45. Undertaking Dhamma 1 (MN45)

Thus I heard:

On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus:

“Bhikkhus.”

“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:

“Bhikkhus, there are four ways of undertaking dhammas. What four? There is a way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure. There is a way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure.

“What is the way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain?

“Bhikkhus, there are certain monks and divines whose theory and view is thus: ‘There is no harm in sensual desires’, and they take to gulping down sensual desires. They divert themselves with turbaned women Wanderers. They say thus: ‘What do these good monks and divines fancy they see as future fear from sensual desires that they speak of abandoning sensual desires and describe an ulterior full knowledge of sensual desires. The contact of this woman Wanderer’s tender soft downy arm is pleasant’, and they take to gulping down sensual desires. Having done so, on the dissolution of the body, after death, they reappear in an unhappy destination, in the states of deprivation, in perdition, even in hell. There they feel painful, racking, piercing feelings. They say thus: ‘This is what those good monks and divines see as future fear from sensual desires that they speak of abandoning sensual desires and describe an ulterior full knowledge of sensual desires: for it is by reason of sensual desires, owing to sensual desires, that we are now feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings.’

“Bhikkhus, suppose that in the last month of the summer a māluva-creeper pod burst open and a māluva-creeper seed fell at the foot of a sāla tree; and then a deity living in that tree was alarmed and suspicious and fearful; but the deity’s friends and companions, relatives. and kin—garden deities, park deities, tree deities, deities inhabiting medicinal herbs, grass and forest-monarch trees—gathered and met together, and they soothed that deity thus: ‘Have no fear, good sir, have no fear. Perhaps a peacock will swallow the māluva-creeper seed or a wild animal will eat it or a forest fire will burn it or woodsmen will carry it off or white ants will devour it or it may even not be a seed’; and then no peacock swallowed that seed, no wild animal ate it, no forest fire burnt it, no woodsmen carried it off, no white ants devoured it, and it was in fact a seed; and then, being rained on by the clouds of the Rainy Season, it sprouted in due course, and the tender soft downy māluva-creeper tendril wound itself round the sāla tree; and then the deity living in the sāla tree thought: ‘What did those friends and acquaintances, those relatives and kin—these garden deities, park deities, tree deities, deities inhabiting medicinal herbs, grass and forest-monarch trees—fancy they saw as future fear from the māluva-creeper seed that they gathered and met together and soothed me as they did? The contact of this māluva-creeper’s tender soft downy tendril is pleasant’ ; and then the creeper enfolded the sāla tree, and after that it made a canopy over it, and after that it draped a curtain all round it, and after that the main branches of the sāla tree broke, and then the deity who lived in that sāla tree thought: ‘This is what those friends and acquaintances, those relatives and kin… fancied they saw as future fear from the māluva-creeper seed that they gathered and met together and soothed me as they did!’

“So too, bhikkhus, there are certain monks and divines whose theory and view is thus: ‘There is no harm in sensual desires… owing to sensual desires, that we are now feeling painful racking piercing feelings.’

“This is called a way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain.

“And what is a way of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in future as pain? Here, bhikkhus, someone goes naked, rejecting conventions, licking his hands, not coming when asked, not stopping when asked; he does not accept a thing brought or a thing specially made or an invitation; he receives nothing from out of a pot, from out of a bowl, across a threshold, across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating together, from a woman with child, from a woman giving suck, from where a woman was lying with a man, from where food was advertized to be distributed, from where a dog was waiting, from where flies were buzzing; he accepts no fish or meat, he drinks no liquor, wine or besotting drink; he keeps to one house, to one morsel; he keeps to two houses, to two morsels… he keeps to seven houses, to seven morsels. He lives on one saucerful, on two saucerfuls… on seven saucerfuls, a day; he takes food once a day, once each two days… once each seven days, and so, up to once each fortnight. He dwells pursuing the practice of taking food at stated intervals. He is an eater of greens, or millet, or wild rice, or hide-parings, or moss, or ricebran, or rinsings, or sesamum flour, or grass, or cowdung; he lives on forest roots and on fruits as a feeder on windfalls. He clothes himself in hemp, in hemp mixed cloth, in shrouds, in refuse rags, in tree bark, in antelope hide, in kusa-grass fabric, in bark fabric, in wood shavings fabric, in head-hair wool, in animal wool, in owls’ wings. He is one who pulls out hair and beard, pursuing the practice of pulling out hair and beard. He is one who stands continuously, rejecting seats. He is one who squats continuously, devoted to maintaining the squatting position. He is one who uses a mattress of spikes; he makes a mattress of spikes his bed. He dwells pursuing the practice of bathing in water for the third time by nightfall. In this way he dwells pursuing the practice of self mortification in its many aspects. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in an unhappy destination, in the states of deprivation, in perdition, even in hell.

“This is called away of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in the future as pain.

“And what is a way of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure?

“Here, bhikkhus, someone is by nature much given to lust, and he constantly experiences pain and grief consequent upon lust; he is by nature much given to hate, and he constantly experiences pain and grief consequent upon hate; he is by nature much given to delusion, and he constantly experiences pain and grief consequent upon delusion; yet in pain and grief, and with tears on his face and weeping, he leads the life divine in perfect purity. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.

“This is called a way of undertaking dhammas that is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure.

“And what is a way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure?

“Here, bhikkhus, someone is not by nature much given to lust, and he does not constantly experience pain and grief consequent upon lust; he is not by nature much given to hate… to delusion, and he does not constantly experience pain and grief consequent upon delusion. Quite secluded from sensual desires,… he enters upon and abides in the first jhāna… the second… the third… the fourth jhāna… and has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.

“This is called a way of undertaking dhammas that is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure.

“These, bhikkhus, are the four ways of undertaking dhammas.”

That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied, and they delighted in the Blessed One’s words.

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.