The Faculties and Truths#
1 A. Description of the Faculties#
§1 503/561 491 The “faculties” listed next to the elements (XIV.32) are the twenty-two faculties, namely, eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, mind faculty, femininity faculty, masculinity faculty, life faculty, [bodily] pleasure faculty, [bodily] pain faculty, [mental] joy faculty, [mental] grief faculty, equanimity faculty, faith faculty, energy faculty, mindfulness faculty, concentration faculty, understanding faculty, “I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown” faculty, final-knowledge faculty, final-knower faculty.
§2 Herein:
§3 1. Herein, firstly, the meaning of eye, etc., is explained in the way beginning: “It relishes (cakkhati), thus it is an eye (cakkhu)” (XV.3). But as regards the last three, the first is called the “I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown” faculty because it arises in the initial stage [of the stream-entry path moment] in one who has entered on the way thus “I shall come to know the deathless state, or the Dhamma of the Four (Noble) Truths, not known,” [1] and because it carries the meaning of faculty (rulership). The second of them is called the final-knowledge faculty because of knowing finally, and because it carries the meaning of faculty. The third is called the final-knower faculty because it arises in one who has destroyed cankers, who possesses final knowledge, and whose task of getting to know the four truths is finished, and because it carries the meaning of faculty.
§4 But what is this meaning of faculty (rulership—indriyattha) that they have? (a) The meaning of being the mark of a ruler (inda) is the meaning of faculty (rulership). (b) The meaning of being taught by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, (c) The meaning of being seen by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, (d) The meaning of having been prepared by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, (e) The 504/562 meaning of having been fostered by a ruler is the meaning of faculty. [2] And all that applies here in one instance or another.
§5 The Blessed One, Fully Enlightened, is a ruler (inda) because of supreme lordship. And so is kamma, profitable and unprofitable; for no one has lordship over the kinds of kamma. So here, the faculties (indriya), 492 which are created by kamma, are the mark of profitable and unprofitable kamma. And since they are prepared by it, they are faculties in the sense of (a) being the mark of a ruler and (d) in the sense of having been prepared by a ruler. But since they have also been correctly made evident and disclosed by the Blessed One, they are all faculties (b) in the sense of being taught by a ruler and (c) in the sense of being seen by a ruler. And since some of them were cultivated by the Blessed One, Ruler of Sages, in his cultivation of domain and some in his cultivation of development, they are faculties (e) in the sense of being fostered by a ruler.
§6 Furthermore, they are faculties (rulership) in the sense of lordship called predominance. For predominance of the eye, etc., is implied in the occurrence of eye-consciousness, etc., because of the (consciousness’) keenness when that [faculty] is keen and slowness when it is slow.
This, firstly, is the exposition as to meaning.
§7 2. As to character and so on: the meaning is that the exposition of the eye and so on should be known according to characteristic, function, manifestation, proximate cause, and so on. But these characteristics, etc., of theirs are given above in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV.37ff.). For the four beginning with the understanding faculty are simply non-delusion as to meaning. The rest are each given there as such.
§8 3. As to order: this too is only order of teaching (see XIV.211). Herein, the noble plane [which is the stage of stream-entry, etc.] is attained through the full-understanding of internal states, and so the eye faculty and the rest included in the selfhood are taught first. Then the femininity faculty and masculinity faculty, to show on what account that selfhood is called “woman” or “man.” Next, the life faculty, to make it known that although that selfhood is twofold, still its existence is bound up with the life faculty. Next the [bodily-] pleasure faculty, etc., to make it known that there is no remission of these feelings as long as that [selfhood] continues, and that all feeling is [ultimately] suffering. Next, the faith faculty, etc., to show the way, since these things are to be developed in order to make that [suffering] cease. Next, the “I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown” faculty to show that the way is not sterile, since it is through this way that this state is first manifested in oneself. Next, the final-knowledge faculty, because it is the fruit of the last-mentioned faculty and so must be developed after it. Next, the final-knower faculty, the supreme reward, is taught last to make it known that it 505/563 is attained by development, and that when it is attained there is nothing more to be done. This is the order here. 493
§9 4. As to divided and undivided: here there is only division of the life faculty; for that is twofold as the material-life faculty and the immaterial-life faculty. There is no division of the others.
This is how the exposition should be known here as to divided and undivided.
§10 5. As to function: what is the faculties’ function? Firstly, because of the words “The eye base is a condition, as faculty condition, for the eye-consciousness element and for the states associated therewith” (Paṭṭh 1.5) the eye faculty’s function is to cause by its own keenness, slowness, etc., the occurrence of eye-consciousness and associated states, etc., in a mode parallel to its own, [3] which is called their keenness, slowness, etc., this function being accomplishable through the state of faculty condition. So too in the case of the ear, nose, tongue, and body. But the function of the mind faculty is to make conascent states subject to its own mastery. That of the life faculty is to maintain conascent states. That of the femininity faculty and the masculinity faculty is to allot the modes of the mark, sign, work and ways of women and men. That of the faculties of pleasure, pain, joy, and grief is to govern conascent states and impart their own particular mode of grossness to those states. That of the equanimity faculty is to impart to them the mode of quiet, superiority and neutrality. That of the faculties of faith, etc., is to overcome opposition and to impart to associated states the mode of confidence and so on. That of the “I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown” faculty is both to abandon three fetters and to confront associated states with the abandonment of them. That of the final-knowledge faculty is both to attenuate and abandon respectively lust, ill will, etc., and to subject conascent states to its own mastery. That of the final-knower faculty is both to abandon endeavour in all functions and to condition associated states by confronting them with the Deathless.
This is how the exposition should be known here as to function.
§11 6. As to plane: the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, femininity, masculinity, pleasure, pain, and grief are of the sense sphere only. The mind faculty, life faculty, and equanimity faculty, and the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding are included in the four planes. The joy faculty is included in three planes, namely, sense sphere, fine-material sphere, and supramundane. The last three are supramundane only. This is how the exposition should be known here as to plane.
§12 This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the faculties.
2 B. Description of the Truths#
§13 506/564 494 The “truths” next to that (XIV.32) are the Four Noble Truths; that is to say, the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
§14 Herein:
§15 1. Herein, as to class: the meanings of [the truths of] suffering, etc., are analyzed as four in each case that are “real, not unreal, not otherwise” (S V 435) and must be penetrated by those penetrating suffering, etc., according as it is said: “Suffering’s meaning of oppressing, meaning of being formed, meaning of burning, meaning of changing, these are suffering’s four meanings of suffering, which are real, not unreal, not otherwise. Origin’s meaning of accumulating, meaning of source, meaning of bondage, meaning of impeding … Cessation’s meaning of escape, meaning of seclusion, meaning of being unformed, meaning of deathlessness … The path’s meaning of outlet, meaning of cause, meaning of seeing, meaning of predominance, these are the path’s meanings of path, which are real, not unreal, not otherwise” (Paṭis II 104; cf. Paṭis I 19). Likewise, “Suffering’s meaning of oppressing, meaning of being formed, meaning of burning, meaning of change, are its meaning of penetration to” (cf. Paṭis I 118), and so on. So suffering, etc., should be understood according to the four meanings analyzed in each case.
§16 2. As to derivation, 3. division by character, et cetera: here, however, firstly “as to derivation” [of the word dukkha (suffering):] the word du (“bad”) is met with in the sense of vile (kucchita); for they call a vile child a du-putta (“bad child”). The word kham (“-ness”), however is met with in the sense of empty (tuccha), for they call empty space “kham.” And the first truth is vile because it is the haunt of many dangers, and it is empty because it is devoid of the lastingness, beauty, pleasure, and self conceived by rash people. So it is called dukkhaṃ (“badness” = suffering, pain), because of vileness and emptiness. 495
§17 [Samudaya (origin):] the word sam (= prefix “con-”) denotes connection, as in the words samāgama (concourse, coming together), sameta (congregated, gone together), and so on. The word u denotes rising up, as in the words uppanna (arisen, uprisen), udita (ascended, gone up), and so on. The word aya [4] denotes a 507/565 reason (kāraṇa). And this second truth is the reason for the arising of suffering when combined with the remaining conditions. So it is called dukkha-samudaya (the origin of suffering) because it is the reason in combination for the arising of suffering.
§18 [Nirodha (cessation):] the word ni denotes absence, and the word rodha, a prison. [5] Now, the third truth is void of all destinies [by rebirth] and so there is no constraint (rodha) of suffering here reckoned as the prison of the round of rebirths; or when that cessation has been arrived at, there is no more constraint of suffering reckoned as the prison of the round of rebirths. And being the opposite of that prison, it is called dukkha-nirodha (cessation of suffering). Or alternatively, it is called “cessation of suffering” because it is a condition for the cessation of suffering consisting in non-arising.
§19 [Nirodhagāminī paṭipadā (way leading to cessation):] because the fourth truth goes (leads) to the cessation of suffering since it confronts that [cessation] as its object, and being the way to attain cessation of suffering, it is called dukkha-nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā, the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
§20 They are called Noble Truths because the Noble Ones, the Buddhas, etc., penetrate them, according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, there are these Four Noble Truths. What four? … These, bhikkhus are the Four Noble Truths” (S V 425). The Noble Ones penetrate them, therefore they are called Noble Truths.
§21 Besides, the Noble Truths are the Noble One’s Truths, according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, in the world with its deities, its Māras and its Brahmās, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmans, with its princes and men, the Perfect One is the Noble One. That is why they are called Noble Truths” (S V 435). Or alternatively, they are called Noble Truths because of the nobleness implied by their discovery, according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, it is owing to the correct discovery of these Four Noble Truths that the Perfect One is called accomplished, fully enlightened” (S V 433).
§22 Besides, the Noble Truths are the Truths that are Noble. To be noble is to be not unreal; the meaning is, not deceptive, according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, these Four Noble Truths are real, not unreal, not otherwise that is why they are called Noble Truths” (S V 435).
This is how the exposition should be known here as to derivation.
§23 3. How as to division by character, et cetera? The truth of suffering has the characteristic of afflicting. 496 Its function is to burn. It is manifested as occurrence (as the course of an existence). The truth of origin has the characteristic of producing. Its function is to prevent interruption. It is manifested as impediment. The truth of cessation has the characteristic of peace. Its function is not to die. It is manifested as the signless. [6] The truth of the path has the 508/566 characteristic of an outlet. Its function is to abandon defilements. It is manifested as emergence. They have, moreover, the respective characteristics of occurrence, making occur, non-occurrence, and making not occur, and likewise the characteristics of the formed, craving, the unformed, and seeing. This is how the exposition should be understood here as to characteristic, et cetera.
§24 4. As to meaning, 5. tracing out the meaning: as to “meaning” firstly, what is the “meaning of truth” (saccattha)? It is that which, for those who examine it with the eye of understanding, is not misleading like an illusion, deceptive like a mirage, or undiscoverable like the self of the sectarians, but is rather the domain of noble knowledge as the real unmisleading actual state with its aspects of affliction, production, quiet, and outlet. It is this real unmisleading actualness that should be understood as the “meaning of truth” just as [heat is] the characteristic of fire, and just as [it is] in the nature of the world [that things are subject to birth, ageing and death], according as it is said, “Bhikkhus, this suffering is real, not unreal, not otherwise” (S V 430), and so on, in detail.
§25 Furthermore:
This is how the exposition should be understood as to meaning.
§26 5. How as to tracing out the meaning? This word “truth” (sacca) is met with in various meanings. In such passages as “Let him speak truth and not be angry” (Dhp 224) it is verbal truth. In such passages as “Ascetics and brahmans base themselves on truth” (?) it is the truth of abstinence [from lying]. In such passages as 497 “Why do they declare diverse truths, the clever talkers that hold forth?” (Sn 885) it is truth as views. And in such passages as “Truth is one, there is no second” (Sn 884) it is, as truth in the ultimate sense, both Nibbāna and the path. 509/567 In such passages as “Of the four truths how many are profitable?” (Vibh 112; Paṭis II 108) it is noble truth. And here too it is proper as noble truth.
This is how the exposition should be understood as to tracing out the meaning.
§27 6. As to neither less nor more: but why are exactly four noble truths stated, neither less nor more? Because no other exists and because none can be eliminated. For there is none extra to them, nor can any one of them be eliminated, according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, that an ascetic or brahman here should come and say: ‘This is not the truth of suffering, the truth of suffering is another; I shall set aside this truth of suffering and make known another truth of suffering’—that is not possible” (?) and so on, and according as it is said: “Bhikkhus, that any ascetic or brahman should say thus: ‘This is not the first noble truth of suffering that is taught by the ascetic Gotama; rejecting this first noble truth of suffering, I shall make known another first noble truth of suffering’—that is not possible” (S V 428) and so on.
§28 Furthermore, when announcing occurrence, [that is, the process of existence,] the Blessed One announced it with a cause, and he announced non-occurrence as having a means thereto. So they are stated as four at the most as occurrence and non-occurrence and the cause of each. Likewise, they are stated as four since they have to be respectively fully understood, abandoned, realized, and developed; and also since they are the basis for craving, craving, the cessation of craving, and the means to the cessation of craving; and also since they are the reliance [depended upon], the delight in the reliance, removal of the reliance, and the means to the removal of the reliance.
This is how the exposition should be understood here as to neither less nor more.
§29 7. As to order, this too is only order of teaching (see XIV.211). The truth of suffering is given first since it is easy to understand because of its grossness and because it is common to all living beings. The truth of origin is given next to show its cause. Then the truth of cessation, to make it known that with the cessation of the cause there is the cessation of the fruit. The truth of the path comes last to show the means to achieve that. 498
§30 Or alternatively, he announced the truth of suffering first to instill a sense of urgency into living beings caught up in the enjoyment of the pleasure of becoming; and next to that, the truth of origin to make it known that that [suffering] neither comes about of itself as something not made nor is it due to creation by an Overlord, etc. (see §85), but that on the contrary it is due to this [cause]; after that, cessation, to instill comfort by showing the escape to those who seek the escape from suffering with a sense of urgency because overwhelmed by suffering with its cause. And after that, the path that leads to cessation, to enable them to attain cessation. This is how the exposition should be understood here as to order.
§31 8. As to expounding birth and so on: the exposition should be understood here in accordance with the expositions of the things beginning with birth given by the Blessed One when describing the Four Noble Truths, that is to say, 510/568 (i) the twelve things in the description of suffering: “Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, [7] death is suffering, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, association with the unloved is suffering, separation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering, in short, the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging are suffering” (Vibh 99); and (ii) the threefold craving in the description of origin: “That craving which produces further becoming, is accompanied by delight and greed, delighting in this and that, that is to say, craving for sense desires, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming” (Vibh 101); and (iii) Nibbāna, which has one meaning only, in the description of cessation: “That which is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, giving it up, relinquishing it, letting it go, not relying on it” (Vibh 103); and (iv) the eight things in the description of the path: “What is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is this Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, right view, right thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration” (Vibh 104).
2.1 The Truth of Suffering#
2.1.1 (i) Birth#
§32 Now, this word birth (jāti) has many meanings. For in the passage “[He recollects … ] one birth (jāti), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming. In the passage, “Visākhā, there is a kind (jāti) of ascetics called Nigaṇṭhas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is a monastic order. In the passage, “Birth (jāti) is included in two aggregates” (Dhātuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed. In the passage, “His birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking. 499 In the passage “As soon as he was born (sampatijāta), Ānanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is parturition. In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of birth” (A III 152) it is clan. In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue.
§33 Here it should be regarded as the aggregates that occur from the time of rebirth-linking up to the exit from the mother’s womb in the case of the womb-born, and as only the aggregates of rebirth-linking in the case of the rest. But this is only an indirect treatment. In the direct sense, however, it is the first manifestation of any aggregates that are manifested in living beings when they are born anywhere that is called “birth.”
§34 Its characteristic is the first genesis in any [sphere of] becoming. Its function is to consign [to a sphere of becoming]. It is manifested as an emerging here from a past becoming; or it is manifested as the variedness of suffering. 511/569 But why is it suffering? Because it is the basis for many kinds of suffering. [8] For there are many kinds of suffering, that is to say, intrinsic suffering (dukkha-dukkha), [9] suffering in change (vipariṇāma-dukkha), and suffering due to formations (saṅkhāra-dukkha); and then concealed suffering, exposed suffering, indirect suffering, and direct suffering.
§35 Herein, bodily and mental, painful feeling are called intrinsic suffering because of their individual essence, their name, and their painfulness. [Bodily and mental] pleasant feeling are called suffering in change because they are a cause for the arising of pain when they change (M I 303). Equanimous feeling and the remaining formations of the three planes are called suffering due to formations because they are oppressed by rise and fall. Such bodily and mental affliction as earache, toothache, fever born of lust, fever born of hate, etc., is called concealed suffering because it can only be known by questioning and because the infliction is not openly evident; it is also called “unevident suffering.” The affliction produced by the thirty-two tortures, [10] etc., is called exposed suffering because it can be known without questioning and because the infliction is openly evident; it is also called “evident suffering.” Except intrinsic suffering, all given in the exposition of the truth of suffering [in the Vibhaṅga] (Vibh 99) beginning 512/570 with birth are also called indirect suffering because they are the basis for one kind of suffering or another. But intrinsic suffering is called direct suffering.
§36 Herein, this birth is suffering because it is the basis for the suffering in the states of loss as made evident by the Blessed One by means of a simile in the Bālapaṇḍita Sutta (M III 165f.), etc., and for the suffering that arises in the happy destinies in the human world and is classed as “rooted in the descent into the womb,” and so on. 500
§37 Here the suffering classed as “rooted in the descent into the womb,” and so on, is this: When this being is born in the mother’s womb, he is not born inside a blue or red or white lotus, etc., but on the contrary, like a worm in rotting fish, rotting dough, cesspools, etc., he is born in the belly in a position that is below the receptacle for undigested food (stomach), above the receptacle for digested food (rectum), between the belly-lining and the backbone, which is very cramped, quite dark, pervaded by very fetid draughts redolent of various smells of ordure, and exception-ally loathsome. [11] And on being reborn there, for ten months he undergoes excessive suffering, being cooked like a pudding in a bag by the heat produced in the mother’s womb, and steamed like a dumpling of dough, with no bending, stretching, and so on. So this, firstly, is the suffering rooted in the descent into the womb.
§38 When the mother suddenly stumbles or moves or sits down or gets up or turns round, the extreme suffering he undergoes by being dragged back and forth and jolted up and down, like a kid fallen into the hands of a drunkard, or like a snake’s young fallen into the hands of a snake-charmer; and also the searing pain that he undergoes, as though he had reappeared in the cold hells, when his mother drinks cold water, and as though deluged by a rain of embers when she swallows hot rice gruel, rice, etc., and as though undergoing the torture of the “lye-pickling” (see M I 87), when she swallows anything salty or acidic, etc.—this is the suffering rooted in gestation.
§39 When the mother has an abortion, the pain that arises in him through the cutting and rending in the place where the pain arises that is not fit to be seen even by friends and intimates and companions—this is the suffering rooted in abortion.
§40 The pain that arises in him when the mother gives birth, through his being turned upside-down by the kamma-produced winds [forces] and flung into that most fearful passage from the womb, like an infernal chasm, and lugged out through the extremely narrow mouth of the womb, like an elephant through a keyhole, like a denizen of hell being pounded to pulp by colliding rocks—this is the suffering rooted in parturition.
§41 513/571 The pain that arises in him after he is born, and his body, which is as delicate as a tender wound, is taken in the hands, bathed, washed, rubbed with cloths, etc., and which pain is like being pricked with needle points and gashed with razor blades, etc.—this is the suffering rooted in venturing outside the mother’s womb. 501
§42 The pain that arises afterwards during the course of existence in one who punishes himself, in one who devotes himself to the practice of mortification and austerity according to the vows of the naked ascetics, in one who starves through anger, and in one who hangs himself—this is the suffering rooted in self-violence.
§43 And that arising in one who undergoes flogging, imprisonment, etc., at the hands of others is the suffering rooted in others’ violence.
So this birth is the basis for all this suffering. Hence this is said:
This, firstly, is the exposition of birth. 502
2.1.2 (ii) Ageing#
§44 514/572 Ageing is suffering: ageing is twofold; as a characteristic of whatever is formed, and in the case of a continuity, as the oldness of aggregates included in a single becoming, which oldness is known as “brokenness” and so on (see M III 249). The latter is intended here.
But this ageing has as its characteristic the maturing (ripening) of aggregates. Its function is to lead on to death. It is manifested as the vanishing of youth. It is suffering because of the suffering due to formations and because it is a basis for suffering.
§45 Ageing is the basis for the bodily and mental suffering that arises owing to many conditions such as leadenness in all the limbs, decline and warping of the faculties, vanishing of youth, undermining of strength, loss of memory and intelligence, contempt on the part of others, and so on.
Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of ageing.
2.1.3 (iii) Death#
§46 Death is suffering: death too is twofold, as a characteristic of the formed, with reference to which it is said, “Ageing and death are included in the aggregates” (Dhātuk 15), and as the severing of the connection of the life faculty included in a single becoming, with reference to which it is said, “So mortals are in constant fear … that they will die” (Sn 576). The latter is intended here. Death with birth as its condition, death by violence, death by natural causes, death from exhaustion of the life span, death from exhaustion of merit, are names for it.
§47 It has the characteristic of a fall. Its function is to disjoin. It is manifested as absence from the destiny [in which there was the rebirth]. It should be understood as suffering because it is a basis for suffering.
Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of death.
2.1.4 (iv) Sorrow#
§48 As regards sorrow, etc., sorrow is a burning in the mind in one affected by loss of relatives, and so on. Although in meaning it is the same as grief, nevertheless it has inner consuming as its characteristic, its function is completely to consume the mind. It is manifested as continual sorrowing. It is suffering because it is intrinsic suffering and because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of sorrow.
2.1.5 (v) Lamentation#
§49 Lamentation is verbal clamour on the part of one affected by loss of relatives and so on. It has crying out as its characteristic. Its function is proclaiming virtues and vices. It is manifested as tumult. It is suffering because it is a state of suffering due to formations and because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of lamentation.
2.1.6 (vi) Pain#
§50 516/574 Pain is bodily pain. Its characteristic is the oppression of the body. Its function is to cause grief in the foolish. It is manifested as bodily affliction. It is suffering because it is intrinsic suffering, and because it brings mental suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of pain. 504
2.1.7 (vii) Grief#
§51 Grief is mental pain. Its characteristic is mental oppression. Its function is to distress the mind. It is manifested as mental affliction. It is suffering because it is intrinsic suffering, and because it brings bodily suffering. For those who are gripped by mental pain tear their hair, weep, thump their breasts, and twist and writhe; they throw themselves upside-down, [12] use the knife, swallow poison, hang themselves with ropes, walk into fires, and undergo many kinds of suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of grief.
2.1.8 (viii) Despair#
§52 Despair is the same as the humour produced by excessive mental suffering in one affected by loss of relatives, and so on. Some say that it is one of the states included in the formations aggregate. Its characteristic is burning of the mind. Its function is to bemoan. It is manifested as dejection. It is suffering because it is suffering due to formations, because of the burning of the mind, and because of bodily dejection. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of despair.
§53 Sorrow is like the cooking [of oil, etc.] [13] in a pot over a slow fire. Lamentation is like its boiling over from the pot when cooking over a quick fire. Despair is like 517/575 what remains in the pot after it has boiled over and is unable to do so any more, going on cooking in the pot till it dries up.
2.1.9 (ix) Association with the Unloved#
§54 Association with the unloved is meeting with disagreeable beings and formations (inanimate things). Its characteristic is association with the undesirable. Its function is to distress the mind. It is manifested as a harmful state. It is suffering because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of association with the unloved. 505
2.1.10 (x) Separation from the Loved#
§55 Separation from the loved is to be parted from agreeable beings and formations (inanimate things). Its characteristic is dissociation from desirable objects. Its function is to arouse sorrow. It is manifested as loss. It is suffering because it is a basis for the suffering of sorrow. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of separation from the loved.
2.1.11 (xi) Not to Get What One Wants#
§56 Not to get what one wants: the want itself of some unobtainable object [expressed] in such passages as “Oh, that we were not subject to birth!” (Vibh 101) is called suffering since one does not get what is wanted. Its characteristic is the wanting of an unobtainable object. Its function is to seek that. It is manifested as disappointment. It is suffering because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said:
This is the exposition of not to get what one wants.
2.1.12 (xii) The Five Aggregates#
§57 518/576 In short the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging:
§58 For birth, etc., thus oppress the pentad of aggregates [as objects] of clinging as fire does fuel, as shooting does a target, as gadflies, flies, etc., do a cow’s body, as reapers do a field, as village raiders do a Village; and they are generated in the aggregates as weeds, creepers, etc., are on the ground, as flowers, fruits and sprouts are on trees.
§59 And the aggregates [as objects] of clinging have birth as their initial suffering, ageing as their medial suffering, and death as their final suffering. The suffering due to burning in one who is the victim of the pain that threatens death is sorrow. The suffering consisting in crying out by one who is unable to bear that is lamentation. Next, the suffering consisting in affliction of the body due to the contact of undesirable tangible data, in other words, disturbance of the elements, is pain. 506 The suffering oppressing the mind through resistance to that in ordinary people oppressed by it, is grief. The suffering consisting in brooding [14] in those dejected by the augmentation of sorrow, etc., is despair. The suffering consisting in frustration of wants in those whose hopes are disappointed is not to get what one wants. So when their various aspects are examined, the aggregates [as objects] of clinging are themselves suffering.
§60 It is impossible to tell it [all] without remainder, showing each kind of suffering, even [by going on doing so] for many eons, so the Blessed One said, “In short the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging are suffering” in order to show in short how all that suffering is present in any of the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging in the same way that the taste of the water in the whole ocean is to be found in a single drop of its water.
This is the exposition of the aggregates [as objects] of clinging. This, firstly, is the method for the description of suffering.
2.2 The Truth of the Origin of Suffering#
§61 But in the description of the origin, the expression yāyaṃ taṇhā (that craving which) = yā ayaṃ taṇhā. [As regards the expression] produces further becoming: it is a making become again, thus it is “becoming again” (punabbhava); becoming again is its habit, thus it “produces further becoming” (ponobbhavika). The expression nandirāgasahagatā (accompanied by concern and greed) = nandirāgena 519/577 sahagatā; what is meant is that it is identical in meaning with delight and greed. Concerned with this and that: wherever personality is generated there is concern with that. The expression that is to say (seyyathidaṃ) is a particle; its meaning is “which is that.” Craving for sense desires, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming will be explained in the Description of Dependent Origination (XVII.233ff.). Although this is threefold, it should nevertheless be understood as “the noble truth of the origin of suffering,” taking it as one in the sense of its generating the truth of suffering.
2.3 The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering#
§62 In the description of the cessation of suffering it is the cessation of the origin that is stated by the words that which is … of that same craving, and so on. Why is that? Because the cessation of suffering comes about with the cessation of its origin. For it is with the cessation of its origin that suffering ceases, not otherwise. Hence it is said: 507
§63 So it is because suffering ceases only through the cessation of its origin that, when teaching the cessation of suffering, the Blessed One therefore taught the cessation of the origin. For the Perfect Ones behave like lions. [15] When they make suffering cease and when they teach the cessation of suffering, they deal with the cause, not the fruit. But the sectarians behave like dogs. When they make suffering cease and when they teach the cessation of suffering, by teaching devotion to self-mortification, etc., they deal with the fruit, not the cause. This, in the first place, is how the motive for teaching the cessation of suffering by means of the cessation of its origin should be understood.
§64 This is the meaning*. Of that same craving:* of that craving which, it was said, “produces further becoming,” and which was classed as “craving for sense desires” and so on. It is the path that is called fading away; for “With the fading away [of greed] he is liberated” (M I 139) is said. Fading away and cessation is cessation through fading away. Remainderless fading away and cessation is cessation through fading away that is remainderless because of eradication of inherent tendencies. Or alternatively, it is abandoning that is called fading away; and so the construction here can be regarded as “remainderless fading away, remainderless cessation.”
§65 But as to meaning, all of them are synonyms for Nibbāna. For in the ultimate sense it is Nibbāna that is called “the noble truth of the cessation of suffering.” 520/578 But because craving fades away and ceases on coming to that, [16] it is therefore called “fading away” and “cessation.” And because there comes to be the giving up, etc., of that [craving] on coming to that [Nibbāna], and since there is not even one kind of reliance here [to be depended upon] from among the reliances consisting in the cords of sense desires, etc., it is therefore called giving it up, relinquishing it, letting it go, not relying on it.
§66 It has peace as its characteristic. Its function is not to die; or its function is to comfort. It is manifested as the signless; or it is manifested as non-diversification. [17]
2.3.1 Discussion on Nibbāna#
§67 [Question 1] Is Nibbāna non-existent because it is unapprehendable, like the hare’s horn? 521/579 [Answer] That is not so, because it is apprehendable by the [right] means. For it is apprehendable [by some, namely, the nobles ones] by the [right] means, in other words, by the way that is appropriate to it, [the way of virtue, concentration, and understanding]; it is like the supramundane consciousness of others, [which is apprehendable only by certain of the Noble Ones] by means of knowledge of penetration of others’ minds. Therefore it should not be said that it is non-existent because unapprehendable; for it should not be said that what the foolish ordinary man does not apprehend is unapprehendable.
§68 Again, it should not be said that Nibbāna does not exist. Why not? Because it then follows that the way would be futile. 508 For if Nibbāna were non-existent, then it would follow that the right way, which includes the three aggregates beginning with virtue and is headed by right understanding, would be futile. And it is not futile because it does reach Nibbāna.
[Q. 2] But futility of the way does not follow because what is reached is absence, [that is, absence of the five aggregates consequent upon the cutting off of the defilements].
[A.] That is not so. Because, though there is absence of past and future [aggregates], there is nevertheless no reaching of Nibbāna [simply because of that].
[Q. 3] Then is the absence of present [aggregates] as well Nibbāna?
[A.] That is not so. Because their absence is an impossibility, since if they are absent their non-presence follows. [Besides, if Nibbāna were absence of present aggregates too,] that would entail the fault of excluding the arising of the Nibbāna element with result of past clinging left, at the path moment, which has present aggregates as its support.
[Q. 4] Then will there be no fault if it is non-presence of defilements [that is Nibbāna]?
[A.] That is not so. Because it would then follow that the noble path was meaningless. For if it were so, then, since defilements [can be] non-existent also before the moment of the noble path, it follows that the noble path would be meaningless. Consequently that is no reason; [it is unreasonable to say that Nibbāna is unapprehendable, that it is non-existence, and so on].
§69 [Q. 5] But is not Nibbāna destruction, because of the passage beginning, “That, friend, which is the destruction of greed … [of hate … of delusion … is Nibbāna]?” (S IV 251).
[A.] That is not so, because it would follow that Arahantship also was mere destruction. For that too is described in the [same] way beginning, “That, friend, which is the destruction of greed … of hate … of delusion … is Arahantship]” (S IV 252).
And what is more, the fallacy then follows that Nibbāna would be temporary, etc.; for if it were so, it would follow that Nibbāna would be temporary, have the characteristic of being formed, and be obtainable regardless of right effort; and precisely because of its having formed characteristics it would be included in 522/580 the formed, and it would be burning with the fires of greed, etc., and because of its burning it would follow that it was suffering.
[Q. 6] Is there no fallacy if Nibbāna is that kind of destruction subsequent to which there is no more occurrence?
[A.] That is not so. Because there is no such kind of destruction. And even if there were, the aforesaid fallacies would not be avoided.
Also because it would follow that the noble path was Nibbāna. For the noble path causes the destruction of defects, and that is why it is called “destruction”; and subsequent to that there is no more occurrence of the defects.
§70 But it is because the kind of destruction called “cessation consisting in non-arising,” [that is, Nibbāna,] serves figuratively speaking as decisive-support [for the path] that [Nibbāna] is called “destruction” as a metaphor for it.
[Q. 7] Why is it not stated in its own form?
[A.] Because of its extreme subtlety. And its extreme subtlety is established because it inclined the Blessed One to inaction, [that is, to not teaching the Dhamma (see M I 186)] and because a Noble One’s eye is needed to see it (see M I 510).
§71 It is not shared by all because it can only be reached by one who is possessed of the path. And it is uncreated because it has no first beginning.
[Q. 8] Since it is, when the path is, then it is not uncreated.
[A.] That is not so, because it is not arousable by the path; it is only reachable, not arousable, by the path; that is why it is uncreated. It is because it is uncreated that it is free from ageing and death. It is because of the absence of its creation and of its ageing and death that it is permanent. 509
§72 [Q. 9] Then it follows that Nibbāna, too, has the kind of permanence [claimed] of the atom and so on.
[A.] That is not so. Because of the absence of any cause [that brings about its arising].
[Q. 10] Because Nibbāna has permanence, then, these [that is, the atom, etc.] are permanent as well.
[A.] That is not so. Because [in that proposition] the characteristic of [logical] cause does not arise. [In other words, to say that Nibbāna is permanent is not to assert a reason why the atom, etc., should be permanent]
[Q. 11] Then they are permanent because of the absence of their arising, as Nibbāna is.
[A.] That is not so. Because the atom and so on have not been established as facts.
§73 The aforesaid logical reasoning proves that only this [that is, Nibbāna] is permanent [precisely because it is uncreated]; and it is immaterial because it transcends the individual essence of matter.
The Buddhas’ goal is one and has no plurality. But this [single goal, Nibbāna,] is firstly called with result of past clinging left since it is made known together with the [aggregates resulting from past] clinging still remaining [during the Arahant’s life], being thus made known in terms of the stilling of defilement 523/581 and the remaining [result of past] clinging that are present in one who has reached it by means of development. But [secondly, it is called without result of past clinging left] since after the last consciousness of the Arahant, who has abandoned arousing [future aggregates] and so prevented kamma from giving result in a future [existence], there is no further arising of aggregates of existence, and those already arisen have disappeared. So the [result of past] clinging that remained is non-existent; and it is in terms of this non-existence, in the sense that “there is no [result of past] clinging here” that that [same goal is called] without result of past clinging left (see It 38).
§74 Because it can be arrived at by distinction of knowledge that succeeds through untiring perseverance, and because it is the word of the Omniscient One, Nibbāna is not non-existent as regards individual essence in the ultimate sense; for this is said: “Bhikkhus, there is an unborn, an unbecome, an unmade, an unformed” (It 37; Ud 80). [18]
524/582 This is the section of the definition dealing with the description of the cessation of suffering.
2.3.2 The Truth of the Way#
§75 In the description of the way leading to the cessation of suffering eight things are given. Though they have, of course, already been explained as to meaning in the Description of the Aggregates, still we shall deal with them here in order to remain aware of the difference between them when they occur in a single moment [on the occasion of the path].
§76 Briefly (see XXII.31 for details), when a meditator is progressing towards the penetration of the four truths, his eye of understanding with Nibbāna as its object eliminates the inherent tendency to ignorance, and that is right view. It has right seeing as its characteristic. Its function is to reveal elements. It is manifested as the abolition of the darkness of ignorance.
§77 When he possesses such view, his directing of the mind on to Nibbāna, which [directing] is associated with that [right view], abolishes wrong thinking, and that is right thinking. Its characteristic is right directing of the mind on to [its object]. Its function is to bring about absorption [of the path consciousness in Nibbāna as object]. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong thinking.
§78 And when he sees and thinks thus, his abstinence from wrong speech, which abstinence is associated with that [right view], abolishes bad verbal 525/583 conduct, 510 and that is called right speech. It has the characteristic of embracing. [19] Its function is to abstain. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong speech.
§79 When he abstains thus, his abstinence from killing living things, which abstinence is associated with that [right view], cuts off wrong action, and that is called right action. It has the characteristic of originating. [20] Its function is to abstain. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong action.
§80 When his right speech and right action are purified, his abstinence from wrong livelihood, which abstinence is associated with that, [right view] cuts off scheming, etc., and that is called right livelihood. It has the characteristic of cleansing. [21] Its function is to bring about the occurrence of a proper livelihood. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong livelihood.
§81 When he is established on that plane of virtue called right speech, right action, and right livelihood, his energy, which is in conformity and associated with that [right view], cuts off idleness, and that is called right effort. It has the characteristic of exerting. Its function is the non-arousing of unprofitable things, and so on. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong effort.
§82 When he exerts himself thus, the non-forgetfulness in his mind, which is associated with that [right view], shakes off wrong mindfulness, and that is called right mindfulness. It has the characteristic of establishing. [22] Its function is not to forget. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong mindfulness.
§83 When his mind is thus guarded by supreme mindfulness, the unification of mind, which is associated with that [right view], abolishes wrong concentration, and that is called right concentration. It has the characteristic of 526/584 non-distraction. Its function is to concentrate. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong concentration.
This is the method in the description of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
This is how the exposition should be understood here as to defining birth and so on.
3 General#
§84 9. As to knowledge’s function (see §14): the exposition should be understood according to knowledge of the truths. For knowledge of the truths is twofold, namely, knowledge as idea and knowledge as penetration (cf. S V 431f; also XXII.92ff.). Herein, knowledge as idea is mundane and occurs through hearsay, etc., about cessation and the path. Knowledge consisting in penetration, which is supramundane, penetrates the four truths as its function by making cessation its object, according as it is said, “Bhikkhus, he who sees suffering sees also the origin of suffering, sees also the cessation of suffering, sees also the way leading to the cessation of suffering” (S V 437), and it should be repeated thus of all [four truths]. But its function will be made clear in the purification by knowledge and vision (XXII.92f.). 511
§85 When this knowledge is mundane, then, occurring as the overcoming of obsessions, the knowledge of suffering therein forestalls the [false] view of individuality; the knowledge of origin forestalls the annihilation view; the knowledge of cessation forestalls the eternity view; the knowledge of the path forestalls the moral-inefficacy-of-action view. Or alternatively, the knowledge of suffering forestalls wrong theories of fruit, in other words, [seeing] lastingness, beauty, pleasure, and self in the aggregates, which are devoid of lastingness, beauty, pleasure, and self; and knowledge of origin forestalls wrong theories of cause that occur as finding a reason where there is none, such as “The world occurs owing to an Overlord, a Basic Principle, Time, Nature (Individual Essence),” etc.; [23] the knowledge of cessation forestalls such wrong theories of 527/585 cessation as taking final release to be in the immaterial world, in a World Apex (Shrine), etc.; and the path knowledge forestalls wrong theories of means that occur by taking to be the way of purification what is not the way of purification and consists in devotion to indulgence in the pleasures of sense desire and in self-mortification. Hence this is said:
This is how the exposition should be understood here as to knowledge’s function.
§86 10. As to division of content: all states excepting craving and states free from cankers are included in the truth of suffering. The thirty-six modes of behaviour of craving [24] are included in the truth of origin. The truth of cessation is unmixed. As regards the truth of the path: the heading of right view includes the fourth road to power consisting in inquiry, the understanding faculty, the understanding power, and the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor. The term right thinking includes the three kinds of applied thought beginning with that of renunciation (D III 215). The term right speech includes the four kinds of good verbal conduct (A II 131). The term right action includes the three kinds of good bodily conduct (cf. M I 287). The heading right livelihood includes fewness of wishes and contentment. Or all these [three] constitute the virtue loved by Noble Ones, and the virtue loved by Noble Ones has to be embraced by the hand of faith; 528/586 consequently the faith faculty, the faith power, and the road to power consisting in zeal are included because of the presence of these [three]. The term right effort includes fourfold right endeavour, the energy faculty, energy power, and energy enlightenment factor. The term right mindfulness includes the fourfold foundation of mindfulness, the mindfulness faculty, the mindfulness power, and the mindfulness enlightenment factor. The term right concentration includes the three kinds of concentration beginning with that accompanied by applied and sustained thought (D III 219), consciousness concentration, the concentration faculty, 512 the concentration power, and the enlightenment factors of happiness, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity.
This is how the exposition should be understood as to division of content.
§87 11. As to simile: The truth of suffering should be regarded as a burden, the truth of origin as the taking up of the burden, the truth of cessation as the putting down of the burden, the truth of the path as the means to putting down the burden (see S III 26), The truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin is like the cause of the disease, the truth of cessation is like the cure of the disease, and the truth of the path is like the medicine. Or the truth of suffering is like a famine, the truth of origin is like a drought, the truth of cessation is like plenty, and the truth of the path is like timely rain.
Furthermore, these truths can be understood in this way by applying these similes: enmity, the cause of the enmity, the removal of the enmity, and the means to remove the enmity; a poison tree, the tree’s root, the cutting of the root, and the means to cut the root; fear, the cause of fear, freedom from fear, and the means to attain it; the hither shore, the great flood, the further shore, and the effort to reach it.
This is how the exposition should be understood as to simile.
§88 12. As to tetrad: (a) there is suffering that is not noble truth, (b) there is noble truth that is not suffering, (c) there is what is both suffering and noble truth, and (d) there is what is neither suffering nor noble truth. So also with origin and the rest.
§89 Herein, (a) though states associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism are suffering since they are suffering due to formations (see §35) because of the words, “What is impermanent is painful” (S II 53; III 22), still they are not the noble truth [of suffering], (b) Cessation is a noble truth but it is not suffering, (c) The other two noble truths can be suffering because they are impermanent, but they are not so in the real sense of that for the full-understanding of which (see §28) the life of purity is lived under the Blessed One. The five aggregates [as objects] of clinging, except craving, are in all aspects both suffering and noble truth. 513 (d) The states associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism are neither suffering in the real sense of that for the full-understanding of which the life of purity is lived under the Blessed One, nor are they noble truth. Origin, etc., should also be construed in the corresponding way. This is how the exposition should be understood here as to tetrad.
§90 13. As to void, singlefold, and so on: firstly, as to void: in the ultimate sense all the truths should be understood as void because of the absence of (i) any experiencer, (ii) any doer, (iii) anyone who is extinguished, and (iv) any goer. Hence this is said:
Or alternatively:
§91 Or three are void of cessation, and cessation is void of the other three. Or the cause is void of the result, because of the absence of suffering in the origin, and of cessation in the path; the cause is not gravid with its fruit like the Primordial Essence of those who assert the existence of Primordial Essence. And the result is void of the cause owing to the absence of inherence of the origin in suffering and of the path in cessation; the fruit of a cause does not have its cause inherent in it, like the two atoms, etc., of those who assert inherence. Hence this is said:
This, in the first place, is how the exposition should be understood as to void. [25] 514
§92 14. As to singlefold and so on: and here all suffering is of one kind as the state of occurrence. It is of two kinds as mentality-materiality. It is of three kinds as 530/588 divided into rebirth-process becoming in the sense sphere, fine-material sphere, and immaterial sphere. It is of four kinds classed according to the four nutriments. It is of five kinds classed according to the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging.
§93 Also origin is of one kind as making occur. It is of two kinds as associated and not associated with [false] view. It is of three kinds as craving for sense desires, craving for becoming, and craving for non-becoming. It is of four kinds as abandonable by the four paths. It is of five kinds classed as delight in materiality, and so on. It is of six kinds classed as the six groups of craving.
§94 Also cessation is of one kind being the unformed element. But indirectly it is of two kinds as “with result of past clinging left” and as “without result of past clinging left”; [26] and of three kinds as the stilling of the three kinds of becoming; and of four kinds as approachable by the four paths; and of five kinds as the subsiding of the five kinds of delight; and of six kinds classed according to the destruction of the six groups of craving.
§95 Also the path is of one kind as what should be developed. It is of two kinds classed according to serenity and insight, or classed according to seeing and developing. It is of three kinds classed according to the three aggregates; for the [path], being selective, is included by the three aggregates, which are comprehensive, as a city is by a kingdom, according as it is said: “The three aggregates are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visākha, but the Noble Eightfold Path is included by the three aggregates. Any right speech, any right action, any right livelihood: these are included in the virtue aggregate. Any right effort, any right mindfulness, any right concentration: these are included in the concentration aggregate. Any right view, any right thinking: these are included in the understanding aggregate” (M I 301).
§96 For here the three beginning with right speech are virtue and so they are included in the virtue aggregate, being of the same kind. For although in the text the description is given in the locative case as “in the virtue aggregate,” still the meaning should be understood according to the instrumental case [that is, “by the virtue aggregate.”]
As to the three beginning with right effort, concentration cannot of its own nature cause absorption through unification on the object; but with energy accomplishing its function of exerting and mindfulness accomplishing its function of preventing wobbling, it can do so.
§97 Here is a simile: three friends, [thinking,] “We will celebrate the festival,” entered a park. Then one saw a champak tree in full blossom, but he could not reach the flowers by raising his hand. The second bent down for the first to climb 531/589 on his back. But although standing on the other’s back, he still could not pick them because of his unsteadiness. 515 Then the third offered his shoulder [as support]. So standing on the back of the one and supporting himself on the other’s shoulder, he picked as many flowers as he wanted and after adorning himself, he went and enjoyed the festival. And so it is with this.
§98 For the three states beginning with right effort, which are born together, are like the three friends who enter the park together. The object is like the champak tree in full blossom. Concentration, which cannot of its own nature bring about absorption by unification on the object, is like the man who could not pick the flower by raising his arm. Effort is like the companion who bent down, giving his back to mount upon. Mindfulness is like the friend who stood by, giving his shoulder for support. Just as standing on the back of the one and supporting himself on the other’s shoulder he could pick as many flowers as he wanted, so too, when energy accomplishes its function of exerting and when mindfulness accomplishes its function of preventing wobbling, with the help so obtained concentration can bring about absorption by unification on the object. So here in the concentration aggregate it is only concentration that is included as of the same kind. But effort and mindfulness are included because of their action [in assisting].
§99 Also as regards right view and right thinking, understanding cannot of its own nature define an object as impermanent, painful, not-self. But with applied thought giving [assistance] by repeatedly hitting [the object] it can.
§100 How? Just as a money changer, having a coin placed in his hand and being desirous of looking at it on all sides equally, cannot turn it over with the power of his eye only, but by turning it over with his fingers he is able to look at it on all sides, similarly understanding cannot of its own nature define an object as impermanent and so on. But [assisted] by applied thought with its characteristic of directing the mind on to [the object] and its function of striking and threshing, as it were, hitting and turning over, it can take anything given and define it. So here in the understanding aggregate it is only right view that is included as of the same kind. But right thinking is included because of its action [in assisting].
§101 So the path is included by the three aggregates. Hence it was said that it is of three kinds classed according to the three aggregates. And it is of four kinds as the path of stream-entry and so on.
§102 In addition, all the truths are of one kind because they are not unreal, or because they must be directly known. They are of two kinds as (i and ii) mundane and (iii and iv) supramundane, or (i, ii, and iv) formed and (iii) unformed. They are of three kind as (ii) to be abandoned by seeing and development, (iii and iv) not to be abandoned, and (i) neither to be abandoned nor not to be abandoned. They are of four kinds classed according to what has to be fully understood, and so on (see §28).
This is how the exposition should be understood as to singlefold and so on.
§103 532/590 15. As to similar and dissimilar, all the truths are similar to each other because they are not unreal, are void of self, and are difficult to penetrate, according as it is said: “What do you think, Ānanda, which is more difficult to do, more difficult to perform, that a man should shoot an arrow through a small keyhole from a distance time after time without missing or that he should penetrate the tip of a hair split a hundred times with the tip [of a similar hair]?”—“This is more difficult to do, venerable sir, more difficult to perform, that a man should penetrate the tip of a hair split a hundred times with the tip [of a similar hair].”—“They penetrate something more difficult to penetrate than that, Ānanda, who penetrate correctly thus, ‘This is suffering’ … who penetrate correctly thus, ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’” (S V 454). They are dissimilar when defined according to their individual characteristics.
§104 And the first two are similar since they are profound because hard to grasp, since they are mundane, and since they are subject to cankers. They are dissimilar in being divided into fruit and cause, and being respectively to be fully understood and to be abandoned. And the last two are similar since they are hard to grasp because profound, since they are supramundane, and since they are free from cankers. They are dissimilar in being divided into object and what has an object, and in being respectively to be realized and to be developed. And the first and third are similar since they come under the heading of result. They are dissimilar in being formed and unformed. Also the second and fourth are similar since they come under the heading of cause. They are dissimilar in being respectively entirely unprofitable and entirely profitable. And the first and fourth are similar in being formed. They are dissimilar in being mundane and supramundane. Also the second and the third are similar since they are the state of neither-trainer-nor-non-trainer (see Vibh 114). They are dissimilar in being respectively with object and without object.
The sixteenth chapter called “The Description of the Faculties and Truths” in the Treatise on the Development of Understanding in the Path of Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening good people.
Footnotes