The Medium Discourses
Chapter 10: Forests
| （一〇九）中阿含 林品 自觀心經第三 (第二小土城誦) | 109. Examining One’s Own Mind |
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| 我聞如是： 一時，佛遊舍衛國，在勝林、給孤獨園。 | 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha traveled to the country of Śrāvastī and was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove. |
| 爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「若有比丘不能善觀於他心者，當自善觀察於己心。 應學如是。 云何比丘善自觀心？ 比丘者，若有此觀，必多所饒益： 『我為得內止，不得最上慧觀法耶？』 『我為得最上慧觀法，不得內止耶？』 『我為不得內止，亦不得最上慧觀法耶？』 『我為得內止，亦得最上慧觀法耶？』 | 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “If a monk is unable to examine another’s mind well, he should examine his own mind well. He should train in that way. How does a monk examine his own mind well? If a monk performs this examination, he’ll surely gain much by it: ‘Having gained an inner calm, have I not been able to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom?’2 ‘Having been able to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom, have I not gained an inner calm?’ ‘Have I neither been able to gain an inner calm nor contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom?’ ‘Have I gained an inner calm and contemplated the Dharma with the highest wisdom?’ |
| 「若比丘觀已，則知： 『我得內止，不得最上慧觀法』者。 彼比丘得內止已，當求最上慧觀法。 彼於後時得內止，亦得最上慧觀法。 | 3. “Suppose a monk knows this after his examination: ‘I’ve gained an inner calm, but I’m not able to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom.’ After gaining an inner calm, that monk must seek to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom. Sometime later, he will gain both an inner calm and contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom. |
| 「若比丘觀已，則知： 『我得最上慧觀法，不得內止』者。 彼比丘住最上慧觀法已，當求內止。 彼於後時得最上慧觀法，亦得內止。 | 4. “Suppose a monk knows this after his examination: ‘I’m able to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom, but I’ve not gained an inner calm.’ After abiding in the contemplation of Dharma with the highest wisdom, that monk must pursue an inner calm. Sometime later, he will gain both the contemplation of Dharma with the highest wisdom and an inner calm. |
| 「若比丘觀已，則知： 『我不得內止，亦不得最上慧觀法』者。 如是比丘不得此善法，為欲得故，便以速求方便。 學極精勤，正念正智，忍不令退。 猶人為火燒頭、燒衣。 急求方便救頭、救衣。 如是，比丘不得此善法。 為欲得故，便以速求方便。 學極精勤，正念正智，忍不令退。 彼於後時即得內止，亦得最上慧觀法。 | 5. “Suppose a monk knows this after his examination: ‘I’ve not gained an inner calm nor am I able to contemplate the Dharma with the highest wisdom.’ Not having gained these good qualities, such a monk will quickly pursue the methods to do so out of the desire to gain them. He trains with utmost diligence, right mindfulness, right knowledge, and perseverance, not letting himself regress. He’s like a man with his hair and clothes on fire. He immediately seeks to put out his hair and clothes. Such is this monk who hasn’t gained these good qualities. He quickly pursues the methods to do so out of the desire to gain them. He trains with utmost diligence, right mindfulness, right knowledge, and perseverance, not letting himself regress. Sometime later, he will gain both an inner calm and the contemplation of the Dharma with the highest wisdom. |
| 「若比丘觀已，則知： 『我得內止，亦得最上慧觀法。』 彼比丘住此善法已，當求漏盡智通作證。 所以者何？ 我說不得畜一切衣，亦說得畜一切衣。 云何衣我說不得畜？ 若畜衣便增長惡不善法、衰退善法者，如是衣我說不得畜。 云何衣我說得畜？ 若畜衣便增長善法、衰退惡不善法者，如是衣我說得畜。 | 6. “Suppose a monk knows this after his examination: ‘I’ve gained both an inner calm and the contemplation of Dharma with the highest wisdom.’ Having abided in these good qualities, that monk must seek to realize the knowledge that his contaminants are ended. Why is that? I say there’s clothing that none of which can be kept, and I say there’s clothing that all of which can be kept.3 What is the clothing that none of which can be kept? If keeping the clothing increases bad and unskillful qualities and diminishes skillful qualities, such clothing I say can4ot be kept.4 What is the clothing I say can be kept? If keeping the clothing increases skillful qualities and diminishes bad and unskillful qualities, such clothing I say can be kept. |
| 「如衣、飲食、床榻、村邑亦復如是。 我說不得狎習一切人，亦說得狎習一切人。 云何人我說不得狎習？ 若狎習人便增長惡不善法、衰退善法者，如是人我說不得狎習。 云何人我說得與狎習？ 若狎習人便增長善法、衰退惡不善法者，如是人我說得與狎習。 | 7. “Like clothing, meals, seats, and towns are explained in the same way.5 I say there are people whom none can be associated with, and I also say there are people whom all can be associated with. Who are the people whom I say cannot be associated with? If associating with a person increases bad and unskillful qualities and diminishes skillful qualities, such people I say cannot be associated with. Who are the people whom I say can be associated with? If associating with a person increases skillful qualities and diminishes bad and unskillful qualities, such people I say can be associated with. |
| 「彼可習法知如真、不可習法亦知如真。 彼可習法、不可習法知如真已，不可習法便不習，可習法便習。 彼不可習不習、可習法習已，便增長善法，衰退惡不善法。 是謂比丘善自觀心，善自知心，善取善捨。」 | 8. “He truly knows which qualities should be cultivated, and he truly knows which qualities shouldn’t be cultivated. Once he truly knows that, he doesn’t cultivate the qualities that shouldn’t be cultivated, and he cultivates the qualities that should be cultivated. Once he doesn’t cultivate the qualities that he shouldn’t and cultivates the qualities that he should, he increases his skillful qualities and diminishes his bad and unskillful qualities. This is called a monk who examines his own mind well and skillfully chooses and discards qualities once he knows his mind well.” |
| 佛說如是。 彼諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 | 9. This is what the Buddha said. Those monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
| 自觀心經第三竟 (六百三十五字) | End of the third sūtra, Examining One’s Own Mind (635 Chinese characters) |
Notes
For the source text, cf. T26.1.598b7-8c20. AN 10.54 is a direct parallel, while MN 114 included a section that details the same list found in AN 10.54, making it tangentially parallel with this sūtra.
This sūtra differs with AN 10.54 in only a couple superficial ways. One is that it lacks the metaphor of a person examining their face in a mirror as a way of explaining the benefit gained by examining oneself. Second, the list of items at the end that are avoided or used depending on whether they promote skillful qualities or not is slightly different. Beyond this, these are a few language issues that I discuss in more detail in the notes below. [back]
inner calm … contemplate Dharma with the highest wisdom. C. 內止⋯最上慧觀法, P. cetosamathassa … adhipaññādhammavipassanāya. Here, calm (C. 止, P. samatha, S. śamatha) and contemplation (C. 觀, P. vipassanā, S. vipaśyanā) are treated as mutually supportive attainments. They are also both glossed with qualifiers: In C. the calm is within, while it’s explicitly calming of the heart in AN 10.54. Contemplation is contemplation of Dharma (or, alternatively, any particular thing) with the highest wisdom.
It should be noted that “highest wisdom” (C. 最上慧, S. adhiprajñā) interprets adhi- as adhika, which has a superlative meaning of “extraordinary, highest.” However, when adhiprajñā describes the training in Abhidharma, adhi is read as "with regard to,” and the term is then interpreted as “concerning wisdom.” The ambiguity of adhi as a prefix was an issue when context didn’t make clear how it should be read (cf. Edgerton 527 under śikṣā).
It may be that adhiprajñā was here a tacit reference to Abhidharma training. It would make sense that a monk could “contemplate with the highest wisdom” while also lacking a calm heart if “highest wisdom” referred to the theoretical philosophy found in Abhidharma. This interpretation would also give us a more practical sense of what this sūtra is describing, namely alternative paths of a monk’s training. A monk might train in Abhidharma before developing samādhi, or he might pursue meditation before studying philosophy. In either case, the monk would need to master the other discipline to be well-rounded in his training. Presumably, the training in conduct is assumed to be completed beforehand. [back]
there’s clothing that none of which can be kept … there’s clothing that all of which can be kept. C. 不得畜一切衣⋯得畜一切衣, P. cīvarampāhaṁ … sevitabbampi asevitabbampi. Here, 畜 (“to store, stockpile, keep; tend to, care for”) is equivalent to P. sevitabba (S. sevitavya). This qualifier is applied to a number of things useful to a monk: clothes, food, seating, towns, and people. Except for towns or people, they are all things that could be kept or discarded, and a town or person could be figuratively kept or discarded in terms of whether a monk chooses to associate with them or not. I’ve therefore opted for this reading of 畜.
It should be noted, however, that S. sevitavya does sometimes have the meaning “to be tended, taken care of,” whereas this reading is not recognized in P. This would explain the word choice in the C. translation: 畜 typically refers to the raising of livestock or children. The meaning “to keep or store” is an extension of that context: animal husbandry was often a source of wealth in terms of the number of animals that were kept and cared for.
The whole clause 得畜一切衣 makes little sense literally: “can keep all clothing” and the converse “cannot keep all clothing.” I’ve assumed the grammar of the original was more complex, with “all” combining with the negative to mean “none.” The P. parallel makes this clearer by first saying there are two kinds of clothing, but it lacks any parallel for 一切 (“all, whole”). [back]
bad and unskillful qualities … skillful qualities. C. 惡不善法⋯善法, P. akusalā dhammā … kusalā dhammā. As is often the case, the P. parallel lacks the “bad” (惡, pāpaka) qualifier of unskillful qualities that is nearly ubiqitous in MĀ, though it does occur in some P. passages. The next sūtra, MĀ 110 will address what these unskillful qualities are, and the same list that occurs there is also found in MĀ 95 and MĀ 96. The skillful qualities would seem to be absence of each unskillful quality in this context. They could also refer to the skillful qualities taught in MĀ 1. [back]
AN 10.54 has a slightly larger list of items: robes, food, lodging, villages or towns, countries, people, and robes again. Here, seating has been substituted for lodging, and countries are not mentioned. [back]
Translator: Charles Patton
Last Revised: 10 October 2025
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