9.
The Discourse on the Elephant
40.
"At the time, monks, when a forest-dwelling elephant, engaged in seeking food, has elephants, she-elephants, young elephants, and elephant calves going ahead again and again and cutting off the tips of the grass, on that account, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant is troubled, ashamed, and disgusted.
At the time, monks, when a forest-dwelling elephant, engaged in seeking food, has elephants, she-elephants, young elephants, and elephant calves eating the bent-down broken branches, on that account, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant is troubled, ashamed, and disgusted.
At the time, monks, when a forest-dwelling elephant, having descended into the water, has elephants, she-elephants, young elephants, and elephant calves going ahead again and again and stirring up the water with their trunks, on that account, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant is troubled, ashamed, and disgusted.
At the time, monks, when a forest-dwelling elephant, having come up from the water, has she-elephants going along rubbing against his body, on that account, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant is troubled, ashamed, and disgusted.
"At that time, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant thinks thus - 'I am now dwelling crowded by elephants, she-elephants, young elephants, and elephant calves. I eat grass with cut-off tips, and they eat my bent-down broken branches, and I drink turbid water, and when I have come up from the water, she-elephants go along rubbing against my body. What if I were to dwell alone, withdrawn from the group?' He, at a later time, dwells alone, withdrawn from the group; he eats grass with uncut tips, and they do not eat his bent-down broken branches, and he drinks clear water, and when he has come up from the water, she-elephants do not go along rubbing against his body.
"At that time, monks, the forest-dwelling elephant thinks thus - 'I formerly dwelt crowded by elephants, she-elephants, young elephants, and elephant calves; I ate grass with cut-off tips, and they ate my bent-down broken branches, and I drank turbid water, and when I had come up from the water, she-elephants went along rubbing against my body. Now I dwell alone, withdrawn from the group; I eat grass with uncut tips, and they do not eat my bent-down broken branches, and I drink clear water, and when I have come up from the water, she-elephants do not go along rubbing against my body.' He, having broken off a branch with his trunk, having rubbed his body with the branch, delighted, draws in his trunk.
"So too, monks, at the time when a monk dwells crowded by monks, nuns, male lay followers, female lay followers, kings, royal ministers, sectarians, and disciples of sectarians, at that time, monks, the monk thinks thus - 'I am now dwelling crowded by monks, nuns, male lay followers, female lay followers, kings, royal ministers, sectarians, and disciples of sectarians. What if I were to dwell alone, withdrawn from the group?' He resorts to a secluded lodging - a forest, the root of a tree, a mountain, a grotto, a mountain cave, a cemetery, a deep forest, an open space, a heap of straw. He, having gone to the forest, or having gone to the root of a tree, or having gone to an empty house, sits down, folding his legs crosswise, directing his body upright, having established mindfulness in front of him.
"He, having abandoned covetousness in the world, dwells with a mind free from covetousness; he purifies the mind of covetousness; having abandoned anger and malice, he dwells with a mind free from ill-will, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings; he purifies the mind of anger and malice; having abandoned sloth and torpor, he dwells free from sloth and torpor, perceiving light, mindful and fully aware; he purifies the mind of sloth and torpor; having abandoned restlessness and remorse, he dwells unagitated, with a mind internally calmed; he purifies the mind of restlessness and remorse; having abandoned sceptical doubt, he dwells as one who has crossed over doubt, without uncertainty regarding wholesome mental states; he purifies the mind of sceptical doubt. He, having abandoned these five mental hindrances, impurities of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome mental states, enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. He, delighted, draws in his trunk. With the subsiding of applied and sustained thought, etc. the second meditative absorption... the third meditative absorption... he enters and dwells in the fourth meditative absorption. He, delighted, draws in his trunk.
"With the complete transcendence of perceptions of material form, with the passing away of perceptions of sensory impingement, with inattention to perceptions of diversity, aware that 'space is infinite,' one enters and dwells in the plane of infinite space. He, delighted, draws in his trunk. Having completely transcended the plane of infinite space, aware that 'consciousness is infinite,' he enters and dwells in the plane of infinite consciousness... having completely transcended the plane of infinite consciousness, aware that 'there is nothing,' enters and dwells in the plane of nothingness... With the complete transcendence of the plane of nothingness, one enters and dwells in the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception... having completely transcended the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, enters and dwells in the cessation of perception and feeling, and having seen with wisdom, his mental corruptions are utterly eliminated. He, delighted, draws in his trunk." The ninth.