Snp 4.16 - Sn 4:16 To Sāriputta Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/StNp/StNp4_16.html License: CC-BY-NC-4.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 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. Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: SN 35:117; SN 35:200; AN 4:28; Thag 3:8; Thag 5:8; Thag 6:2; Thag 18 Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded. Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed. 4:16 To Sāriputta Ven. Sāriputta: “Never before have I seen or heard from anyone of a teacher with such lovely speech come, together with his following from Tusita heaven,1 as the One with Eyes who appears to the world with its devas, having dispelled all darkness, having arrived at delight all alone. To that One Awakened— unentangled, Such, un- deceptive, come with his following— I have come desiring a question on behalf of the many here who are fettered: For a monk disaffected, frequenting a place remote— the root of a tree, a cemetery, in mountain caves various places to stay— how many are the fears there at which he shouldn’t tremble —there in his noiseless abode— how many the dangers in the world for the monk going the direction he never has gone over which he should prevail there in his isolated abode? What should be the ways of his speech? What should be his range there of action? What should be a resolute monk’s habits & practices?2 Undertaking what training — mindful, astute, alone — would he blow away his own impurities as a silver smith, those in molten silver?” The Buddha: “I will tell you as one who knows, what is comfort for one disaffected if he’s resorting to a place remote, desiring self-awakening in line with the Dhamma. An enlightened monk, living circumscribed, mindful, shouldn’t fear the five fears: of horseflies, mosquitoes, snakes, human contact, four-footed beings; shouldn’t be fazed by those following another’s teaching even on seeing their manifold threats; should prevail over still other further dangers as he seeks what is skillful. Touched by the touch of disease, hunger, he should endure cold & inordinate heat. He with no home, in many ways touched by these things, striving, should make firm his persistence. He shouldn’t commit a theft, shouldn’t speak a lie, should touch with thoughts of goodwill beings firm & infirm. Conscious of when his mind is stirred up & turbid, he should dispel it: ‘It’s on the side of the Dark One.’ He shouldn’t come under the sway of anger or pride. Having dug up their root he would stand firm. Then, when prevailing —yes— he’d prevail over notions of dear & undear. Deferring to discernment enraptured with what’s admirable, he should overcome these dangers, should conquer discontent in his isolated spot, should conquer these four thoughts of lament: ‘What will I eat, or where will I eat? How badly I slept. Tonight where will I sleep?’ These lamenting thoughts he should subdue— one under training, wandering without home. Receiving food & cloth at appropriate times, he should have a sense of enough for the sake of contentment.3 Guarded in regard to these things going restrained into a village, even when harassed he shouldn’t say a harsh word. With eyes downcast, & not footloose, committed to jhāna, he should be continually wakeful.4 Arousing equanimity, centered within, he should cut off any penchant to conjecture or worry. When reprimanded with words, he should—mindful— rejoice;5 should smash any rigidity toward his fellows in the holy life; should utter skillful words that are not untimely; should give no mind to the gossip people might say. And then there are in the world the five kinds of dust for whose subduing, mindful, he should train: With regard to forms, sounds, tastes, smells, & tactile sensations he should conquer passion; with regard to these things he should subdue his desire. A monk, mindful, his mind well released, contemplating the right Dhamma at the right times, on coming to oneness6 should annihilate darkness,” the Blessed One said. vv. 955–975 Notes 1. The Buddha spent his next-to-last lifetime in the Tusita heaven, one of the highest levels on the sensual plane. 2.The fact that the Buddha answers this question in a straightforward manner illustrates the point that abandoning habits and practices does not mean having undefined precepts or practices—or no precepts or practices at all. See Sn 4:13, note 3. 3. See AN 4:28, AN 4:37, and AN 7:64. 4. See AN 4:37. 5. See Dhp 76–77. 6. Ekodi-bhūto. A quality of concentration attained in the second jhāna.