Dharma Pearls

Hello, everyone. First, apologies for the long hiatus from posting here at the Dharma Pearls blog. The translation project itself took a hiatus to attend to the task of migrating all of the project’s translations from the four Āgamas to SuttaCentral’s legacy html format. This work occupied our time from September to November last year. Then, I returned to releasing new translations in December.

The plan for 2024 includes two major goals:

1. Continue translating the three remaining Chinese Āgama collections.
2. Produce a fully edited manuscript of the Dīrgha Āgama translation suitable for publication through SuttaCentral’s publication service.

These two goals will proceed concurrently. For the first goal, the plan is to rotate the focus of new translations between the three other Āgamas every three or four months. I may take the fourth month to work exclusively on the Dīrgha Āgama or review translations released the previous three months. But the schedule will proceed like this:

• January-April: Saṃyukta Āgama translations
• May-August: Madhyama Āgama translations
• September-December: Ekottarika Āgama translations

It’s now February, so we are entering the second month of releases from SĀ (which actually began in December). The plan for these translations will be twofold: To translate and release more from the Skandha and Āyatana Saṃyuktas (i.e., SĀ 1 and 2 of Yinshun’s edition), and to translate the longest sūtras found in SĀ.

I’ve drawn up a release schedule to act as my pacing guide, and hopefully we’ll be releasing much more material than we did last year, which was quite slow compared to previous years. We should at least return to our avg. of 80 pages of Taisho Chinese a year, but I’m hoping to improve on that and reach 100 pages translated. That’s the goal this year.

Now, I want to go over the new translations released in December and January. Here’s a quick summary of these additions:

SĀ 1.23 (17) Not Mine

SĀ 1.24 (18) Not Another’s

SĀ 1.25 (19) Tying Bonds

SĀ 1.26 (20) What Affects

SĀ 1.27 (21) Shaken

These six sūtras are variants of the same template. A certain monk comes and asks the Buddha for a concise teaching of the Dharma to use as inspiration when they go into seclusion to meditate. In each case, the Buddha gives the monk a different bit of advice. In SĀ 1.23, he tells the monk to get rid of anything that doesn’t belong to him. The monks interprets this to mean that he should get rid of the aggregates. In SĀ 1.24, the Buddha tells the monk to get rid of anything that doesn’t belong to himself or to anyone else. Again, this is interpreted to mean the aggregates. In SĀ 1.25, the Buddha recommends getting rid of anything that is a bond. SĀ 1.26 consists of a brief note by the Chinese translator stating that it was the same except that (presumably) the thing the Buddha says to get rid of is anything that causes the monk to be affected. In SĀ 1.27, the Buddha tells the monk that to be shaken is to be tied up by Māra. The monk interprets “shaken” to mean being disturbed by the aggregates.

Thus, these six sūtras provide us with different descriptions of the negative effects of the aggregates, which make them obstacles to liberation. They are similar to SN 22.33, 34, 65, and 69 in different ways, and they continue the theme that began with SĀ 1.21-22.

SĀ 1.28 (22) Kappa’s Question

SĀ 1.29 (23) Rāhula’s Question

SĀ 1.30 (24) Rāhula’s Question (2)

These three sūtras begin a new section in which monks come and ask the Buddha about specific topics. It begins with questions asked by two named questioners: Kappa and Rāhula.

In SĀ 1.28, Kappa asks the Buddha how a monk’s mind is liberated. The Buddha says that their mind is well liberated when their craving for the aggregates is eliminated, which is done by observing their impermanence. SN 22.124-125 are parallels to this sūtra.

In SĀ 1.29, Rāhula asks the Buddha how he should regard his own mind (lit. “body of consciousness”) and the signs of the external world such that he will have no attachments to views of self or the tendency of pride. The Buddha replies that he should observe how the aggregates are not self in any way. This leads to the stopping of craving, which ends suffering. SĀ 1.30 is only slightly different than SĀ 1.29 (the Buddha asks Rāhula the question, rather than vice versa). The parallels for these sūtras are SN 22.91-92, with some similarities with SN 18.21-22 and SĀ 2.41-48.

SĀ 1.31 (25) Well Versed

SĀ 1.32 (26) The Well Taught Dharma

SĀ 1.33 (27) Going from One Principle to the Next

SĀ 1.34 (28) Nirvāṇa

SĀ 1.35 (29) Samṛddhi’s Question

This set of five sūtras form a short section of SĀ 1 which continues the theme that began with SĀ 1.28. The difference is that in each an anonymous monk arrives to ask about a specific subject, and the responses they get from the Buddha are more concise.

In SĀ 1.31, a monk asks about what “well versed” means. The Buddha replies that it means learning how to be disillusioned with the aggregates and liberate oneself from desire for them. This answer is used for the other four questions about the well taught Dharma (SĀ 1.32), going from one principle to the next (SĀ 1.33), and nirvāṇa in the present life (SĀ 1.34). These sūtras are generally parallel with SN 22.115-116. SĀ 1.35 breaks with the pattern of anonymous monks. Instead, a monk named Samṛddhi asks about what the teaching of a Dharma teacher means, but the answer is the same.

SĀ 1.36 (30) Śroṇa

SĀ 1.37 (31) Śroṇa (2)

SĀ 1.38 (32) Śroṇa (3)

This set of sūtras all present different versions of a teaching received by a layman named Śroṇa from Śāriputra. In SĀ 1.36, Śroṇa asks Śāriputra about the apparent foolishness of other ascetics and priests who make claims that contradict the principle of impermanence of the aggregates. Śāriputra responds by walking Śroṇa through an analysis of that very principle and how it leads to liberation. In SĀ 1.37, Śroṇa’s question is absent. Instead, Śāriputra tells him that other priests and ascetics don’t understand the aggregates or their formation, cessation, or the path leading to that cessation. The remainder repeats what we find in SĀ 1.36. SĀ 1.38 expands on this by replacing the path to cessation with the enjoyment, trouble, and escape from the aggregates. These sūtras are parallel with SN 22.49-50 as well as a Sanskrit fragment that matches them better than the Pali parallel.

SĀ 1.39 (256) Ignorance

SĀ 1.40 (257) Ignorance (2)

SĀ 1.41 (258) Ignorance (3)

This set of sūtras continue the theme of teachings given by Śāriputra, in this case to Mahākauṣṭhila. In each, Mahākauṣṭhila asks Śāriputra about the meaning of ignorance and insight. In SĀ 1.39, Śāriputra says that ignorance is not knowing that the aggregates are impermanent and erode away. In SĀ 1.40, he says that ignorance is not knowing the aggregates or their formation, cessation, and the path to their cessation. In SĀ 1.41, he says that ignorance is not knowing the aggregates or their formation, cessation, enjoyment, trouble, or escape. He defines insight as knowing these things.

We can see here a parallel with the previous three sūtras, which began with impermanence and then moved on to the same set of ways of knowing the aggregates. Their parallels are found at SN 22.129-135 (134-135 in particular).

SĀ 1.43 (260) Cessation

SĀ 1.44 (261) Pūrṇa

SĀ 1.45 (262) Chandaka

These three sūtras present teachings by Ānanda, which continues the theme of teachings given by disciples that began with the previous two sets of variants. In SĀ 1.43, Śāriputra visits Ānanda and asks him what the meaning of cessation is, which he says is the cessation of the aggregates. SN 22.21 is a parallel with similar content, but the details are somewhat different, as it depicts Ānanda asking the Buddha about this subject.

In SĀ 1.44, Ānanda is the central figure in the standard introduction and is depicted telling the monks about the time when Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra was still a junior monk. This sūtra would seem to be set after the Buddha’s passing away, which will be true of the next sūtra, too. Here, Ānanda recounts a teaching he received from Pūrṇa. The parallel here is SN 22.83.

SĀ 1.45 is another rare sūtra set during the time after the Buddha’s passing away. His former servant, Chandaka, who’s bad behavior as a monk was brought up in the Parinirvāṇa Sūtra, comes to Ānanda for a teaching. What Ānanda does is recount a teaching that he heard the Buddha give to Mahākātyāyana (P. Mahākaccāyana) on the meaning of the middle way between the extreme views about existence and non-existence. The parallel is SN 22.90.

SĀ 1.46 (263) Should Be Taught

This sūtra is a close parallel to SN 22.101 and AN 7.71. While the aggregates figure as the thing to be understood, the real message of the discourse is that the training must be done consistently to achieve results naturally over time. He uses the metaphors of a hen brooding eggs and a mason whose ax handle is worn over time to illustrate this.

SĀ 1.47 (264) A Clod of Dirt

This is another sūtra using a famous metaphor to make a point. A monk asks the Buddha if there isn’t any form that is permanent. The Buddha picks up a clod of dirt and says that he hasn’t found even as little form as that which isn’t impermanent. He then recounts how he recalls achieving various spiritual rewards, even becoming Brahmā, as a result of merit, but they were all impermanent. There is a long description of amazing treasures possessed by anointed kings that occupies much of the discourse. The Pali parallel is SN 22.96, and there’s also a version at MĀ 61.

SĀ 1.49 (266) Lack of Knowledge

This is another sūtra referencing Buddhist mythology like SĀ 1.47. In this case, the Buddha describes events that occur when the world is destroyed by the seven suns. Even as the world is destroyed in this way, sentient beings have nonetheless cycled through rebirth from a beginningless time. Only by freeing themselves from their spiritual bondage can this be ended. He likens them to a dog that’s tied to a post and runs around that post because of the rope tethering it. In the same way, the bonds cause beings to run around birth and death. Its only when they stop running towards the aggregates that this can stop. This is done by knowing the aggregates and their formation, cessation, enjoyment, trouble, and escape. The parallel here is SN 22.99.

SĀ 1.53 (270) The Concept of Impermanence

This is a sūtra that collects illustrating parables for cultivating the concept (or perception) of impermanence. These are: A man pulling up grass, fruit being knocked out of a tree, the way the rafters of a building depend on a central support, an elephant’s footprint being large enough to fit all other footprints inside it, the ocean being able to accept the water of all rivers, sunrise dispelling the darkness of night, and a noble wheel-turning king being superior to lesser kings. The parallel is SN 22.102.

SĀ 2.221 (276) Nanda Teaches the Nuns

This one of the longest sūtras found in SĀ. It’s parallels are MN 146 and a near full quotation in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. The Buddha tasks the senior monks to teach the nuns, but Nanda doesn’t want to when his turn comes. The Buddha insists, and the remainder of the sūtra depicts Nanda’s method of teaching them. He teaches them the selfless nature of the senses and the sextet of experience (awareness, contact, feeling, conception, intention, and craving). He then employs the metaphors of a burning lamp, shadow of a tree, and a cattle butcher to further illustrate that the happiness derived from the senses is impermanent. He then instructs them to follow a concise description of the gradual training. When the nuns visit the Buddha afterward, he notices that they are not fully liberated yet, so he sends Nanda to teach them a second time, after which he is satisfied that they will reach the end of suffering.