To Dīghāvu
Dīghāvu Sutta  (SN 55:3)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Forest, the Squirrels’ Sanctuary. And on that occasion Dīghāvu the lay follower was diseased, in pain, severely ill. He said to his father, Jotiya1 the householder, “Come, householder. Go to the Blessed One and, on arrival, pay homage to his feet with your head in my name and say ‘Lord, Dīghāvu the lay follower is diseased, in pain, severely ill. He pays homage with his head to the Blessed One’s feet.’ Then say: ‘It would be good if the Blessed One would visit the home of Dīghāvu the lay follower, out of sympathy for him.’”

Responding, “As you say, dear,” to Dīghāvu the lay follower, Jotiya the householder went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said, “Lord, Dīghāvu the lay follower is diseased, in pain, severely ill. He pays homage with his head to the Blessed One’s feet. He says, ‘It would be good if the Blessed One would visit the home of Dīghāvu the lay follower, out of sympathy for him.’”

The Blessed One acquiesced with silence.

Then—having adjusted his under robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe—the Blessed One went to the home of Dīghāvu the lay follower. On arrival, he sat down on a seat made ready and said to Dīghāvu: “I hope you are getting better, Dīghāvu. I hope you are comfortable. I hope that your pains are lessening and not increasing. I hope that there are signs of their lessening, and not of their increasing.”

[Dīghāvu:] “I am not getting better, lord. I am not comfortable. My extreme pains are increasing, not lessening. There are signs of their increasing, and not of their lessening.”

“Therefore, Dīghāvu, you should train yourself: ‘I will be endowed with verified confidence in the Awakened One: “Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, blessed.”

“‘I will be endowed with verified confidence in the Dhamma: “The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the wise for themselves.”

“‘I will be endowed with verified confidence in the Saṅgha: “The Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples who have practiced well… who have practiced straight-forwardly… who have practiced methodically… who have practiced masterfully—in other words, the four types of noble disciples when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types—they are the Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.”

“‘I will be endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the observant, ungrasped at, leading to concentration.’

“That, Dīghāvu, is how you should train yourself.”

“Lord, with regard to these four factors of stream-entry taught by the Blessed One, these things exist in me, and I live in line with them. For I am endowed with verified confidence in the Buddha… Dhamma… Saṅgha… I am endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones… leading to concentration.”

“Then, Dīghāvu, established in these four factors of stream-entry, you should develop these six qualities siding with clear knowing: There is the case where you remain focused on inconstancy with regard to all fabrications, perceiving stress in what’s inconstant, perceiving not-self in what’s stressful, perceiving abandoning, perceiving dispassion, perceiving cessation.2 That, Dīghāvu, is how you should train yourself.”

“Lord, with regard to these six qualities siding with clear knowing taught by the Blessed One, these things exist in me, and I live in line with them. For I remain focused on inconstancy with regard to all fabrications, perceiving stress in what’s inconstant, perceiving not-self in what’s stressful, perceiving abandoning, perceiving dispassion, perceiving cessation. It’s just that this thought occurs to me, ‘May Jotiya the householder not fall into distress after I’m gone.’”3

[Jotiya:] “Don’t pay attention to that, dear Dīghāvu. Please, dear Dīghāvu, pay attention just to what the Blessed One is saying.”

Then the Blessed One, having given this instruction to Dīghāvu the lay follower, got up from his seat and left. Not long after he left, Dīghāvu the lay follower died.

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, Dīghāvu the lay follower, whom the Blessed One instructed with a brief instruction, has died. What is his destination? What is his future state?”

“Monks, Dīghāvu the lay follower was wise. He practiced the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma and did not pester me with issues related to the Dhamma. With the destruction of the five lower fetters, he has arisen spontaneously (in the Brahmā worlds4), there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world.”