Bhikkhuvagga

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PTS: Dhp 360-382

Source: Adapted from the original translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Bhikkhuvagga: Monks
360-361. Restraint with the eye is good, good is restraint with the ear. Restraint with the nose is good, good is restraint with the tongue. Restraint with the body is good, good is restraint with speech. Restraint with the heart is good, good is restraint    everywhere. A monk everywhere restrained is released from all suffering & stress.

362. Hands restrained, feet restrained speech restrained, supremely restrained -- delighting in what is inward, content, centered, alone: he's what they call a monk.

363. A monk restrained in his speaking, giving counsel unruffled, declaring the message & meaning: sweet is his speech.

364. Dhamma his dwelling, Dhamma his delight, a monk pondering Dhamma, calling Dhamma to mind, does not fall away from true Dhamma.

365-366. Gains: don't treat your own with scorn, don't go coveting those of others. A monk who covets those of others attains no concentration. Even if he gets next to nothing, he doesn't treat his gains with scorn. Living purely, untiring: he's the one that the devas praise.

367. For whom, in name & form in every way, there's no sense of mine, & who doesn't grieve for what's not: he's deservedly called a monk.

368. Dwelling in kindness, a monk with faith in the Awakened One's teaching, would attain the good state, the peaceful state: stilling-of-fabrications ease.

369. Monk, bail out this boat. It will take you lightly when bailed. Having cut through passion, aversion, you go from there to Unbinding.

370. Cut through five, let go of five, & develop five above all. A monk gone past five attachments is said to have crossed the flood.

371. Practice jhana, monk, and don't be heedless. Don't take your mind roaming in sensual strands. Don't swallow -- heedless -- the ball of iron aflame. Don't burn & complain: 'This is pain.'

372. There's no jhana for one with no discernment, no discernment for one with no jhana. But one with both jhana & discernment: he's on the verge of Unbinding.

373-374. A monk with his mind at peace, going into an empty dwelling, clearly seeing the Dhamma aright: his delight is more than human. However it is, however it is he touches the arising-&-passing of aggregates: he gains rapture & joy: that, for those who know it, is deathless, the Deathless.

375-376. Here the first things for a discerning monk are guarding the senses, contentment, restraint in line with the Patimokkha. He should associate with admirable friends, living purely, untiring, hospitable by habit, skilled in his conduct. Gaining a manifold joy, he will put an end to suffering & stress.

377. Shed passion & aversion, monks -- as a jasmine would, its withered flowers.

378. Calmed in body, calmed in speech, well-centered & calm, having disgorged the baits of the world, a monk is called thoroughly calmed.

379. You yourself should reprove yourself, should examine yourself. As a self-guarded monk with guarded self, mindful, you dwell at ease.

380. Your own self is your own mainstay. Your own self is your own guide. Therefore you should watch over yourself -- as a trader, a fine steed.

381. A monk with a manifold joy, with faith in the Awakened One's teaching, would attain the good state, the peaceful state: stilling-of-fabrications ease.

382. A young monk who strives in the Awakened One's teaching, brightens the world like the moon set free from a cloud.

Disclaimer
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Vipassana edition © 1997.

Wikipitaka edition © 2006.

For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and other derivative works be clearly marked as such.