The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [87]
(3) He is not angry nor allows anger to overcome him…
(4) He is not angry or resentful because of anger…
(5) He is not angry or stubborn because of anger…
(6) He is not angry, and he does not utter words bordering on anger…
(7) He is reproved, and he does not resist the reprover…
(8) He is reproved, and he does not denigrate the reprover…[97]
(9) He is reproved, and he does not counter-reprove the reprover…
(10) He is reproved, and he does not prevaricate, lead the talk aside, and show anger, hate, and bitterness…
(11) He is reproved, and he does not fail to account for his conduct…
(12) He is not contemptuous or insolent…
(13) He is not envious or avaricious…
(14) He is not fraudulent or deceitful…
(15) He is not obstinate or arrogant…
(16) Again, a bhikkhu does not adhere to his own views or hold on to them tenaciously, and he relinquishes them easily; this is a quality that makes him easy to admonish.
“Friends, these are called the qualities that make him easy to admonish.
6. “Now, friends, a bhikkhu ought to infer about himself in the following way:215
(1) ‘A person with evil wishes and dominated by evil wishes is displeasing and disagreeable to me. If I were to have evil wishes and be dominated by evil wishes, I would be displeasing and disagreeable to others.’ A bhikkhu who knows this should arouse his mind thus: ‘I shall not have evil wishes and be dominated by evil wishes.’
(2–16) ‘A person who lauds himself and disparages others… [98 ]…A person who adheres to his own views, holds on to them tenaciously, and relinquishes them with difficulty is displeasing and disagreeable to me. If I were to adhere to my own views, hold on to them tenaciously, and relinquish them with difficulty, I would be displeasing and disagreeable to others.’ A bhikkhu who knows this should arouse his mind thus: ‘I shall not adhere to my own views, hold on to them tenaciously, and I shall relinquish them easily.’
7. “Now, friends, a bhikkhu should review himself thus:
(1) ‘Do I have evil wishes and am I dominated by evil wishes?’ If, when he reviews himself, he knows: ‘I have evil wishes, I am dominated by evil wishes,’ then he should make an effort to abandon those evil unwholesome states. But if, when he reviews himself, he knows: ‘I have no evil wishes, I am not dominated by evil wishes,’ then he can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states.
(2–16) Again, a bhikkhu should review himself thus: ‘Do I praise myself and disparage others?’…[99]…’Do I adhere to my own views, hold on to them tenaciously, and relinquish them with difficulty?’ If, when he reviews himself, he knows: ‘I adhere to my own views…,’ then [100] he should make an effort to abandon those evil unwholesome states. But if, when he reviews himself, he knows: ‘I do not adhere to my own views…,’ then he can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states.
8. “Friends, when a bhikkhu reviews himself thus, if he sees that these evil unwholesome states are not all abandoned in himself, then he should make an effort to abandon them all. But if, when he reviews himself thus, he sees that they are all abandoned in himself, then he can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states.216
“Just as when a woman—or a man—young, youthful, fond of ornaments, on viewing the image of her own face in a clear bright mirror or in a basin of clear water, sees a smudge or a blemish on it, she makes an effort to remove it, but if she sees no smudge or blemish on it, she becomes glad thus: ‘It is a gain for me that it is clean’; so too when a bhikkhu reviews himself thus…then he can abide happy and glad, training day and night in wholesome states.”
That is what the venerable Mahā Moggallāna said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the venerable Mahā Moggallāna’s words.
Cetokhila Sutta
The Wilderness in the Heart
[101] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta