10: The Book of the Tens
60. Girimānanda
- DG BB TBW © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi (More copyright information)
1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Now on that occasion the Venerable Girimānanda was sick, afflicted, and gravely ill. [n.2074] Apart from this text there is no further information about Girimānanda in the Nikāyas. In Theravāda Buddhist countries this sutta has achieved the status of a paritta, a "protective discourse," which bhikkhus often recite to people afflicted with illness. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him:
2"Bhante, the Venerable Girimānanda is sick, afflicted, and gravely ill. It would be good if the Blessed One would visit him out of compassion."
"If, Ānanda, you visit the bhikkhu Girimānanda and speak to him about ten perceptions, it is possible that on hearing about them his affliction will immediately subside.
"(1) The perception of impermanence, (2) the perception of non-self, (3) the perception of unattractiveness, (4) the perception of danger, (5) the perception of abandoning, (6) the perception of dispassion, (7) the perception of cessation, (8) the perception of non-delight in the entire world, (9) the perception of impermanence in all conditioned phenomena, and (10) mindfulness of breathing.
4(1) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of impermanence? Here, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘Form is impermanent, feeling is impermanent, perception is impermanent, volitional activities are impermanent, consciousness is impermanent.’ Thus he dwells contemplating impermanence in these five aggregates subject to clinging. This is called the perception of impermanence.
5(2) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of non-self? Here, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘The eye is non-self, forms are non-self; the ear is non-self, sounds are non-self; the nose is non-self, odours are non-self; the tongue is non-self, tastes are non-self; the body is non-self, tactile objects are non-self; the mind is non-self, mental phenomena are non-self.’ Thus he dwells contemplating non-self in these six internal and external sense bases. This is called the perception of non-self.
6(3) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of unattractiveness? Here, a bhikkhu reviews this very body upward from the soles of the feet and downward from the tips of the hairs, enclosed in skin, as full of many kinds of impurities: ‘There are in this body hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, excrement, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, fluid of the joints, urine.’ Thus he dwells contemplating unattractiveness in this body. This is called the perception of unattractiveness.
7(4) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of danger? Here, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘This body is the source of much pain and danger; for all sorts of afflictions arise in this body, that is, eye-disease, disease of the inner ear, nose-disease, tongue-disease, body-disease, head-disease, disease of the external ear, mouth-disease, tooth-disease, [n.2075] In Be only, oṭṭharogo, lip disease, is between dantarogo and kāso. cough, asthma, catarrh, pyrexia, fever, stomach ache, fainting, dysentery, gripes, cholera, leprosy, boils, eczema, tuberculosis, epilepsy, ringworm, itch, scab, chickenpox, scabies, hemorrhage, diabetes, hemorrhoids, cancer, fistula; illnesses originating from bile, phlegm, wind, or their combination; illnesses produced by change of climate; illnesses produced by careless behavior; illnesses produced by assault; or illnesses produced as the result of kamma; and cold, heat, hunger, thirst, defecation, and urination.’ Thus he dwells contemplating danger in this body. This is called the perception of danger.
8(5) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of abandoning? Here, a bhikkhu does not tolerate an arisen sensual thought; he abandons it, dispels it, terminates it, and obliterates it. He does not tolerate an arisen thought of ill will … an arisen thought of harming … bad unwholesome states whenever they arise; he abandons them, dispels them, terminates them, and obliterates them. This is called the perception of abandoning.
9(6) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of dispassion? Here, having gone to the forest, to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, nibbāna.’ This is called the perception of dispassion. [n.2076] Both this and the following perception are reflective contemplations on nibbāna. In the classical scheme of forty meditation subjects, they can be subsumed under the "recollection of peace" (upasamānussati), explained at Vism 293–94, Ppn 8:245–51.
10(7) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of cessation? Here, having gone to the forest, to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, cessation, nibbāna.’ This is called the perception of cessation.
11(8) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of non-delight in the entire world? Here, a bhikkhu refrains from [n.2077] Where Ce and Ee read pajahanto viramati anupādiyanto, Be has pajahanto viharati anupādiyanto. Mp offers no clarification. any engagement and clinging, mental standpoints, adherences, and underlying tendencies in regard to the world, abandoning them without clinging to them. This is called the perception of non-delight in the entire world.
12(9) "And what, Ānanda, is the perception of impermanence in all conditioned phenomena? Here, a bhikkhu is repelled, humiliated, and disgusted by all conditioned phenomena. This is called the perception of impermanence in all conditioned phenomena. [n.2078] It is hard to see exactly how the explanation is connected to the theme of impermanence. Some manuscripts read this perception as sabbasaṅkhāresu anicchāsaññā, "perception of wishlessness (or desirelessness) in regard to all conditioned phenomena," which seems to tie up better with the definition.
13(10) "And what, Ānanda, is mindfulness of breathing? Here, a bhikkhu, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, sits down. Having folded his legs crosswise, straightened his body, and established mindfulness in front of him, just mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.
"Breathing in long, he knows: ‘I breathe in long’; or breathing out long, he knows: ‘I breathe out long.’ Breathing in short, he knows: ‘I breathe in short’; or breathing out short, he knows: ‘I breathe out short.’ He trains thus: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Tranquilizing the bodily activity, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Tranquilizing the bodily activity, I will breathe out.’
"He trains thus: ‘Experiencing rapture, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Experiencing rapture, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Experiencing happiness, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Experiencing happiness, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Tranquilizing the mental activity, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Tranquilizing the mental activity, I will breathe out.’ [n.2079] The mental activity (cittasaṅkhāra) here is perception and feeling, for these things are said to be bound up with the mind and to occur in dependence on it (see MN 44.15, I 301,28–29).
"He trains thus: ‘Experiencing the mind, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Experiencing the mind, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Gladdening the mind, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Gladdening the mind, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Concentrating the mind, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Concentrating the mind, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Liberating the mind, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Liberating the mind, I will breathe out.’ [n.2080] That is, liberating the mind from the obstacles to the refinement of serenity and insight.
"He trains thus: ‘Contemplating impermanence, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Contemplating impermanence, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Contemplating fading away, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Contemplating fading away, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Contemplating cessation, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Contemplating cessation, I will breathe out.’ He trains thus: ‘Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe in’; he trains thus: ‘Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe out.’
"This is called mindfulness of breathing.
14"If, Ānanda, you visit the bhikkhu Girimānanda and speak to him about these ten perceptions, it is possible that on hearing about them he will immediately recover from his affliction."
15Then, when the Venerable Ānanda had learned these ten perceptions from the Blessed One, he went to the Venerable Girimānanda and spoke to him about them. When the Venerable Girimānanda heard about these ten perceptions, his affliction immediately subsided. The Venerable Girimānanda recovered from that affliction, and that is how he was cured of his affliction.
1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā girimānando ābādhiko hoti dukkhito bāḷhagilāno. Atha kho āyasmā ānando yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:
2"Āyasmā, bhante, girimānando ābādhiko hoti dukkhito bāḷhagilāno. Sādhu, bhante, bhagavā yenāyasmā girimānando tenupasaṅkamatu anukampaṁ upādāyā"ti.
"Sace kho tvaṁ, ānanda, girimānandassa bhikkhuno dasa saññā bhāseyyāsi, ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati yaṁ girimānandassa bhikkhuno dasa saññā sutvā so ābādho ṭhānaso paṭippassambheyya.
Aniccasaññā, anattasaññā, asubhasaññā, ādīnavasaññā, pahānasaññā, virāgasaññā, nirodhasaññā, sabbaloke anabhiratasaññā, sabbasaṅkhāresu anicchāsaññā, ānāpānassati.
4Katamā cānanda, aniccasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘rūpaṁ aniccaṁ, vedanā aniccā, saññā aniccā, saṅkhārā aniccā, viññāṇaṁ aniccan’ti. Iti imesu pañcasu upādānakkhandhesu aniccānupassī viharati. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, aniccasaññā. (1)
5Katamā cānanda, anattasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘cakkhu anattā, rūpā anattā, sotaṁ anattā, saddā anattā, ghānaṁ anattā, gandhā anattā, jivhā anattā, rasā anattā, kāyā anattā, phoṭṭhabbā anattā, mano anattā, dhammā anattā’ti. Iti imesu chasu ajjhattikabāhiresu āyatanesu anattānupassī viharati. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, anattasaññā. (2)
6Katamā cānanda, asubhasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu imameva kāyaṁ uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā tacapariyantaṁ pūraṁ nānāppakārassa asucino paccavekkhati: ‘atthi imasmiṁ kāye kesā lomā nakhā dantā taco, maṁsaṁ nhāru aṭṭhi aṭṭhimiñjaṁ vakkaṁ, hadayaṁ yakanaṁ kilomakaṁ pihakaṁ papphāsaṁ, antaṁ antaguṇaṁ udariyaṁ karīsaṁ, pittaṁ semhaṁ pubbo lohitaṁ sedo medo, assu vasā kheḷo siṅghāṇikā lasikā muttan’ti. Iti imasmiṁ kāye asubhānupassī viharati. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, asubhasaññā. (3)
7Katamā cānanda, ādīnavasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘bahudukkho kho ayaṁ kāyo bahuādīnavo? Iti imasmiṁ kāye vividhā ābādhā uppajjanti, seyyathidaṁ – cakkhurogo sotarogo ghānarogo jivhārogo kāyarogo sīsarogo kaṇṇarogo mukharogo dantarogo oṭṭharogo kāso sāso pināso ḍāho jaro kucchirogo mucchā pakkhandikā sūlā visūcikā kuṭṭhaṁ gaṇḍo kilāso soso apamāro daddu kaṇḍu kacchu nakhasā vitacchikā lohitaṁ pittaṁ madhumeho aṁsā piḷakā bhagandalā pittasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā semhasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā vātasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā sannipātikā ābādhā utupariṇāmajā ābādhā visamaparihārajā ābādhā opakkamikā ābādhā kammavipākajā ābādhā sītaṁ uṇhaṁ jighacchā pipāsā uccāro passāvo’ti. Iti imasmiṁ kāye ādīnavānupassī viharati. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, ādīnavasaññā. (4)
8Katamā cānanda, pahānasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu uppannaṁ kāmavitakkaṁ nādhivāseti, pajahati, vinodeti, byantīkaroti, anabhāvaṁ gameti. Uppannaṁ byāpādavitakkaṁ nādhivāseti, pajahati, vinodeti, byantīkaroti, anabhāvaṁ gameti. Uppannaṁ vihiṁsāvitakkaṁ nādhivāseti, pajahati, vinodeti, byantīkaroti, anabhāvaṁ gameti. Uppannuppanne pāpake akusale dhamme nādhivāseti, pajahati, vinodeti, byantīkaroti, anabhāvaṁ gameti. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, pahānasaññā. (5)
9Katamā cānanda, virāgasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhippaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nibbānan’ti. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, virāgasaññā. (6)
10Katamā cānanda, nirodhasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhippaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo nirodho nibbānan’ti. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, nirodhasaññā. (7)
11Katamā cānanda, sabbaloke anabhiratasaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu ye loke upādānā cetaso adhiṭṭhānābhinivesānusayā, te pajahanto viharati anupādiyanto. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, sabbaloke anabhiratasaññā. (8)
12Katamā cānanda, sabbasaṅkhāresu anicchāsaññā? Idhānanda, bhikkhu sabbasaṅkhāresu aṭṭīyati harāyati jigucchati. Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, sabbasaṅkhāresu anicchāsaññā. (9)
13Katamā cānanda, ānāpānassati? Idhānanda, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā. So satova assasati satova passasati.
Dīghaṁ vā assasanto ‘dīghaṁ assasāmī’ti pajānāti. Dīghaṁ vā passasanto ‘dīghaṁ passasāmī’ti pajānāti. Rassaṁ vā assasanto ‘rassaṁ assasāmī’ti pajānāti. Rassaṁ vā passasanto ‘rassaṁ passasāmī’ti pajānāti. ‘Sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ passasissāmī’ti sikkhati.
‘Pītipaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Pītipaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Sukhapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Sukhapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Cittasaṅkhārapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Cittasaṅkhārapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Passambhayaṁ cittasaṅkhāraṁ assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Passambhayaṁ cittasaṅkhāraṁ passasissāmī’ti sikkhati.
‘Cittapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Cittapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. Abhippamodayaṁ cittaṁ … pe … samādahaṁ cittaṁ … pe … vimocayaṁ cittaṁ … pe … aniccānupassī … pe … virāgānupassī … pe … nirodhānupassī … pe … ‘paṭinissaggānupassī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati. ‘Paṭinissaggānupassī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati.
Ayaṁ vuccatānanda, ānāpānassati. (10)
14Sace kho tvaṁ, ānanda, girimānandassa bhikkhuno imā dasa saññā bhāseyyāsi, ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati yaṁ girimānandassa bhikkhuno imā dasa saññā sutvā so ābādho ṭhānaso paṭippassambheyyā"ti.
15Atha kho āyasmā ānando bhagavato santike imā dasa saññā uggahetvā yenāyasmā girimānando tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmato girimānandassa imā dasa saññā abhāsi. Atha kho āyasmato girimānandassa dasa saññā sutvā so ābādho ṭhānaso paṭippassambhi. Vuṭṭhahi cāyasmā girimānando tamhā ābādhā. Tathā pahīno ca panāyasmato girimānandassa so ābādho ahosīti.
Dasamaṁ.
Sacittavaggo paṭhamo.
16Sacittañca sāriputta,
ṭhiti ca samathena ca;
Parihāno ca dve saññā,
mūlā pabbajitaṁ girīti.