Discourse on the noble quest

Early Buddhist Discourses

Edited, with Translations, by John J. Holder

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Selections. English. 2006. Early Buddhist discourses / edited, with translations, by John J. Holder..

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87220-793-5 (cloth)—ISBN 0-87220-792-7 (pbk.)

I. Holder, John J. (John Joseph), 1960– II. Title.

BQ 1192.E53 H65 294.3'823—dc22

2005052842

ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-793-6 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-792-9 (pbk.) eISBN: 978-1-60384-002-6 (e-book)

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Discourse on the Noble Quest

(Ariyapariyesana Sutta)1

Who was the Buddha? Why did he choose to live a religious life? What are the distinctive factors in the Buddha’s path to religious liberation (nibbāna)? The Discourse on the Noble Quest provides some of the answers to these questions as it purports to contain the Buddha’s own account of significant events in his quest for religious meaning.

This discourse focuses on the Buddha’s “going forth” from his opulent domestic life to a life of homelessness in search of release from suffering, the supreme goal of the religious life. The Buddha’s enlightenment and his deci- sion to teach the dhamma are recounted here. The Buddha’s initial reluc- tance to teach the dhamma (until prevailed upon by Brahmā Sahampati) raises some very intriguing questions about the Buddha’s self-understanding in regard to his role as a religious teacher. But perhaps more than anything else, these autobiographical passages remind the reader that, although the Buddha was extraordinary in terms of his virtues, mental powers, and reli- gious achievements, he was a human being. According to the early Buddhist tradition, the path blazed by the Buddha is a path available to all human beings who strive assiduously to attain the moral conduct (sı̄la), mental cul- ture (samādhi), and wisdom (paññā) taught by the Buddha.

As the title of the discourse suggests, the Buddha explains his search for religious fulfillment as the “noble quest.” The discourse presents the “noble quest” in contrast to the “ignoble quest.” According to the Buddha, the ordi- nary, unenlightened person is troubled by the vicissitudes of life—the pro- found existential problems of sickness, old age, and death—for reasons that run much deeper than most people realize. But the unenlightened person seeks happiness in the things “liable to birth,” “liable to sickness,” and so on, and therefore develops an infatuation with these things. Such behavior is bound to lead to suffering rather than genuine happiness, according to the Buddha. At the core of the ignoble quest is a corrupt mind, a morass of psychological factors, such as egoful attachments and self-indulgent sensu- alism, that spoils a person’s existence and makes it nearly impossible for such a person to overcome the suffering that derives from sickness, old age, and death. Because sickness, old age, and death are unavoidable facts of any

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1 Majjhima Nikāya 1.160–175.

human life, these problems prevent the unenlightened person from achiev- ing anything except the most superficial kinds of happiness in life.

The “noble quest,” on the other hand, is a way to a sublime happiness, in spite of sickness, old age, and death. The noble quest focuses on the aban- donment of selfish attachments and self-indulgent sensualism. In early Bud- dhism, addiction to sensual pleasure is considered to be among the most insidious causes of selfishness and other moral impurities. For this reason, the development of a mind free from the unwholesome effects of unre- strained sensualism is one of the central aims of the training taught by the Buddha. The destruction of selfish and hedonistic attitudes requires the development of restraint, especially the control of sensory experiences that involve sensual pleasure.

This central teaching of early Buddhism is here put into a powerful nar- rative context. The Buddha recounts why he went forth from domestic life into the religious life and what his experience was as a student under two prominent teachers of his day. According to the Buddha’s own account, he mastered the spiritual knowledge and meditative powers of his teachers, Āl·āra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta. But having equaled or bettered his teachers in terms of knowledge and meditative powers, the Buddha did not achieve the breakthrough to religious liberation that he sought.

Having attained the four jhānas and such advanced meditative states as the “plane of no-thing” and the “plane of neither-perception-nor-non-per- ception,” the Buddha finds out that these meditative powers alone are not sufficient by themselves for achieving enlightenment. Only the complete and utter destruction of the defilements of the mind (āsavas) leads to the ultimate religious liberation (nibbāna). Thus, the Buddha’s noble quest is a revolutionary religious path. In contrast to the metaphysical path that cul- minates in knowledge of a transcendent reality or the theistic path that emphasizes developing a special relationship with God(s), the Buddha has laid out a spiritual quest for ethical transformation that focuses on the train- ing of the mind.

Discourse

1. Thus have I heard. At one time, the Exalted One2 was living in Sāvatthi, in the Jeta forest at Anāthapin·d· ika’s park. Then the Exalted One, having dressed early in the morning, took his bowl and robe, and entered Sāvatthi for alms. Then a number of bhikkhus approached the venerable Ānanda.

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2 Bhagavā. This word is by far the most common term used to refer to the Buddha in the Pāli Canon. In other translations, bhagavā is often translated as “Blessed One” or “Lord.”

When they had approached the venerable Ānanda, they said this: “It has been a long time, brother Ānanda, since the Exalted One gave a talk on the dhamma face-to-face. It would be good, brother Ānanda, if it were possible for us to hear the Exalted One give a talk on the dhamma face-to-face.”

“In that case, you venerable ones should go to the hermitage of the Brah- min Rammaka. Perhaps there you may get to hear the Exalted One give a talk on the dhamma face-to-face.”

“Yes, brother,” those bhikkhus replied to the venerable Ānanda. Then the Exalted One, having walked about in Sāvatthi for alms, returned

from his almsround after his meal, and addressed the venerable Ānanda: “Venerable Ānanda, we will go to the Eastern Park, the palace of Migāra’s mother, for the midday’s rest.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the venerable Ānanda to the Exalted One. Then the Exalted One went with the venerable Ānanda to the Eastern

Park, to the palace of Migāra’s mother, for the midday’s rest. Then the Exalted One, having come out of seclusion in the evening, addressed the venerable Ānanda: “Venerable Ānanda, we will go to the Eastern Porch to bathe our limbs.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the venerable Ānanda to the Exalted One. Then the Exalted One went with the venerable Ānanda to the Eastern

Porch to bathe their limbs. Having bathed his limbs at the Eastern Porch and having emerged from the water, he stood in a single robe drying his limbs.

Then the venerable Ānanda said this to the Exalted One: “Sir, the her- mitage of the Brahmin Rammaka is not far. The hermitage of the Brahmin Rammaka is lovely. Beautiful is the hermitage of the Brahmin Rammaka. It would be good, sir, if the Exalted One, out of compassion, were to approach the Brahmin Rammaka.”

The Exalted One assented by remaining silent.3 Then the Exalted One approached the hermitage of the Brahmin Rammaka. At that time a num- ber of bhikkhus were sitting down in the Brahmin Rammaka’s hermitage talking about dhamma. The Exalted One stood outside the door waiting for the discussion to stop. Then, when he saw that they had stopped talking, the Exalted One coughed and knocked on the door. The bhikkhus opened the door for the Exalted One. Then the Exalted One entered the Brahmin Rammaka’s hermitage and sat down in the appointed seat.

When he was seated, the Exalted One addressed the bhikkhus: “When you were sitting down having a discussion just now, bhikkhus, what was the dis- cussion among you that was interrupted?”

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3 Remaining silent, that is, stating no objection to a proposed course of action, is a common way of indicating agreement in the early Buddhist texts.

“Sir, our dhamma talk that was interrupted earlier was about the Exalted One himself. Then the Exalted One arrived.”

“Good, bhikkhus! It is fitting, bhikkhus, that you—who are young men from good families who have gone forth from home to homelessness out of faith—are seated together talking about the dhamma. When you are gath- ered together, bhikkhus, there are two things to be done: discuss dhamma or maintain the noble silence.

2. “Bhikkhus, there are these two quests: the noble quest and the ignoble quest. What is the ignoble quest? In this regard, someone who is himself liable to birth seeks after what is also liable to birth; being himself liable to old age, seeks after what is also liable to old age; being himself liable to sickness, seeks after what is also liable to sickness; being himself liable to death, seeks after what is also liable to death; being himself liable to sorrow, seeks after what is also liable to sorrow; being himself liable to impurity, seeks after what is also liable to impurity.

“What would you say is liable to birth? Sons and wife are liable to birth; male and female servants are liable to birth; goats and sheep are liable to birth; cocks and pigs are liable to birth; elephants, cows, horses, and mares are liable to birth; gold and silver are liable to birth. These things one attaches to are liable to birth, and this person who is enslaved, infatuated, and addicted to them, being himself liable to birth, seeks after what is also liable to birth.

“What would you say is liable to old age? Sons and wife are liable to old age . . . seeks after what is also liable to old age.

“What would you say is liable to sickness? Sons and wife are liable to sick- ness . . . seeks after what is also liable to sickness.

“What would you say is liable to death? Sons and wife are liable to death . . . seeks after what is also liable to death.

“What would you say is liable to sorrow? Sons and wife are liable to sor- row . . . seeks after what is also liable to sorrow.

“What would you say is liable to impurity? Sons and wife are liable to impurity; male and female servants are liable to impurity; goats and sheep are liable to impurity; cocks and pigs are liable to impurity; elephants, cows, horses, and mares are liable to impurity, gold and silver are liable to impu- rity. These things one attaches to are liable to impurity, and this person who is enslaved, infatuated, and addicted to them, being himself liable to impu- rity, seeks after what is also liable to impurity. This is the ignoble quest.

3. “And what is the noble quest? In that case, someone who is himself liable to birth, having seen the danger in what is liable to birth, seeks the unborn, the unsurpassed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. Being him- self liable to old age, having seen the danger in what is liable to old age, he

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seeks the unaging, the unsurpassed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. Being himself liable to sickness, having seen the danger in what is liable to sickness, he seeks the unailing, the unsurpassed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. Being himself liable to death, having seen the danger in what is liable to death, he seeks the deathless, the unsurpassed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. Being himself liable to sorrow, having seen the danger in what is liable to sorrow, he seeks the sorrowless, the unsurpassed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. Being himself liable to impurity, having seen the danger in what is liable to impurity, he seeks the morally pure, the unsur- passed escape from bondage that is nibbāna. This is the noble quest.