10.
The Discourse on the Dirt-Washer
102.
"There are, monks, gross impurities of gold: soil and sand, gravel and grit.
A dirt-washer or a dirt-washer's apprentice, having scattered it in a trough, washes, washes thoroughly, washes completely.
When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, there are middling impurities of gold: fine gravel and coarse sand.
A dirt-washer or a dirt-washer's apprentice washes, washes thoroughly, washes completely.
When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, there are subtle impurities of gold: fine sand and black dirt.
A dirt-washer or a dirt-washer's apprentice washes, washes thoroughly, washes completely.
When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, then only gold dust remains.
A goldsmith or a goldsmith's apprentice, having placed the gold in a crucible, blows on it, blows on it thoroughly, blows on it completely.
That gold becomes blown, blown thoroughly, blown completely, but with corruption not blown off; it is neither soft nor wieldy, nor luminous but brittle, and does not rightly approach work.
There comes a time, monks, when a goldsmith or a goldsmith's apprentice blows on that gold, blows on it thoroughly, blows on it completely.
That gold becomes blown, blown thoroughly, blown completely, with corruption blown off; it is soft and wieldy and luminous, not brittle, and rightly approaches work.
And whatever kind of ornament he wishes for -
whether a band, whether an earring, whether a necklace, whether a golden garland -
it serves that purpose for him.
"So too, monks, there are gross impurities for a monk devoted to higher consciousness: bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct; a monk of intelligent nature, being mindful, abandons them, dispels them, puts an end to them, brings them to obliteration. When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, there are middling impurities for a monk devoted to higher consciousness: sensual thought, thought of anger, thought of violence; a monk of intelligent nature, being mindful, abandons them, dispels them, puts an end to them, brings them to obliteration. When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, there are subtle impurities for a monk devoted to higher consciousness: thought of relatives, thought of country, thought connected with not being despised; a monk of intelligent nature, being mindful, abandons them, dispels them, puts an end to them, brings them to obliteration. When that has been abandoned, when that has been put an end to, then only thoughts of the Teaching remain. That concentration is neither peaceful nor sublime, not obtained through tranquillity, not attained to unification, but reached by forceful suppression and restraint. There comes a time, monks, when that mind internally stands still, settles, becomes unified, and becomes concentrated. That concentration is peaceful, sublime, obtained through tranquillity, attained to unification, not reached by forceful suppression and restraint. And towards whatever mental state to be realised by direct knowledge he inclines the mind for realisation by direct knowledge, in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'May I experience the various kinds of supernormal power - having been one, may I become many; having been many, may I become one; appearing and vanishing; may I go unhindered through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, just as through space; may I dive in and out of the earth just as in water; may I go on water without breaking it just as on earth; may I travel cross-legged through space just as a winged bird; may I fondle and stroke with my hand even the moon and sun, so mighty and powerful; may I exercise mastery with my body even as far as the Brahma world' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'With the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, may I hear both sounds, divine and human, whether far or near' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'May I understand the minds of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with my own mind - may I understand a mind with lust as "a mind with lust", may I understand a mind without lust as "a mind without lust"; may I understand a mind with hate as "a mind with hate", may I understand a mind without hate as "a mind without hate"; may I understand a mind with delusion as "a mind with delusion", may I understand a mind without delusion as "a mind without delusion"; may I understand a contracted mind as "a contracted mind", may I understand a distracted mind as "a distracted mind"; may I understand an exalted mind as "an exalted mind", may I understand a not exalted mind as "a not exalted mind"; may I understand a surpassed mind as "a surpassed mind", may I understand an unsurpassed mind as "an unsurpassed mind"; may I understand a concentrated mind as "a concentrated mind", may I understand an unconcentrated mind as "an unconcentrated mind"; may I understand a liberated mind as "a liberated mind", may I understand an unliberated mind as "an unliberated mind"' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'May I recollect manifold past lives, as follows - 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 cosmic cycles of universe-contraction, many cosmic cycles of universe-expansion, many cosmic cycles of universe-contraction and expansion - There I was, having such a name, such a clan, such beauty, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose there. there too I was, having such a name, such a clan, such beauty, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose here.' Thus with aspects and terms may I recollect manifold past lives' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'With the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, may I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, may I understand beings according to their actions - "These beings indeed, sirs, endowed with bodily misconduct, endowed with verbal misconduct, endowed with mental misconduct, revilers of the noble ones, holding wrong views, undertaking actions based on wrong views, upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell; but these beings, sirs, endowed with bodily good conduct, endowed with verbal good conduct, endowed with mental good conduct, not revilers of the noble ones, holding right views, undertaking actions based on right views, upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a fortunate realm, in a heavenly world" - thus with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, may I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, may I understand beings according to their actions' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness.
"If he wishes - 'With the elimination of the mental corruptions, in this very life, having realised by direct knowledge myself, having attained, may I dwell in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are without mental corruptions' - in each and every case he attains the ability to witness, when there is a basis for mindfulness." The tenth.