Itivuttaka | Group of Twos

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The Group of Twos

§28. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Endowed with two things, monks,
a monk lives in stress in the present life-
troubled, distressed, & feverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a bad destination can be expected.

Which two?

A lack of guarding of the doors of the sense faculties,
and knowing no moderation in food.

Endowed with these two things, a monk lives in stress

in the present life-troubled, distressed, & feverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a bad destination can be expected.”

Eye & ear & nose, tongue, body & mind:
when a monk leaves these doors unguarded –
knowing no moderation in food, not restraining his senses-
he experiences stress: stress in body, stress in mind.
Burning in body, burning in mind, whether by day or by night,
one like this lives in suffering & stress.

§29. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Endowed with two things, monks,
a monk lives in ease in the present life-
untroubled, undistressed, & unfeverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a good destination can be expected.

Which two?

A guarding of the doors of the sense faculties,
and knowing moderation in food.

Endowed with these two things, a monk lives in ease
in the present life-untroubled, undistressed, & unfeverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a good destination can be expected.”

Eye & ear & nose, tongue, body, & mind:
when a monk has these doors well-guarded –
knowing moderation in food, restraining his senses-
he experiences ease: ease in body, ease in mind.
Not burning in body, not burning in mind, whether by day or by night,
one like this lives in ease.

§30. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, there are these two things that cause remorse.

Which two?

There is the case of the person who has not done what is admirable,
has not done what is skilful, has not given protection to those in fear,
and instead has done what is evil, savage, & cruel.

Thinking, 'I have not done what is admirable,' he feels remorse.
Thinking, 'I have done what is evil,' he feels remorse.

These are the two things that cause remorse.”

Having engaged in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct,
misconduct of mind, or whatever else is flawed,
not having done what is skilful, having done much that is not,
at the break-up of the body, the undiscerning one reappears in hell.

§31. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, there are these two things that cause no remorse.

Which two?

There is the case of the person who has done what is admirable,
has done what is skilful, has given protection to those in fear,
and has done nothing that is evil, savage, or cruel.

Thinking, 'I have done what is admirable,' he feels no remorse.
Thinking, 'I have not done what is evil,' he feels no remorse.

These are the two things that cause no remorse.”

Having abandoned bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct,
misconduct of mind, & whatever else is flawed,
not having done what's not skilful, having done much that is,
at the break-up of the body, the discerning one reappears in heaven
.

§32. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Endowed with two things, monks,
a person-as if carried off-is thus placed in hell.

Which two? Evil habits & evil views.

Endowed with these two things,
a person-as if carried off-is thus placed in hell.”

Evil habits & evil views:
a person, undiscerning, endowed with these two things,
at the break-up of the body reappears in hell.

§33. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Endowed with two things, monks,
a person-as if carried off-is thus placed in heaven.

Which two? Auspicious habits & auspicious views.

Endowed with these two things,
a person-as if carried off-is thus placed in heaven.”

Auspicious habits & auspicious views:
a person, discerning, endowed with these two things,
at the break-up of the body reappears in heaven.

§34. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, a person without ardency, without compunction,
is incapable of self-awakening, incapable of Unbinding,
incapable of attaining the unsurpassed safety from bondage.

A person ardent & compunctious
is capable of self-awakening, capable of Unbinding,
capable of attaining the unsurpassed safety from bondage.”

With no ardency, no compunction, lazy, with low persistence,
full of sloth & drowsiness, shameless, without respect:
he's incapable, a monk like this, of touching superlative self-awakening.

But whoever is mindful, masterful, absorbed in jhāna,
ardent, concerned, & heedful, cutting the fetter of birth & aging,
touches right here a self-awakening un-surpassed.

§35. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, this holy life is lived,

not for the sake of deceiving people,
not for the sake of inveigling people,
not for the sake of the rewards of gain, offerings, & tribute,
nor with the thought, 'Thus may people know me.'

This holy life is lived for the sake of restraint & abandoning.”

For the sake of restraint, for the sake of abandoning,
he, the Blessed One, taught a holy life not handed down,
coming ashore in Unbinding.
This path is pursued by those great in purpose, great seers.
Those who follow it, as taught by the One Awakened,
heeding the Teacher's message,
will put an end to suffering & stress.

§36. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, this holy life is lived,

not for the sake of deceiving people,
not for the sake of inveigling people,
not for the sake of the rewards of gain, offerings, & tribute,
nor with the thought, 'Thus may people know me.'

This holy life is lived for the sake of direct knowledge & full comprehension.”

For the sake of direct knowledge & full comprehension,
he, the Blessed One, taught a holy life not handed down,
coming ashore in Unbinding.
This path is pursued by those great in purpose, great seers.
Those who follow it, as taught by the One Awakened,
heeding the Teacher's message,
will put an end to suffering & stress.

§37. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Endowed with two things, monks,
a monk lives full of ease in the here-&-now
and is appropriately aroused for the ending of the effluents.

Which two?

A sense of urgency toward things that should inspire urgency
and, feeling urgency, appropriate exertion.

Endowed with two things,
a monk lives full of ease in the here-&-now
and is appropriately aroused for the ending of the effluents.”

Feeling urgency right here toward what should inspire urgency,
the wise, masterful, ardent monk should investigate with discernment.
One who lives thus ardently, not restlessly,
at peace, committed to awareness-tranquillity,
would attain the ending of suffering & stress.

§38. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, two trains of thought
often occur to the Tathagata, worthy & rightly self­-awakened:
the thought of safety & that of seclusion.

“The Tathagata enjoys non-ill will, delights in non-ill will.
To him-enjoying non-ill will, delighting in non-ill will-
this thought often occurs:

'By this activity I harm no one at all, whether weak or firm.'

“The Tathagata enjoys seclusion, delights in seclusion.
To him-enjoying seclusion, delighting in seclusion-
this thought often occurs:

'Whatever is unskilful is abandoned.'

“Thus, monks, you too should live
enjoying non-ill will, delighting in non-ill will.

To you-enjoying non-ill will, delighting in non-ill will-
this thought will often occur:

'By this activity we harm no one at all, whether weak or firm.'

“You too should live enjoying seclusion, delighting in seclusion.

To you- enjoying seclusion, delighting in seclusion-
this thought will often occur: 'What is unskilful?
What is not yet abandoned? What are we abandoning?'”

To the Tathagata, awakened, who endured what is hard to endure,
two thoughts occur:
safety the first thought mentioned; seclusion the second declared.

The dispeller of darkness, free of effluent, the great seer who has gone beyond,
reached attainment, gained mastery, crossed over the poisons;
who's released in the ending of craving:
that sage bears his last body, has shaken off Mara,
I tell you, has gone beyond aging.

As one standing on a rocky crag would see the people all around below,
so the wise one, with the all-around eye,
having scaled the tower made of Dhamma, having crossed over sorrow,
gazes on those overwhelmed with sorrow, conquered by aging & death
.

§39. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, the Tathagata-worthy & rightly self-awakened-
has two Dhamma discourses given in sequence.

Which two?

'See evil as evil.' This is the first Dhamma discourse.
'Having seen evil as evil,
become disenchanted there, dispassionate there, released.'
This is the second Dhamma discourse.

These are the two Dhamma discourses
that the Tathagata-worthy & rightly self-awakened-has given in sequence.”

See the two statements, declared in sequence,
by the Tathagata, awakened, sympathetic to all beings.
The first: see evil. Be dispassionate there toward evil.
Then, with a mind dispassionate, you will make an end of suffering & stress
.

§40. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, ignorance precedes the arrival of unskilful qualities;
lack of shame & lack of compunction follow after.
Clear knowing precedes the arrival of skilful qualities;
shame & compunction follow after.”

Any bad destinations in this world, in the next,
are rooted in ignorance-all- accumulations of desire & greed.
And when a person of evil desires lacks shame & respect,
evil comes from that, and by that he goes to deprivation.
So cleansing away ignorance, desire, & greed,
a monk giving rise to clear knowing would abandon all bad destinations
.

§41. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, those beings are truly deprived
who are deprived of noble discernment.
They live in stress in the present life-
troubled, distressed, & feverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a bad destination can be expected.

“Those beings are not deprived
who are not deprived of noble discernment.
They live in ease in the present life-
untroubled, undistressed, & not feverish-
and at the break-up of the body, after death,
a good destination can be expected.

Look at the world -including its heavenly beings:
deprived of discernment, making an abode in name-&-form,
it conceives that 'This is the truth.'
The best discernment in the world is what leads to penetration,
for it rightly discerns the total ending of birth & becoming.
Human & heavenly beings hold them dear:
those who are self-awakened, mindful,
bearing their last bodies with joyful discernment.

§42. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, these two bright qualities safeguard the world.

Which two? Shame & compunction.

If these two bright qualities did not safeguard the world,
there would be no discerning of “mother,” “aunt,” “uncle's wife,”
“teacher's wife,” or “wife of those deserving respect.”
The world would fall into promiscuity,
like rams with goats, roosters with pigs, or dogs with jackals.

But because these two bright qualities do safeguard the world,
there is the discerning of “mother,” “aunt,” “uncle's wife,”
“teacher's wife,” & “wife of those deserving respect.”

Those in whom shame & compunction are not always found
have strayed from the bright root, are headed to birth & death.
But those in whom shame & compunction always are rightly established,
who are mature in the holy life: they are calm, their further becoming ended.

§43. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“There is, monks, an unborn-unbecome-unmade-unfabricated.

If there were not that unborn-unbecome-unmade-unfabricated,
there would not be the case
that escape from the born-become-made-fabricated would be discerned.

But precisely because there is an unborn-unbecome-unmade-unfabricated,
escape from the born-become-made-fabricated is thus discerned.”

The born, become, produced, made, fabricated, impermanent,
fabricated of aging & death, a nest of illnesses, perishing,
come-into-being through nourishment
and the guide [that is craving]- is unfit for delight.
The escape from that is peaceful, permanent, a sphere beyond conjecture,
unborn, unproduced, the sorrowless, stainless state,
the cessation of stressful qualities, stilling-of-fabrications bliss.

§44. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, there are these two forms of the Unbinding property.

Which two?

The Unbinding property with fuel remaining,
& the Unbinding property with no fuel remaining.

And what is the Unbinding property with fuel remaining?

There is the case where a monk is an Arahant
whose effluents have ended, who has reached fulfilment,
finished the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal,
destroyed the fetter of becoming, and is released through right gnosis.
His five sense faculties still remain and, owing to their being intact,
he experiences the pleasing & the displeasing, and is sensitive to pleasure & pain.
His ending of passion, aversion, & delusion
is termed the Unbinding property with fuel remaining.

And what is the Unbinding property with no fuel remaining?

There is the case where a monk is an Arahant
whose effluents have ended, who has reached fulfilment,
finished the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal,
destroyed the fetter of becoming, and is released through right gnosis.
For him, all that is sensed, being unrelished, will grow cold right here.
This is termed the Unbinding property with no fuel remaining.”

These two proclaimed by the one with vision,
Unbinding properties the one independent, the one who is Such:
one property, here in this life, with fuel remaining
from the destruction of [craving], the guide to becoming,
and that with no fuel remaining, after this life,
in which all becoming totally ceases.
Those who know this unfabricated state,
their minds released through the destruction of [craving], the guide to becoming,
they, attaining the Dhamma's core, delighting in ending,
have abandoned all becoming: they, the Such.

§45. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, live enjoying aloofness, delighting in aloofness,
inwardly committed to awareness-tranquillity, not neglecting jhāna,
endowed with clear-seeing insight, and frequenting empty buildings.

As you live enjoying aloofness, delighting in aloofness,
inwardly committed to awareness-tranquillity, not neglecting jhāna,
endowed with clear-seeing insight, and frequenting empty buildings,

then one of two fruits can be expected:

either gnosis right in the here-&-now,
or-if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance-non-return.”

Those with calm minds- masterful, mindful, absorbed in jhāna-
clearly see Dhamma rightly, not intent on sensual pleasures.
Delighting in heedfulness, calm, seeing danger in heedlessness,
they -incapable of falling away- are right in the presence of Unbinding.

§46. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, live with the trainings
[in heightened virtue, heightened mind, & heightened discernment]
as your reward, with discernment uppermost,
release the essence, & mindfulness the governing principle.

As you live with the trainings as your reward, with discernment uppermost,
release the essence, & mindfulness the governing principle,
then one of two fruits can be expected:

either gnosis right in the here-&-now,
or-if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance-non-return.”

Complete in the training, not subject to falling away,
one with discernment uppermost, seeing the stopping, the ending of birth:
that sage bears his last body, has shaken off Mara,
I tell you, has gone beyond aging.
So, always delighting in jhāna, centred, ardent,
seeing the stopping, the ending of birth,
conquering Mara, along with his armies,
monks, be gone-beyond aging & death.

§47. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, a monk should be wakeful:
mindful, alert, centred, sensitive, clear, & calm.
And there he should, at the appropriate times,
see clearly into skilful mental qualities.

For a monk who is wakeful-
mindful, alert, centred, sensitive, clear, & calm,
seeing clearly, at the appropriate times,
into skilful mental qualities-

one of two fruits can be expected:

either gnosis right in the here-&-now,
or-if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance-non-return.”

Those who are wakeful, listen to this!
Those who are sleeping, wake up!
Wakefulness is better than sleep.
For those who are wakeful, there's no danger, no fear.
Whoever is wakeful, mindful, alert, centred, sensitive,
calm, & clear, rightly exploring the Dhamma at appropriate times,
he-on becoming unified- could shatter the darkness.

So be devoted to wakefulness.
The ardent monk -masterful, acquiring jhāna,
cutting the fetter of birth & aging-
touches right here a self-awakening un­surpassed.

§48. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, these two are doomed to deprivation, to hell,
for not abandoning their conduct.

Which two?

One who, not living the celibate life,
pretends to be one who lives the celibate life;

and one who groundlessly accuses
one who lives the celibate life perfectly & purely of uncelibate behaviour.

These are the two who are doomed to deprivation, to hell,
for not abandoning their conduct.”

He goes to hell, the one who asserts what didn't take place,
as does the one who, having done, says, 'I didn't.'
Both-low-acting people- there become equal:
after death, in the world beyond.
An ochre robe tied 'round their necks,
many with evil qualities -unrestrained, evil- rearise,
because of their evil acts, in hell.
Better to eat an iron ball -glowing, aflame-
than that, unprincipled & unrestrained,
you should eat the alms of the country.

§49. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Overcome by two viewpoints,
monks, some human & divine beings adhere,
other human & divine beings slip right past,
while those with vision see.

“And how do some adhere?

Human & divine beings enjoy becoming,
delight in becoming, are satisfied with becoming.
When the Dhamma is being taught
for the sake of the cessation of becoming,
their minds do not take to it, are not calmed by it,
do not settle on it or become resolved on it.

This is how some adhere.

“And how do some slip right past?

Some, feeling horrified,
humiliated, & disgusted with that very becoming,
relish non-becoming:
'When this self, at the break-up of the body,
after death, perishes & is destroyed, and does not exist after death,
that is peaceful, that is exquisite, that is sufficiency!'

This is how some slip right past.

“And how do those with vision see?

There is the case where a monk sees
what's come to be as what's come to be.
Seeing what's come to be as what's come to be,
he practices for disenchantment with what's come to be,
dispassion toward what's come to be,
cessation of what's come to be.

This is how those with vision see.”

Those, having seen what's come to be as what's come to be,
and what's gone beyond what's come to be,
are released in line with what's come to be,
through the exhaustion of craving for becoming.

If they've comprehended what's come to be,
and are free from the craving for becoming & non-,
with the non-becoming of what's come to be,
monks come to no further becoming.