147. Three Gentlemen (SA35)

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147. Three Gentlemen

Thus have I heard:

One time, the Buddha was staying at the Bamboo Park Monastery in Cedi.

At the time, there were three upright gentlemen who had left home not long before.

They were Venerable Aniruddha, Venerable Nandika, and Venerable Kimbila.

Knowing what they were thinking in their minds, the Bhagavān then instructed them:

“Monks, this is mind, this is reasoning, this is consciousness.

This should be contemplated.

Don’t contemplate that.

Stopping this desire and stopping this form, a person fully abides in realization.

Monks, could there be form that’s permanent, unchanging, and a correct abode?”

The monks said to the Buddha,

“No, Bhagavān.”

The Buddha told the monks,

“Good, good!

Form is impermanent and liable to change.

Tiring of and parting with desire [for form], it ceases, become tranquil, and disappears.

Thus, since the distant past, all forms have been impermanent, painful, and liable to change.

Known in this way, the conditioning of those forms produces the contaminants, which are harmful, burning, and grievous.

Destroy them all.

Once they are destroyed, there’s no attachment.

Once there’s no attachment, you’ll live in well-being.

Once you live in well-being, you’ll attain parinirvāṇa.

Feelings, perceptions, volitions, and consciousness are likewise.”

When the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the contaminants didn’t arise in those three upright gentlemen, and their minds were liberated.

After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.