{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/thag/thag6.htm","path":"bud/thag/thag6.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/thag/thag6.htm","text":"Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these suttas were translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.\nTwenty five years since my going forth,\nand no peace of awareness\n-- not a finger-snap's worth --\nattained.\nHaving gained no oneness of mind,\nI was wracked with lust.\nWailing, with my arms upheld,\nI ran amok from my dwelling --\n\"Or...or shall I take the knife?\nWhat's the use of life to me?\nIf I were to renounce the training,\nwhat sort of death would I have?\"\nSo, taking a razor,\nI sat down on a bed.\nAnd there was the razor,\nplaced ready to cut my own vein,\nwhen apt attention arose in me,\nthe drawbacks appeared,\ndisenchantment stood\nat an even keel:\nWith that, my heart was released.\nSee the Dhamma's true rightness!\nThe three knowledges\nhave been attained;\nthe Awakened One's bidding,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 done.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was\ndrunk with the intoxication\nof my birth, wealth, & sovereignty.\nDrunk with the intoxication\nof my body's build, coloring, & form,\nI wandered about,\nregarding no one\nas my equal or better,\nfoolish, arrogant, haughty,\nmy banner held high.\nI -- disrespectful, arrogant, proud --\nbowed down to no one,\nnot even mother,\nfather,\nor those commonly held\nin respect.\nThen -- seeing the ultimate leader,\nsupreme, foremost of charioteers,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 like a blazing sun,\narrayed with a squadron of monks -- \ncasting away pride & intoxication\nthrough an awareness serene & clear,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I bowed down\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 my\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 head\nto him, supreme\namong all living beings.\nHaughtiness & contempt\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 have been abandoned\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- rooted out -- \nthe conceit \"I am\" is extracted,\nall forms of pride, destroyed.\nWhen I was seven\n& newly gone forth,\nhaving conquered with my power\nthe great powerful serpent,\nI was fetching water for my preceptor\nfrom the great lake, Anotatta,[1]\nwhen the Teacher saw me & said:\n\"Look, Sariputta, at that one,\nthe young boy coming there,\ncarrying a pot of water,\nwell-centered within,\nhis practices -- inspiring;\nhis bearing -- admirable.\nHe's Anuruddha's novice,\nmature in his powers,\nmade thoroughbred by a thoroughbred,\ngood by one who is good,\ntamed by Anuruddha,\ntrained by one whose task\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 is done.\nHe, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 having reached the highest peace\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 & realized the unshakable,\nSumana the novice\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wants this:\n'Don't let anyone know me.'\"\n1. Anotatta: A fabulous lake located in the Himalayas, famed for the purity of its cool waters. Sumana would have had to use his psychic powers to fetch water from there. [Go back]","title":"Theragatha VI","type":"page"}