Dīgha Nikāya

Dīgha Nikāya (Collection of Long Discourses) is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka representing the teaching of Gautama Buddha.

• Abandoning false speech, the ascetic Gotama dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. Abandoning malicious speech, he does not repeat there what he has heard here to the detriment of these, or repeat here what he has heard there to the detriment of those. Thus he is a reconciler of those at variance and an encourager of those at one, rejoicing in peace, loving it, delighting in it, one who speaks up for peace. Abandoning harsh speech, he refrains from it. He speaks whatever is blameless, pleasing to the ear, agreeable, reaching the heart, urbane, pleasing and attractive to the multitude. Abandoning idle chatter, he speaks at the right time, what is correct and to the point, of Dhamma and discipline. He is a speaker whose words are to be treasured, seasonable, reasoned, well-defined and connected with the goal.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 1, verse 1.9, pp. 68-69

• The ascetic Gotama … avoids watching dancing, singing, music and shows. He abstains from using garlands, perfumes, cosmetics, ornaments and adornments. … He refrains from running errands, from buying and selling.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 1, verse 1.10, p. 69

• Whereas some ascetics and Brahmins remain addicted to attending such shows as dancing, singing, music, displays, recitations, hand-music, cymbals and drums, fairy-shows, acrobatic and conjuring tricks, combats of elephants, buffaloes, bulls, goats, rams, cocks and quail, fighting with staves, boxing, wrestling, sham-fights, parades, manoeuvres and military reviews, the ascetic Gotama refrains from attending such displays.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 1, verse 1.13

• Whereas some ascetics and Brahmins remain addicted to such unedifying conversation as about kings, robbers, ministers, armies, dangers, wars, food, drink, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes, relatives, carriages, villages, towns and cities, countries, women, heroes, street- and well-gossip, talk of the departed, desultory chat, speculations about land and sea, talk about being and non-being, the ascetic Gotama refrains from such conversation.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 1, verse 1.17, p. 70

• 'Suppose there were a man, a slave, a labourer, getting up before you and going to bed after you, willingly doing whatever has to be done, well-mannered, pleasant-spoken, working in your presence. And he might think, ... "I ought to do something meritorious. Suppose I were to shave off my hair and beard, don yellow robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness!" And before long, he does so. And he, having gone forth might dwell, restrained in body, speech and thought, satisfied with the minimum of food and clothing, content, in solitude. And then if people were to announce to you: "Sire, you remember that slave who worked in your presence, and who shaved off his hair and beard and went forth into homelessness?" ... Would you then say: "That man must come back and be a slave and work for me as before?"'

  'No indeed, Lord. For we should pay homage to him, we should rise and invite him and press him to receive from us robes, food, lodging, medicines for sickness and requisites, and make arrangements for his proper protection.'

  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 2, verses 35-36, pp. 97-98

• As long, Sire, as a monk does not perceive the disappearance of the five hindrances in himself, he feels as if in debt, in sickness, in bonds, in slavery, on a desert journey. But when he perceives the disappearance of the five hindrances in himself, it is as if he were freed from debt, from sickness, from bonds, from slavery, from the perils of the desert.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 2, verse 74, p. 102

• It is just as if a man were to draw out a reed from its sheath. He might think: “This is the reed, this is the sheath, reed and sheath are different. Now the reed has been pulled from the sheath.” … In the same way a monk with mind concentrated directs his mind to the production of a mind-made body. He draws that body out of this body.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 2, verse 86, p. 104

• If he goes forth from the household life into homelessness, then he will become an Arahant, a fully-enlightened Buddha, one who draws back the veil from the world.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 3, verse 1.5, p. 112

• Wisdom is purified by morality, and morality is purified by wisdom: where one is, the other is, the moral man has wisdom and the wise man has morality, and the combination of morality of wisdom is called the highest thing in the world.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 4, verse 22, p. 131

• “Well, Lord, is the soul the same as the body, is the soul one thing and the body another?”

“I have not declared that the soul is one thing and the body another.”

“Well, Lord, does the Tathāgata exist after death?” …

“I have not declared that the Tathāgata exists after death.” …

“But, Lord, why has the Lord not declared these things?”

“Potthapada, that is not conducive to the purpose, not conducive to Dhamma, not the way to embark on the holy life; it does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to higher knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. That is why I have not declared it.”

• M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 9, verse 28, p. 164

• Feeling conditions craving, craving conditions seeking, seeking conditions acquisition, acquisition conditions decision-making, decision-making conditions lustful desire, lustful desire conditions attachment, attachment conditions appropriation, appropriation conditions avarice, avarice conditions guarding of possessions, and because of guarding of possessions there arise the taking up of stick and sword, quarrels, disputes, arguments, strife, abuse, lying and other evil unskilled states.
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 15, verse 9, pp. 224-225

• Pleasant feeling is impermanent, conditioned, dependently-arisen, bound to decay, to vanish, to fade away, to cease—and so too are painful feeling and neutral feeling. So anyone who, on experiencing a pleasant feeling, thinks: "This is my self", must, at the cessation of that pleasant feeling, think: "My self has gone!"
  • M. Walshe, trans. (1987), Sutta 15 (Mahānidāna Sutta), verse 29, p. 227

• Therefore, Ananda, be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves, seeking no external refuge; with the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge. And how, Ananda, is a bhikkhu an island unto himself, a refuge unto himself, seeking no external refuge; with the Dhamma as his island, the Dhamma as his refuge, seeking no other refuge?

  When he dwells contemplating the body in the body, earnestly, clearly comprehending, and mindfully, after having overcome desire and sorrow in regard to the world; when he dwells contemplating feelings in feelings, the mind in the mind, and mental objects in mental objects, earnestly, clearly comprehending, and mindfully, after having overcome desire and sorrow in regard to the world, then, truly, he is an island unto himself, a refuge unto himself, seeking no external refuge; having the Dhamma as his island, the Dhamma as his refuge, seeking no other refuge.

  Those bhikkhus of mine, Ananda, who now or after I am gone, abide as an island unto themselves, as a refuge unto themselves, seeking no other refuge; having the Dhamma as their island and refuge, seeking no other refuge: it is they who will become the highest, if they have the desire to learn.

  • 2:33-35, as translated by Sister Vajira and Francis Story, in Last Days of the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (1964), pp. 29-30

• There are these eight liberations.

Which eight?

Having visible form,

someone sees visible forms.

This is the first liberation.

Conceiving of visible forms within,

someone sees external visible forms.

This is the second.

Someone becomes focused on just the idea of the beautiful.

This is the third.

By passing entirely beyond notions of visible form,

by stopping notions of the resistant,

and by not paying attention to notions of differentiation,

someone takes the idea of space as infinite and lives attaining the sphere of infinity of space.

This is the fourth.

By passing entirely beyond the sphere of infinity of space,

someone takes the idea of consciousness as infinite and lives attaining the sphere of infinity of consciousness.

This is the fifth.

By passing entirely beyond the sphere of infinity of consciousness,

someone takes the idea of there being nothing and lives attaining the sphere of nothingness.

This is the sixth.

By passing entirely beyond the sphere of nothingness,

someone lives attaining the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness.

This is the seventh.

By passing entirely beyond the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness,

someone lives attaining the cessation of conception and feeling.

This is the eighth liberation.

These are the eight liberations.

• 2:112, as translated in Gethin, Rupert (2008). Sayings of the Buddha. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-19-283925-1. 

• When I observed that by the performance of certain actions, unwholesome factors increased and wholesome factors decreased, then that form of bodily action was to be avoided. And when I observed that by the performance of such actions unwholesome factors decreased and wholesome ones increased, then such bodily action was to be followed. ... The same applies to conduct of speech and the pursuit of goals.
  • 2.4, as translated by M. Walshe, p. 330

• There is, monks, this one way to the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and distress, for the disappearance of pain and sadness, for the gaining of the right path, for the realization of Nibbāna :—that is to say, the four foundations of mindfulness.
  • as translated by M. Walshe, (1987), p. 335

• What are the four? Here, monks, a monk abides contemplating body as body, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world; he abides conquering feelings as feelings, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world; he abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world; he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world.
  • as translated by M. Walshe, (1987), p. 335

• And how, monks, does a monk abide contemplating mind as mind? Here, a monk knows a lustful mind as lustful, a mind free from lust as free from lust, a hating mind as hating, a mind free from hate as free from hate, a deluded mind as deluded, an undeluded mind as undeluded, a contracted mind as contracted, a developed mind as developed, an undeveloped mind as undeveloped, a surpassed mind as surpassed, an unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed, a concentrated mind as concentrated, an unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated, a liberated mind as liberated, an unliberated mind as unliberated.
  • as translated by M. Walshe, (1987), p. 340

• Gautama Buddha
• Maitreya
• Majjhima Nikāya
• Saṃyutta Nikāya

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Dīgha Nikāya