The Medium Discourses

Chapter 7: King Dīrghāyu

85. The Genuine Person

1. Thus I have heard:[1] One time, the Buddha traveled to Śrāvastī and stayed at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove.

2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “Now, I’ll explain for you the way of a genuine person and the way of a disingenuous person.[2] Listen closely! Listen closely, and consider it well.”

The monks then accepted the teaching and listened.

3. The Buddha said, “What is the way of a genuine person? Suppose a person from a noble family leaves home to train on the path, but that isn’t the case for others. Because this person was from a noble family, they esteem themselves and denigrate the others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

4. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It isn’t because of this noble family that I will abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who isn’t from a noble family were to leave home and train on the path. They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

5. “Furthermore, suppose a person is handsome and delightful, but that isn’t the case for others. Because this person is handsome and delightful, they esteem themselves and denigrate the others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

6. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I am handsome and delightful that I will abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who isn’t handsome and delightful [were to leave home and train on the path.][3] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

7. “Furthermore, suppose a person is eloquent and skilled at discourse, but that isn’t the case for others. Because this person is eloquent and skilled at discourse, they esteem themselves and denigrate the others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

8. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because of eloquence and skill in discourse that I will abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who isn’t eloquent and skilled at discourse [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

9. “Furthermore, suppose a person is an elder who became familiar with the king, is known to many people, and has great fortune, but that isn’t the case for others. Because this person is an elder who’s familiar with the king, known to many people, and has great fortune, they esteem themselves and denigrate the others. This is the way of a disingenuous man.

10. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I’m an elder who’s familiar with the king, known to many people, and has great fortune that I’ll abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who’s not an elder, not familiar with the king, not known to many people, and doesn’t have great fortune [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

11. “Furthermore, suppose a person recites the Sūtras … observes the Vinaya … studies the Abhidharma … memorizes the Āgamas, and is well educated in the scriptures, but that isn’t the case for others. Because they … memorize the Āgamas, and are well-educated in the scriptures, they esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

12. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I … memorize the Āgamas, and am well-educated in the scriptures that I’ll abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who … doesn’t memorize the Āgamas, and isn’t well-educated in the scriptures [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

13. “Furthermore, suppose a person wears rags for robes … gathers the three Dharma garments … keeps unassuming robes, but that isn’t the case for others. Because they … keep unassuming robes, they esteem themselves and denigrate the others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

14. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I … keep these unassuming robes that I’ll abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who doesn’t … keep unassuming robes [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Someone who thus proceeds to attain the true Dharma doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

15. “Furthermore, suppose a person always walks the almsround … doesn’t eat more than half a peck of food … limits their begging to seven households … doesn’t eat soup after midday if they do eat again,[5] but that isn’t the case for others. Because that person … doesn’t eat soup after midday, they esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

16. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I … don’t eat soup after midday that I’ll abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who doesn’t … doesn’t stop eating soup after midday [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

17. “Furthermore, suppose a person stays in an undisturbed place … under a tree in a mountain forest … lives on a high peak … stops on open ground … dwells in charnel grounds … knows the season, but that isn’t the case for others. Because that person … knows the season, they esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

18. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘It’s not because I … know the season that I’ll abandon lust, anger, and delusion. Suppose a person who doesn’t … know the season [were to leave home and train on the path.] They practice the Dharma according to the Dharma, conform themselves to the Dharma, and go from one thing to the next.’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

19. “Furthermore, suppose a person achieves the first dhyāna. Because that person achieves the first dhyāna, they esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a disingenuous person.

20. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘The Bhagavān has said that this first dhyāna has measureless kinds. If someone supposes something about it, this is craving.[6]’ For this reason, they get offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

21. “Furthermore, perhaps there’s a person who attains the second … third … fourth dhyāna … attain the abode of space … abode of consciousness … abode of nothingness … abode of neither having conception nor having no conception, but for others this isn’t the case. Because they attain the abode of neither having conception nor having no conception, they esteem themselves and denigrate others. This the way of a disingenuous person.

22. “The way of a genuine person is to make this observation: ‘… The Bhagavān has said that this abode of neither having conception nor having no conception has measureless kinds. If someone supposes something about it, this is craving.’ For this reason, they attain offerings of support and respect. Proceeding to attain the true Dharma in this way, a person doesn’t esteem themselves and denigrate others. This is the way of a genuine person.

23. “Monks, this is the way of a genuine person and the way of a disingenuous person. All of you should know the way of a genuine person and the way of a disingenuous person. Once you know the way of a genuine person and the way of a disingenuous person, discard the way of a disingenuous person and train in the way of a genuine person. You should train in this way.”

24. Thus did the Buddha speak. Those monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

• The noble, handsome, and eloquent,
  The elder and reciter of sūtras,
  Robes, food, undisturbed, dhyāna,
  And last are four formless attainments.

Notes

1. For the source text, cf. T26.1.561a20-2a17. This sūtra is a parallel to MN 113. [back]
2. way of a genuine person. C. 眞人法, P. sappurisa dhamma, S. satpuruṣa dharma. The exact meaning of S. dharma in this expression is somewhat open to interpretation. It can mean such things as “character,” “manner,” “property,” “principle,” “attribute,” and “nature” in a context like this. I’ve opted to translate the “manner” meaning as the “way” of a person’s behavior.
   眞人 (lit. “real person”) was a Daoist term for a perfected sage who no longer possessed any disingenuous motives, so it had a stronger meaning than the literal reading imparts in English. [back]
3. This expression is omitted from the remainder of the sūtra, but I’ve added it back into the English translation for clarity. [back]
4. skilled at discourse. C. 工談. This expression doesn’t exactly make sense in C. because 工 generally refers to physical trades and crafts like metalsmithing or carpentry. The summary verse at the end of the sūtra lists 正談 (“correct discourse”) for this section instead. While 工 and 正 could certainly be mistaken for each other by a copyists, it’s difficult to tell which is the error. I’ve translated both expressions as-is. [back]
5. eat soup. C. 飮漿. This mysterious expression doesn’t occur outside of this sūtra. It’s possible that it’s a corruption or a overly literal translation of the original Prakrit. I’ve left it as-is since it’s possible that it referred to some custom of feeding monks soup, or perhaps soup was available as charity after noon in some places. [back]
6. craving. C. 愛. An alternate reading in earlier editions of the Chinese read “grasping” (受) instead of “craving” (愛). They certainly could have been mistaken for each other by a copyist. It’s also of interest to note that the Pali parallel passage has here an expression that typically refers to conceptions being inevitably mistaken in some way (Cf. Bodhi, Middle-Length Discourses, p. 911 n. 1066). Overall, “grasping” seems more appropriate than “craving,” but either could be correct, so I’ve translated the Taisho reading as-is. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 8 April 2023