{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/khp/index.htm","path":"bud/khp/index.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/khp/index.htm","text":"These nine passages, in different contexts, are frequently chanted in Theravada countries even today. Lay and ordained Buddhists chant Passage 1 daily, as an affirmation of their refuge in the Triple Gem. Monks will often chant Passages 5-9 as blessings when lay people make merit, and frequently use verses from Passage 5 as sermon themes.\nThus the passages contained in this book serve as a useful introduction both to early Buddhist training and to modern Theravada practices.\nhair of the head,\nhair of the body,\nnails,\nteeth,\nskin,\nmuscle,\ntendons,\nbones,\nbone marrow,\nspleen,\nheart,\nliver,\nmembranes,\nkidneys,\nlungs,\nlarge intestines,\nsmall intestines,\ngorge,\nfeces,\ngall,\nphlegm,\nlymph,\nblood,\nsweat,\nfat,\ntears,\noil,\nsaliva,\nmucus,\noil in the joints\nurine,\nbrain.\nAll animals subsist on food. [There are these four nutriments for the establishing of beings who have taken birth or for the support of those in search of a place to be born. Which four? Physical food, gross or refined; contact as the second, consciousness the third, and intellectual intention the fourth. Samyutta Nikaya XII.64.]\nWhat is two?\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Name & form [mental & physical phenomena].\nWhat is three?\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The three types of feeling [pleasant, painful, neither pleasant nor painful].\nWhat is four?\nThe four noble truths [stress, the origination of stress, the cessation of stress, the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress].\nWhat is five?\nThe five aggregates [form, feeling, perception, fabrications, consciousness].\nWhat is six?\nThe six internal sense media [eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, intellect].\nWhat is seven?\nThe seven factors of Awakening [mindfulness, analysis of qualities, persistence, rapture, serenity, concentration, equanimity].\nWhat is eight?\nThe noble eightfold path [right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration].\nWhat is nine?\nThe nine abodes for beings [seven stations of consciousness and two spheres:\nThere are beings with diversity of body and diversity of perception, such as human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms. This is the first station of consciousness.\nThere are beings with diversity of body and singularity of perception, such as the devas of the Brahma hosts generated by the first [jhana]. This is the second station of consciousness.\nThere are beings with singularity of body and diversity of perception, such as the Radiant Devas. This is the third station of consciousness.\nThere are beings with singularity of body and singularity of perception, such as the Beautifully Lustrous Devas. This is the fourth station of consciousness.\nThere are beings who, with the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of diversity, thinking, 'Infinite space,' arrive at the sphere of the infinitude of space. This is the fifth station of consciousness.\nThere are beings who, with the complete transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of space, thinking, 'Infinite consciousness,' arrive at the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the sixth station of consciousness.\nThere are beings who, with the complete transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness, thinking, 'There is nothing,' arrive at the sphere of nothingness. This is the seventh station of consciousness.\nThe sphere of non-percipient beings and, second, the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. These are the two spheres. {Maha Nidana Suttanta, D.15}]\nEndowed with ten qualities, one is called an arahant [the right view of one beyond training, the right resolve of one beyond training, the right speech of one beyond training, the right action of one beyond training, the right livelihood of one beyond training, the right effort of one beyond training, the right mindfulness of one beyond training, the right concentration of one beyond training, the right knowledge of one beyond training, the right release of one beyond training {Mahacattarisaka Sutta, M.117}].\nI have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's park. Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove, approached the Blessed One. On approaching, having bowed down to the Blessed One, she stood to one side. As she stood to one side, she addressed him with a verse.\nMany devas and humans beings\ngive thought to protection,\ndesiring well-being.\nTell, then, the highest protection.\nNot consorting with fools,\nconsorting with the wise,\npaying homage to those worthy of homage:\nThis is the highest protection.\nLiving in a civilized land,\nhaving made merit in the past,\ndirecting oneself rightly:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nBroad knowledge, skill,\nwell-mastered discipline,\nwell-spoken words:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nSupport for one's parents,\nassistance to one's wife and children,\nconsistency in one's work:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nGenerosity, living in rectitude,\nassistance to one's relatives,\ndeeds that are blameless:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nAvoiding, abstaining from evil;\nrefraining from intoxicants,\nbeing heedful of the qualities of the mind:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nRespect, humility,\ncontentment, gratitude,\nhearing the Dhamma on timely occasions:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nPatience, composure,\nseeing contemplatives,\ndiscussing the Dhamma on timely occasions:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nAusterity, celibacy,\nseeing the Noble Truths,\nrealizing Unbinding:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nA mind that, when touched\nby the ways of the world,\nis unshaken, sorrowless, dustless, secure:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the highest protection.\nEverywhere undefeated\nwhen acting in this way,\npeople go everywhere in well-being:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is their highest protection.\nWhatever spirits have gathered here,\n-- on the earth, in the sky --\nmay you all be happy\n& listen intently to what I say.\nThus, spirits, you should all be attentive.\nShow kindness to the human race.\nDay & night they give offerings,\nso, being heedful, protect them.\nWhatever wealth -- here or beyond -- \nwhatever exquisite treasure in the heavens,\ndoes not, for us, equal the Tathagata.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nThe exquisite Deathless -- ending, dispassion -- \ndiscovered by the Sakyan Sage in concentration:\nThere is nothing to equal that Dhamma.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dhamma.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nWhat the excellent Awakened One extolled as pure\nand called the concentration\nof unmediated knowing:\nNo equal to that concentration can be found.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dhamma.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nThe eight persons -- the four pairs -- \npraised by those at peace:\nThey, disciples of the One Well-Gone, deserve offerings.\nWhat is given to them bears great fruit.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nThose who, devoted, firm-minded,\napply themselves to Gotama's message,\non attaining their goal, plunge into the Deathless,\nfreely enjoying the Liberation they've gained.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nAn Indra pillar,[1] planted in the earth,\nthat even the four winds cannot shake:\nthat, I tell you, is like the person of integrity,\nwho -- having comprehended\nthe noble truths -- sees.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nThose who have seen clearly the noble truths\nwell-taught by the one of deep discernment -- \nregardless of what [later] might make them heedless -- \nwill come to no eighth state of becoming. [2]\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nAt the moment of attaining sight,\none abandons three things:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 identity-views, uncertainty,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 & any attachment to precepts & practices. [3]\nOne is completely released\nfrom the four states of deprivation, [4]\nand incapable of committing\nthe six great wrongs. [5]\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nWhatever bad deed one may do\n-- in body, speech, or in mind -- \none cannot hide it:\nan incapability ascribed\nto one who has seen the Way.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nLike a forest grove with flowering tops\nin the first month of the heat of the summer,\nso is the foremost Dhamma he taught,\nfor the highest benefit, leading to Unbinding.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nForemost,\nforemost-knowing,\nforemost-giving,\nforemost-bringing,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 unexcelled, he taught the\nforemost Dhamma.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nEnded the old, there is no new taking birth.\ndispassioned their minds toward further becoming,\nthey, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with no seed, no desire for growth,\nthe prudent, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 go out like this flame.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By this truth may there be well-being.\nWhatever spirits have gathered here,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- on the earth, in the sky -- \nlet us pay homage to the Buddha,\nthe Tathagata worshipped by beings\nhuman & divine.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May there be\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 well-being.\nWhatever spirits have gathered here,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- on the earth, in the sky -- \nlet us pay homage to the Dhamma\n& the Tathagata worshipped by beings\nhuman & divine.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May there be\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 well-being.\nWhatever spirits have gathered here,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- on the earth, in the sky -- \nlet us pay homage to the Sangha\n& the Tathagata worshipped by beings\nhuman & divine.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May there be\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 well-being.\n1. Indra-pillar: A tall hardwood pillar, planted at the entrance to a village. [Go back]\n2. The person who has reached this stage in the practice will be reborn at most seven more times. [Go back]\n3. These three qualities are the fetters abandoned when one gains one's first glimpse of Unbinding at Stream-entry (the moment when one enters the stream to full Awakening). [Go back]\n4. Four states of deprivation: rebirth as an animal, a hungry shade, an angry demon, or a denizen of hell. In the Buddhist cosmology, none of these states is eternal. [Go back]\n5. The six great wrongs: murdering one's mother, murdering one's father, murdering an Arahant (fully Awakened individual), wounding a Buddha, causing a schism in the Sangha, or choosing anyone other than a Buddha as one's foremost teacher. [Go back]\nOutside the walls they stand,\n& at crossroads.\nAt door posts they stand,\nreturning to their old homes.\nBut when a meal with plentiful food & drink is served,\nno one remembers them:\nSuch is the kamma of living beings.\nThus those who feel sympathy for their dead relatives\ngive timely donations of proper food & drink\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- exquisite, clean -- \n[thinking:] \"May this be for our relatives.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May our relatives be happy!\"\nAnd those who have gathered there,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the assembled shades of the relatives,\nwith appreciation give their blessing\nfor the plentiful food & drink:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"May our relatives live long\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 because of whom we have gained [this gift].\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have been honored,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and the donors are not without reward!\"\nFor there [in their realm] there's\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no farming,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no herding of cattle,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no commerce,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no trading with money.\nThey live on what is given here,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hungry shades\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whose time here is done.\nAs water raining on a hill\nflows down to the valley,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 even so does what is given here\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 benefit the dead.\nAs rivers full of water\nfill the ocean full,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 even do does what is given here\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 benefit the dead.\n\"He gave to me, she acted on my behalf,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 they were my relatives, companions, friends\":\nOfferings should be given for the dead\nwhen one reflects thus\non things done in the past.\nFor no weeping,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no sorrowing\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no other lamentation\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 benefits the dead\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whose relatives persist in that way.\nBut when this offering is given, well-placed in the Sangha,\nit works for their long-term benefit\nand they profit immediately.\nIn this way \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the proper duty to relatives has been shown,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 great honor has been done to the dead,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and monks have been given strength:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The merit you've acquired\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 isn't small.\nA person stashes a fund away,\ndeep underground, at the water line:\n\"When a need or duty arises,\nthis will provide for my needs,\nfor my release if I'm denounced by the king,\nmolested by thieves,\nin case of debt, famine, or accidents.\"\nWith aims like this\nin the world\na reserve fund is stashed away.\nBut no matter how well it's stored,\ndeep underground, at the water line,\nit won't all always serve one's need.\nThe fund gets shifted from its place,\nor one's memory gets confused;\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 or -- unseen -- \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 water serpents make off with it,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 spirits steal it,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 or hateful heirs run off with it.\nWhen one's merit's ended,\nit's totally destroyed.\nBut when a man or woman\nhas laid aside a well-stored fund\nof generosity, virtue,\nrestraint, & self-control,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with regard to a shrine,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the Sangha,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a fine individual,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 guests,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mother, father,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 or elder sibling:\nThat's a well-stored fund.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It can't be wrested away.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It follows you along.\nWhen, having left this world,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for wherever you must go,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 you take it with you.\nThis fund is not held in common with others,\n& cannot be stolen by thieves.\nSo, prudent, you should make merit,\nthe fund that will follow you along.\nThis is the fund\nthat gives all they want\nto beings human, divine.\nWhatever devas aspire to,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nA fine complexion, fine voice,\na body well-built, well-formed,\nlordship, a following:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nEarthly kingship, supremacy,\nthe bliss of an emperor,\nkingship over devas in the heavens:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nThe attainment of the human state,\nany delight in heaven,\nthe attainment of Unbinding:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nExcellent friends,\nappropriate application, [1]\nmastery of clear knowing & release: [2]\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nAcumen, [3] emancipations, [4]\nthe perfection of disciplehood:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nPrivate Awakening, [5]\nBuddhahood:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all that is gained by this.\nSo powerful is this,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the accomplishment of merit.\nThus the wise, the prudent,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 praise the fund of merit\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 already made.\n1. Proper practice of the Dhamma. [Go back]\n2. Clear knowing = knowledge of previous lives, knowledge of the passing away and arising (rebirth) of beings, knowledge of the ending of the mental effluents: sensual passion, becoming, views, ignorance. Release = release from the cycle of rebirth. [Go back]\n3. Acumen = acumen with regard to the Dhamma, to its meaning, to language, & to quick-wittedness. These four talents are found in some, but not all, Arahants. [Go back]\n4. Emancipations. The Maha Nidana Suttanta [D. 15] describes the eight emancipations as follows:\n\"Possessed of form, one sees forms. This is the first emancipation.\n\"Not percipient of form internally, one sees forms externally. This is the second emancipation.\n\"One is intent only on the beautiful. This is the third emancipation. With the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of diversity, thinking, 'Infinite space,' one enters and remains in the sphere of the infinitude of space. This is the fourth emancipation. With the complete transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of space, thinking, 'Infinite consciousness,' one enters and remains in the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the fifth emancipation.\n\"With the complete transcending of the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness, thinking, 'There is nothing,' one enters and remains in the sphere of nothingness. This is the sixth emancipation.\n\"With the complete transcending of the sphere of nothingness, one enters and remains in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. This is the seventh emancipation.\n\"With the complete transcending of the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, one enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. This is the eighth emancipation.\n\"Now, when a monk attains these eight emancipations in forward order, in reverse order, in forward and reverse order, when he attains them and emerges from them wherever he wants, however he wants, and for as long as he wants, when through the ending of the mental fermentations he enters and remains in the fermentation-free release of awareness and release of discernment, having directly known it and realized it in the here and now, he is said to be a monk released in both ways. And as for another release in both ways, higher or more sublime than this, there is none.\" [Go back]\n5. Private Awakening: Awakening as a Private Buddha, one who can gain Awakening without relying on the teachings of others, but who cannot formulate the Dhamma in the way a Full Buddha can. [Go back]\nThis is to be done by one skilled in aims\nwho wants to break through to the state of peace:\nBe capable, upright, & straightforward,\neasy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited,\ncontent & easy to support,\nwith few duties, living lightly,\nwith peaceful faculties, masterful,\nmodest, & no greed for supporters.\nDo not do the slightest thing\nthat the wise would later censure.\nThink: Happy, at rest,\nmay all beings be happy at heart.\nWhatever beings there may be,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 weak or strong, without exception,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 long, large,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 middling, short,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 subtle, blatant,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 seen & unseen,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 near & far,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 born & seeking birth:\nMay all beings be happy at heart.\nLet no one deceive another\nor despise anyone anywhere,\nor through anger or irritation\nwish for another to suffer.\nAs a mother would risk her life\nto protect her child, her only child,\neven so should one cultivate a limitless heart\nwith regard to all beings.\nWith good will for the entire cosmos,\ncultivate a limitless heart:\nAbove, below, & all around,\nunobstructed, without hostility or hate.\nWhether standing, walking,\nsitting, or lying down,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 as long as one is alert,\none should be resolved on this mindfulness.\nThis is called a sublime abiding\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 here & now.\nNot taken with views,\nbut virtuous & consummate in vision,\nhaving subdued desire for sensual pleasures,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 one never again\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 will lie in the womb.","title":"Khuddakapatha","type":"page"}