{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an9.38/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an9.38","id":"suttacentral_an9.38","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an9.38/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"Then two brahmin cosmologists went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, they sat down to one side and said to the Buddha: \u201cWorthy Gotama, P\u016bra\u1e47a Kassapa claims to be all-knowing and all-seeing, to know and see everything without exception, thus: \u2018Knowledge and vision are constantly and continually present to me, while walking, standing, sleeping, and waking.\u2019 He says: \u2018With infinite knowledge I know and see that the cosmos is infinite.\u2019 And the Jain ascetic of the \u00d1\u0101tika clan also claims to be all-knowing and all-seeing, to know and see everything without exception, thus: \u2018Knowledge and vision are constantly and continually present to me, while walking, standing, sleeping, and waking.\u2019 He says: \u2018With infinite knowledge I know and see that the cosmos is finite.\u2019 These two claim to speak from knowledge, but they directly contradict each other. Which one of them speaks the truth, and which falsehood?\u201d \u201cEnough, brahmins, let that be. I will teach you the Dhamma. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.\u201d \u201cYes, worthy sir,\u201d those brahmins replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cSuppose there were four men standing in the four quarters. Each of them was extremely fast, with an extremely mighty stride. They\u2019re as fast as a light arrow easily shot across the shadow of a palm tree by a well-trained expert archer with a strong bow. Their stride was such that it spanned from the eastern ocean to the western ocean. Then the man standing in the east would say: \u2018I will reach the end of the world by traveling.\u2019 Though he\u2019d travel for his whole lifespan of a hundred years\u2014pausing only to eat and drink, go to the toilet, and sleep to dispel weariness\u2014he\u2019d die along the way, never reaching the end of the world. Then the man standing in the west \u2026 Then the man standing in the north \u2026 Then the man standing in the south would say: \u2018I will reach the end of the world by traveling.\u2019 Though he\u2019d travel for his whole lifespan of a hundred years\u2014pausing only to eat and drink, go to the toilet, and sleep to dispel weariness\u2014he\u2019d die along the way, never reaching the end of the world. Why is that? I say it\u2019s not possible to know or see or reach the end of the world by running like this. But I also say there\u2019s no making an end of suffering without reaching the end of the world. These five kinds of sensual stimulation are called the world in the training of the Noble One. What five? Sights known by the eye, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. Sounds known by the ear \u2026 Smells known by the nose \u2026 Tastes known by the tongue \u2026 Touches known by the body, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These five kinds of sensual stimulation are called the world in the training of the Noble One. Take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected. This is called a mendicant who, having gone to the end of the world, meditates at the end of the world. Others say of them: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 And I also say this: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 Furthermore, take a mendicant who, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, enters and remains in the second absorption \u2026 third absorption \u2026 fourth absorption. This is called a mendicant who, having gone to the end of the world, meditates at the end of the world. Others say of them: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 And I also say this: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that \u2018space is infinite\u2019, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space. This is called a mendicant who, having gone to the end of the world, meditates at the end of the world. Others say of them: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 And I also say this: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 Furthermore, take a mendicant who enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness. \u2026 the dimension of nothingness \u2026 the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is called a mendicant who, having gone to the end of the world, meditates at the end of the world. Others say of them: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 And I also say this: \u2018They\u2019re included in the world, and haven\u2019t yet left the world.\u2019 Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, their defilements come to an end. This is called a mendicant who, having gone to the end of the world, meditates at the end of the world. And they\u2019ve crossed over clinging to the world.\u201d","title":"Brahmin Cosmologists","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":902}