: This is called the internal wind property. Now, both the internal wind property & the external wind property are simply wind property. And that should be seen as it has come to be with right discernment: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it has come to be with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the wind property and makes the wind property fade from the mind.
“And what is the space property? The space property may be either internal or external. What is the internal space property? Anything internal, within oneself, that’s space, spatial, & sustained: the holes of the ears, the nostrils, the mouth, the (passage) whereby what is eaten, drunk, consumed, & tasted gets swallowed, and where it collects, and whereby it is excreted from below, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s space, spatial, & sustained: This is called the internal space property. Now, both the internal space property & the external space property are simply space property. And that should be seen as it has come to be with right discernment: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it has come to be with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the space property and makes the space property fade from the mind.
“There remains only consciousness: pure & bright. What does one cognize with that consciousness? One cognizes ‘pleasure.’ One cognizes ‘pain.’ One cognizes ‘neither pleasure nor pain.’ In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure, there arises a feeling of pleasure. When sensing a feeling of pleasure, one discerns that ‘I am sensing a feeling of pleasure.’ One discerns that ‘With the cessation of that very sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure, the concomitant feeling—the feeling of pleasure that has arisen in dependence on the sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure—ceases, is stilled.’ In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pain.… In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, there arises a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain. When sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, one discerns that ‘I am sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain.’ One discerns that ‘With the cessation of that very sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, the concomitant feeling—the feeling of neither pleasure nor pain that has arisen in dependence on the sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain—ceases, is stilled.’
“Just as when, from the friction & conjunction of two fire sticks, heat is born and fire appears, and from the separation & disjunction of those very same fire sticks, the concomitant heat ceases, is stilled; in the same way, in dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure, there arises a feeling of pleasure.… In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pain.… In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, there arises a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain.… One discerns that ‘With the cessation of that very sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, the concomitant feeling… ceases, is stilled.’
“There remains only equanimity: pure & bright, pliant, malleable, & luminous. Just as if a dexterous goldsmith or goldsmith’s apprentice were to prepare a furnace, heat up a crucible, and, taking gold with a pair of tongs, place it in the crucible: He would blow on it time & again, sprinkle water on it time & again, examine it time & again, so that the gold would become refined, well-refined, thoroughly refined, flawless, free from dross, pliant, malleable, & luminous. Then whatever sort of ornament he had in mind—whether a belt, an earring, a necklace, or a gold chain—it would serve his purpose.
“In the same way, there remains only equanimity: pure & bright, pliant, malleable, & luminous. One discerns that ‘If I were to direct equanimity as pure & bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of space, I would develop the mind along those lines, and thus this equanimity of mine—thus supported, thus sustained—would last for a long time. One discerns that ‘If I were to direct equanimity as pure and bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness… the dimension of nothingness… the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, I would develop the mind along those lines, and thus this equanimity of mine—thus supported, thus sustained—would last for a long time.’
“One discerns that ‘If I were to direct equanimity as pure & bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of space and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be fabricated. One discerns that ‘If I were to direct equanimity as pure and bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness… the dimension of nothingness… the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be fabricated.’ One neither fabricates nor mentally fashions for the sake of becoming or not becoming. This being the case, one is not sustained by anything [doesn’t cling to anything] in the world. Unsustained, one is not agitated. Unagitated, one is totally unbound right within. One discerns that ‘Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.’
“If sensing a feeling of pleasure, one discerns it as ‘inconstant.’ One discerns it as ‘not grasped at.’ One discerns it as ‘not relished.’ If sensing a feeling of pain, one discerns it as ‘inconstant.’ One discerns it as ‘not grasped at.’ One discerns it as ‘not relished.’ If sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, one discerns it as ‘inconstant.’ One discerns it as ‘not grasped at.’ One discerns it as ‘not relished.’
“If sensing a feeling of pleasure, one senses it disjoined from it. If sensing a feeling of pain, one senses it disjoined from it. If sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, one senses it disjoined from it. When sensing a feeling limited to the body, one discerns, ‘I am sensing a feeling limited to the body.’ When sensing a feeling limited to life, one discerns, ‘I am sensing a feeling limited to life.’ One discerns, ‘With the break-up of the body, after the termination of life, all that is experienced, not being relished, will grow cold right here.’
“Just as an oil lamp would burn in dependence on oil & wick and, from the termination of the oil & wick, it would go out unnourished; in the same way, when sensing a feeling limited to the body, one discerns, ‘I am sensing a feeling limited to the body.’ When sensing a feeling limited to life, one discerns, ‘I am sensing a feeling limited to life.’ One discerns, ‘With the break-up of the body, after the termination of life, all that is experienced, not being relished, will grow cold right here.’
“Thus a monk so endowed is endowed with the highest determination for discernment, for this—the knowledge of the passing away of all suffering & stress—is the highest noble discernment.
“His release, being founded on truth, doesn’t fluctuate, for whatever is deceptive is false; unbinding—the undeceptive—is true. Thus a monk so endowed is endowed with the highest determination for truth, for this—unbinding, the undeceptive—is the highest noble truth.
“Whereas formerly he foolishly had taken on mental acquisitions and brought them to completion, he has now abandoned them, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Thus a monk so endowed is endowed with the highest determination for relinquishment, for this—the renunciation of all mental acquisitions—is the highest noble relinquishment.
“Whereas formerly he foolishly had greed—as well as desire & infatuation—he has now abandoned them, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Whereas formerly he foolishly had malice—as well as ill-will & hatred—he has now abandoned them.… Whereas formerly he foolishly had ignorance—as well as delusion & confusion—he has now abandoned them, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Thus a monk so endowed is endowed with the highest determination for stilling, for this—the stilling of passions, aversions, & delusions—is the highest noble stilling. ‘One should not neglect discernment, should guard the truth, be devoted to relinquishment, and train only for stilling.’ Thus it was said, and in reference to this was it said.
“‘He stands where the currents of supposition do not flow. And when the currents of supposition do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.’ Thus it was said. With reference to what was it said? ‘I am’ is a supposition. ‘I am this’ is a supposition. ‘I shall be’ is a supposition. ‘I shall not be’ … ‘I shall be possessed of form’ … ‘I shall not be possessed of form’ … ‘I shall be percipient’ … ‘I shall not be percipient’ … ‘I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient’ is a supposition. Supposition is a disease, supposition is a cancer, supposition is an arrow. By going beyond all supposition, he is called a sage at peace.
“And further, a sage at peace is not born, doesn’t age, doesn’t die, is unagitated, and is free from longing. He has nothing whereby he would be born. Not being born, will he age? Not aging, will he die? Not dying, will he be agitated? Not being agitated, for what will he long? It was in reference to this that it was said, ‘He stands where the currents of supposition do not flow. And when the currents of supposition do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.’ Now, monk, you should remember this, my brief analysis of the six properties.”
Then the thought occurred to Ven. Pukkusāti: “Surely, the Teacher has come to me! Surely, the One Well-Gone has come to me! Surely, the Rightly Self-awakened One has come to me!” Getting up from his seat, arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, and bowing down with his head at the Blessed One’s feet, he said, “A transgression has overcome me, lord, in that I was so foolish, so muddle-headed, and so unskilled as to assume that it was proper to address the Blessed One as ‘friend.’ May the Blessed One please accept this confession of my transgression as such, so that I may restrain myself in the future.”
“Yes, monk, a transgression overcame you in that you were so foolish, so muddle-headed, and so unskilled as to assume that it was proper to address me as ‘friend.’ But because you see your transgression as such and make amends in accordance with the Dhamma, we accept your confession. For it is a cause of growth in the discipline of the noble ones when, seeing a transgression as such, one makes amends in accordance with the Dhamma and exercises restraint in the future.”
“Lord, may I receive full acceptance [ordination as a monk] from the Blessed One?”
“And are your robes & bowl complete?”
“No, lord, my robes & bowl are not complete.”
“Tathāgatas do not give full acceptance to one whose robes & bowl are incomplete.”
Then Ven. Pukkusāti, delighting & rejoicing in the Blessed One’s words, got up from his seat, bowed down to the Blessed One, circumambulated him, keeping him on his right, and left in search of robes & a bowl.
. And while he was searching for robes & a bowl, a runaway cow killed him.
Then a large number of monks approached the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As they were sitting there, they said to him, “Lord, the clansman Pukkusāti, whom the Blessed One instructed with a brief instruction, has died. What is his destination? What is his future state?”
“Monks, the clansman Pukkusāti was wise. He practiced the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma and didn’t pester me with issues related to the Dhamma. With the destruction of the five lower fetters, he has arisen spontaneously (in the Brahmā worlds), there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world.”
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
