Toh 300The Noble Sūtra on Reliance upon a Virtuous Spiritual Friend

Summary

Just prior to his passing away, the Buddha Śākyamuni reminds his disciples of the importance of living with
a qualified spiritual teacher. Ānanda, the Blessed One’s attendant, attempts to confirm his teacher’s
statement, saying that a virtuous spiritual friend is indeed half of one’s spiritual life. Correcting his
disciple’s understanding, the Buddha explains that a qualified guide is the whole of, rather than half of, the
holy life, and that by relying upon a spiritual friend beings will be released from birth and attain
liberation from all types of suffering.

Acknowledgments

This sūtra was translated from Tibetan into English by Khenpo Ngawang Jorden and Christian Bernert,
members of the Sakya Pandita Translation Group (International Buddhist Academy Division), Kathmandu.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words
of the Buddha.

Introduction

The setting for this sūtra is a grove near Kuśinagara, the capital of the Malla kingdom, where
the Buddha Śākyamuni spent his last hours before passing into parinirvāṇa, the final state of release from the
suffering of worldly existence. Kuśinagara, situated in what is now the North Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh, is venerated by Buddhists as one of the four holiest shrines. The other three are Lumbini, his
birthplace in what is now southern Nepal; Bodhgaya in modern Bihar, where he attained enlightenment; and
Sarnath, near modern Varanasi, where he delivered his first sermon.

In this sūtra, the Buddha discusses the importance of following a qualified spiritual teacher as a
support for one’s spiritual development. As it was delivered just prior to his passing away, we can see
how highly the Buddha esteemed the role of a teacher on the path. Correcting his disciple Ānanda’s
understanding, the Buddha explains that one’s spiritual development depends entirely on reliance upon a
qualified guide or virtuous spiritual friend.

Indeed, teachers play an eminent role in all Buddhist traditions, and are respected and venerated
accordingly in traditional Buddhist cultures. In different sūtras, the Buddha taught the four
reliances;
as one of which he advised his followers to rely on the teaching,
rather than on the person. In Buddhism, no person—no teacher, that is—functions as an ultimate refuge.
Even the Buddha’s physical form was subject to decay and thus not an ultimate object of refuge.

However, as the Buddha explains in this sūtra, without the help of a spiritual friend, progress on
the path is very difficult, if not impossible. The teacher functions as a qualified and experienced guide,
capable of guiding others along the arduous path to liberation. A teacher inspires students by embodying
the results of the practice, guides them by pointing out the right direction, and supports their
development by removing doubts and confusion. While genuine progress is impossible without a teacher,
misguided advice could, even if well intended, be detrimental to one’s whole path. Consequently, the
Buddha stresses the importance of a qualified spiritual friend, but counsels caution in choosing the
teacher.

This sūtra is quoted at the end of two avadāna
stories, which, like the jātakas, are accounts of the
great deeds of the Buddha and bodhisattvas in previous lives.
The translators of the Tibetan version are not recorded in the Tibetan colophon, but the Degé Kangyur
catalog states that the text was translated by the (Indian) paṇḍita Dharmākara and the (Tibetan)
translator Zangkyong (lo tsA ba bzang skyong). Dharmākara contributed
to several Vinaya translations and, as a team, this pair was responsible for several other translations in
this part of the Kangyur as well as two commentaries in the Tengyur (Toh 4015 and 4038). There is evidence
that both were contemporaries of Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs),
a major translator of the early period and active in at last part of the eighth century. However, unlike two
other works by the same translators (Toh 285 and 295), the translation of this text is not listed in the
early ninth-century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) or Pangthangma (’phang thang ma) inventories, which means either that it was completed only
later in the ninth century, or that it existed already but was listed as a canonical text only in later
compilations.

In the Pāli canon, we find a corresponding sutta in the Mahāvagga section of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, namely the Upaḍḍha
Sutta (SN 45.2), where the Buddha further mentions the eightfold path of the noble ones, which
those who are supported by a spiritual friend should follow.

There are corresponding sūtras extant in the Chinese (Taishō 2.99) and the Korean (K 650) canons.

The version of this sūtra in the Degé Kangyur was compared to those in the Narthang, Peking and
Lhasa Kangyurs. However there were no differences that required changing a word in the English
translation.

A French translation of this sūtra from Tibetan by Léon Feer was published in the Journal Asiatique in 1866.

Notes on the Translation

The terms virtuous spiritual friend and nonvirtuous spiritual friend
are used in the translation to render the Tibetan terms dge ba’i bshes
gnyen and sdig pa’i bshes gnyen. While the terms
dge ba and sdig pa are not
literal opposites (as opposed to virtuous and nonvirtuous), we chose this
rendering because in this sūtra the Buddha makes the broad distinction between two types of teachers:
those worthy of being relied upon, and those who are not. To express this opposition clearly, we therefore
opted to translate sdig pa as nonvirtuous. Strictly
speaking, too, the word “spiritual” is an addition to the basic meaning of both the Tibetan and Sanskrit
terms. It seems justified, however, by the connotations in this context—good and bad teachers or spiritual
guides are implied, not simply ordinary friends and companions.

The Translation

The Noble Sūtra on

Reliance upon a Virtuous Spiritual Friend

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in the Grove of Twin Sāl-Trees in the
vicinity of the Malla town of Kuśinagara, together with a retinue
of śrāvakas. Then, when the Bhagavān was about to pass into parinirvāṇa, he addressed the bhikṣus:
“Bhikṣus, you should train in this way. Bhikṣus, you should train thinking, ‘One should live with a
virtuous spiritual friend, a virtuous companion, a virtuous support. One should not, however, live with a
nonvirtuous spiritual friend, a nonvirtuous companion, a nonvirtuous support.’ ”

Then, the venerable Ānanda said to the Bhagavān, “Honorable One, having come here alone to a
secluded place, I had gone into meditative retreat when the following thought arose in my mind:
‘A virtuous spiritual friend, a virtuous companion, a virtuous support is half the holy life. A
nonvirtuous spiritual friend, a nonvirtuous companion, a nonvirtuous support, however, is not.’ ”

The Bhagavān replied, “Ānanda, do not say that a virtuous spiritual friend,
a virtuous companion, a virtuous support is half the holy life, but that a nonvirtuous spiritual friend,
a nonvirtuous companion, a nonvirtuous support is not.

“Why? Ānanda, the point is that a virtuous spiritual friend, a virtuous companion, a virtuous
support is the whole, the unadulterated, the complete, the pure, the totally purified holy life, but a
nonvirtuous spiritual friend, a nonvirtuous companion, a nonvirtuous support is not.

“Why is that? Ānanda, it is because, by relying on me as their spiritual friend,
sentient beings subject to birth will be completely released from being subject to birth, and sentient
beings subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, distress, and agitation will be
completely released from being subject to aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering,
distress, and agitation.

“Therefore, Ānanda, you should understand this in the following way alone. A virtuous spiritual
friend, a virtuous companion, a virtuous support is the whole, the unadulterated, the complete, the pure,
the totally purified holy life, but a nonvirtuous spiritual friend, a nonvirtuous companion, a
nonvirtuous support is not. Ānanda, you should train thinking in this way.”

When the Bhagavān had spoken these words, the bhikṣus rejoiced and highly praised what the Blessed
One had taught.

This completes “The Noble Sūtra on Reliance upon a Virtuous Spiritual
Friend.”

Notes

Abbreviations

D
Degé Kangyur

N
Narthang Kangyur

Q
Peking (Qianlong) Kangyur

Bibliography