anapanasmrti_sutra

8/8/2019 anapanasmrti_sutra

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The Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra

Ekottara Āgama 17.1

Translated from Taishō Tripiṭaka volume 2, number 125

Thus ha veI heard.At onetimethe Buddha wasin Śrā vastī,at theJeta Gro ve of Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. At that time, the Bhagavān put on his robe, picked up his bowl, and departed with Rāhulato enter the city walls of Śrāvastī. Then the Bhagavān turned to his right and said to Rāhula,“You should now contemplate the impermanence of form.” Facinghim, Rāhula replied, “Thusly,Bhagavān, formis impermanent.” The Bhagavān told Rāhula, “Sensation, conception, synthesis,anddiscriminationareall impermanent.” Facinghim,Rāhulareplied, “Thusly, Bhagavān, sensatioconception, synthesis, and discrimination are all impermanent.”

At this time, Venerable Rāhula was mindful, “By what causes and conditions today, on the path to the city walls, has the Bhagavān faced me and admonished me in this manner? I willreturn now,asI ought not enter the citywalls of Śrā vastī to beg f or f ood.” ThenV enerable Rāhula

promptly returned along the road to the JetaGrove Monastery.Arriving there with his robe andbowl, hestopped below a tree.Correctinghisbodyandcorrecting his intention,he sat cross-legged,focusing his energy with one mind. He was mindful of the impermanence of form, and mindful the impermanence of sensation, conception, synthesis, and discrimination.

At this time, the Bhagavān had nished begging for food within the city walls of Śrāvastī.A er eating , hereturnedto theJeta Gro ve Monasteryand walked about, e ventuallyarriving atthe place where Rāhula was. There he addressed Rāhula, saying, “You should cultivate practic with the method of Ānāpānasmṛti. Cultivating practice with this method, every notion of worryand sorrow that you have will come to an end. You are still cultivating practice incorrectly withimpurity, and your desires have not yet ended. Rāhula, you should now cultivate practice with amind of kindness, and all anger will come to an end. Rāhula, you should now cultivate practice with a mind of compassion,and allcrueltywillcometo an end.Rāhula, you should now cultivate

practice with a mind of contentment,andall jealous y willcometoanend.Rāhula, youshouldnowcultivate practice with a mind of equality, and all pride will come to an end.”At this time, the Bhagavān faced Rāhula and spoke a gāthā:

Not arousing attachment to characteristics, And always in accordance with the Dharma.The one who is wise in a way such as this, Has a name that is renowned everywhere.Together holding the torch of brilliance,The great darkness of ignorance breaks apart.The devas and nāgas pay their respects,Giving praise to the venerable master.

At this time, the bhikṣu Rāhula replied to the Bhagavān with a gāthā:

I will not arouse attachment to characteristics, And will always be in accord with the Dharma.One who is wise in a way such as this, Is still capable of honoring the master.





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Noble Ones constantlye x perience with equanimity, the complete satisf action and mindf ulness of roaming in theThird Dh yāna.When both pain and pleasure were eliminated, there were no more worries andve xations.Without pain and pleasure,onlycompletelypure and perf ect mindf ulness,he roamed in the Fourth Dhyāna.

From this samādhi, his mind was completely pure, without the dust of delements, and his physical body was supple and so . He was aware of places from the past, and remembered whahe had previously done. He recalled previous lives over incalculable eons. He was aware of ontwo, three, four,ve, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, y, onehundred, one thousand, ten thousand,evenhundreds of thousands of lives.Herecalledthe passing of eons as wellasthe destruction of eons,countless successions of eons and their destructions—hundreds of millions of incalculable eons.He recalled his previous births, that he had various names, was born into certain families, ate suand such food, experienced such and such suffering and happiness. He knew whether his lives wlongor short,andthat he diedinsuchandsuchaplace,andhewasreborn insuchandsuchaplace.

From this samādhi, his mind was completely pure, without fetters, and his mind was able toknow abouttheoriginsof all sentientbeings.Moreover, bymeansof the completepurityand claritof the Divine Eye, he saw the birth and death of sentient beings, their good forms and evil forms,

good destinies and evil destinies, and understood that in reality they actually come from goodor bad actions. If there were sentient beings who practiced evil in body, speech, and mind, whoinsulted the Noble Ones, practicing and holding false views, then at the end of their lives whentheirbodies were broken apart, the ywould enter into the hells. Howe ver, if there were sentientbeings who practice virtue in body, speech, and mind, who do not insult the Noble Ones, and wh practice and hold correct views, thenat the end of their lives whentheirbodies are broken apart,they would go to live in the heavens above. This is called the complete purity and clarity of theDivine Eye, withwhich one sees the birth and death of sentientbeings, their good forms and evilforms,good destiniesandevildestinies, andunderstands that in reality they actually come fromgood or bad actions.

Moreover, he practiced the contemplation of suffering, and was aware of both the ending of sufferingand the origin of suffering, truly aware of themassuch. Bymeans ofdeveloping thisminf ulness,his mind attainedliberationfromthe outows of desires,and his mind attainedliberationfrom the outows of ignorance.A erattaining these liberations, henaturally attainedthe liberationof wisdom,and birth and death then cameto an end. The BrahmaLif e had been established,what wasto be done,had been done,andthere was no more coming backinto e xistence—thus was histrue awareness. It was at this time that Venerable Rāhula became an arhat.

At this time, a er Venerable Rāhula had become an arhat, he arose from his seat, arranged hisrobes, and went to the place of the Bhagavān. Bowing his head at the feet of the Bhagavān, he thmoved to one side. He addressed the Bhagavān, saying, “What was truly sought has truly beenattained: the cessationof all outows.”At that time, the Bhagavān told all the bhikṣus, “Of those who ha ve attained arhatshi p, thereis none equal to Rāhula. In regard to the cessation of outows,it is the bhikṣuRāhulawho is foremost. In regard to those who maintain the precepts, it is againthe bhikṣu Rāhula whoisf oremost. In this manner,all tathāgatas of the past, those of AnuttarāSamyaksaṃbodhi, alsohad this bhikṣuRāhula. Wishing to be called theSon of theBuddha, thisbhikṣu Rāhula closely followed the life of the Buddha to the highestDharma.At that time, theBhagavān told all the bhikṣus, “Amongst my śrāvakas, the foremost student in maintaining the precepts is truly the bhikṣu Rāhula.” Then the Bhagavān spoke this gāthā:

By utilizing the precepts of the Dharma,The various faculties are all accomplished. Progressing until they are all attained,



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The causes of all afflictions come to an end.

At thistime,all the bhikṣus heard what the Buddha hadtrulysaid,and blissf ullypracticedinaccordance.

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