9.
The Discourse on Two Kinds of Thought
206. Thus have I heard - On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's park. There the Blessed One addressed the monks - "Monks." "Venerable sir," those monks assented to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this -
"Before the enlightenment, monks, while still unenlightened, being just a Bodhisatta, this occurred to me - 'What if I were to dwell having divided my thoughts into two parts.' So I, monks, whatever sensual thought, whatever thought of anger, whatever thought of violence - this I made one part; whatever thought of renunciation, whatever thought of non-anger, whatever thought of non-violence - this I made the second part.
207. "For me, monks, dwelling thus diligent, ardent, and resolute, a sensual thought arises. I understand thus - 'This sensual thought has arisen in me. And it leads to affliction of oneself, leads to affliction of others, leads to affliction of both, obstructing wisdom, connected with vexation, not leading to Nibbāna.' When I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of oneself,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of others,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of both,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It obstructs wisdom, is connected with vexation, does not lead to Nibbāna,' it passed away. So I, monks, abandoned, dispelled, and put an end to each sensual thought as it arose.
208. "For me, monks, dwelling thus diligent, ardent, and resolute, a thought of anger arises... etc. a thought of violence arises. I understand thus - 'This thought of violence has arisen in me. And it leads to affliction of oneself, leads to affliction of others, leads to affliction of both, obstructing wisdom, connected with vexation, not leading to Nibbāna.' When I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of oneself,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of others,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It leads to affliction of both,' it passed away; when I considered, monks, 'It obstructs wisdom, is connected with vexation, does not lead to Nibbāna,' it passed away. So I, monks, abandoned, dispelled, and put an end to each thought of violence as it arose.
"Whatever, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines, in that way the inclination of the mind becomes. If, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines sensual thought, he has abandoned the thought of renunciation, he has made sensual thought abundant, his mind inclines to sensual thought. If, monks, a thought of anger... etc. If, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines thought of violence, he has abandoned the thought of non-violence, he has made thought of violence abundant, his mind inclines to thought of violence. Just as, monks, in the last month of the rains, in the autumn season, when the corn is thick, a cowherd would guard the cattle. He would strike those cattle here and there with a stick, beat them back, restrain them, and keep them in check. What is the reason for this? For that cowherd, monks, sees on that account killing or imprisonment or loss or blame. Just so indeed, monks, I saw the danger, degradation, and defilement of unwholesome mental states, and the benefit and cleansing aspect of renunciation in wholesome mental states.
209. "For me, monks, dwelling thus diligent, ardent, and resolute, a thought of renunciation arises. I understand thus - 'This thought of renunciation has arisen in me. And it does not lead to affliction of oneself, does not lead to affliction of others, does not lead to affliction of both, increasing wisdom, not connected with vexation, leading to Nibbāna.' Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a night, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a day, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a night and day, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. And yet, if I were to think about and ponder upon it for too long, my body would become weary. When the body is weary, the mind would become disturbed. When the mind is disturbed, the mind is far from concentration. So I, monks, internally steady the mind, settle it, make it one-pointed, and concentrate it. What is the reason for this? 'Let not my mind become disturbed.'
210. "For me, monks, dwelling thus diligent, ardent, and resolute, a thought of non-anger arises... etc. a thought of non-violence arises. I understand thus - 'This thought of non-violence has arisen in me. And it does not lead to affliction of oneself, does not lead to affliction of others, does not lead to affliction of both, increasing wisdom, not connected with vexation, leading to Nibbāna.' Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a night, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a day, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. Even if I were to think about and ponder upon it for a night and day, monks, I do not see any fear on that account. And yet, if I were to think about and ponder upon it for too long, my body would become weary. When the body is weary, the mind would become disturbed. When the mind is disturbed, the mind is far from concentration. So I, monks, internally steady the mind, settle it, make it one-pointed, and concentrate it. What is the reason for this? 'Let not my mind become disturbed.'
"Whatever, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines, in that way the inclination of the mind becomes. If, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines thought of renunciation, he has abandoned sensual thought, he has made thought of renunciation abundant, his mind inclines to thought of renunciation. If thought of non-anger, monks... etc. If, monks, a monk frequently reflects upon and examines thought of non-violence, he has abandoned thought of violence, he has made thought of non-violence abundant, his mind inclines to thought of non-violence. Just as, monks, in the last month of summer, when all the crops have been brought to the village outskirts, a cowherd would guard the cattle; for him, whether gone to the foot of a tree or gone to the open air, there is only the need for mindfulness - 'These are the cattle.' Just so, monks, there was only the need for mindfulness - 'These are the mental states.'
211. "My energy, monks, was aroused and unsluggish, mindfulness was established and unconfused, the body was calm and not excited, the mind was concentrated and fully focused. So I, monks, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome mental states, entered and dwelt in the first meditative absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. With the subsiding of applied and sustained thought, I entered and dwelt in the second meditative absorption, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without applied thought and without sustained thought, with rapture and happiness born of concentration. With the fading away of rapture, I dwelt equanimous, mindful and fully aware, and experienced happiness with the body - that which the noble ones declare: 'One who is equanimous and mindful, one who dwells in happiness' - I entered and dwelt in the third meditative absorption. With the abandoning of pleasure and with the abandoning of pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and displeasure, I entered and dwelt in the fourth meditative absorption, which has neither-unpleasant-nor-pleasant and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.
212. "When the mind was thus concentrated, pure, bright, without blemish, free from impurities, supple, wieldy, stable, and having attained imperturbability, I directed and inclined the mind towards the knowledge of recollecting past lives. I recollect manifold past lives. As follows - one birth... etc. Thus with aspects and terms I recollect manifold past lives. This, monks, was the first true knowledge attained by me in the first watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed, true knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed, light arose; as happens for one dwelling diligent, ardent, and resolute.
213. "When the mind was thus concentrated, pure, bright, without blemish, free from impurities, supple, wieldy, stable, and having attained imperturbability, I directed and inclined the mind towards the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. With the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and arising... etc. 'These beings indeed, sirs, endowed with bodily misconduct... etc. Thus with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understand beings according to their actions. This, monks, was the second true knowledge attained by me in the middle watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed, true knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed, light arose; as happens for one dwelling diligent, ardent, and resolute.
214. "When the mind was thus concentrated, pure, bright, without blemish, free from impurities, supple, wieldy, stable, and having attained imperturbability, I directed and inclined the mind towards the knowledge of the elimination of mental corruptions. I directly knew as it really is: 'This is suffering'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' I directly knew as it really is: 'These are the mental corruptions'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the origin of mental corruptions'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the cessation of mental corruptions'; I directly knew as it really is: 'This is the practice leading to the cessation of mental corruptions.' For me knowing thus, seeing thus, the mind became liberated from the mental corruption of sensuality, the mind became liberated from the mental corruption of existence, the mind became liberated from the mental corruption of ignorance. When liberated, there was the knowledge: 'Liberated.' I directly knew: 'Birth is eliminated, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no more of this state of being.' This, monks, was the third true knowledge attained by me in the last watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed, true knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed, light arose; as happens for one dwelling diligent, ardent, and resolute.
215. "Just as, monks, in a forest grove there is a great sloping lake. A great herd of deer might dwell in dependence on it. For them some man might appear wishing for their harm, wishing for their detriment, wishing for their lack of freedom from bondage. He would close off whatever path was secure, safe, and leading to joy, and would open up a wrong path, would set up a decoy deer, would place a tethered doe. Thus indeed, monks, that great herd of deer would at a later time come to calamity and disaster. But then, monks, for that very great herd of deer some man might appear wishing for their welfare, wishing for their benefit, wishing for their freedom from bondage. He would open up whatever path was secure, safe, and leading to joy, would close off the wrong path, would remove the decoy deer, would destroy the tethered doe. Thus indeed, monks, that great herd of deer would at a later time attain growth, increase, and expansion.
"This simile, monks, has been made by me for the purpose of conveying the meaning. And here this is the meaning - 'The great sloping lake', monks, this is a designation for sensual pleasures. 'The great herd of deer', monks, this is a designation for beings. 'The man wishing for harm, wishing for detriment, wishing for lack of freedom from bondage', monks, this is a designation for Māra the Evil One. 'The wrong path', monks, this is a designation for the eightfold wrong path, as follows - wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration. 'The decoy deer', monks, this is a designation for delight and lust. 'The tethered doe', monks, this is a designation for ignorance. 'The man wishing for welfare, wishing for benefit, wishing for freedom from bondage', monks, this is a designation for the Truth-finder, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. 'The secure path, safe, leading to joy', monks, this is a designation for the noble eightfold path, as follows - right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"Thus indeed, monks, the secure path, safe, leading to joy has been opened by me, the wrong path has been closed, the decoy deer has been removed, the tethered doe has been destroyed. Whatever, monks, is to be done by a Teacher for disciples, seeking their welfare, compassionate, out of compassion, that has been done by me for you. These, monks, are tree-roots, these are empty houses; meditate, monks, do not be negligent; do not be remorseful afterwards. This is our instruction to you."
This is what the Blessed One said. Those monks, delighted, rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said.
The Discourse on Two Kinds of Applied Thought is concluded as ninth.