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### Sutta Nipata IV.14

# Tuvataka Sutta

# Quickly

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

> "I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
> about seclusion & the state of peace.
> Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
> clinging to nothing in the world?"

> > "He should put an entire stop
> > to the root of complication-classifications:
> > 'I am the thinker.'[1]
> > He should train, always mindful,
> > to subdue any craving inside him.
> > Whatever truth he may know,
> > within or without,
> > he shouldn't get entrenched
> > in connection with it,
> > for that isn't called
> > Unbinding by the good.
> > He shouldn't, because of it, think himself
> > better,
> > lower, or
> > equal.
> > Touched by contact in various ways,
> > he shouldn't keep conjuring self.
> > Stilled right within,
> > a monk shouldn't seek peace from another
> > from anything else.
> > For one stilled right within,
> > there's nothing embraced,
> > so how rejected?
> > Nothing that's self,
> > so from whence would there be
> > against-self?[2]

> > As in the middle of the sea
> > it is still,
> > with no waves upwelling,
> > so the monk -- unperturbed, still --
> > should not swell himself
> > anywhere."

> "He whose eyes are open has described
> the Dhamma he's witnessed,
> subduing danger.
> Now tell us, sir, the practice:
> the code of discipline & concentration."

> > "One shouldn't be careless with his eyes,
> > should close his ears to village-talk,
> > shouldn't hunger for flavors,
> > or view anything in the world
> > as mine.
> > When touched by contact
> > he shouldn't lament,
> > shouldn't covet anywhere any
> > states of becoming,
> > or tremble at terrors.
> > When gaining food & drink,
> > staples & cloth,
> > he should not make a hoard.
> > Nor should he be upset
> > when receiving no gains.
> > Absorbed, not foot-loose,
> > he should refrain from restlessness,
> > shouldn't be heedless,
> > should live in a noise-less abode.
> > Not making much of sleep,
> > ardent, given to wakefulness,
> > he should abandon sloth, deception,
> > laughter, sports,
> > fornication, & all that goes with it;
> > should not practice charms,
> > interpret physical marks, dreams,
> > the stars, animal cries;
> > should not be devoted to
> > practicing medicine or inducing fertility.

> > A monk shouldn't tremble at blame
> > or grow haughty with praise;
> > should thrust aside selfishness, greed,
> > divisive speech, anger;
> > shouldn't buy or sell
> > or revile anyone anywhere;
> > shouldn't linger in villages,
> > or flatter people in hopes of gains.

> > A monk shouldn't boast
> > or speak with ulterior motive,
> > shouldn't train in insolence
> > or speak quarrelsome words;
> > shouldn't engage in deception
> > or knowingly cheat;
> > shouldn't despise others for their
> > life,
> > discernment,
> > precepts,
> > or practices.
> > Provoked with many words
> > from contemplatives
> > or ordinary people,
> > he shouldn't respond harshly,
> > for those who retaliate
> > aren't calm.

> > Knowing this teaching,
> > a monk inquiring
> > should always
> > train in it mindfully.
> > Knowing Unbinding as peace,
> > he shouldn't be heedless
> > of Gotama's message --
> > for he, the Conqueror unconquered,
> > witnessed the Dhamma,
> > not by hearsay,
> > but directly, himself.
> > So, heedful, you
> > should always train
> > in line with that Blessed One's message,"

> > the Blessed One said.

### Notes

1. On complication-classifications and their role in leading to conflict, see Sn IV.11 and the introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a set of distinctions -- I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought; identity/non-identity -- that then can proliferate into mental and physical conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms a fetter on the mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine these distinctions -- which we all take for granted -- to see that they are simply assumptions that are not inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to drop them. [Go back]

2. "Embraced/rejected, self/against-self" -- a pun on the pair of Pali words, atta/nirattam. [Go back]

See also: DN 2; AN IV.37

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001