佛說阿含正行經

Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was dwelling in the grove of Prince Jeta and the elder Anāthapiṇḍika, in the country of Śrāvastī.

At that time, the Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: Now I shall expound a sūtra for you. In this sūtra, the lofty words are precious, the middling words are also precious, and the very humble words are also precious. Yet, in speaking of the path that delivers the world, one must take "the upright mind as the root." Listen to what I say, and let it be transmitted and practiced according to this sūtra by later generations.

Thereupon, the bhikṣus all joined their palms and received the teaching.

The Buddha taught: Within the human body there are five kinds of robbers, which constantly drag a person onto the evil path. What are these five kinds of robbers?

The first is form (rūpa, shape-and-color).

The second is pain (vedanā: feeling, endurance).

The third is perception (saṃjñā, conceptual thought).

The fourth is birth-and-death (saṃskāra, mental formations, volitional action).

The fifth is consciousness (vijñāna, cognition). (2)

These are the five things that a person constantly dwells upon.

The Buddha taught: A person is constantly deceived by the eye, deceived by the ear, deceived by the nose, deceived by the mouth, and deceived by the body. Yet the eye can only see, it cannot hear; the ear can only hear, it cannot see; the nose can only smell fragrances, it cannot hear; the mouth and tongue can only taste flavors, they cannot perceive fragrances; the body can only sense cold and warmth, it cannot perceive fragrances. These five faculties all belong to the "mind" and take the "mind" as their root. (3)

The Buddha taught: O bhikṣus! If you wish to seek the Way, you should make your minds upright. If folly arises, you will surely fall into the twelve links of dependent origination, and thereby there comes about the cycle of birth-and-death.

What are the twelve links of dependent origination? — The first is the root, which is folly (avidyā, ignorance). The second is formation (saṃskāra, volitional action). The third is consciousness (vijñāna, cognition).

The fourth is name (designation, or name-and-form) (4). The fifth is the six sense-bases (5). The sixth is fostering (cultivation; in some places called contact) (6).

The seventh is suffering (in some places called grasping). The eighth is craving (love). The ninth is feeling (sensation).

The tenth is becoming (7). The eleventh is birth. The twelfth is death (8).

One who does good will be reborn as a human. One who does evil, upon death, must fall into the hells, the hungry ghosts, or the animal realm.

The Buddha sat in contemplation and said: "Because of folly, a person comes to have birth-and-death." What is folly? — Formerly, on account of folly, one is now born as a human. Being human, the deluded mind does not open up, the eye is not clear, one does not know whither one will tend after death; seeing the Buddha, one does not inquire; seeing the sūtras, one does not read them; seeing a śramaṇa (9), one does not know to attend upon him, and does not believe in virtue; seeing one's parents, one does not revere them; one does not reflect upon the sufferings of the world, one does not know of the fierce interrogation and punishment in the hells — this is called folly, whereby there comes about birth-and-death.

And birth-and-death does not cease, swift as the span of a breath, perilous even unto one's very life. Within the human body there are three things: after the body dies, the Consciousness departs, the Mind departs, and the Intention departs. Among these three things, they constantly pursue one another.

One who does evil, upon death, must fall into the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animal realm, and among the demons and spirits. One who does good also has these three things constantly pursuing one another, and is reborn either in the heavenly realm or in the human realm. Those who fall into the five paths (10) all do so because their minds were not made upright."

The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: You should all make your minds upright, make your eyes upright, make your ears upright, make your noses upright, make your mouths upright, make your bodies upright, and make your intentions upright. The body will dissolve back into the earth, but the mass of consciousness will not have to enter into the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animal realm, or the realm of demons and spirits.

When one sees in a household an evil son who is seized and arrested by the authorities, this too is because his mind was not made upright. Within the human body there are as many as a hundred names, just as a cart too has a hundred names. One who is prone to greed and prone to anger, giving no thought to the matters within his body, dies and falls into the hells, where remorse comes too late.

The Buddha taught: I left behind my land and kingdom, renouncing the throne of a Wheel-Turning King, in order to concern myself with severing birth-and-death, wishing to deliver the people of the world, causing them to attain the fruit of the Way, Nirvāṇa. One of the first degree of diligence will attain the fruit of the Way of the Arhat; one of the second degree of diligence will of himself attain the fruit of the Way of the Anāgāmin; one of the third degree of diligence attains the fruit of the Way of the Sakṛdāgāmin; one of the fourth degree of diligence attains the fruit of the Way of the Srotāpanna (11).

Even so, one who is not able to be very diligent should still keep the five precepts: The first is not to kill living beings. The second is not to steal. The third is not to speak with a double tongue.

The fourth is not to indulge in lust. The fifth is not to drink intoxicants (12).

The Buddha taught: Whether sitting or rising, a person should constantly contemplate these four matters. What are the four matters?

— The first is to contemplate one's own body and to contemplate the bodies of others.

— The second is to contemplate the pain within oneself and to contemplate the pain within others.

— The third is to contemplate the mind-and-intention within oneself and to contemplate the mind-and-intention within others.

— The fourth is to contemplate the dharmas within oneself and to contemplate the dharmas within others (13).

When a person's mind is about to grow disturbed and agitated, he should draw his mind back, make himself upright, and gaze directly upon his body, contemplating thus: "This body — being full is wretched, being hungry is wretched, dwelling is wretched, sitting is wretched, walking is wretched, being cold is wretched, being hot is wretched, lying down is wretched." When one is about to wish to lie down, one should, in self-alarm, sit up!

One who cannot sit uprightly should stand up. One who cannot stand uprightly should walk in meditation. One whose mind happens not to be upright should make himself upright.

It is like a king who leads his troops into battle: he must array his strong soldiers in the front; though he has already repelled the enemy in the forward zone, he must also fittingly be able to guard those who are behind. A śramaṇa who has abandoned his home, abandoned his wife and children, shaved his beard and hair to become a śramaṇa — though he endures hardship for one lifetime, afterward he attains liberation forever.

When a person has attained the Way, his mind rejoices; he regards his wife as an elder or younger sister, regards his children as wise companions, no longer has a mind of greedy attachment, and constantly extends a heart of loving kindness; he regards the devas, the people, the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals, together with the flying insects and crawling creatures of the ten directions, as all attaining wealth and nobility, peace and well-being, escaping from birth-and-death, and attaining the fruit of the Way, Nirvāṇa.

Seeing the insects upon the earth, he should bring forth a mind of loving compassion and pity for them. Knowing the principle of life, he is no longer caught up again in folly, and constantly has this thought: he constantly recalls the grace and virtue of his teacher and serves the Buddha, as a person reflects upon the kindness of his parents — as a prisoner condemned to death and confined in jail, when a worthy sage comes to plead that he be spared imprisonment; the prisoner, having wisdom and understanding, constantly recalls the grace and virtue of that worthy sage.

A bhikṣu who has attained the fruit of the Way should likewise constantly reflect upon the Buddha in this way, and reflect upon the sūtra-dharma just as a person reflects upon the matter of eating his meal.

The Buddha taught: Bhikṣus should attend upon one another, as a younger brother serves his elder brother. Among them, if there is one who is foolish, he should study and learn from one who has wisdom; let them teach one another in turn. Learning from one who has wisdom is like having the light of a lamp in a dark place.

You must not quarrel or bring suits against one another. Seeing gold and silver, you should regard them as earth and stone. You must not bear false witness against another, framing him within the penalties of the law.

You must not carry the slanderous words of another, nor convey the words of those who contend with one another. You must not do harm within the meaning of another's words. What you have not heard, do not say that you have heard; what you have not seen, do not say that you have seen.

While walking the road, you should constantly bow your head and look down at the ground. You should not trample insects to death. You must not be greedily attached to the women of others, and you must not make use of the images of the women of others.

Sit and contemplate to yourself: "Only when one abandons the mind of greedy craving can it be called the Way."

The Buddha taught: One who wishes to seek the Way should seek it in a place of solitude and quietude, breathing his own breath, knowing how to breathe long and short; breathing out without breathing in, the body becomes weary; holding the breath without breathing, the body also becomes weary (14). Discerning, he contemplates to himself: "This body — who is it that fashioned it? The mind should examine the outer, and should also examine the inner.

Contemplating to oneself, rejoicing, having a mind different from that of others — then at that time one sees that there is no further need for the precious treasures of the world. When a person's mind slightly wishes to follow the right path, but the intention again wishes to be a little agitated, he should suppress and restrain it, guarding against it and holding it back at once, and then the intention will return. It is like a person who has a mirror: if the mirror is not bright, one cannot see one's reflection; once one wipes away the dust and grime upon the mirror, one sees one's reflection at once.

A person who is able to abandon greedy lust, anger, and ignorance is likewise like a mirror that has been wiped clean. Reflect carefully: "In this world there is nothing whatsoever that is firm and enduring, and there is nothing whatsoever that is constant and everlasting."

The Buddha taught: Bhikṣus, in guarding their minds, should be like a square block of stone with four faces. A block of stone in the middle of the courtyard — falling rain cannot destroy it, the scorching rays of the sun cannot dissolve it, the blowing wind cannot move it. Constantly guard the mind like that block of stone.

The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: The minds of the people in the world are like flowing water; in that flowing current, whatever grasses and trees there may be, all drift along of themselves, taking no heed of one another — that which drifts ahead takes no heed of that which is behind, and that which is behind likewise takes no heed of that which is ahead. The grasses and trees that drift along are all just so. The human mind is also just so: one thought comes, one thought goes, like the grasses and trees, the earlier and the later taking no heed of one another.

Throughout the heavens above and the world below, there is nothing anywhere that comes back to be joyful again. Lodging the body within heaven and earth, once one casts off this body it cannot be reborn. When the Way is accomplished, one should be grateful to one's teacher: seeing the teacher, one at once attends upon him; not seeing the teacher, one should reflect upon the teacher's admonitions and instructions, as a person recalls and reflects upon his parents.

When the intention is fixed with one-pointed mind, there at once arises a heart of compassion and pity for the flying insects and crawling creatures together with all the people of the world. And, as I sit, I smile of myself with joy that I have escaped from the body within the world and from the five paths: the first is the path of the devas, the second is the path of humans, the third is the path of the hungry ghosts, the fourth is the path of animals, the fifth is the path of the hells.

One who has attained the fruit of the Way of the Arhat, if he wishes to fly through the air and transform himself, can do so; he can transform within his body into water and fire; he can pass into hidden, fine places without a gap, and enter into dense, solid places without an opening; and he can depart from the sufferings of the world and realize the Way of Nirvāṇa."

The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: "The Way cannot but be practiced; the sūtras cannot but be read."

When the Buddha had finished speaking this sūtra, the five hundred śramaṇas all attained the fruit of the Way of the Arhat. Those śramaṇas all rose up, came before the Buddha, bowed their heads and faces close to the ground, paid homage to the Buddha, and withdrew.

Notes:

(1) This sūtra is sūtra number 151 in the Great Canon (Mahāpiṭaka). Āgama is a collective term for the scriptures of the Hīnayāna. Āgama is translated as "the return of the Dharma," meaning the myriad dharmas returning to that which is without outflows; it is also translated as "the incomparable Dharma," meaning the wondrous Dharma to which nothing can be compared; and it is translated as "tending toward the void," meaning that the tenet expounded reaches the ultimate point where there is no further place to which one tends.

(2) This speaks of the five aggregates (skandhas): form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

(3) This speaks of the false discrimination of the five faculties, all of which return to the mind as their root.

(4) Name-and-form: this refers to the retributory body within the womb, formed by the union and mutual dependence of consciousness (name) and the four great elements (form) as they grow.

(5) The six sense-bases: the six faculties making contact with and entering into the six sense-objects.

(6) Cultivating and fostering; contact.

(7) There is the fashioning of action that culminates in karma with outflows.

(8) The twelve links of dependent origination here, compared with those elsewhere, differ slightly in the terminology and the order.

(9) Śramaṇa: formerly translated as "Stilling the mind, Quieting the will, the Path of poverty, etc." Now translated as "Meritorious toil, Diligent stilling," all meaning a practitioner who diligently cultivates, ceases the afflictions of the mind, makes still and purifies the spirit and will, and exerts diligent and arduous effort to advance in cultivating the Way of liberation (the Buddha's Way).

(10) The five paths: devas, asuras, the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals.

(11) See the notes in the Sūtra on the Retribution of Sin and Merit.

(12) These five precepts, compared with those elsewhere, differ in their order.

(13) This speaks of the four bases of mindfulness (the four foundations of mindfulness): 1/ Contemplating the body as impure. 2/ Contemplating feeling as suffering. 3/ Contemplating the mind as impermanent. 4/ Contemplating dharmas as without self.

(14) This speaks of the contemplation of counting the breaths (the method of counting one's breaths).