8.
The Discourse with Gopaka Moggallāna
79. Thus have I heard - On one occasion the Venerable Ānanda was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels' Feeding Ground, not long after the Blessed One had attained final Nibbāna. Now at that time King Ajātasattu Vedehiputta of Magadha was having Rājagaha restored, being suspicious of King Pajjota. Then the Venerable Ānanda, having dressed in the earlier period of the day, taking his bowl and robe, entered Rājagaha for almsfood. Then this occurred to the Venerable Ānanda: "It is still very early to walk for almsfood in Rājagaha. What if I were to approach the workplace of the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna, where the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna is?"
Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the workplace of the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna, where the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna was. The brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna saw the Venerable Ānanda coming from afar. Having seen them, he said this to the Venerable Ānanda - "Come, venerable Ānanda. Welcome to the venerable Ānanda. It has been a long time, venerable Ānanda, since you made this occasion, that is to say, for coming here. Let the venerable Ānanda sit down, this seat is laid down." The Venerable Ānanda sat down on the prepared seat. The brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna too, having taken a certain low seat, sat down to one side. Seated to one side, the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna said this to the Venerable Ānanda: "Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk who is endowed in every way, in all respects, with those qualities with which that Master Gotama was endowed, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself?" "There is not, brahmin, even one monk who is endowed in every way, in all respects, with those qualities with which that Blessed One was endowed, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. For, brahmin, the Blessed One was the producer of the unarisen path, the generator of the unproduced path, the declarer of the undeclared path, the knower of the path, the expert in the path, skilled in the path; but now the disciples dwell following the path, having become endowed with it afterwards." And this discussion of the Venerable Ānanda with the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna was not finished.
Then the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, while inspecting the works in Rājagaha, approached the workplace of the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna, where the Venerable Ānanda was; having approached, he exchanged friendly greetings with the Venerable Ānanda. Having concluded the pleasant and memorable talk, he sat down to one side. Seated to one side, the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, said this to the Venerable Ānanda: "What discussion were you having as you sat together here, dear Ānanda? And what was the conversation that was interrupted?" "Here, brahmin, the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna said thus to me: 'Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk who is endowed in every way, in all respects, with those qualities with which that Master Gotama was endowed, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself?' When this was said, brahmin, I said this to the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna: 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who is endowed in every way, in all respects, with those qualities with which that Blessed One was endowed, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. For, brahmin, the Blessed One was the producer of the unarisen path, the generator of the unproduced path, the declarer of the undeclared path, the knower of the path, the expert in the path, skilled in the path; but now the disciples dwell following the path, having become endowed with it afterwards.' This, brahmin, was our discussion with the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna that was interrupted. Then you arrived."
80. "Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk who was appointed by that Master Gotama - 'This one will be your refuge after my passing', whom you might now approach?" "There is not, brahmin, even one monk who was appointed by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself - 'This one will be your refuge after my passing', whom we might now approach." "But is there, dear Ānanda, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - 'This one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing', whom you might now approach?" "There is not, brahmin, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - 'This one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing', whom we might now approach." "But being thus without refuge, dear Ānanda, what is the cause of your concord?" "We are not, brahmin, without refuge; we have a refuge, brahmin; we have the Teaching as our refuge."
"'Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk who was appointed by that Master Gotama - this one will be your refuge after my passing, whom you might now approach?' - thus asked, you say 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who was appointed by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself - this one will be your refuge after my passing, whom we might now approach'; 'But is there, dear Ānanda, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - this one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing, whom you might now approach?' - thus asked, you say 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - this one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing, whom we might now approach' - you say; 'But being thus without refuge, dear Ānanda, what is the cause of your concord?' - thus asked, you say 'We are not, brahmin, without refuge; we have a refuge, brahmin; we have the Teaching as our refuge.' But how, dear Ānanda, is the meaning of this statement to be seen?"
81. "There is indeed, brahmin, a training rule laid down for monks by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself, the Pātimokkha has been recited. We, as many as dwell in dependence on one village territory, on that uposatha day we all gather together in one place; having gathered together, we request whoever is competent in that. If while that is being recited there is an offence by a monk, there is a transgression, we deal with that according to the Teaching, according to the instruction."
"It seems the sirs do not make us act; the Teaching makes us act." "Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk whom you now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on whom do you dwell?" "There is not, brahmin, even one monk whom we now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on whom we dwell."
"'Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk who was appointed by that Master Gotama - this one will be your refuge after my passing, whom you might now approach?' - thus asked, you say 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who was appointed by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself - this one will be your refuge after my passing, whom we might now approach'; 'But is there, dear Ānanda, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - this one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing, whom you might now approach?' - thus asked, you say 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who has been authorized by the monastic community, appointed by many elder monks - this one will be our refuge after the Blessed One's passing, whom we might now approach'; 'Is there indeed, dear Ānanda, even one monk whom you now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on whom do you dwell?' - thus asked, you say 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk whom we now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on whom we dwell.' But how, dear Ānanda, is the meaning of this statement to be seen?"
82. "There are indeed, brahmin, ten inspiring qualities declared by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. In whomsoever these qualities are found, him we now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on him we dwell. What are the ten?
"Here, brahmin, a monk is virtuous, he dwells restrained by the restraint of the Pātimokkha, accomplished in good conduct and lawful resort, seeing danger in the slightest faults, having accepted the training rules he trains in them.
"He is very learned, remembering what has been learnt, having great accumulation of learning. Whatever teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with meaning and with phrasing, that reveal the holy life that is complete in its entirety and pure - such teachings are very learned by him, retained, practised in speech, contemplated in mind, thoroughly penetrated by view.
"He is content with the requisites of robes, almsfood, lodging and medicine for the sick.
"He is one who obtains at will, obtains without difficulty, obtains without trouble, the four meditative absorptions pertaining to the higher mind, which are pleasant abidings in the present life.
"He experiences the various kinds of supernormal power - having been one, he becomes many; having been many, he becomes one; appearing and vanishing; he goes unhindered through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, just as through space; he dives in and out of the earth just as in water; he goes on water without breaking it just as on earth; he travels cross-legged through space just as a winged bird; he fondles and strokes with his hand even the moon and sun, so mighty and powerful; he exercises mastery with his body even as far as the Brahma world.
"With the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, he hears both sounds - divine and human, whether far or near.
"He understands the minds of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with his own mind. He understands a mind with lust as 'a mind with lust', he understands a mind without lust as 'a mind without lust', he understands a mind with hate as 'a mind with hate', he understands a mind without hate as 'a mind without hate', he understands a mind with delusion as 'a mind with delusion', he understands a mind without delusion as 'a mind without delusion', he understands a contracted mind as 'a contracted mind', he understands a distracted mind as 'a distracted mind', he understands an exalted mind as 'an exalted mind', he understands a not exalted mind as 'a not exalted mind', he understands a surpassed mind as 'a surpassed mind', he understands an unsurpassed mind as 'an unsurpassed mind', he understands a concentrated mind as 'a concentrated mind', he understands an unconcentrated mind as 'an unconcentrated mind', he understands a liberated mind as 'a liberated mind', he understands an unliberated mind as 'an unliberated mind'.
"He recollects manifold past lives, as follows - one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many cosmic cycles of universe-contraction, many cosmic cycles of universe-expansion, many cosmic cycles of universe-contraction and expansion - 'There I was, having such a name, such a clan, such beauty, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose there. There too I was, having such a name, such a clan, such beauty, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose here.' Thus with aspects and terms he recollects manifold past lives.
"With the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands beings according to their actions.
With the elimination of the mental corruptions, in this very life, having realised by direct knowledge himself, having attained, he dwells in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are without mental corruptions.
"These, brahmin, are the ten inspiring qualities declared by that Blessed One, who knows and sees, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. In whomsoever these qualities are found, him we now honour, respect, revere, and venerate; having honoured and respected, in dependence on whom we dwell."
83. When this was said, the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, addressed the general Upananda - "What does the venerable general think, that these sirs honour what should be honoured, respect what should be respected, revere what should be revered, venerate what should be venerated?" "Truly these sirs honour what should be honoured, respect what should be respected, revere what should be revered, venerate what should be venerated. For if those sirs would not honour this one, would not respect, would not revere, would not venerate; then whom indeed would those sirs honour, respect, revere, venerate, and having honoured, respected, revered, and venerated, dwell in dependence on?" Then the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, said this to the Venerable Ānanda - "But where does the venerable Ānanda dwell at present?" "I dwell at present in the Bamboo Grove, brahmin." "But is the Bamboo Grove, dear Ānanda, delightful and quiet and free from noise, with an atmosphere of solitude, remote from people, suitable for seclusion?" "Truly, brahmin, the Bamboo Grove is delightful and quiet and free from noise, with an atmosphere of solitude, remote from people, suitable for seclusion, as is natural with guardians and protectors like you." "Truly, dear Ānanda, the Bamboo Grove is delightful and quiet and free from noise, with an atmosphere of solitude, remote from people, suitable for seclusion, as is natural with meditators and those devoted to meditative absorption like the venerable ones. The venerable ones are indeed meditators and devoted to meditative absorption."
"On one occasion, dear Ānanda, that Master Gotama was dwelling at Vesālī in the Great Wood in the Pinnacled Hall. Then I, dear Ānanda, approached the Great Wood, the Pinnacled Hall, where that Master Gotama was. And there that Master Gotama spoke about meditative absorption in many ways. That Master Gotama was indeed a meditator and devoted to meditative absorption. And that Master Gotama praised all meditative absorption."
84. "But, brahmin, that Blessed One did not praise all meditative absorption, nor did that Blessed One not praise all meditative absorption. And what kind of meditative absorption, brahmin, did that Blessed One not praise? Here, brahmin, a certain person dwells with a mind pervaded by sensual lust, overcome by sensual lust, and he does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen sensual lust; he, having made sensual lust itself his inner focus, meditates, broods, ponders, muses. He dwells with a mind pervaded by anger, overcome by anger, and he does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen anger; he, having made anger itself his inner focus, meditates, broods, ponders, muses. He dwells with a mind pervaded by sloth and torpor, overcome by sloth and torpor, and he does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen sloth and torpor; he, having made sloth and torpor itself his inner focus, meditates, broods, ponders, muses. He dwells with a mind pervaded by restlessness and remorse, overcome by restlessness and remorse, and he does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen restlessness and remorse; he, having made restlessness and remorse itself his inner focus, meditates, broods, ponders, muses. He dwells with a mind pervaded by sceptical doubt, overcome by sceptical doubt, and he does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen sceptical doubt; he, having made sceptical doubt itself his inner focus, meditates, broods, ponders, muses. Such meditative absorption, brahmin, that Blessed One did not praise.
"And what kind of meditative absorption, brahmin, did that Blessed One praise? Here, brahmin, a monk, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome mental states, enters and dwells 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, he enters and dwells 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... etc. the third meditative absorption... he enters and dwells in the fourth meditative absorption. Such meditative absorption, brahmin, that Blessed One praised."
"So it seems, dear Ānanda, that Master Gotama censured blameworthy meditative absorption and praised praiseworthy meditative absorption. Well then, dear Ānanda, we will now go; we have much to do, we have many duties." "Now do as you think fit, brahmin." Then the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, having delighted in and given thanks for what the Venerable Ānanda had said, rose from his seat and departed.
Then the brahmin Gopaka Moggallāna, soon after the brahmin Vassakāra, the chief minister of Magadha, had departed, said this to the Venerable Ānanda - "What we asked the Venerable Ānanda, that the Venerable Ānanda did not explain to us." "Did we not say to you, brahmin - 'There is not, brahmin, even one monk who is endowed in every way, in all respects, with those qualities with which that Blessed One was endowed, the Worthy One, the One Enlightened by himself. For, brahmin, the Blessed One was the producer of the unarisen path, the generator of the unproduced path, the declarer of the undeclared path, the knower of the path, the expert in the path, skilled in the path. But now the disciples dwell following the path, having become endowed with it afterwards.'"
The Discourse on Gopaka Moggallāna is concluded as eighth.