Chapter 91: What Makes a True Practitioner?
At one time, the Buddha lived in the Garden of Solitude in the Gion Grove of the Acropolis. One day, the Buddha said to his monks, "Disciples, any monks or Brahmin practitioners, they do not understand the method of dependent origin (for the explanation of the method of dependent origin, see chapters 48 and 49), they do not understand the "old death" and the cause, formation, and aggregation of "old death." Without understanding the extinction of "old death" and the practice method of extinguishing "old death", the disciples are not true monks, they are not true Brahmin practitioners, they are not people who have been agreed to become monks, they are not people who have been agreed to become Brahmins, and these people cannot use their enlightened wisdom to prove that they have realized the fruit of liberation. They cannot achieve the goal of spiritual liberation in this lifetime, and they cannot eliminate all greed, anger, and foolishness in this lifetime. They cannot eliminate all their troubles and sufferings in this lifetime, and they cannot enter the realm of nirvana through practice in this lifetime.
Disciples, any monks and Brahmin practitioners, they understand the method of dependent origin (for the explanation of the method of dependent origin, see chapters 48 and 49), they understand "old death", they understand the cause, formation, and gathering of "old death". Having understood the extinction of "old death" and the practice of eliminating "old death", the disciples are true monks for Rulai, they are true Brahmin practitioners, they are those who have been agreed to become monks, they are people who have been agreed to become Brahmins, and these people can use their enlightened wisdom to prove that they have realized the fruit of liberation. They can achieve the goal of spiritual liberation in this lifetime, and they can eliminate all greed, anger, and foolishness in this lifetime. They can eliminate all troubles and sufferings in this lifetime. In this lifetime, they can enter the realm of nirvana through practice.
Disciples, by the same token, any monks and Brahmin practitioners do not understand the method of dependent origin (see chapters 48 and 49 for the explanation of the method of dependent origin), they do not understand the cause, formation, and gathering of "birth", "being", "taking", "loving", "receiving", "touching", "six places", "name", "understanding", "doing", "ignorance", "birth", "being", "taking", "loving", "receiving", "touching", "six places", "name", "understanding", "acting", "confusion". If they do not understand the extinction of "birth", "being", "taking", "love", "acceptance", "touch", "six places", "name", "knowledge", "action", "ignorance", and do not understand the practice methods of destroying "birth", "being", "taking", "love", "acceptance", "touch", "six places", "name", "knowledge", "walking", and "ignorance", disciples are not true monks for Rulai, they are not true Brahmin practitioners, they are not people who have been agreed to become monks. They are not people who have been agreed to become brahmins, and they cannot prove with their enlightened wisdom that they have attained the fruit of liberation. They cannot achieve the goal of spiritual liberation in this lifetime, and they cannot eliminate all greed, anger, and foolishness in this lifetime. They cannot eliminate all their troubles and sufferings in this lifetime, and they cannot enter the realm of nirvana through practice in this lifetime.
The disciples, any monks and Brahmin practitioners, they understand the method of dependent origin (for the explanation of the method of dependent origin, see chapters 48 and 49), they understand "birth", "being", "taking", "love", "receiving", "touching", "six places", "name", "knowledge", "walking", "ignorance", and understand the cause, formation, and gathering of "old age". Having understood the extinction of "birth", "being", "taking", "love", "receiving", "touching", "six places", "name", "knowledge", "doing", "ignorance", understanding the practice methods of destroying "birth", "being", "taking", "love", "receiving", "touching", "six places", "name", "understanding", "doing", and "ignorance", the disciples are true monks for Rulai, they are true Brahmin practitioners, they are those who have been agreed to become monks. They are the ones who have been agreed to become brahmins, and these people are able to prove with their enlightened wisdom that they have attained the fruit of liberation. They can achieve the goal of spiritual liberation in this lifetime, and they can eliminate all greed, anger, and foolishness in this lifetime. They can eliminate all troubles and sufferings in this lifetime. In this lifetime, they can enter the realm of nirvana through practice. ”
After the Buddha's teachings, the monks who listened to the teachings all paid homage to the Buddha again, praising the immeasurable merits of the Buddha's teachings, and they all practiced according to the Buddha's teachings.
Pali original scripture
8. Samaṇabrāhmaṇavaggo
SN.12.71/(1). Jarāmaraṇasuttaṃ
71. Evaṃ me sutaṃ– ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṃ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Tatra kho bhagavā …pe… “ye hi keci, bhikkhave samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā jarāmaraṇaṃ nappajānanti, jarāmaraṇasamudayaṃ nappajānanti, jarāmaraṇanirodhaṃ nappajānanti, jarāmaraṇanirodhagāminiṃ paṭipadaṃ nappajānanti, na me te, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā samaṇesu vā samaṇasammatā brāhmaṇesu vā brāhmaṇasammatā, na ca pana te āyasmanto sāmaññatthaṃ vā brahmaññatthaṃ vā diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṃ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharanti.
“Ye ca kho keci, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā jarāmaraṇaṃ pajānanti …pe… paṭipadaṃ pajānanti, te kho me, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā samaṇesu ceva samaṇasammatā brāhmaṇesu ca brāhmaṇasammatā, te ca panāyasmanto sāmaññatthañca brahmaññatthañca diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṃ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharantī”ti. (suttanto eko). Paṭhamaṃ.