Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

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1. The Aggregates

（二三） 羅睺羅所問 29 (23). Rāhula’s Question
如是我聞： 一時，佛住王舍城、迦蘭陀竹園。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove of Rājagṛha.
爾時，尊者羅睺羅往詣佛所。 頭面禮足，却住一面，白佛言： 「世尊，云何知、云何見我此識身及外境界一切相能令無有我、我所見、我慢使繫著？」 2. It was then that Venerable Rāhula visited the Buddha. He bowed his head at the Buddha’s feet, withdrew to sit at one side, and said, “Bhagavān, how do I know and how do I see this body of awareness and all the signs of the external world such that I’ll have no binding attachments to views of self and what belongs to self or to the tendency of self pride?”
佛告羅睺羅： 「善哉！善哉，能問如來： 『云何知、云何見我此識身及外境界一切相令無有我、我所見、我慢使繫著耶？』！」 3. The Bhagavān then said to Rāhula, “Good! It’s good that you can ask the Tathāgata, ‘How do I know and how do I see this body of awareness and all the signs of the external world such that I’ll have no binding attachments to views of self and what belongs to self or to the tendency of self pride?’! [Is that what you asked?]”
羅睺羅白佛言： 「如是，世尊。」 Rāhula said to the Buddha, “Yes, Bhagavān.”
佛告羅睺羅： 「善哉！諦聽！諦聽，善思念之。 當為汝說。 羅睺羅，當觀若所有諸色，若過去、若未來、若現在，若內、若外，若麁、若細，若好、若醜，若遠、若近，彼一切悉皆非我、不異我、不相在。 如是平等慧正觀。 4. The Buddha told Rāhula, “Good! Listen closely! listen closely, and consider it well. I will explain this for you. Rāhula, you should observe that whatever forms there are, whether they are past, future, or present, internal or external, crude or fine, beautiful or ugly, or distant or near, they are all not self, not different than self, and neither are present in the other. They are correctly observed with equitable wisdom in this way.
「如是，受⋯想⋯行⋯識，若過去、若未來、若現在，若內、若外，若麁、若細，若好、若醜，若遠、若近，彼一切非我、不異我、不相在。 如是平等慧如實觀。 5. “Thus, whatever feelings … conceptions … volitions … instances of awareness there are, whether they are past, future, or present, internal or external, crude or fine, beautiful or ugly, or distant or near, they are all not self, not different than self, and neither are present in the other. They are correctly observed with equitable wisdom in this way.
「如是，羅睺羅，比丘如是知、如是見。如是知、如是見者，於此識身及外境界一切相，無有我、我所見、我慢使繫著。 6. “Thus, Rāhula, a monk who knows and sees this body of awareness and all the signs of the external world in this way will have no binding attachments to views of self and what belongs to self or to the tendency of self pride.
「羅睺羅，比丘若如是於此識身及外境界一切相，無有我、我所見、我慢使繫著者，比丘是名斷愛欲，轉去諸結。 正無間等，究竟苦邊。」 7. “Rāhula, if a monk has no binding attachments to views of self and what belongs to self or to the tendency of self pride regarding this body of awareness and all the signs of the external world, that monk is called one who has stopped craving desires and turned away from the bonds. Right at that moment,2 he reaches the final end of suffering.”
時，羅睺羅聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 8. When Rāhula heard what the Buddha taught, he rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 23 in the Taisho edition and no. 29 in Yinshun (T99.2.5a11-b4). It’s parallel to SN 22.91-92. It also shares a very similar template with SN 18.21-22 and SĀ 2.41-48 (which apply the same template to the six senses and related elements of sensory experience).
    A comparison of this sūtra with SĀ 2.41-48 is instructive in the instability of Chinese translations of nearly identical Indic sūtras. Seemingly minor changes in wording and grammar make the meaning of these parallel texts shift in significant ways. It’s difficult to determine whether this was the result of inconsistent translation or poor copying of the text in later centuries. The same issues may have existed in the original manuscript that was translated to Chinese, too. Being that it’s difficult to decide with certainty which version is the most accurate, I’ve translated both Chinese translations as faithfully as possible. [back]
  2. right at that moment. C. 正無間等. Lit. “exactly immediate.” There are passages in SĀ that appear to indicate that P. abhisamaya is the parallel to 無間等, but the two words mean very different things, making it unlikely to me. S. ānantarya (“immediate succession”) would match the meaning of C. much better. If that’s the case, then the Indic parallel would have been equiv. to something like S. samānantarya (“a complete immediacy”?). The functional meaning of the word here would seem to describe the immediacy of a sudden realization. This might explain why the corresponding word in some P. parallels is abhisamaya (“penetration to understanding”). [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 29 February 2024

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