7.

The Discourse to Jāliya

The Story of the Two Gone Forth

378. Thus have I heard - On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Kosambī in Ghosita's park. Now at that time two gone forth ones - the wandering ascetic Muṇḍiya and Jāliya, the disciple of Dārupattika, approached the Blessed One; having approached, they exchanged friendly greetings with the Blessed One. Having concluded the pleasant and memorable talk, they stood to one side. Standing to one side, those two gone forth ones said this to the Blessed One: "Now what, friend Gotama, is the soul the same as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?"

379. "If so, friends, listen and pay close attention; I will speak." "Yes, friend," those two gone forth ones assented to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this - "Here, friends, a Tathāgata arises in the world, a Worthy One, a Fully Self-Enlightened One... etc. Thus, friends, a monk is accomplished in morality... etc. he enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption. Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, is it proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, it is proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' But I, friends, thus know and thus see. And yet I do not say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another'... etc. the second meditative absorption, etc. the third meditative absorption... etc. he enters and dwells in the fourth meditative absorption. Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, is it proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another'? Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, it is proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' But I, friends, thus know and thus see. And yet I do not say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another'... etc. he directs and inclines the mind towards knowledge and vision... etc. Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, is it proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, it is proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' But I, friends, thus know and thus see. And yet I do not say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another'... etc.

380. Etc. he understands: 'There is no more of this state of being.' Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, is it proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another'? Friends, a monk who thus knows and thus sees, it is not proper for him to say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.' But I, friends, thus know and thus see. And yet I do not say: 'The soul is the same as the body' or 'the soul is one thing and the body another.'" This is what the Blessed One said. Those two gone forth ones, delighted, rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said.

The Discourse on Jāliya is concluded as seventh.