{"collection":"Majjhima Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_mn126/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_mn126","id":"suttacentral_mn126","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/mn126/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Majjhima Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near R\u0101jagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels\u2019 feeding ground. Then Venerable Bh\u016bmija robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to the home of Prince Jayasena, where he sat down on the seat spread out. Then Jayasena approached and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Bh\u016bmija: \u201cWorthy Bh\u016bmija, there are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: \u2018If you make a wish and lead the spiritual life, you can\u2019t win the fruit. If you don\u2019t make a wish and lead the spiritual life, you can\u2019t win the fruit. If you both make a wish and don\u2019t make a wish and lead the spiritual life, you can\u2019t win the fruit. If you neither make a wish nor don\u2019t make a wish and lead the spiritual life, you can\u2019t win the fruit.\u2019 What does the worthy Bh\u016bmija\u2019s Teacher say about this? How does he explain it?\u201d \u201cPrince, I haven\u2019t heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha. But it\u2019s possible that he might explain it like this: \u2018If you lead the spiritual life irrationally, you can\u2019t win the fruit, regardless of whether you make a wish, you don\u2019t make a wish, you both do and do not make a wish, or you neither do nor don\u2019t make a wish. But if you lead the spiritual life rationally, you can win the fruit, regardless of whether you make a wish, you don\u2019t make a wish, you both do and do not make a wish, or you neither do nor don\u2019t make a wish.\u2019 I haven\u2019t heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha. But it\u2019s possible that he might explain it like that.\u201d \u201cIf that\u2019s what your teacher says, worthy Bh\u016bmija, he clearly stands head and shoulders above all the various other ascetics and brahmins.\u201d Then Prince Jayasena served Venerable Bh\u016bmija from his own dish. Then after the meal, on his return from almsround, Bh\u016bmija went to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him all that had happened, adding: \u201cAnswering this way, I trust that I repeated what the Buddha has said, and didn\u2019t misrepresent him with an untruth. I trust my explanation was in line with the teaching, and that there are no legitimate grounds for rebuttal or criticism.\u201d \u201cIndeed, Bh\u016bmija, in answering this way you repeated what I\u2019ve said, and didn\u2019t misrepresent me with an untruth. Your explanation was in line with the teaching, and there are no legitimate grounds for rebuttal or criticism. There are some ascetics and brahmins who have wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. If they lead the spiritual life, they can\u2019t win the fruit, regardless of whether they make a wish, they don\u2019t make a wish, they both do and do not make a wish, or they neither do nor don\u2019t make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of oil. While wandering in search of oil, they tried heaping sand in a bucket, sprinkling it little by little with water, and pressing it out. But by doing this, they couldn\u2019t extract any oil, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to extract oil. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. If they lead the spiritual life, they can\u2019t win the fruit, regardless of whether or not they make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of milk. While wandering in search of milk, they tried pulling the horn of a newly-calved cow. But by doing this, they couldn\u2019t get any milk, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to get milk. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have wrong view \u2026 Because that\u2019s an irrational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of butter. While wandering in search of butter, they tried pouring water into a pot and churning it with a stick. But by doing this, they couldn\u2019t produce any butter, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to produce butter. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have wrong view \u2026 Because that\u2019s an irrational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of fire. While wandering in search of fire, they tried drilling a green, sappy log with a drill-stick. But by doing this, they couldn\u2019t start a fire, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s an irrational way to start a fire. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have wrong view \u2026 Because that\u2019s an irrational way to win the fruit. There are some ascetics and brahmins who have right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. If they lead the spiritual life, they can win the fruit, regardless of whether they make a wish, they don\u2019t make a wish, they both do and do not make a wish, or they neither do nor do not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s a rational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of oil. While wandering in search of oil, they tried heaping sesame flour in a bucket, sprinkling it little by little with water, and pressing it out. By doing this, they could extract oil, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s a rational way to extract oil. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have right view \u2026 Because that\u2019s a rational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of milk. While wandering in search of milk, they tried pulling the udder of a newly-calved cow. By doing this, they could get milk, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s a rational way to get milk. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have right view \u2026 Because that\u2019s a rational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of butter. While wandering in search of butter, they tried pouring curds into a pot and churning them with a stick. By doing this, they could produce butter, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s a rational way to produce butter. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have right view \u2026 Because that\u2019s a rational way to win the fruit. Suppose there was a person in need of fire. While wandering in search of fire, they tried drilling a dried up, withered log with a drill-stick. By doing this, they could start a fire, regardless of whether they made a wish, didn\u2019t make a wish, both did and did not make a wish, or neither did nor did not make a wish. Why is that? Because that\u2019s a rational way to start a fire. And so it is for any ascetics and brahmins who have right view \u2026 Because that\u2019s a rational way to win the fruit. Bh\u016bmija, it would be no wonder if, had these four similes occurred to you, Prince Jayasena would have gained confidence in you and shown his confidence.\u201d \u201cBut sir, how could these four similes have occurred to me as they did to the Buddha, since they were neither supernaturally inspired, nor learned before in the past?\u201d That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, Venerable Bh\u016bmija approved what the Buddha said.","title":"With Bh\u016bmija","tradition":"Majjhima Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1493}