增壹阿含經 31.8

English (machine translation) 31.8

Language: English

31.8.3

At one time, the Buddha was in the forest outside the city of Vaiśālī.

At that time, the Bhagavat told the bhikṣus: "Formerly, when I had not yet attained the way of Buddhahood, I stayed relying upon Mount Mahābhīru (Great Terror). At that time on that mountain, whether one had desire or was free of desire, whoever entered it had their hair stand on end. Furthermore, during the time of intense heat, when heat shimmers flickered everywhere, I sat exposing my body, and at night I entered the deep forest. Furthermore, on extremely cold days when wind and rain mingled, during the day I entered the forest, and at night I sat in the open.

31.8.5

"At that time, I was able to recite just one verse, never before heard and never before seen by me:

31.8.6

"Tranquil and calm, peace at night, / within Mount Mahābhīru, / exposing my body: / this is my vow.

31.8.7

"When I went to a charnel ground, I took the clothes of dead persons to cover my body. At that time, villagers from Aṅga came to gather firewood; they poked sticks into my ears, or into my nose, or spat on me, or urinated on me, or threw dirt upon my body. Yet at that time, I never gave rise to an ill thought toward those people; at that time, I kept such a guarded mind. At that time, where cows were milked, if I saw the dung of calves, I would take and eat it; if there was no calf dung, I would take the dung of full-grown cattle and eat it. At that time, eating this food, the thought occurred to me again: 'What is the use of food now? I might as well not eat all day long.' When I gave rise to this thought, gods came to where I was and spoke thus: 'Do not completely cut off food now. If you cut off food, we shall infuse you with the essence of nectar to preserve your life.' Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Having cut off food, why should I cause the gods to send nectar to me? My present body would be living a falsehood.' Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Now I can eat just remnants of hemp and rice.'

31.8.8

"At that time, eating one grain of hemp and one grain of rice a day, my body grew weak and emaciated, my bones were linked together, sores grew on my head, and the skin and flesh fell off on their own, just like a rotting gourd that has not fully matured; my head at that time was just like that, with sores growing on the crown and skin and flesh falling off on their own, all because of not eating. Just as the stars appear reflected in deep water, so too were my eyes at that time, all because of not eating. Just like an old, ruined cart, my body too was completely broken down, unable to be maintained. Just like a camel's footprint, so too were my two buttocks. When I stroked my belly with my hand, I touched my spine, and when I touched my spine, I reached the skin of my belly; that my body was so emaciated and weak was all because of not eating.

31.8.9

"At that time, relying on one grain of hemp and one grain of rice for sustenance, it was ultimately of no benefit, nor did I attain the supreme Dharma. Whenever I had the intention to defecate or urinate, I would immediately collapse on the ground, unable to rise or move on my own. At that time, seeing this, some gods said: 'This recluse Gautama has already passed away.' Other gods said: 'This recluse has not yet died, but he will surely die now.' Still other gods said: 'This recluse has not died either; this recluse is truly an arhat, for the practice of an arhat entails such austerities.'

31.8.10

"At that time, I still had conscious awareness and was cognizant of external occurrences. Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Now I can enter the breathless dhyāna.' Then I entered the breathless dhyāna and counted the in-breaths and out-breaths. Having counted the in-breaths and out-breaths, I felt air coming out of my ears, and the sound of the wind at that time was like the roar of thunder. Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Now I will shut my mouth and stop my ears, so that breath does not exit.' When the breath did not exit, the internal air came out through my hands and feet. Because the breath could not exit through my ears, nose, or mouth, the internal sound at that time was like the roar of thunder; I was like that at that time. At that time, my consciousness still followed the movements of my body.

31.8.11

"Then the thought occurred to me again: 'I ought to enter the breathless dhyāna further.' At that time, I completely blocked the breath from all openings. Because I had blocked all the in- and out-breaths, I suffered a headache in my forehead, as if someone were drilling my head with an auger; I suffered an excruciating headache like that. At that time, I still retained conscious awareness. Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Now I can sit in meditation again, not allowing the breath to go out or come in.' At that time, I blocked the in- and out-breaths, and all the breaths gathered in my abdomen. At that time, as the breaths churned, it felt as though, in a slaughterhouse, a butcher was killing an ox with a knife; I too was like that, suffering extreme pain. It was also like two strong men seizing a weak man and roasting him over a fire, suffering unbearable agony; I too was like that, suffering agony that cannot be fully described. At that time, my conscious awareness still remained. During those days when I sat in meditation, my physical body did not have the color of a human being; some people saw me and said: 'This recluse's complexion is extremely dark.' Others saw me and said: 'This recluse's complexion looks like a dead man.' Bhikṣus, you should know: during those six years I performed such austerities, yet I did not attain the supreme Dharma.

31.8.12

"At that time, the thought occurred to me: 'Today I may eat a single fruit.' Then I ate a single fruit. On the day I ate a single fruit, my body became so withered and weak that I could not rise or move on my own, like a person a hundred and twenty years old whose joints are disjointed and unable to support them. Bhikṣus, you should know that the single fruit at that time was like a small jujube of today. At that time, the thought occurred to me again: 'This is not the basis for attaining the Path; there must surely be another way.' At that time, the thought occurred to me again: 'I myself remember formerly, under the tree of my royal father, free from lust and desire, having eliminated evil and unwholesome states, I dwelt in the first dhyāna; without directed thought and discursive thinking, I dwelt in the second dhyāna; with pure mindfulness free of all notions, I dwelt in the third dhyāna; devoid of both pain and pleasure, with mental mindfulness purified, I dwelt in the fourth dhyāna. This might well be the way; I must now seek this way.'

31.8.13

"For six years I diligently and painfully sought the Path without attaining it: lying on thorns; lying on wooden planks and iron nails; hanging suspended like a bird with my body far from the ground, with both feet above and my head pointing toward the ground; sitting with legs crossed or squatting; letting my beard and hair grow long without ever shaving them; exposing myself to the blazing sun and roasting fires; sitting on ice in the depth of winter with my body submerged in water; maintaining silence without speaking; eating once a day, eating twice a day, eating three or four times, up to seven times; eating vegetables and fruits; eating rice and hemp; eating grass roots; eating tree fruits; eating fragrant blossoms; eating various kinds of fruits and gourds; sometimes going naked; sometimes wearing tattered garments; sometimes wearing garments of sedge grass; sometimes wearing garments of fine wool; sometimes covering my body with human hair; sometimes growing my hair long; sometimes taking others' hair to supplement my own. Thus, bhikṣus, did my former austerities reach such extremes, yet I did not attain the foundation of the four dharmas. What are the four? Namely: the noble moral discipline, difficult to understand and know; the noble wisdom, difficult to understand and know; the noble liberation, difficult to understand and know; and the noble samādhi, difficult to understand and know. These are called the four dharmas, bhikṣus; in my former austerities I did not obtain this essential [foundation].

31.8.14

"At that time, the thought occurred to me again: 'I must surely seek the unsurpassed Path.' What is the unsurpassed Path? Namely, the aforementioned four dharmas: noble moral discipline, noble samādhi, noble wisdom, and noble liberation. At that time, the thought occurred to me again: 'One cannot seek the supreme Path with this emaciated, feeble body. I should consume a modest amount of subtle, nourishing essence to nurture my body and restore my vigor and strength, and only then will I be able to practice the Path.' When I consumed the subtle, nourishing essence, the five bhikṣus abandoned me and withdrew, saying: 'This recluse Gautama's nature and conduct have become disordered; he has abandoned the true Dharma to pursue improper conduct.'

31.8.15

"At that time, I immediately rose from my seat and walked back and forth facing east. Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Where was the place where the past Buddhas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, attained the Path long ago?' At that time, a deity dwelling in the sky above spoke to me, saying: 'Virtuous sir, you should know that the past Bhagavat Buddhas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, sat beneath the cool shade of the Bodhi Tree and attained Buddhahood.' Then the thought occurred to me again: 'Sitting on what did they attain the way of Buddhahood? Did they sit, or did they stand?' At that time, the gods again came and told me, speaking thus: 'The past Bhagavat Buddhas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, sat on grass mats and only then attained Buddhahood.'

31.8.16

"At that time, not far from me, the brāhmaṇa Svastika was cutting grass nearby. I immediately went to him and asked: 'Who are you? What is your name? What is your clan?' The brāhmaṇa replied: 'My name is Svastika (Jixiang), and my clan is Puṣya (Fuxing).' At that time, I said to that man: 'Excellent, excellent! Such a clan name and personal name are rare in the world. Your name is not in vain and will surely fulfill its designation: it shall bring auspiciousness and complete benefit in the present life, and birth, old age, sickness, and death shall be extinguished forever. Your clan is Puṣya, which is the same as mine. For what I now seek, please grant me a little grass.' Svastika asked: 'Gautama, what will you use this grass for today?' At that time, I replied to Svastika: 'I wish to spread it beneath the King of Trees to seek the four dharmas. What are the four? Namely: the noble moral discipline, the noble samādhi, the noble wisdom, and the noble liberation.'"

31.8.17

"Bhikṣus, you should know: at that time, Svastika personally took grass and went to the king of trees. I then sat upon it, straightening my body and making my intention upright, sitting cross-legged, setting mindfulness before me. At that time, sensual desire was resolved in mind, and bad mental qualities were eliminated. With applied and sustained thought, I dwelt in the first dhyāna. With applied and sustained thought completely eliminated, I dwelt in the second and third dhyānas. With mindful protection purified, and grief and joy completely eliminated, I dwelt in the fourth dhyāna. At that time, with a purified mind, I eradicated all fetters, attained fearlessness, and personally recalled the myriad past transformations of my former lives. I then remembered the events of countless lives: one life, two lives, three, four, five lives, ten lives, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred lives, a thousand lives, a hundred thousand lives, eons of cosmic evolution, eons of dissolution, countless eons of evolution, countless eons of dissolution, countless eons of evolution and dissolution. [Remembering:] 'I died here and was born there; departing from that life, I came to be born here'—with neither their beginning nor end of causal origins [eluding me], I recollected such events of countless lifetimes.

31.8.18

"Furthermore, with the divine eye purified and unstained, I viewed the classes of sentient beings, dying and being born, in good destinies with fair complexions, in bad destinies with foul complexions, whether pleasant or ugly, knowing all of them in accordance with their foundational deeds: 'There are sentient beings who cultivate evil conduct of body, cultivate evil conduct of speech, cultivate evil conduct of mind, revile the noble ones, create the foundation of wrong karma, and associate with wrong views; upon the breakup of the body and the end of life, they are born in the hells. There are sentient beings whose conduct of body, speech, and mind is wholesome, who do not revile the noble ones, associate with right views; upon the breakup of the body and the end of life, they are born among humans.' This means that such sentient beings' conduct of body, speech, and mind lacks wrong karma. With a concentrated mind purified and unstained, my effluents were extinguished, and I realized effluent-free mental liberation and liberation by wisdom. I truly knew: 'Birth and death are exhausted, the holy life has been established, what was to be done has been done, and there will be no further receiving of the womb.' I immediately attained the unsurpassed, correct, and true path.

31.8.19

"Supposing, bhikṣus, there were a recluse or a brāhmaṇa who clearly understood all destinies; yet of these destinies without beginning, there is none I had not traversed in the past, except for the single Heaven of Pure Abodes, from which one does not return to this world. If there were a place where a recluse or brāhmaṇa could be born, but in which I had not been born, that would not be fitting, [unless] having been born in the Heaven of Pure Abodes, one does not return to this world. You have attained noble moral discipline, and I have also attained it; you have attained noble concentration, and I have also attained it; you have attained noble wisdom, and I have also attained it; you have attained noble liberation, and I have also attained it; you have attained noble knowledge and vision of liberation, and I have also attained it. Having severed the root of the womb, saṃsāra is permanently exhausted, and one will no longer enter the womb.

31.8.20

"Therefore, bhikṣus, you should seek expedients and accomplish the four dharmas. Why is this? If a bhikṣu attains these four dharmas, realizing the path is not difficult. Just as I today have attained the unsurpassed, correct, and true path, it was entirely by means of these four dharmas that the fruit was attained. Thus, bhikṣus, you should train."

31.8.21

At that time, hearing what the Buddha taught, the bhikṣus rejoiced and put it into practice.

Translations (1)

The Numbered Discourses (selected sūtras) — Charles Patton, English

Linked texts (1)

增壹阿含經 — Classical Chinese