“Bhikkhus, there are these two powers. What two? The power of reflection and the power of development.
“And what is the power of reflection? Here, someone reflects thus: ‘Bodily misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; verbal misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; mental misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life.’ Having reflected thus, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the power of reflection.
“And what is the power of development? The power of development is the power of trainees. For relying on the power of a trainee, one abandons lust, hatred, and delusion. Having abandoned lust, hatred, and delusion, one does not do anything unwholesome; one does not pursue anything bad. This is called the power of development.
“These, bhikkhus, are the two powers.”
“Bhikkhus, there are these two powers. What two? The power of reflection and the power of development.
“And what is the power of reflection? Here, someone reflects thus: ‘Bodily misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; verbal misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; mental misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life.’ Having reflected thus, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the power of reflection.
“And what is the power of development? Here, a bhikkhu develops the enlightenment factor of mindfulness that is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release. He develops the enlightenment factor of discrimination of phenomena . . . the enlightenment factor of energy . . . the enlightenment factor of rapture . . . the enlightenment factor of tranquility . . . the enlightenment factor of concentration . . . the enlightenment factor of equanimity that is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release. This is called the power of development.
“These, bhikkhus, are the two powers.”
“Bhikkhus, there are these two powers. What two? The power of reflection and the power of development.
“And what is the power of reflection? Here, someone reflects thus: ‘Bodily misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; verbal misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life; mental misconduct has a bad result in the present life and in the future life.’ Having reflected thus, he abandons bodily misconduct and develops bodily good conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops verbal good conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops mental good conduct; he maintains himself in purity. This is called the power of reflection.
“And what is the power of development? Here, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which consists of rapture and pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by thought and examination. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells in the second jhāna, which has internal placidity and unification of mind and consists of rapture and pleasure born of concentration, without thought and examination. With the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences pleasure with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and dejection, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, neither painful nor pleasant, which has purification of mindfulness by equanimity. This is called the power of development.
“These, bhikkhus, are the two powers.”
“Bhikkhus, the Tathāgata has these two kinds of Dhamma teaching. What two? In brief and in detail. The Tathāgata has these two kinds of Dhamma teaching.”
“Bhikkhus, if, in regard to a particular disciplinary issue, the bhikkhu who has committed an offense and the bhikkhu who reproves him do not each thoroughly reflect upon themselves, it can be expected that this disciplinary issue will lead to acrimony and animosity for a long time and the bhikkhus will not dwell at ease. But if the bhikkhu who has committed an offense and the bhikkhu who reproves him each thoroughly reflect upon themselves, it can be expected that this disciplinary issue will not lead to acrimony and animosity for a long time and the bhikkhus will dwell at ease.
“And how does the bhikkhu who has committed an offense thoroughly reflect upon himself? Here, the bhikkhu who has committed an offense reflects thus: ‘I have committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body. That bhikkhu saw me doing so. If I had not committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, he would not have seen me doing so. But because I committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, he saw me doing so. When he saw me committing a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, he became displeased. Being displeased, he expressed his displeasure to me. Because he expressed his displeasure to me, I became displeased. Being displeased, I informed others. Thus in this case I was the one who incurred a transgression, just as a traveler does when he evades the customs duty on his goods.’ It is in this way that the bhikkhu who has committed an offense thoroughly reflects upon himself.
“And how does the reproving bhikkhu thoroughly reflect upon himself? Here, the reproving bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘This bhikkhu has committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body. I saw him doing so. If this bhikkhu had not committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, I would not have seen him doing so. But because he committed a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, I saw him doing so. When I saw him committing a particular unwholesome misdeed with the body, I became displeased. Being displeased, I expressed my displeasure to him. Because I expressed my displeasure to him, he became displeased. Being displeased, he informed others. Thus in this case I was the one who incurred a transgression, just as a traveler does when he evades the customs duty on his goods.’ It is in this way that the reproving bhikkhu thoroughly reflects upon himself.
“If, bhikkhus, in regard to a particular disciplinary issue, the bhikkhu who has committed an offense and the bhikkhu who reproves him do not thoroughly reflect upon themselves, it can be expected that this disciplinary issue will lead to acrimony and animosity for a long time and the bhikkhus will not dwell at ease. But if the bhikkhu who has committed an offense and the bhikkhu who reproves him thoroughly reflect upon themselves, it can be expected that this disciplinary issue will not lead to acrimony and animosity for a long time and the bhikkhus will dwell at ease.”
Then a certain brahmin approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to the Blessed One: “Why is it, Master Gotama, that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell?”
“It is, brahmin, because of conduct contrary to the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct, that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell.”
“But why is it, Master Gotama, that some beings here with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world?”
“It is, brahmin, because of conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct, that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.”
“Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent, Master Gotama! Master Gotama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the darkness so those with good eyesight can see forms. I now go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha of bhikkhus. Let Master Gotama consider me a lay follower who from today has gone for refuge for life.”
Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to the Blessed One: “Why is it, Master Gotama, that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell?”
“It is, brahmin, because of what has been done and what has not been done that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell.”
“Why is it, Master Gotama, that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world?”
“It is, brahmin, because of what has been done and what has not been done that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.”
“I do not understand in detail the meaning of this statement that Master Gotama has spoken in brief without analyzing the meaning in detail. It would be good if Master Gotama would teach me the Dhamma so that I would understand in detail the meaning of this statement.”
“Well then, brahmin, listen and attend closely. I will speak.”
“Yes, sir,” the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Here, brahmin, someone has done deeds of bodily misconduct, not deeds of bodily good conduct; he has done deeds of verbal misconduct, not deeds of verbal good conduct; he has done deeds of mental misconduct, not deeds of mental good conduct. Thus it is because of what has been done and what has not been done that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell. But someone here has done deeds of bodily good conduct, not deeds of bodily misconduct; he has done deeds of verbal good conduct, not deeds of verbal misconduct; he has done deeds of mental good conduct, not deeds of mental misconduct. Thus it is because of what has been done and what has not been done that some beings here, with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.”
“Excellent, Master Gotama! . . . [as in 2:16] . . . Let Master Gotama consider me a lay follower who from today has gone for refuge for life.”
Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, and sat down to one side. The Blessed One then said to him:
“I say definitively, Ānanda, that deeds of bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, and mental misconduct are not to be done.”
“Since, Bhante, the Blessed One has declared definitively that deeds of bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, and mental misconduct are not to be done, what danger is to be expected in acting thus?”
“Ānanda, I have declared definitively that deeds of bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, and mental misconduct are not to be done because in acting thus this danger is to be expected: one blames oneself; the wise, having investigated, censure one; a bad report circulates about one; one dies confused; and with the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell. I have declared definitively that deeds of bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, and mental misconduct are not to be done because in acting thus this danger is to be expected.
“I say definitively, Ānanda, that deeds of bodily good conduct, verbal good conduct, and mental good conduct are to be done.”
“Since, Bhante, the Blessed One has declared definitively that deeds of bodily good conduct, verbal good conduct, and mental good conduct are to be done, what benefit is to be expected in acting thus?”
“Ānanda, I have declared definitively that deeds of bodily good conduct, verbal good conduct, and mental good conduct are to be done because in acting thus this benefit is to be expected: one does not blame oneself; the wise, having investigated, praise one; one acquires a good reputation; one dies unconfused; and with the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world. I have declared definitively that deeds of bodily good conduct, verbal good conduct, and mental good conduct are to be done because in acting thus this benefit is to be expected.”
“Bhikkhus, abandon the unwholesome! It is possible to abandon the unwholesome. If it were not possible to abandon the unwholesome, I would not say: ‘Bhikkhus, abandon the unwholesome!’ But because it is possible to abandon the unwholesome, I say: ‘Bhikkhus, abandon the unwholesome!’ If this abandoning of the unwholesome led to harm and suffering, I would not tell you to abandon it. But because the abandoning of the unwholesome leads to welfare and happiness, I say: ‘Bhikkhus, abandon the unwholesome!’
“Bhikkhus, develop the wholesome! It is possible to develop the wholesome. If it were not possible to develop the wholesome, I would not say: ‘Bhikkhus, develop the wholesome!’ But because it is possible to develop the wholesome, I say: ‘Bhikkhus, develop the wholesome!’ If this developing of the wholesome led to harm and suffering, I would not tell you to develop it. But because the developing of the wholesome leads to welfare and happiness, I say: ‘Bhikkhus, develop the wholesome!’”
“Bhikkhus, there are these two things that lead to the decline and disappearance of the good Dhamma. What two? Badly set down words and phrases and badly interpreted meaning. When the words and phrases are badly set down, the meaning is badly interpreted. These are the two things that lead to the decline and disappearance of the good Dhamma.
“Bhikkhus, there are these two things that lead to the continuation, non-decline, and non-disappearance of the good Dhamma. What two? Well-set down words and phrases and well-interpreted meaning. When the words and phrases are well set down, the meaning is well interpreted. These are the two things that lead to the continuation, non-decline, and nondisappearance of the good Dhamma.”