1. Why does one enter the path?

(1) The Arrow of Birth, Aging, and Death

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

Then, while the Venerable Māluṅkyāputta was alone in meditation, the following thought arose in his mind: “These speculative views have been left undeclared by the Blessed One, set aside and rejected by him, namely: ‘the world is eternal’ and ‘the world is not eternal’; ‘the world is finite’ and ‘the world is infinite’; ‘the soul is the same as the body’ and ‘the soul is one thing and the body another’; and ‘after death a Tathāgata exists’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata does not exist’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ and ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist.’ ¹ The Blessed One does not declare these to me, and I do not approve of and accept this fact, so I shall go to the Blessed One and ask him the meaning of this. If he declares to me either ‘the world is eternal’ … or ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ then I will lead the spiritual life under him; if he does not declare these to me, then I will abandon the training and return to the lower life.”

Then, when it was evening, the Venerable Māluṅkyāputta rose from meditation and went to the Blessed One. After paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and told him:

“Here, venerable sir, while I was alone in meditation, the following thought arose in my mind: ‘These speculative views have been left undeclared by the Blessed One.… If he does not declare these to me, then I will abandon the training and return to the lower life.’ If the Blessed One knows ‘the world is eternal,’ let the Blessed One declare to me ‘the world is eternal’; if the Blessed One knows ‘the world is not eternal,’ let the Blessed One declare to me ‘the world is not eternal.’ If the Blessed One does not know either ‘the world is eternal’ or ‘the world is not eternal,’ then it is straightforward for one who does not know and see to say: ‘I do not know and see.’

“If the Blessed One knows ‘the world is finite,’ … ‘the world is infinite, ’ … ‘the soul is the same as the body,’ … ‘the soul is one thing and the body another,’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata exists,’ … ’after death a Tathāgata does not exist.’… If the Blessed One knows ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist,’ let the Blessed One declare that to me; if the Blessed One knows ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ let the Blessed One declare that to me. If the Blessed One does not know either ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ or ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ then it is straightforward for one who does not know and see to say: ‘I do not know and see.’”

“How then, Māluṅkyāputta, did I ever say to you: ‘Come, Māluṅkyāputta, lead the spiritual life under me and I will declare to you “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist”’?”—“No, venerable sir.”—“Did you ever tell me: ‘I will lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One, and the Blessed One will declare to me “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist”’?”—“No, venerable sir.”—“That being so, misguided man, who are you and what are you abandoning?

“If anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata and meanwhile that person would die. Suppose, Māluṅkyāputta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon to treat him. The man would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know whether the man who wounded me was a khattiya, a brahmin, a merchant, or a worker.’ And he would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know the name and clan of the man who wounded me;… until I know whether the man who wounded me was tall, short, or of middle height;… until I know whether the man who wounded me was dark, brown, or golden-skinned;… until I know whether the man who wounded me lives in such a village, town, or city;… until I know whether the bow that wounded me was a long bow or a crossbow;… until I know whether the bowstring that wounded me was fiber, reed, sinew, hemp, or bark;… until I know whether the shaft that wounded me was wild or cultivated;… until I know with what kind of feathers the shaft that wounded me was fitted—whether those of a vulture, a heron, a hawk, a peacock, or a stork;… until I know with what kind of sinew the shaft that wounded me was bound—whether that of an ox, a buffalo, a deer, or a monkey; … until I know what kind of arrowhead it was that wounded me—whether spiked or razor-tipped or curved or barbed or calf-toothed or lancet-shaped.’

“All this would still not be known to that man, and meanwhile he would die. So too, Māluṅkyāputta, if anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me: “the world is eternal” … or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata and meanwhile that person would die.

“Māluṅkyāputta, if there is the view ‘the world is eternal,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived; and if there is the view ‘the world is not eternal, ’ the spiritual life cannot be lived. Whether there is the view ‘the world is eternal’ or the view ‘the world is not eternal,’ there is birth, there is aging, there is death, there are sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, the destruction of which I prescribe here and now.

“If there is the view ‘the world is finite’ … ‘the world is infinite’ ‘the soul is the same as the body’ … ‘the soul is one thing and the body another’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata exists’ … ‘after death a Tathāgata does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived.… If there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived; and if there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ the spiritual life cannot be lived. Whether there is the view ‘after death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’ or the view ‘after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist,’ there is birth, there is aging, there is death, there are sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, the destruction of which I prescribe here and now.

“Therefore, Māluṅkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared. And what have I left undeclared? ‘The world is eternal’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is not eternal’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is finite’—I have left undeclared. ‘The world is infinite’—I have left undeclared. ‘The soul is the same as the body’—I have left undeclared. ‘The soul is one thing and the body another’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata exists’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata does not exist’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata both exists and does not exist’—I have left undeclared. ‘After death a Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist’—I have left undeclared.

“Why have I left that undeclared? Because it is unbeneficial, it does not belong to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, it does not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have left it undeclared.

“And what have I declared? ‘This is suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the origin of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the cessation of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’—I have declared.

“Why have I declared that? Because it is beneficial, it belongs to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, it leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have declared it.

“Therefore, Māluṅkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared.”

That is what the Blessed One said. The Venerable Māluṅkyāputta was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words. ²

(MN 63: Cūḷamāluṅkya Sutta ; I 426–32)

(2) The Heartwood of the Spiritual Life

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak; it was soon after Devadatta had left. ³ There, referring to Devadatta, the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:

“Monks, here some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I obtain gain and renown, but these other monks are unknown, of no account.’ He becomes intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, its inner bark, and its outer bark, he would cut off its twigs and leaves and take them away thinking they were heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood, the sapwood, the inner bark, the outer bark, or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, he came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, its inner bark, and its outer bark, he cut off its twigs and leaves and took them away thinking they were heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown. This monk is called one who has taken the twigs and leaves of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

“Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that gain, honor, and renown; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I have moral discipline; I am of good character; but these other monks are immoral, of bad character.’ He becomes intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, and its inner bark, he would cut off its outer bark and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its outer bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline. This monk is called one who has taken the outer bark of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

“Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that attainment of moral discipline; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I am concentrated; my mind is unified; but these other monks are scatter-minded, with their minds astray.’ He becomes intoxicated with that attainment of concentration, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood and its sapwood, he would cut off its inner bark and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its inner bark and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that attainment of concentration. This monk is called one who has taken the inner bark of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

“Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled.… Being diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that attainment of concentration; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he achieves knowledge and vision. ⁴ He is pleased with that knowledge and vision and his intention is fulfilled. On account of it he lauds himself and disparages others thus: ‘I live knowing and seeing, but these other monks live unknowing and unseeing.’ He becomes intoxicated with that knowledge and vision, grows negligent, falls into negligence, and being negligent, he lives in suffering.

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood. Passing over its heartwood, he would cut off its sapwood and take it away thinking it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man did not know the heartwood … or the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood … he cut off its sapwood and took it away thinking it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.’ So too is it with this monk who becomes intoxicated with that knowledge and vision. This monk is called one who has taken the sapwood of the spiritual life and stopped short with that.

“Here, monks, some clansman goes forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness, considering: ‘I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; I am a victim of suffering, a prey to suffering. Surely an ending of this whole mass of suffering can be known.’ When he has gone forth thus, he acquires gain, honor, and renown. He is not pleased with that gain, honor, and renown, and his intention is not fulfilled.… When he is diligent, he achieves the attainment of moral discipline. He is pleased with that attainment of moral discipline, but his intention is not fulfilled.… When he is diligent, he achieves the attainment of concentration. He is pleased with that attainment of concentration, but his intention is not fulfilled. … When he is diligent, he achieves knowledge and vision. He is pleased with that knowledge and vision, but his intention is not fulfilled. He does not, on account of it, laud himself and disparage others. He does not become intoxicated with that knowledge and vision; he does not grow negligent and fall into negligence. Being diligent, he attains perpetual emancipation. And it is impossible for that monk to fall away from that perpetual liberation. ⁵

“Suppose a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting off only its heartwood, he would take it away knowing it was heartwood. Then a man with good sight, seeing him, might say: ‘This good man knew the heartwood, the sapwood, the inner bark, the outer bark, and the twigs and leaves. Thus, while needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, he came to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, and cutting off only its heartwood, he took it away knowing it was heartwood. Whatever it was this good man had to make with heartwood, his purpose will be served.’ So too is it with this monk who attains perpetual liberation.

“So this spiritual life, monks, does not have gain, honor, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of moral discipline for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakable liberation of mind that is the goal of this spiritual life, its heartwood, and its end.” ⁶

That is what the Blessed One said. The monks were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.

(MN 29: Mahāsāropama Sutta ; I 192–97)

(3) The Fading Away of Lust

“Monks, if wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘For what purpose, friends, is the spiritual life lived under the ascetic Gotama?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘It is, friends, for the fading away of lust ⁷ that the spiritual life is lived under the Blessed One.’

“Then, monks, if the wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘But, friends, is there a path, a way for the fading away of lust?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘There is a path, friends, a way for the fading away of lust.’

“And what, monks, is that path, that way for the fading away of lust? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the path, the way for the fading away of lust.

“Being asked thus, monks, you should answer those wanderers of other sects in such a way.

“[Or else you may answer them:] ‘It is, friends, for the abandoning of the fetters … for the uprooting of the underlying tendencies … for the full understanding of the course [of saṃsāra] … for the destruction of the taints … for the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation … for the sake of knowledge and vision … for the sake of final Nibbāna without clinging that the spiritual life is lived under the Blessed One.’

“Then, monks, if the wanderers of other sects ask you: ‘But, friends, is there a path, a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging?’—being asked thus, you should answer them thus: ‘There is a path, friends, a way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.’

“And what, monks, is that path, that way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration. This is the path, the way for attaining final Nibbāna without clinging.

“Being asked thus, monks, you should answer those wanderers of other sects in such a way.”

(SN 45:41–48, combined; V 27–29)