Dharma Pearls

Chapter 11 is titled “The Non-Returner” after the initial four sūtras on the subject. Most of this chapter has parallels in Pali sources.

EĀ 11.1-4 The Non-Returner

The first four sūtras are in the Itivuttaka format: The Buddha identifies a single thing that, if given up, results in becoming a non-returner. A summary verse then restates the prose sūtra. In the Theravāda Itivuttaka, the first six suttas identify greed, hate, delusion, anger, disdain, and conceit. Here, the first three are the same three poisons, but the fourth is stinginess. It would seem logical to assume the first three sūtras may predate the others, since the three poisons were considered the basic roots that give rise the rest of the defilements when combined in different ways.

EĀ 11.5-6 Heart

The next two sūtras are similar to the suttas we find in AN 1.21-30, which make a distinction between a mind when developed and undeveloped. In Pali, the keyword is bhāvita, meaning “developed or cultivated.” The corresponding keyword in EĀ (降伏) means to “control, defeat, master,” giving an impression of a “wild vs. tamed” distinction. In AN, this idea has been expanded into a full chapter of ten suttas.

EĀ 11.7-8 Alms

The next pair of sūtras are a similar case. Here, they appear to be the inspiration for SN 17.11-20, which creates ten suttas that simply add specific valuable things to a common template. That template is a bit more terse than the one we find here in EĀ, but they are very close in wording. The Buddha tells the monks that he has noticed when a monk has become corrupted by an obsession for material gain, so much so that they begin lying to the assembly. Presumably, he means during the regular pratimokṣa assemblies when monks declare their faults.

It’s worth mentioning that SN 17 is remarkable in that it has the same concluding format that occurs throughout EĀ. In these usually concise conclusions, the Buddha gives some advice and enjoins his audience to train themselves according to it. This must have been an old sūtra format that’s been largely lost in the Theravāda canon. Or perhaps the Theravādins imported a few examples of it from other sources. In any case, SN 17 is the only part of their present day canon that has this format as a policy. Otherwise, it’s a rare occurrence.

EĀ 11.9-10 Devadatta

These two sūtras appear to depict events immediately following Devadatta’s failed attempt to overthrow the Buddha. In the first sūtra, the Buddha denounces Devadatta and predicts that he’ll spend an eon in Hell for his evil deeds. In the next sūtra, a monk who was apparently one of Devadatta’s followers is confronted by the Buddha for doubting his previous declaration. I have yet to find a clear parallel for these sūtras, though I suspect one probably exists among the various stories found in the Vinaya literature. In any case, though, it’s of interest to note that SN 17.31-36 all take up the same topic of Devadatta’s misdeeds and corruption. It’s probably not an accident that EĀ 11.7-8 precede these sūtras and that their parallels (SN 17.11-20) precede the Devadatta suttas in SN 17.