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He finds the Middle Way
'There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
'And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.'
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He penetrates the Three Knowledges
'When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of
defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I
directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my
manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a
thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of
cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had
such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food,
such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away
from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such
a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure
& pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose
here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes &
details.
'This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose —
as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant
feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
'When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of
defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I
directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I
saw — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — beings
passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior &
superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with
their kamma: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech,
& mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions
under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body, after death,
have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower
realms, in hell. But these beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body,
speech & mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and
undertook actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the
body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly
world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human —
I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are
inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in
accordance with their kamma.
'This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose —
as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant
feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
'When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright,
unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to
imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental
fermentations. I discerned, as it was actually present, that 'This is stress...
This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is
the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is
the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations...
This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus
knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released
from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance.
With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is
ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this
world.'
'This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose —
as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant
feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.'
— MN
36
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Supreme Awakening!
Through the round of many births I roamed without reward, without
rest, seeking the house-builder. Painful is birth again &
again. House-builder, you're seen! You will not build a house
again. All your rafters broken, the ridge pole destroyed, gone to the
Unformed, the mind has come to the end of craving. — Dhp
153-4 |
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He becomes the Tathagata
'The world has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. From the world, the Tathagata is disjoined. The origination of the world has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. The origination of the world has, by the Tathagata, been abandoned. The cessation of the world has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. The cessation of the world has, by the Tathagata, been realized. The path leading to the cessation of the world has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. The path leading to the cessation of the world has, by the Tathagata, been developed.
'Whatever in this world — with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, its generations complete with contemplatives & priests, princes & men — is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect, that has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. Thus he is called the Tathagata.
'From the night the Tathagata fully awakens to the unsurpassed Right Self-awakening to the night he is totally unbound in the Unbinding property with no fuel remaining, whatever the Tathagata has said, spoken, explained is just so (tatha) and not otherwise. Thus he is called the Tathagata.
'The Tathagata is one who does in line with (tathaa) what he teaches, one who teaches in line with what he does. Thus he is called the Tathagata.
'In this world with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, its generations complete with contemplatives & priests, princes & men, the Tathagata is the unconquered conqueror, all-seeing, the wielder of power. Thus he is called the Tathagata.'
— Iti 112 |
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