45.42–48. The Abandoning of the Fetters, Etc. (SN45.48)

“Bhikkhus, if wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘For what purpose, friends, is the holy life lived under the ascetic Gotama?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘It is, friends, for the abandoning of the fetters … for the uprooting of the underlying tendencies … for the full understanding of the course … for the destruction of the taints … for the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation … for the sake of knowledge and vision … … for the sake of final Nibbāna without clinging that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One.’

“Then, bhikkhus, if the wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘But, friends, is there a path, is there a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘There is a path, friends, there is a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.’

“And what, bhikkhus, is that path, what is that way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration. This is the path, this is the way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.

“Being asked thus, bhikkhus, you should answer those wanderers of other sects in such a way.”

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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