30. The Simile of Heartwood 2 (MN30)

Thus I heard:

On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

Then Pingalakoccha of the divine caste went to the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him, and when the courteous and amiable talk was finished, he sat down at one side. When he had done so, he said to the Blessed One: “Master Gotama, there are these ascetics and divines, each with his order, with his group, leading a group, each a known and famous philosopher and reckoned by many as a saint—I mean Purāṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalin, Pakudha Kaccayana, Sañjaya Belatthiputta, and the Nigaṇṭhā (Jain) Nātaputta—have they all had direct knowledge as they claim, or have none of them had direct knowledge, or have some of them had direct knowledge and some not?”

“Enough, divine, whether they have all had direct knowledge as they claim, or none of them… or some of them… and some not, let that be. I shall teach you the Dhamma, divine. Listen and heed well what I shall say.”

“Even so, sir,” Pingalakoccha of the divine caste replied. The Blessed One said this:

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood and its sapwood and its inner bark and its outer bark, he cut its twigs and leaves and took them away thinking they were heartwood; then a man with good sight, seeing him might observe his actions and say: ‘So whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood and its sapwood and its inner bark, he cut its outer bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood; then a man with good sight, seeing him, might observe his actions and say: ‘So whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood, and its sapwood, he cut its inner bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood; then a man with good sight, seeing him, might observe his actions and say: ‘So whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood, he cut its sapwood and took it away thinking it was heartwood; then a man with good sight, seeing him, might observe his actions and say: ‘So whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting only its heartwood, he took it away, knowing it was heartwood; then a man with good sight, seeing him, might observe his actions and say: ‘So whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will be served.’

“So too, divine, here some clansman out of faith goes forth from the home life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, ageing and death, of sorrows and lamentations, pains, griefs and despairs. I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely the ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known?’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires great gain, honour and renown. He is pleased with that and his intention is fulfilled. On that account he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I have gain, I have renown, but these other bhikkhus are unknown, of no account.’ So he arouses no desire to act, he makes no effort, for the realization of other dhammas higher than that gain, honour and renown and superior to it.

“I say that this person is like a man needing heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood who comes to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood and its sapwood and its inner bark and its outer bark he cuts its twigs and leaves and takes them away thinking they are heartwood; and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.

“Here some clansman out of faith goes forth from the home life into homelessness considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, ageing and death, of sorrows and lamentations, pains, griefs and despairs. I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely the ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known?’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires great gain, honour and renown. He is not pleased with that and his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act and he makes effort for the realization of other dhammas that are higher than that gain, honour and renown and superior to it; he does not hang back and slack. He attains perfect virtue. He is pleased with that perfection of virtue and his intention is fulfilled. On that account he lauds himself and disparages others: ‘I am virtuous, fine-natured, but these other bhikkhus are unvirtuous, evil-natured.’ So he arouses no desire to act, he makes no effort, for the realization of other dhammas higher than that perfection of virtue, he hangs back and slacks.

“I say that this person is like a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, who comes to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood and its sapwood and its inner bark, he cuts its outer bark and takes it away, thinking it is heartwood, and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.

“Here some clansman out of faith goes forth from the home life into homelessness considering: ‘I am the victim of birth, ageing and death, of sorrows and lamentations, pains, griefs and despairs. I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely the ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known?’ When he has gone forth, he acquires great gain, honour and renown. He is not pleased with that and his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, and he makes an effort for the realization of other dhammas that are higher than that gain, honour and renown, and superior to that. He does not hang back and slack. He attains perfect virtue. He is pleased with that, but his intention is not yet fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, and he makes effort, for the realization of other dhammas that are higher than that perfection of virtue. He does not hang back and slack. He attains perfect concentration. He is pleased with that and his intention is fulfilled. On that account he lauds himself and disparages others: ‘I am concentrated, my mind is unified, but these bhikkhus are unconcentrated, their minds are astray.’ So he arouses no desire to act, he makes no effort, for the realization of other dhammas higher than that perfection of concentration, he hangs back and slacks.

“I say that this person is like a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, who comes to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood and its sapwood, he cuts its inner bark and takes it away, thinking it is heartwood; and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.

“Here some clansman out of faith goes forth from the home life into homelessness considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, ageing and death, of sorrows and lamentations, of pains, grief and despairs. I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely the ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known?’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires great gain, honour and renown. He is not pleased with that and his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, and he makes effort, for the realization of dhammas higher than that gain, honour and renown and superior to that. He does not hang back and slack. He attains perfect virtue. He is pleased with that but his intention is not yet fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, and he makes an effort, for the realization of dhammas higher than that perfection of virtue and superior to that. He does not hang back and slack. He attains perfect concentration. He is pleased with that but his intention is not yet fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, he makes effort, for the realization of dhammas higher than that perfection of concentration and superior to it. He does not hang back and slack. He attains knowledge and vision. He is pleased with that and his intention is fulfilled. On that account he lauds himself and disparages other: ‘I live knowing and seeing, but these other bhikkhus live unknowing and unseeing.’ So he arouses no desire to act, he makes no effort, for the realization of other dhammas higher than that knowledge and vision. He hangs back and slacks.

“I say that this person is like a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, who comes to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood, he cuts its sapwood and takes it away, thinking it is heartwood; and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.

“Here some clansman out of faith goes forth from the home life into homelessness… (as above)… He acquires great gain, honour and renown. He is not pleased with that, and his intention is not fulfilled… He attains perfect virtue. He is pleased with that but his intention is not yet fulfilled… He attains perfect concentration. He is pleased with that but his intention is not yet fulfilled… He attains knowledge and vision. He is pleased with that but his intention is not yet fulfilled. He does not, on that account, laud himself and disparage others. He arouses desire to act, and he makes effort, for the realization of other dhammas higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to that. He does not hang back and slack. But what are the dhammas higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it?

“Here, divine, quite secluded from sensual desires, secluded from unprofitable dhammas, he enters upon and abides in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by initial and sustained application, with happiness and bodily pleasure born of seclusion.

“This can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, with the stilling of initial and sustained application, he enters upon and abides in the second jhāna which has self-confidence and singleness of mind and is without initial application and without sustained application with happiness and pleasure born of concentration.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, with the fading as well of happiness he abides in equanimity, mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhāna, on which account Noble Ones announce: ‘He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.’

This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

.“Again, with the abandoning of bodily pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of mental joy and grief, he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhāna which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, with the complete surmounting of perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, with non-attention to perceptions of difference, aware that ‘space is infinite’, he enters on and abides in the base consisting of infinite space.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, by completely surmounting the base consisting of infinite space, aware that ‘consciousness is infinite’ he enters upon and abides in the base consisting of infinite consciousness.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, by completely surmounting the base consisting of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing’, he enters upon and abides in the base consisting of nothingness.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, by completely surmounting the base consisting of nothingness, he enters upon and abides in the base consisting of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.

“This too can be a dhamma higher that that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“Again, by completely surmounting the base consisting of neither-perception-nor-non-perception he enters upon and abides in the cessation of perception and feeling. And his taints are exhausted by his seeing with understanding.

“This too can be a dhamma higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“These are the dhammas that are higher than that knowledge and vision and superior to it.

“I say that this person is like a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, who comes to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting its heartwood, he takes it away, knowing that it is heartwood; and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will he served.

“So this life divine does not have gain, honour and renown for its advantage, or perfection of virtue for its advantage, or perfection of concentration for its advantage, or knowledge and vision for its advantage. But it is this unassailable deliverance of the mind that is the goal of this life divine, its heartwood and its end.”

When this was said, Pingalakoccha of the divine caste said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent!… from today let Master Gotama accept me as a follower who has gone to him for refuge for life.”

This is an excerpt from A Treasury of the Buddha's Words, a collection of suttas from the Majjhima Nikāya translated by Ven. Nyanamoli Thera and edited by Khantipalo Bhikkhu in 1977.

It was printed in Thailand by Mahāmakut Rājavidyālaya Press for free distribution.