Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Related Discourses

1. The Aggregates

（二七二） 諸想 55 (272). Concepts
如是我聞： 一時，佛住舍衛國、祇樹、給孤獨園。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.
爾時，眾中有少諍事，世尊責諸比丘故。 晨朝著衣，持鉢，入城乞食。 食已，出，攝舉衣鉢，洗足。 入安陀林，坐一樹下。 獨靜思惟，作是念： 「眾中有少諍事，我責諸比丘。 然彼眾中多年少比丘出家未久，不見大師。 或起悔心，愁憂、不樂。 我已長夜於諸比丘生哀愍心。 今當復還，攝取彼眾，以哀愍故。」 2. It was then that there was a minor dispute in the assembly, and the Bhagavān had scolded the monks because of it. Early in the morning, he put on his robe and took his bowl into the city to solicit alms. After eating, he left [the city,] and he put away his robe and bowl and washed his feet [upon returning]. He went into Andha Forest and sat under a tree. While quietly contemplating alone there, he thought, “There was a minor dispute in the assembly, and I scolded the monks. Still, there’s a group of junior monks in that assembly who left home not long ago, and they haven’t seen their great teacher. Perhaps they’ll be regretful and feel sad and unhappy. I’ve felt sympathy for these monks for a long night. I’ll go back now and bring that assembly together out of sympathy for them.”
時，大梵王知佛心念。 如力士屈伸臂頃，從梵天沒，住於佛前。 而白佛言： 「如是，世尊！如是，善逝！ 責諸比丘以少諍事故。 於彼眾中多有年少比丘出家未久，不見大師。 或起悔心，愁憂不樂。 世尊長夜哀愍。 攝受眾僧！ 善哉，世尊，願今當還攝諸比丘！」 3. At the time, King Mahābrahmā knew what the Buddha was thinking. In the time it takes a strong man to flex his arm, he disappeared from the Brahma Heaven and stood before the Buddha. He said to the Buddha, “Yes, Bhagavān! Yes, Sugata! You scolded the monks because of that minor dispute. There’s a group of junior monks in that assembly who left home not long ago and haven’t seen their great teacher. They might be regretful and feel sad and unhappy. The Bhagavān has had sympathy for them for a long night. Bring that assembly together! It would be good, Bhagavān, if you would please return and gather the monks!”
爾時，世尊心已垂愍梵天故，默然而許。 時，大梵天知佛世尊默然已許，為佛作禮，右遶三匝，忽然不現。 4. The Bhagavān then silently agreed out of sympathy for Brahmā. When he knew that the Buddha had silently agreed to this, Mahābrahmā bowed to the Buddha, circled him clockwise three times, and instantly disappeared.
爾時，世尊大梵天王還去未久即還祇樹、給孤獨園。 敷尼師檀，𣫍身正坐，表現微相，令諸比丘敢來奉見。 時，諸比丘來詣佛所。 懷慚愧色，前禮佛足，却坐一面。 5. Soon after Mahābrahmā had departed, the Bhagavān returned to Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove. He spread out his sitting mat, sat up straight in his seat, and gave a subtle sign2 to the monks that they could come and respectfully see him. The monks then came to visit the Buddha. Blushing in shame, they bowed at the Buddha’s feet and withdrew to sit at one side.
爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「出家之人卑下活命。 剃髮持鉢，家家乞食，如被噤呪。 所以然者，為求勝義故，為度生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦、究竟苦邊故。 諸善男子，汝不為王賊所使、非負債人、不為恐怖、不為失命而出家。 正為解脫生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦，汝等不為此而出家耶？」 6. The Bhagavān then told the monks, “Those people who leave home live a lowly life. They cut off their hair, carry a bowl, and go from home to home soliciting alms like someone with a silence spell put on them. The reason they do this is to seek the supreme goal and go beyond birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, and trouble to the final end to suffering. Good sons, you didn’t leave home because you were sent by the king or a criminal, not because of creditors, not because of fear, and not because you lost your livelihood. Didn’t you leave home precisely to be freed from birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain and not for these other reasons?”
比丘白佛： 「實爾，世尊！」 The monks said to the Buddha, “That’s true, Bhagavān!”
佛告比丘： 「汝等比丘為如是勝義而出家。 云何於中猶復有一愚癡凡夫而起貪欲，極生染著，瞋恚兇暴，懈怠下劣，失念不定，諸根迷亂？ 7. The Buddha told the monks, “You monks have left home for such a supreme goal. How is there still a single foolish, ordinary person among you who becomes greedy, extremely affected by attachments, angry and violent, slothful and mean, who loses their mindfulness and aren’t settled, and whose faculties are confused?
「譬如士夫從闇而入闇，從冥入冥，從糞廁出復墮糞廁，以血洗血，捨離諸惡還復取惡。 我說此譬，凡愚比丘亦復如是。 8. “Such a man is like someone who goes into gloom from gloom or into darkness from darkness, who gets out of a latrine and falls back into a latrine, who washes blood off with blood, or who abandons doing evils only to take up those evils again. I say this ordinary, foolish monk is like these examples.
「又復譬如焚尸火𣕊捐棄塜間，不為樵伐之所採拾。 我說此譬，愚癡凡夫比丘而起貪欲，極生染著，瞋恚兇暴，懈怠下劣，失念不定，諸根散亂，亦復如是。 9. “He is also like a burned stick from a funeral pyre discarded on a charnel ground that can’t be included in kindling wood. I say this ordinary, foolish monk is like this example who becomes greedy, extremely affected by attachments, angry and violent, slothful and mean, who loses their mindfulness and aren’t settled, and whose faculties are confused.”
「比丘，有三不善覺法。 何等為三？ 貪覺、恚覺、害覺。 此三覺由想而起。 云何想？ 想有無量種種貪想、恚想、害想。 諸不善覺從此而生。 10. “Monks, there are three unskillful ways of perception. What are the three? Greedy perception, hateful perception, and harmful perception. These three perceptions arise from concepts. What are those concepts? Those concepts are measureless and diverse greedy concepts, hateful concepts, and harmful concepts. Unskillful perceptions arise from these concepts.3
「比丘，貪想、恚想、害想、貪覺、恚覺、害覺，及無量種種不善。 云何究竟滅盡？ 於四念處繫心、住無相三昧修習，多修習。 惡、不善法從是而滅。 無餘永盡，正以此法。 11. “Monks, greedy concepts, hateful concepts, harmful concepts, greedy perceptions, hateful perceptions, and harmful perceptions are measureless, diverse, and unskillful. What will finally destroy them? Cultivate fixing the mind on four abodes of mindfulness and abiding in the signless samādhi, and cultivate this often. This will destroy the bad and unskillful things that come from these [perceptions]. When they are ended forever without remainder, one can put this Dharma to proper use.
「善男子、善女人信樂出家，修習無相三昧；修習多修習已，住甘露門，乃至究竟甘露涅槃。 我不說此甘露涅槃，依三見者。 何等為三？ 有一種見如是如是說：『命則是身。』 復有如是見：『命異身異。』 又作是說：『色是我，無二無異，長存不變。』 12. “Good sons and good daughters who confidently leave home to cultivate the signless samādhi will abide in the entry to ambrosia after cultivating it often until the final ambrosia nirvāṇa. I don’t teach this ambrosia nirvāṇa to those who rely on three views. What are the three? There is one type of view that so-and-so says ‘Life is the same as one’s body.’ Again, another says ‘Life is one thing, and a body is another.’ Another says ‘Form is self. Being neither two things nor different things, they endure a long time and don’t change.’4
「多聞聖弟子作是思惟： 『世間頗有一法可取而無罪過者？』 思惟已，都不見一法可取而無罪過者。 『我若取色即有罪過。 若取受、想、行、識則有罪過。』 作是知已，於諸世間則無所取。 無所取者自覺涅槃： 『我生已盡，梵行已立，所作已作。 自知不受後有。』」 13. “A well-versed noble disciple would contemplate this: ‘Is there a single thing in the world that someone would be faultless to take?’ Having contemplated that, they would not see one thing that someone would be faultless to take. ‘If I take form, then I would have a fault. If I take feeling … conception … volition … awareness, then I would have a fault.’ Once they know that, they take nothing from any world. Taking nothing, they realize nirvāṇa themselves: ‘My births have been ended, the religious life has been established, and the task has been accomplished. I myself know that I won’t be subject to a later existence.’”
佛說此經已，時諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 14. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.
Summary Verse
  • 應說、小土摶，
    泡沫、二無知，
    河流、祇林、樹，
    低舍責、諸想。
  • [46] Should be taught, [47] a clod of dirt,
    [48] Bubbles and foam, [49-50] two on the lack of knowledge,
    [51] The river torrent, [52] the trees of Jeta’s Grove,
    [54] Scolding Tiśya, and [55] concepts.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 272 in the Taisho edition and no. 55 in Yinshun (T99.2.71c14-2b13). It’s parallel with SN 22.80. MĀ 140 and Iti 91 both extract the Buddha’s teaching to the monks about the goal of the mendicant life without presenting the story of how it came to be taught found here.
    This story is remarkable in that the Buddha appears to behave like most people, having emotional reactions that aren’t necessarily perfect. It clashes somewhat with the image of the deified Buddha of later Buddhism who serves as the model of a spiritually perfected being. Here, he is depicted as being quite disgusted with his monks arguing over insignificant matters and considering abandoning them. However, after cooling off in solitude, he decides that it would be best to return and try to teach them how to better behave.
    The nature of his teaching suggests that some of the new monks were not adjusting to the mendicant lifestyle very well. SN 22.80 locates the sermon at Kapilavatthu, suggesting that perhaps this event occurred after the king of the Śakya tribe had ordered one son of each family to become a monk. The sudden influx of novices perhaps tried the patience of even a Buddha.
    This version of the sūtra is generally expanded compared to SN 22.80, but it includes most of the details peculiar to it, such as the pairing of the four abodes of mindfulness with the signless samādhi as the recommended training. However, the mention of three unskillful perceptions (vitarka or saṃkalpa) is followed by three concepts (samjñā) that derive from them. This is not found in SN 22.80. [back]
  2. gave a subtle sign. C. 表現微相, P. tathārūpaṁ iddhābhisaṅkhāraṁ. The C. lit. means “display a little sign.” It’s difficult to imagine that it translated something equiv. to the Pali parallel. While not very specific, it could easily be interpreted to mean the wave of a hand or a nod of the head. In contrast, the P. parallel brings us back to an image of the Buddha as a supernatural being with miraculous powers rather than a human being. [back]
  3. unskillful ways of perception. C. 不善覺法, P. akusalavitakkā. Translating C. 覺 is never easy because English equivalents are easily misunderstood. Generally speaking, it refers to the initial recognition or taking notice of something, which can be a crude or shallow perception, or a sudden realization. English “noticing,” “discovering,” or “realizing” match the meaning of 覺 fairly well, but there aren’t many English nouns that are as clear. 覺 was used to capture this connotation of S. vitarka (G. vitaka, P. vitakka). In S., it meant a superficial kind of thinking or reflection that is doubtful or uncertain. One use of the English word “perception” refers to an initial or superficial recognition. That is my intended meaning when translating 覺 in this way.
    This passage suggests that here the nature of vitarka is a rationalization of innumerable concepts (P. saññā, S. saṃjñā) of the same quality (here greed, hate, or harmfulness). This would suggest that it is not an initial sensory preception, but something like a prejudicial perception formed from past experience. This principle is illustrated here with three defilements that were also identified as bad intentions or aims (S. saṃkalpa, P. saṅkappa) in the eightfold path.
    The additional commentary involving S. saṃjñā is absent from SN 22.80; it only mentions the same three akusalavitakkā (kāmavitakka, byāpādavitakka, and vihiṁsāvitakka). [back]
  4. three views. SN 22.80 instead lists the two views of existence and non-existence. Here, three views about the relationship between one’s physical incarnation and spirit or self are given. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 28 March 2024

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