6.
The Discourse on What One May Wish
64. 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 -
"Monks, dwell accomplished in morality, accomplished in the Pātimokkha; dwell 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, train in them.
65. "If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I be dear to my fellow monks in the holy life, agreeable, respected and esteemed' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I be an obtainer of robes, almsfood, lodging and requisite of medicines for the sick' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May the services of those whose robes, almsfood, lodging and requisite of medicines for the sick I use be of great fruit and great benefit to them' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May those relatives and blood relations who are deceased ghosts, when they remember me with a confident mind, may that be of great fruit and great benefit to them' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
66. "If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I be one who overcomes discontent and delight, and may discontent not overcome me, may I dwell having overcome again and again arisen discontent' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I be one who overcomes fear and dread, and may fear and dread not overcome me, may I dwell having overcome again and again arisen fear and dread' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I be 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 should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I, having gone beyond material form, touch with the body and dwell in those peaceful deliverances that are immaterial' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
67. "If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the utter elimination of the three mental fetters, may I be a stream-enterer, no longer subject to fall into lower realms, fixed in destiny, heading for the highest enlightenment' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the utter elimination of the three mental fetters and with the reduction of lust, hate, and delusion, may I be a once-returner, who, having come to this world only once more, would make an end of suffering' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, may I be one of spontaneous birth, attaining final nibbāna there, not subject to return from that world' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
68. "If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I experience the various kinds of supernormal power - having been one, may I become many; having been many, may I become one; appearing and vanishing; may I go unhindered through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, just as through space; may I dive in and out of the earth just as in water; may I go on water without breaking it just as on earth; may I travel cross-legged through space just as a winged bird; may I fondle and stroke with my hand even the moon and sun, so mighty and powerful; may I exercise mastery with my body even as far as the Brahma world' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, may I hear both sounds - divine and human, whether far or near' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I understand the minds of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with my own mind - may I understand a mind with lust as "a mind with lust", may I understand a mind without lust as "a mind without lust"; may I understand a mind with hate as "a mind with hate", may I understand a mind without hate as "a mind without hate"; may I understand a mind with delusion as "a mind with delusion", may I understand a mind without delusion as "a mind without delusion"; may I understand a contracted mind as "a contracted mind", may I understand a distracted mind as "a distracted mind"; may I understand an exalted mind as "an exalted mind", may I understand a not exalted mind as "a not exalted mind"; may I understand a surpassed mind as "a surpassed mind", may I understand an unsurpassed mind as "an unsurpassed mind"; may I understand a concentrated mind as "a concentrated mind", may I understand an unconcentrated mind as "an unconcentrated mind"; may I understand a liberated mind as "a liberated mind", may I understand an unliberated mind as "an unliberated mind"' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'May I recollect 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 may I recollect manifold past lives' - he should be one who fulfils morality... etc. one who develops empty dwellings.
"If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, may I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, may I understand beings according to their actions - "These beings indeed, sirs, endowed with bodily misconduct, endowed with verbal misconduct, endowed with mental misconduct, revilers of the noble ones, holding wrong views, undertaking actions based on wrong views, upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell; but these beings, sirs, endowed with bodily good conduct, endowed with verbal good conduct, endowed with mental good conduct, not revilers of the noble ones, holding right views, undertaking actions based on right views, upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a fortunate realm, in a heavenly world" - thus with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, may I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, may I understand beings according to their actions' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
69. "If, monks, a monk should wish - 'With the elimination of the mental corruptions, may I dwell having realised by direct knowledge myself, having attained, the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are without mental corruptions in this very life' - he should be one who fulfils morality, devoted internally to serenity of mind, with meditative absorption not neglected, endowed with insight, one who develops empty dwellings.
"Monks, dwell accomplished in morality, accomplished in the Pātimokkha; dwell 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, train in them" - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that."
This is what the Blessed One said. Those monks, delighted, rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said.
The Discourse on If One Should Wish is concluded as sixth.