The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [516]
24. “Mahā Kaccāna is wise, bhikkhus, Mahā Kaccāna has great wisdom. If you had asked me the meaning of this, I would have explained it to you in the same way that Mahā Kaccāna has explained it. Such is its meaning, and so you should remember it.”
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Araṇavibhanga Sutta
The Exposition of Non-Conflict
[230] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Bhikkhus, I shall teach you an exposition of non-conflict. Listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”—“Yes, venerable sir,” the bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
3. “One should not pursue sensual pleasure, which is low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, and unbeneficial; and one should not pursue self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial. The Middle Way discovered by the Tathāgata avoids both extremes; giving vision, giving knowledge, it leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.1257 One should know what it is to extol and what it is to disparage, and knowing both, one should neither extol nor disparage but should teach only the Dhamma. One should know how to define pleasure, and knowing that, one should pursue pleasure within oneself. One should not utter covert speech, and one should not utter overt sharp speech. One should speak unhurriedly, not hurriedly. One should not insist on local language, and one should not override normal usage. This is the summary of the exposition of non-conflict.
4. “‘One should not pursue sensual pleasure, which is low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, and unbeneficial; and one should not pursue self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial. ’ So it was said. And with reference to what was this said?
“The pursuit of the enjoyment of one whose pleasure is linked to sensual desires1258—low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, and unbeneficial—is a state beset by suffering, vexation, despair, and fever, and it is the wrong way.1259 [231] Disengagement from the pursuit of the enjoyment of one whose pleasure is linked to sensual desires—low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, and unbeneficial—is a state without suffering, vexation, despair, and fever, and it is the right way.
“The pursuit of self-mortification—painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial—is a state beset by suffering, vexation, despair, and fever, and it is the wrong way. Disengagement from the pursuit of self-mortification—painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial—is a state without suffering, vexation, despair, and fever, and it is the right way.
“So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘One should not pursue sensual pleasure, which is low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, and unbeneficial; and one should not pursue self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial.’
5. “‘The Middle Way discovered by the Tathāgata avoids both these extremes; giving vision, giving knowledge, it leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.’ So it was said. And with reference to what was this said? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘The Middle Way discovered by the Tathāgata avoids both these extremes…to Nibbāna.’
6. “‘One should know what it is to extol and what it is to disparage, and knowing both, one should neither extol nor disparage but should teach only the Dhamma.’ So it was said. And with reference to what was this said?
7. “How, bhikkhus, does there come to be extolling and disparaging and failure to teach