[2]
505. Herein, what is the Mode of Conveying an Investigation in Combined Treatment? [It is, for example, as follows.]
506. Herein, craving is of two kinds: profitable and unprofitable. While the unprofitable kind goes with the roundabout, the profitable kind is craving for abandoning, which goes with dispersal.
507. Also conceit is of two kinds: profitable and unprofitable. Any conceit supported by which one abandons conceit is profitable; but any conceit which makes suffering occur is unprofitable conceit.
508. Herein, [as an example] in the case of the grief that has for its support the renunciation [described thus] (“When shall I enter upon by verification and abide in that base, which peaceful base the Noble Ones enter upon by verification and abide in”?, and longing arises in him, and grief with the longing as its condition): such craving is profitable; for there being the heart-deliverance due to fading of lust, [such craving] is profitable in having that for its object.
509. [Now there is also] the understanding-deliverance due to fading of ignorance what is [the basis for] investigation of that?
[Investigation of the Eight-factored Path]
510.[The basis for that is] the eight path factors: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
511. Where is [an example of investigation of] that to be found? In [as the most outstanding instance] the perfection of the fourth meditation. For in the fourth meditation cognizance is kept in being possessed of eight factors: it is quite purified, quite bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. He [who has attained this perfection of the fourth meditation] then arrives at an eightfold [state], namely the Six kinds of Acquaintanceship [with supernormal power] and the Two Distinctions, [that is, the Mind-Made Body and Insight-Knowledge].
512. When that cognizance is quite purified it is quite bright; when quite bright, unblemished; when unblemished, rid of imperfections; when rid of imperfections, malleable; when malleable, wieldy; when wieldy, steady; when steady, it is attained to imperturbability.
513. Herein, blemish and imperfection both belong to the side of craving, and any perturbation and unsteadiness of cognizance belong to the side of views.
514. Four faculties—namely the [bodily] pain faculty, the [mental] grief faculty, the [bodily] pleasure faculty, and the [mental] joy faculty, cease in the fourth meditation. In that the onlooking-equanimity faculty is left. This [meditator] gives attention to the [next] higher attainment as [more] peaceful. When he gives attention to the [next] higher attainment as [more] peaceful, his perception of grossness shapes itself to the fourth meditation and his perception of resistance reaches upwards [to something better].
515. With complete surmounting of perceptions of form, with disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and with no attention to perceptions of difference, [aware that] “Space is infinite”, he enters upon by realization and abides in the attainment of the base consisting of infiniteness of space.
516. The directive management [of cognizance] in the kinds of acquaintanceship [with supernormal power] is perception of form; the constituting [of diversity] is perception of difference. He surmounts [these] and his perception of resistance disappears.
517. Such is concentration. When he is concentrated, his illumination vanishes and also his seeing of forms.
518. That [kind of] concentration can be reviewed as possessing six factors: “(1) My notion of all the world is accompanied by non-covetousness; (2) my cognizance of all creatures is unaffected by ill-will, (3) my energy is instigated and exerted, (4) my body is tranquillized and uninstigated, (5) my cognizance is concentrated and undistracted, (6) my mindfulness is established and unforgotten”.
519. Herein, any notion unaccompanied by covetousness about all the world, and any cognizance of all creatures unaffected by ill-will, and any energy instigated and exerted, and any concentrated undistracted cognizance: these are Quiet. [But] the tranquillized body remaining uninstigated is the requisite for concentration, and the mindfulness established unforgettingly is Insight.
520. That [kind of] concentration can be understood in five ways as follows: (1) “This concentration has presently-arisen pleasure”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself. And “this concentration has future pleasant ripening”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself. (2) “This concentration is noble and unmaterialistic”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself. (3) “This concentration is not cultivated by trivial men”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself. (4) “This concentration is both the [most] peaceful and the superior [goal], and it has gained tranquillity and arrived at singleness and does not have to be protected [from defilement] with the deterrence of prompting determinations”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself. (5) “Now I attain this concentration mindful and emerge from it mindful”: this is how his knowing and seeing are manifested in himself.
521. Herein, any concentration that has presently-arisen pleasure and any concentration that has future pleasant ripening are Quiet. And any concentration that is noble and unmaterialistic, and any concentration that is not cultivated by trivial men, and any concentration that is the [most] peaceful and the superior [goal] and has gained tranquillity and has arrived at singleness and does not have to be protected [from defilement] with the deterrence of prompting determinations, and any [concentration of which one is aware] “Now I am in attainment of this concentration mindful, and I emerge from it mindful”, are Insight.
522. That concentration can be understood [again] in five ways [as follows]: extension of happiness, extension of pleasure, extension of cognizance, extension of light, and the sign of concentration.
523. Herein, any extension of happiness, any extension of pleasure, any extension of cognizance, are Quiet, while any extension of light, and any extension of reviewing, are Insight.
524. There are the ten bases of wholeness: wholeness of earth (solidity), wholeness of water (cohesion), wholeness of fire (temperature), wholeness of air (force); wholeness of blue-black, wholeness of yellow, wholeness of red, wholeness of white; wholeness of space, and wholeness of consciousness.
525. Herein, the wholeness of earth … down to … the wholeness of white: these eight wholenesses are quiet, while the wholeness of space and the wholeness of consciousness are insight.
526. In this way the whole Noble Path, in whatever way it is stated, can be construed accordingly as Quiet and Insight.
527. These [ideas] are comprised by three ideas: by impermanence, by painfulness, and by not-self.
528. [Consequently,] when he keeps in being quiet and insight, he keeps in being the three Gateways to Liberation. When he keeps in being the three gateways to liberation, he keeps in being the three categories [of virtue, concentration, and understanding]. When he keeps in being the three categories, he keeps in being the Noble Eight-factored Path.
529. A person of lusting temperament finds outlet by the signless gateway to liberation, training by the training in higher cognizance, abandoning greed as a root of unprofit, not approaching contact to be felt as pleasant, diagnosing pleasant feeling, washing out the stain of lust, shaking off the dust of lust, vomiting forth the poison of lust, extinguishing the fire of lust, extracting the barb of lust, and disentangling the tangle of lust.
530. A person of hating temperament finds outlet by the dispositionless gateway to liberation, training by the training in higher virtue, abandoning hate as a root of unprofit, not approaching contact to be felt as painful, diagnosing painful feeling, washing out the stain of hate, shaking off the dirt of hate, vomiting forth the poison of hate, extinguishing the fire of hate, extracting the barb of hate, and disentangling the tangle of hate.
531. A person of deluded temperament finds outlet by the void gateway to liberation, training by the training in higher understanding, abandoning delusion as a root of unprofit, not approaching contact to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant, diagnosing neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, washing out the stain of delusion, shaking off the dirt of delusion, vomiting forth the poison of delusion, extinguishing the fire of delusion, extracting the barb of delusion, and disentangling the tangle of delusion.
532. Herein, the void gateway to liberation is the understanding category, the signless gateway to liberation is the concentration category, and the dispositionless gateway to liberation is the virtue category. When he keeps in being the three gateways to liberation, he keeps in being the three categories, and when he keeps in being the three categories he keeps in being the Noble Eight-factored Path.
533. Herein, right speech, right action, and right livelihood, are the virtue category; right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, are the concentration category; right view, and right intention, are the understanding category.
534. Herein, the virtue category and the concentration category are quiet, while the understanding category is insight.
535. When anyone keeps in being quiet and insight, two factors of being are kept in being in him, namely, the body and cognizance; and the way leading to the cessation of being is the two basic stages, namely virtue and concentration. This bhikkhu has kept the body in being, kept virtue in being, kept [concentrated] cognizance in being, and kept understanding in being.
536. While the body is kept in being, two ideas also are kept in being, namely right action and right effort. While virtue is kept in being, two ideas also are kept in being, namely right speech and right livelihood. While [concentrated] cognizance is kept in being, two ideas also are kept in being, namely right mindfulness and right concentration. While understanding is kept in being, two ideas also are kept in being, namely right view and right intention.
537. Herein, the right action and the right effort may be bodily and may be mental.
538. Herein, what is comprised within the body is also kept in being when the body is kept in being, and what is comprised within the mental is also kept in being when [concentrated] cognizance is kept in being.
539. When he keeps in being quiet and insight, he arrives at the fivefold arrival: there is arrival at quickness, there is arrival at deliverance, there is arrival at greatness, there is arrival at abundance, and there is arrival at remainderlessness.
540. Herein, arrival at quickness and arrival at greatness and arrival at abundance come about through quiet, while arrival at deliverance and arrival at remainderlessness come about through insight.
[Investigation of the Ten Powers of a Perfect One]
541. Herein, he who gives the teaching is the Master possessed of the Ten Powers, and he does not mislead his hearers with his advice. He [gives advice] in three ways: Do this; do it by this means; when that is done it will be for your welfare and pleasure.
[i. Knowledge of Instance and No Instance]
542. That, on being thus advised and thus instructed, and thus doing and thus practising the way, he will not reach that plane: no such instance is found. That, on being thus advised and thus instructed, he should reach that plane without perfecting the virtue category: no such instance is found. That being thus advised and thus instructed, he should reach that plane when he perfects the virtue category: such an instance is found.
543. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “[Although] you are fully enlightened (have discovered completely), yet these ideas have not been discovered by you”: no such instance is found. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “[Although] you have quite exhausted all taints, yet these taints are unexhausted in you”: no such instance is found. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “When the True Idea is taught to someone by you, it does not, when he gives effect to it, give outlet for him to complete exhaustion of suffering”: no such instance is found. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “When a hearer practises the way of ideas in accordance with the True Idea, practises the way properly, conducts himself according to the True Idea, he will not verify any arrival at progressively higher distinctions”: no such instance is found. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “Ideas called obstructions by you are not sufficiently so to obstruct the pursuer of them”: no such instance is found.
544. That ideas which do not give outlet should, when someone practises them, give him outlet to the complete exhaustion of suffering: no such instance is found. That ideas which give outlet should, when someone practises them, give him outlet to the complete exhaustion of suffering: such an instance is found.
545. That [anyone will accuse a Perfect One with truth]: “Your hearers will, with trace still left, reach the extinction element without trace left”: no such instance is found.
546. That one perfected in his view [as a Stream Enterer or higher] should deprive his mother of life or assassinate her by hand or foot: no such instance is found. That an ordinary man [who has not attained the path] should deprive his mother of life or assassinate her by hand or foot: such an instance is found … Likewise with a father, and an Arahant bhikkhu … That one perfected in his view should cause a schism in the Community or should create dissension in the Community: no such instance is found. That an ordinary man should cause a schism in the Community or should create dissension in the Community: such an instance is found. That one perfected in his view should with cognizance of hate shed a Perfect One’s blood, or should with cognizance of hate destroy the monument of a Perfect One attained to extinction: no such instance is found. That an ordinary man should with cognizance of hate shed a Perfect One’s blood, or with cognizance of hate destroy the monument of a Perfect One attained to extinction: such an instance is found. That one perfected in his view should confess another Master even for the sake of a livelihood: no such instance is found. That an ordinary man should confess another Master: such an instance is found.
547. That one perfected in his view should try someone outside to make offerings to: no such instance is found. That an ordinary man should try someone outside to make offerings to: such an instance is found. That one perfected in his view should expect purification through the kind of good omen that is open to the tumult of debate no such instance is found. That an ordinary man should resort for purification to the kind of good omen that is open to the tumult of debate: such an instance is found.
548. That a Wheel-Turning Monarch might be female: no such instance is found. That a Wheel-Turning Monarch might be male: such an instance is found. That Sakka Ruler of Gods might be female: no such instance is found. That Sakka Ruler of Gods might be male: such an instance is found. That Māra the Evil One might be female: no such instance is found. That Māra the Evil One might be male: such an instance is found. That the High Divinity might be female: no such instance is found. That the High Divinity might be male: such an instance is found. That a Perfect One accomplished and fully enlightened might be female: no such instance is found. That a Perfect One accomplished and fully enlightened might be male: such an instance is found. That in a single world-element two Perfect Ones accomplished and fully enlightened might contemporaneously arise and teach the True Idea: no such instance is found. That in a single world-element one Perfect One accomplished and fully enlightened might arise and teach the True Idea: such an instance is found.
549. That the ripening of the three kinds of misconduct [by body, speech and mind] will be wished for, desired, likeable and agreeable: no such instance is found. That the ripening of the three kinds of misconduct will be un-wished-for, undesired, dislikeable and disagreeable: such an instance is found. That the ripening of the three kinds of good conduct will be un-wished-for, undesired, dislikeable and disagreeable: no such instance is found. That the ripening of the three kinds of good conduct will be wished for, desired, likeable and agreeable: such an instance is found.
550. That a certain monk or divine who is a schemer, a persuasive talker, a hinter, giving precedence to scheming, persuasive talk and hinting, without abandoning the five hindrances, defilements of the heart that weaken understanding, without keeping in being the seven enlightenment factors, while abiding with mindfulness unestablished in the four Foundations of Mindfulness, will discover the unsurpassed complete enlightenment: no such instance is found. That a certain monk or divine who is rid of all faults, abandoning the five hindrances, defilements of the heart that weaken understanding, and keeping in being the seven enlightenment factors, while abiding with mindfulness established in the four Foundations of Mindfulness, will discover the unsurpassed complete enlightenment: such an instance is found.
551. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly is called the Perfect One’s first Power consisting in knowledge of Instance and Non-Instance.
[ii. Knowledge of the Way that Leads Anywhere]
552. All who come under the Instance and Non-Instance [just mentioned] are inseparable from the idea of exhaustion, from the idea of subsidence, from the idea of fading, from the idea of ceasing; some pass on to heaven, some pass on to states of unease, some pass on to extinction. This is why the Blessed One said:
All creatures will [most surely] die
Because the end of life is death.
According to their acts they go
[Reaping] merit’s and evil’s fruits:
Evil-doers [pass on] to hell;
Merit-makers pass on to heaven;
Others maintain the path in being
And find extinction free from taints.
553.“All creatures” noble and ignoble; those included in embodiment and those beyond embodiment. “Will die” by the two kinds of death, namely by sluggish death and by non-sluggish death. Non-sluggish death is that of those included in embodiment and sluggish death is that of those beyond embodiment. “Because the end of life is death”: the complete ending of life, the complete ending by death, [comes] with exhaustion of the life-span, with surcease of the faculties. “According to their acts they go” [means] ownership of action. “[Reaping] merit’s and evil’s fruits” [means] the state of seeing the fruits of acts and non-separation [from them]. Those who have made determinations of demerit, being “evil-doers, [pass on] to hell” while “merit-makers [pass on] to heaven”: those who have [made] determinations of merit will go to a good destination. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” [means] the surmounting of all determinations. That is why the Blessed One said “All creatures … extinction free from taints”.
554.“All creatures will [most surely] die Because the end of life is death. According to their acts they go [Reaping] merit’s and evil’s fruits: Evil-doers [pass on] to hell” is the [two extreme] ways of luxury and of penance. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is the middle way.
555.“All creatures will [most surely] die Because the end of life is death. According to their acts they go [Reaping] merit’s and evil’s fruits: Evil-doers [pass on] to hell”: this is corruption. This is how the roundabout is made to occur.
556.“All creatures will [most surely] die … Evil-doers [pass on] to hell”: there are these three rounds: the round of suffering, the round of action, and the round of defilement. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is the stopping (non-occurrence) of the three rounds.
557.“All creatures will [most surely] die … Evil-doers [pass on] to hell” is the disappointment. “The merit-makers [pass on] to heaven” is the gratification. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is the escape.
558.“All creatures will [most surely] die … Evil-doers [pass on] to hell” is cause and fruit. The five categories are the fruit and the craving the cause. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is the path and its fruit.
559.“All creatures will [most surely] die … Evil-doers [pass on] to hell” is corruption. That corruption is of three kinds: corruption by craving, corruption by views, and corruption by misconduct. Herein, corruption by craving can be demonstrated by the three kinds of craving, namely craving for sensual desires, craving for being, and craving for non-being, [that is,] by the three kinds of misconduct, namely bodily misconduct and verbal misconduct [as the former], and mental misconduct [as the latter]. Its detail is the ten unprofitable courses of action. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is cleansing. Now this cleansing is [also] of three kinds, that is to say: corruption by craving is purified by quiet, and that quiet is the concentration category; corruption by views is purified by insight, and that insight is the understanding category; and corruption by misconduct is purified by good conduct, and that good conduct is the virtue category.
560.“All creatures will [most surely] die Because the end of life is death. According to their acts they go [Reaping] merit’s and evil’s fruits: Evil-doers [pass on] to hell” is the way of demerit. “The merit-makers [pass on] to heaven” is the way of merit. “Others maintain the path in being And find extinction free from taints” is the way that surmounts merit and demerit.
561. Herein, as to the “way of merit” and the “way of demerit”, these are one way that leads anywhere, one among the states of unease and another among the gods. And as to the “way that surmounts merit and demerit”, this way leads either here or there.
562. Now there are three classes, namely the class of those certain-of-wrongness, the class of those certain-of-rightness, and the class of those not-thus-certain. While the certainty-of-wrongness class and the certainty-of-rightness class herein are one way, namely that which leads either here or there, it is the class of those without this certainty herein that is the way that leads anywhere. For what reason? If someone [in this class] got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear in hell, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear among animals, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear in the ghost realm, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear among the Asura Demons, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear among the gods, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would reappear among human beings, if he got the [requisite] condition, he would attain extinction. That is why this is the way that leads anywhere.
563. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly is called the Perfect One’s second Power consisting in Knowledge of the Way that Leads anywhere.
[iii. Knowledge of the World with its Many and Different Elements]
564. The way that leads anywhere is the world of many elements; the way that leads either here or there is the world of different elements.
565. Herein, what is the world of many elements? It is the eye element, form element, eye-consciousness element, ear element, sound element, ear-consciousness element, nose element, odour element, nose-consciousness element, tongue element, flavour element, tongue-consciousness element, body element, tangible element, body-consciousness element, mind element, idea element, mind-consciousness element; the earth element, water element, fire element, air element, space element, consciousness element; the sensual-desire element, ill-will element, cruelty element, renunciation element, non-ill-will element, non-cruelty element; the pain element, grief element, ignorance element, pleasure element, joy element, onlooking-equanimity element; the form element, formless element, cessation element; the determinations element, the extinction element. This is the world of many elements.
566. Herein, what is the world of different elements? The eye element is one, the form element is another, the eye-consciousness element is another, … and so with all the rest down to … the extinction element is another.
567. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly is called the Perfect One’s third Power consisting in the knowledge of the many and different elements.
[iv. Knowledge of Difference in Belief]
568. Many elements and different elements of what world? Whatever element creatures believe in, that they express and insist upon. Some believe in forms, some believe in sounds, some believe in odours, some believe in flavours, some believe in tangibles, some believe in ideas, some believe in females, some believe in males, some believe in generosity, some believe in inferiority, some believe in superiority, some believe in gods, some believe in human beings, some believe in extinction.
569. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly thus “This one is outguidable, this one is not outguidable, this one is going to heaven, this one is going to a bad destination” is called the Perfect One’s fourth Power consisting in knowledge of how creatures differ in their beliefs.
[v. Knowledge of Ripening of Action]
570. As these [creatures] believe so they come to be. [For] they undertake this or that kind of undertaking of action. They undertake action in six ways: some through greed, some through hate, some through delusion, some through faith, some through energy, and some through understanding.
571. That [action can be] divided into two as that which goes with the roundabout and that which goes to extinction.
572. Herein, any action which [someone] does through greed and through hate and through delusion is black action with black ripening. Herein, any action which he does through faith and through energy is white action with white ripening. Herein, any action which he does through greed and through hate and through delusion and through faith is black-and-white action with black-and-white ripening. Herein, any action which he does through energy and through understanding is action that is not black and not white with neither-black-nor-white ripening. That is the supreme action, the best action, and it conduces to the exhaustion of action.
573. There are four ways of undertaking action: there is a way of undertaking action that has presently-arisen pleasure and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking action that has presently-arisen pain and ripens in the future as pleasure. There is a way of undertaking action that has presently-arisen pain and ripens in the future as pain. There is a way of undertaking action that has presently-arisen pleasure and ripens in the future as pleasure: any such kind of undertaking action.
574. The Blessed One, [when he sees that] “An undertaking of unprofitable action has been stored up by this person, which [though as yet] unripened is just about to ripen, and [so] he is incapable of coming to the breaking out”, does not advise him, as in the case of Devadatta, Sunakkhatta, son of Licchavis, and any other creatures certain of wrongness.
575. The Blessed One, [when he sees that] “These persons have stored up [some] unprofitable action, but [the undertaking of it] has not yet come to its fulfilment; it is [still] before it has come to fulfilment, before it has given fruit, before it has obstructed the path, before it has exceeded [the bounds of] outguidability”, advises them while [their action is] not [fully] undertaken, as in the cases of Puṇṇa the ox-duty ascetic and the naked dog-duty ascetic.
576. The Blessed One, [when he sees that] “This person’s undertaking of unprofitable action when fulfilled will obstruct the path, [but] it is [still] before it has come to fulfilment, before it has given fruit, before it has obstructed the path, before it has exceeded [the bounds of] outguidability”, advises him while [his action is] not [fully] undertaken, as in the case of the venerable Angulimāla.
577. In all cases there is the light, the medium, and the outstanding state. Herein, imperturbable determinative acts are light, the remaining profitable determinations are medium, and unprofitable determinations are outstanding.
578. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance unlimitedly thus “This [kind of action] is to be felt [ripening] here and now (in this life), this kind is to be felt on reappearance, this kind is to be felt in some subsequent period; this is to be felt in hell, this is to be felt as an animal, this is to be felt in the ghost realm, this is to be felt as an Asura demon, this is to be felt as a god, this is to be felt as a human being” is called the Perfect One’s fifth Power consisting in knowledge as to cause and as to instance unlimitedly of past, future, and presently arisen, undertaking of action, which is Knowledge of Diversity in Ripening.
[vi. Knowledge of Defilement, Cleansing, and Emergence, in the cases of the Meditations, Liberations, Concentrations, and Attainments]
579. There is unobstructed knowledge of actions thus undertaken, and of meditations, liberations, concentrations, and attainments thus undertaken, [knowing] that “This is the corruption, this is the cleansing, this is the emergence, this is how it is corrupted, this is how it is cleansed, this is how there is emergence”.
580. Herein, how many meditations? Four meditations.
How many liberations? Eleven and eight and seven and three and two.
How many concentrations? Three concentrations: concentration with thinking and exploring; concentration without thinking and with only exploring; concentration without thinking and without exploring.
How many attainments? Five attainments: percipient attainment, unpercipient attainment, neither-percipient-nor-unpercipient attainment, attainment percipient of non-entity, attainment of cessation.
581. Herein, what is the corruption? Lust for sensual desires and ill-will are the corruption of the first meditation, and the first two [meditations are so for] a shy meditator, or any concentration dealing with an inferior state. These are the corruptions.
582. Herein, what is the cleansing? The purification of the first meditation from the hindrances, and the [attainment of the] last two [meditations for] a shy meditator, or any concentration dealing with distinction, these are cleansing.
583. Herein, what is the emergence? Skill in emerging from an attainment.
584. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly is called the Perfect One’s sixth Power consisting in knowledge of corruption, cleansing, and emergence, in the cases of all meditations, liberations, concentrations, and attainments.
[vii. Knowledge of the Disposition of Creatures’ Faculties]
585. That same concentration has three ideas for its equipment, namely faculties, powers, and energy. Those same faculties come to be powers in virtue of energy: they are faculties in the sense of predominance, while they are powers in the sense of unshakability.
586. They have the blunt, medium, and outstanding states thus: This one has blunt faculties, this one has medium faculties, this one has outstanding faculties.
587. Herein, the Blessed One advises one of keen faculties with advice in brief; the Blessed One advises one of medium faculties with advice in brief and detail; the Blessed One advises one of blunt faculties with advice in detail.
Herein, the Blessed One discloses a blunt (light) teaching of the True Idea to one of keen faculties; the Blessed One discloses a blunt-to-keen teaching of the True Idea to one of medium faculties; the Blessed One discloses a keen teaching of the True Idea to one of blunt faculties.
Herein, the Blessed One discloses quiet to one of keen faculties; the Blessed One discloses quiet and insight to one of medium faculties; the Blessed One discloses insight to one of blunt faculties.
Herein, the Blessed One discloses escape to one of keen faculties; the Blessed One discloses disappointment and escape to one of medium faculties; the Blessed One discloses gratification and disappointment and escape to one of blunt faculties.
Herein, the Blessed One makes one of keen faculties understand by means of the training in the higher understanding; the Blessed One makes one of medium faculties understand by means of the training in the higher cognizance; the Blessed One makes one of blunt faculties understand by means of the training in the higher virtue.
588. Knowledge as to cause and as to instance about this unlimitedly thus “This one has gone to this plane and keeping-in-being, and at this period, and with this kind of instruction; and this one has such and such elements [beginning with the inferior], and such was the bias [in his view], and such was his underlying tendency” is called the Perfect One’s seventh Power consisting in knowledge of diversity in the several faculties of other creatures, other persons.
[viii. Knowledge of Past Life]
589. Herein, he recollects his manifold past life, that is to say, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many hundred births, many thousand births, many hundred thousand births, many aeons of [world] contraction, many aeons of [world] expansion, many aeons of [world] contraction and expansion: “There I was so named, of such a race, with such appearance, such was my nutriment, such my feeling of pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a race, with such appearance, such was my nutriment, such my feeling of pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I reappeared here”, thus with its moods and its phases he recollects his manifold past life.
590. Herein, among creatures passing on to heaven and creatures passing on to humanity, and creatures passing on to states of unease, the Blessed One knows without reserve, recollecting such and such existences thus “This person has greed, etc., prominent and non-greed, etc., weak; this person has non-greed, etc., prominent and greed, etc., weak; or whichever are prominent and whichever weak; This person has these faculties stored up, this person has these faculties not stored up, in that million aeons, hundred thousand aeons, thousand aeons, hundred aeons, aeon, aeon-interval, half-aeon, year, half-year, month, half-moon, day, or hour, by means of this negligence, or by means of this confidence”.
[ix. The Heavenly Eye]
591. Herein, with the Heavenly Eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees creatures deceasing and reappearing, inferior and superior, comely and uncomely, well behaved and ill-behaved, he understands how creatures pass on according to their actions thus “These unworthy creatures, misconducted in body, speech and mind, revilers of Noble Ones, wrong in their views, undertaking actions due to wrong view, have, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappeared in a state of unease, in a bad destination, in perdition, in hell; but these worthy creatures, well conducted in body, speech and mind, not revilers of Noble Ones, right in their views, undertaking actions due to right view, have, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappeared in a good destination, in the heavenly world”.
592. Herein, among creatures passing on to heaven and creatures passing on to humanity and creatures passing on to states of unease, [the Blessed One knows without reserve] “By this person such action was stored up in that million aeons, … day, or hour, by means of this negligence, or by means of this confidence”.
593. These two kinds of knowledge of the Blessed One’s, the Knowledge of Recollection of Past Life and the Heavenly Eye, are the Perfect One’s eighth and ninth Powers.
[x. Omniscience in Knowledge of Exhaustion of Taints]
594. Herein, when omniscience was reached, when all ideas were found, when the spotless immaculate omniscient knowledge had arisen, when Māra was routed at the foot of the Tree of Enlightenment: that constitutes the Perfect One’s tenth Power consisting in the Knowledge of Complete Extinction of all Taints. For the Enlightened Ones, the Blessed Ones, are possessed of ten powers.
The Mode of Conveying an Investigation in Combined Treatment is ended.