Imprisoned in a Cocoon of Discrimination

THEN SAID MAHAMATI to the Blessed One: Why is it that the ignorant are given up to discrimination and the wise are not?

The Blessed One replied: It is because the ignorant cling to names, signs and ideas; as their minds move along these channels they feed on multiplicities of objects and fall into the notion of an ego-soul and what belongs to it; they make discriminations of good and bad among appearances and cling to the agreeable. As they thus cling there is a reversion to ignorance, and karma born of greed, anger and folly, is accumulated. As the accumulation of karma goes on they become imprisoned in a cocoon of discrimination and are thenceforth unable to free themselves from the round of birth and death.

Because of folly they do not understand that all things are like maya, like the reflection of the moon in water, that there is no self-substance to be imagined as an ego-soul and its belongings, and that all their definitive ideas rise from their false discriminations of what exists only as it is seen of the mind itself. They do not realise that things have nothing to do with qualified and qualifying, nor with the course of birth, abiding and destruction, and instead they assert that they are born of a creator, of time, of atoms, of some celestial spirit. It is because the ignorant are given up to discrimination that they move along with the stream of appearances, but it is not so with the wise.

From: A BUDDHIST BIBLE, First Edition, BY DWIGHT GODDARD [1932, Copyright not renewed] – The Lankavatara Sutra – http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/bb/bb08.htm – scanned at sacred-texts.com, August 2004. John Bruno Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain because it was not renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely fashion, as required by law. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

Discrimination

THEN SAID MAHAMATI the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva: O blessed One, Sugata, Arhat and Fully-enlightened One, pray tell us about the realisation of Noble Wisdom which is beyond the path and usage of the philosophers; which is devoid of all predicates such as being and non-being, oneness and otherness, bothness and not-bothness, existence and non-existence, eternity and non-eternity; which has nothing to do with individuality and generality, nor false-imagination, nor any illusions arising from the mind itself; but which manifests itself as the Truth of Highest Reality. By which, going up continuously by the stages of purification, one enters at last upon the stage of Tathagatahood, whereby, by the power of his original vows unattended by any striving, one will radiate its influence to infinite worlds, like a gem reflecting its variegated colors, whereby I and other Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, will be enabled to bring all beings to the same perfection of virtue.
Said the Blessed One: Well done, well done, Mahamati! And again, well done, indeed! It is because of your compassion for the world, because of the benefit it will bring to many people both human kind and celestial, that you have presented yourself before us to make this request. Therefore, Mahamati, listen well and truly reflect upon what I shall say, for I will instruct you.
Then Mahamati and the other Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas gave devout attention to the teaching of the Blessed One.
Mahamati, since the ignorant and simple-minded, not knowing that the world is only something seen of the mind itself, cling to the multitudinousness of external objects, cling to the notions of being and nonbeing, oneness and otherness, bothness and not-bothness, existence and non-existence, eternity and non-eternity, and think that they have a self-nature of their own, all of which rises from the discriminations of the mind and is perpetuated by habit-energy, and from which they are given over to false imagination. It is all like a mirage in which springs of water are seen as if they were real. They are thus imagined by animals who, made thirsty by the heat of the season, run after them. Animals, not knowing that the springs are an hallucination of their own minds, do not realise that there are no such springs. In the same way, Mahamati, the ignorant and simple-minded, their minds burning with the fires of greed, anger and folly, finding delight in a world of multitudinous forms, their thoughts obsessed with ideas of birth, growth and destruction, not well understanding what is meant by existent and non-existent, and being impressed by the erroneous discriminations and speculations since beginningless time, fall into the habit of grasping this and that and thereby becoming attached to them.

From: A BUDDHIST BIBLE, First Edition, BY DWIGHT GODDARD [1932, Copyright not renewed] – The Lankavatara Sutra – http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/bb/bb08.htm – scanned at sacred-texts.com, August 2004. John Bruno Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain because it was not renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely fashion, as required by law. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

The Highest Happiness

204. Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; trust is the best of relationships, Nirvâna the highest happiness.

205. He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity, is free from fear and free from sin, while he tastes the sweetness of drinking in the law.

206. The sight of the elect (Arya) is good, to live with them is always happiness; if a man does not see fools, he will be truly happy.

From The Dhammapada, Translated from the Pâli by F. Max Müller Oxford, the Clarendon Press
[1881] Vol. X of The Sacred Books of the East
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1017.htm

Comment: 204 is often quoted/misquoted. Context is a wonderful thing. To your happiness – Mark

The Five Hinderances

   67. ‘Then, master of this so excellent body of moral precepts, gifted with this so excellent self-restraint as to the senses, endowed with this so excellent mindfulness and self-possession, filled with this so excellent content, he chooses some lonely spot to rest at on his way–in the woods, at the foot of a tree, on a hill side, in a mountain glen, in a rocky cave, in a charnel place, or on a heap of straw in the open field. And returning thither after his round for alms he seats himself, when his meal is done, cross-legged, keeping his body erect, and his intelligence alert, intent.

68. ‘Putting away the hankering after the world, he remains with a heart that hankers not, and purifies his mind of lusts. Putting away the corruption of the wish to injure, he remains with a heart free from ill-temper, and purifies his mind of malevolence. Putting away torpor of heart and mind, keeping his ideas alight, mindful and self-possessed, he purifies his mind of weakness and of sloth. Putting away flurry and worry, he remains free from fretfulness, and with heart serene within, he purifies himself of irritability and vexation of spirit. Putting away wavering, he remains as one passed beyond perplexity; and no longer in suspense as to what is good, he purifies his mind of doubt.

Translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids – London, H. Frowde, Oxford University Press [1899] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-02tx.htm#p.%2078

Mindful and Self-possesed

 65. ‘And how, O king, is the Bhikshu mindful and self-possessed?’

‘In this matter, O king. the Bhikshu in going forth or in coming back keeps clearly before his mind’s eye (all that is wrapt up therein–the immediate object of the act itself, its ethical significance, whether or not it is conducive to the high aim set before him, and the real facts underlying the mere phenomenon of the outward act). And so also in looking forward, or in looking round; in stretching forth his arm, or in drawing it in again; in eating or drinking, in masticating or swallowing, in obeying the calls of nature, in going or standing or sitting, in sleeping or waking, in speaking or in being still, he keeps himself aware of all it really means. Thus is it, O king, that the Bhikshu becomes mindful and self-possessed.

Translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids – London, H. Frowde, Oxford University Press [1899] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-02tx.htm#p.%2078

To your happiness! Mark

Guarding the Doors

 64. ‘And how. O king, is the Bhikshu guarded as to the doors of his senses?’

‘When, O king, he sees an object with his eye he is not entranced in the general appearance or the details of it. He sets himself to restrain that which might give occasion for evil states, covetousness and dejection, to flow in over him so long as he dwells unrestrained as to his sense of sight. He keeps watch upon his faculty of sight, and he attains to mastery over it. And so, in like manner, when he hears a sound with his ear, or smells an odour with his nose, or tastes a flavour with his tongue, or feels a touch with his body, or when he cognises a phenomenon with his mind he is not entranced in the general appearance or the details of it. He sets himself to restrain that which might give occasion for evil states, covetousness and dejection, to flow in over him so long as he dwells unrestrained as to his mental (representative) faculty. He keeps watch upon his representative faculty, and he attains to mastery over it. And endowed with this self-restraint, so worthy of honour, as regards the senses, he experiences, within himself, a sense of ease into which no evil state can enter. Thus is it, O king, that the Bhikshu becomes guarded as to the doors of his senses.

Translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids – London, H. Frowde, Oxford University Press [1899] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-02tx.htm#p.%2078

Good Conduct

  43. ‘And how, O king, is his conduct good?

‘In this, O king, that the Bhikshu, putting away the killing of living things, holds aloof from the destruction of life. The cudgel and the sword he has laid aside, and ashamed of roughness, and full of mercy, he dwells compassionate and kind to all creatures that have life.

‘This is part of the goodness that he has.

[Here follow the whole of the Sîlas (the paragraphs on minor morality), in the words already translated above in the Brahma-gâla Sutta, §§ 8 to 27. Only for ‘Gotama the recluse’ one should read ‘the Bhikshu’; and alter in each case the words of the refrain accordingly.]

[69] 63. ‘And then that Bhikshu, O king, being thus master of the minor moralities, sees no danger from any side; that is, so far as concerns his self-restraint in conduct. Just, O king, as a sovereign, duly crowned, whose enemies have been beaten down, sees no danger from any side; [70] that is, so far as enemies are concerned, so is the Bhikshu confident. And endowed with this body of morals, so worthy of honour, he experiences, within himself, a sense of ease without alloy. Thus is it, O king, that the Bhikshu becomes righteous.

Translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids – London, H. Frowde, Oxford University Press [1899] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-02tx.htm#p.%2078

Uprightness is Delight

41. ‘A householder{2} or one of his children, or a man of inferior birth in any class listens to that truth; and on hearing it he has faith in the Tathâgata (the one who has found the truth); and when he is possessed of that faith, he considers thus within himself:

‘”Full of hindrances is household life, a path for the dust of passion. Free as the air is the life of him who has renounced all worldly things. How difficult is it for the man who dwells at home to live the higher life in all its fullness, in all its purity, in all its bright perfection! Let me then cut off my hair and beard, let me clothe myself in the orange-coloured robes, and let me go forth from the household life into the homeless state.”

‘Then, before long, forsaking his portion of wealth, be it great or small, forsaking his circle of relatives, be they many or be they few, he cuts off his hair and beard, he clothes himself in the orange-coloured robes, and he goes forth from the household life into the homeless state.

42. ‘When he has thus become a recluse he lives self-restrained by that restraint that should be binding on a recluse{1}. Uprightness is his delight, and he sees danger in the least of those things he should avoid. He adopts, and trains himself in, the precepts. He encompasses himself with good deeds in act and word. Pure are his means of livelihood, good is his conduct, guarded the door of his senses. Mindful and self-possessed he is altogether happy.

Translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids – London, H. Frowde, Oxford University Press [1899] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-02tx.htm#p.%2078

The Blameless Teacher

 ‘But is there, Gotama, any sort of teacher not worthy of blame in the world?’

‘Yes, Lohikka, there is a teacher not worthy, in the world, of blame.’

‘And what sort of a teacher, Gotama, is so?’

[The answer is in the words of the exposition set out above in the Sâmañña-phala, as follows:–

1. The appearance of a Tathâgata (one who won the truth), his preaching, the conversion of a hearer, his adoption of the homeless state. (Above, pp. 78, 79.)

2. The minor details of mere morality that he practises. (Above, pp. 57, 58.)

3. The Confidence of heart he gains from this practice. (Above, p. 79.)

4. The paragraph on ‘Guarded is the door of his Senses.’ (Above, pp. 79, 80.)

5. The paragraph on ‘Mindful and Self-possessed.’ (Above, pp. 80, 81.)

6. The paragraph on Simplicity of life, being content with little. (Above, p. 81.)

7. The paragraphs on Emancipation from the Five Hindrances–covetousness, ill-temper, laziness, worry, and perplexity. (Above, pp. 82-84.)

{p. 296}

8. The paragraph on the Joy and Peace that, as a result of this emancipation, fills his whole being. (Above, p. 84.)

9. The paragraphs on the Four Raptures (Ghânas). (Above, pp. 84-86.)

10. The paragraphs on the Insight arising from Knowledge (the knowledge of the First Path). (Above, pp. 86, 87.)

11. The paragraphs on the Realisation of the Four Noble Truths, the destruction of the Intoxications–lust, delusions, becomings, and ignorance–and the attainment of Arahatship. (Above, pp. 92, 93.)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-12tx.htm