In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [102]
(AN 4:128; II 131–32)
2. GRATIFICATION, DANGER, AND ESCAPE
(1) Before My Enlightenment
“Before my enlightenment, O monks, while I was still a bodhisatta, it occurred to me: ‘What is the gratification in the world, what is the danger in the world, what is the escape from the world?’ Then it occurred to me: ‘Whatever pleasure and joy there is in the world, this is the gratification in the world; that the world is impermanent, bound up with suffering, and subject to change, this is the danger in the world; the removal and abandoning of desire and lust for the world, this is the escape from the world.’
“So long, monks, as I did not directly know, as they really are, the gratification in the world as gratification, its danger as danger, and the escape from the world as escape, for so long I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans.
“But when I directly knew all this, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with … its devas and humans. The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is the liberation of my mind; this is my last birth; there is now no renewed existence.’”
(AN 3:101 §§1–2; I 258–59)
(2) I Set Out Seeking
“O monks, I set out seeking the gratification in the world. Whatever gratification there is in the world, that I have found. I have clearly seen with wisdom just how far the gratification in the world extends.
“I set out seeking the danger in the world. Whatever danger there is in the world, that I have found. I have clearly seen with wisdom just how far the danger in the world extends.
“I set out seeking an escape from the world. Whatever escape there is from the world, that I have found. I have clearly seen with wisdom just how far the escape from the world extends.”
(AN 3:101 §3; I 259)
(3) If There Were No Gratification
“If, monks, there were no gratification in the world, beings would not become enamored with the world. But because there is gratification in the world, beings become enamored with it.
“If there were no danger in the world, beings would not become disenchanted with the world. But because there is danger in the world, beings become disenchanted with it.
“If there were no escape from the world, beings could not escape from it. But as there is an escape from the world, beings can escape from it.”
(AN 3:102; I 260)
3. PROPERLY APPRAISING OBJECTS OF ATTACHMENT
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.
2. Then, when it was morning, a number of monks dressed, and taking their bowls and outer robes, went into Sāvatthī for alms. Then they thought: “It is still too early to wander for alms in Sāvatthī. Suppose we went to the park of the wanderers of other sects.” So they went to the park of the wanderers of other sects and exchanged greetings with the wanderers. When this courteous and amiable talk was finished, they sat down at one side. The wanderers said to them:
3. “Friends, the ascetic Gotama describes the full understanding of sensual pleasures, and we do so too; the ascetic Gotama describes the full understanding of form, and we do so too; the ascetic Gotama describes the full understanding of feelings, and we do so too. What then is the distinction here, friends, what is the variance, what is the difference between the ascetic Gotama’s teaching of the Dhamma and ours, between his instructions and ours?”1
4. Then those monks neither approved nor disapproved of the wanderers’ words. Without doing either they rose from their seats and went away, thinking: “We shall come to understand the meaning of these words in the Blessed One’s presence.”
5. When they had wandered for alms in Sāvatthī and had returned from their almsround, after the meal they went to the Blessed One, and after