SN 21.1 - SN 21:1 Kolita | Kolita Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN21_1.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
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Kolita
 Kolita Sutta (SN 21:1)

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There Ven. Mahā Moggallāna addressed the monks, “Friend monks!”

“Yes, friend,” the monks responded to him.

Ven. Mahā Moggallāna said, “Friends, once as I was withdrawn in seclusion, this train of thought arose to my awareness, ‘“Noble silence, noble silence,” it is said. But what is noble silence?’ Then the thought occurred to me, ‘There is the case where a monk, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations,1 enters & remains in the second jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance. This is called noble silence.’ So, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance. While I remained in that (mental) dwelling, I was assailed by attention to perceptions dealing with directed thought.2

“Then the Blessed One, coming to me through his (psychic) power, said, ‘Moggallāna. Moggallāna. Brahman, don’t be heedless of noble silence. Establish your mind in noble silence. Make your mind unified in noble silence. Concentrate your mind in noble silence.’ So at a later time, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance.

“When one, speaking rightly, would say of someone, ‘A disciple attained to greatness of direct knowledge through the assistance of the Teacher,’ it’s of me that one speaking rightly would say, ‘A disciple attained to greatness of direct knowledge through the assistance of the Teacher.’”

Notes

1. According to MN 44, directed thought and evaluation constitute verbal fabrication, which is why the second jhāna—the level of concentration in which these fabrications are stilled—is called noble silence.

2. AN 9:34 states that, for a person in the second jhāna, any attention to perceptions dealing with directed thought are an affliction.