The Related Discourses
1. The Aggregates
| （三五） 三正士 | 147 (35). Three Gentlemen |
|---|---|
| 如是我聞： 一時，佛住支提、竹園精舍。 | 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at the Bamboo Park Monastery in Cedi. |
| 爾時，有三正士出家未久。 所謂尊者阿㝹律陀、尊者難提、尊者金毘羅。 | 2. At that time, there were three gentlemen who had left home not long before. They were Venerable Aniruddha, Venerable Nandika, and Venerable Kimbila. |
| 爾時，世尊知彼心中所念，而為教誡： 「比丘，此心、此意、此識。 當思惟此，莫思惟此。 斷此欲、斷此色，身作證具足住。 比丘，寧有色，若常、不變易、正住不？」 | 3. Knowing what they were thinking in their minds, the Bhagavān then instructed them: “Monks, this is heart, this is mind, this is awareness. One should contemplate this and not contemplate that. Stopping this desire and stopping this form, a person fully abides in realization.2 Monks, could there be a form that remains permanent, unchanging, and the same?” |
| 比丘白佛： 「不也，世尊。」 | The monks said to the Buddha, “No, Bhagavān.” |
| 佛告比丘： 「善哉！善哉！色是無常、變易之法。 厭、離欲，滅、寂、沒。 如是色從本以來，一切無常、苦、變易法。 如是知已，緣彼色生諸漏害、熾然、憂惱皆悉斷滅。 斷滅已，無所著。 無所著已，安樂住。 安樂住已，得般涅槃。 受、想、行、識亦復如是。」 | 4. The Buddha told the monks, “Good, good! Form is impermanent and liable to change. Rejecting it and parting with desire for it, it ceases, becomes tranquil, and disappears. Since the distant past, all forms have been impermanent, painful, and liable to change. Once known in this way, involvement with those forms that produce the contaminants, which are harmful, burning, and grievous, is entirely destroyed. Once it’s destroyed, one has no attachments. Once they have no attachments, one lives in well-being. Once they live in well-being, one will attain parinirvāṇa. Feeling, conception, volition, and awareness are likewise.” |
| 佛說此經時，三正士不起諸漏，心得解脫。 | 5. When the Buddha spoke this sūtra, those three gentlemen didn’t produce the contaminants, and their minds were liberated. |
| 佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 | 6. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
Notes
- This is sūtra no. 35 in the Taisho edition and no. 147 in Yinshun (T99.2.8a5-20). [back]
- fully abides in realization. C. 作證具足住. In SĀ 1.61, 1.154, and others, this expression is used to describe the realization that one is liberated from rebirth (e.g., T99.2.16c24-25). Similarly, it occurs with the realization of liberation in mind and wisdom (SĀ 2.181-195, 48.3-4, and 50.7).
The expression “fully abide in personal realization” (身作證具足住) is also used to describe meditative attainments such as measureless samādhi in SĀ 28.73, the four dhyānas in SĀ 2.181-195, the abode with neither conception nor no conception in SĀ 6.27, the signless samādhi in SĀ 29.2 and 32.5, and the eight liberations in SĀ 44.10.
These passages taken together indicate that it meant personal experience with profound or transformative attainments, as opposed to knowledge gained from scripture or hearsay. [back]
Translator: Charles Patton
Last Revised: 5 April 2024
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