  
                      THE DISCOURSE ON EFFACEMENT
  
                              Introduction
  
      The Buddha's Discourse on Effacement (Sallekha Sutta; quoted as M. 
  8) is the eighth of the Collection of Middle Length Texts (Majjhima 
  Nikaya). Its subject matter is closely connected with that of 
  preceding text, The Simile of the Cloth (M. 7), these two discourses 
  supplement each other in several ways.
  
      The Simile of the Cloth speaks of sixteen defilements of social 
  conduct as impeding the progress on higher stages of the path to 
  deliverance. The present Discourse on Effacement widens the range to 
  forty-four detrimental qualities of mind which must effaced. These 
  include thirteen of the sixteen defilements in M. 7,* but they go 
  beyond the realm of social ethics, extending also to the hindrances, 
  the path factors, etc.; and special attention is given to the 
  effacement of wrong views (Sec. 12, No. 44). This discourse 
  supplements M. 7 also by dealing with the practical methods of 
  effacement, from the very beginning with thought-arising (Sec.  13), 
  on to avoidance (Sec. 14), etc.; and these methods apply as well to 
  the purification from the sixteen defilements given in M. 7. On the 
  other hand, the 7th discourse gives more details about the higher 
  stages of progress that follow after the initial and partial 
  purification.
  
      *[Items 1-11 and 16 of list in Sec. 3 of M. 7.]
      
      (Sec. 12) "Effacement" means the radical removal of detrimental 
  qualities of mind. The forty-four Modes of Effacement (as we may call 
  them) are enumerated in this discourse no less than five times, and 
  the first formulation (in Sec. 12) is very significant: "Others will 
  be harmful, we shall not be harmful here," and so forth through all 
  the other items. This bespeaks of the Buddha's realistic outlook as 
  befitting a world that cannot be improved by mere wishing nor by 
  "preaching at it. " There is no use nor hope in waiting for our 
  neighbour to change his ways. "Cleanup campaigns" should start at our 
  own door, and then the neighbours may well be more responsive to our 
  own example than to our preaching. Besides, if the aim is the radical 
  effacement of mental defilements, we cannot afford to waste time and 
  be deviated from our task by side-long glances at the behaviour of 
  others. Here lurks, in addition, the danger of pride.  Hence the 
  //Sutta Nipata// (v. 918) warns that "though possessing many a virtue 
  one should not compare oneself with others by deeming oneself better 
  or equal or inferior." It is a virtue that squints" (Chungtze) that 
  win deprive the progress on the path of the element of self-forgetting 
  joyous spontaneity.
      
      There is yet another reason for the injunction not to look to 
  others' behaviour or misbehaviour, and this applies particularly to 
  the defilements of social conduct mentioned in the Simile of the 
  Cloth. It is quite human to feel disappointed if one's selflessness, 
  kindliness, modesty, and so on, do not find much response in the 
  behaviour of others. Such disappointment may well discourage a person 
  not only from continuing to live according to his moral standard, but 
  also from advancing further on the road to selflessness towards higher 
  states of mental development. Such a person, after an initial 
  disappointment, may easily be led to retire into the role of the 
  "disgruntled moralist" as a respectable cloak for an egocentric life.  
  Here we meet the limitations and risks of a morality solely motivated 
  by the social response to it. To avoid such a blind alley on one's 
  road of progress, it is important to make from the very beginning that 
  "declaration of moral independence," which we may summarize thus: 
  "Others may act, speak and think wrongly, but we shall act, speak and 
  think rightly - thus effacement can be done."
  
      (Sec. 13) But the Buddha, as a knower of the human heart, was well 
  aware that such a single or even repeated resolve will not always be 
  strong enough to stir people into action. Hence, as an encouragement 
  to those who may feel disheartened by their failures, he speaks now of 
  the importance of the "arising of thoughts" aiming at carrying out 
  those acts of effacement. But again, these thoughts will not be 
  effective unless they are regularly and systematically cultivated and 
  are not allowed to lapse into oblivion. Then gradually they will be 
  absorbed by our mind and heart, and we shall fully identify ourselves 
  with those values. In that way these thoughts and aspirations will 
  grow stronger and will be able to overcome the resistance of inertia 
  and antagonistic forces, from within and without. The Master said: "To 
  whatsoever one frequently gives attention and repeatedly reflects on, 
  to that the mind will turn" (M. 19). The great German mystic of the 
  Middle Ages, Meister Eckhart, goes even a step further by saying: "If 
  you do not have the longing, have at least a longing for the longing."
      
      (Sec. 14) Next to cultivating "the heart's resolve," the first 
  direct step towards effacing the defilements is to know them, that is, 
  the clear and honest confrontation with them in one's own mind, as we 
  pointed out when considering the Simile of the Cloth (see the 
  Introduction to it, p. 3). This will surely help in preventing their 
  re-arising. But for strengthening and extending that effect, it is 
  necessary to cultivate also the positive counterparts of those 
  forty-four negative qualities, as taught in the instruction on 
  avoidance. The Buddha's formulation in this section conveys the 
  encouraging word that there actually exists such a road for avoiding 
  or circumventing the wrong path. The Buddha said: "If it were not 
  possible to give up what is evil, I would not tell you to give it up; 
  if it were not possible to develop what is good, I would not tell you 
  to develop it" (Ang. 2:2).
      
      In the field of insight (//vipassana//), this method is called 
  "abandoning by the opposite" (//tadangapahana//), but by extension we 
  may apply this term also to the wider range of our present context.
      
      (Sec. 15) Apart from its highest purpose, the cultivation of 
  positive qualities of mind is, on any level, a road of progress, a 
  "way that leads upwards." It brings results here and now, and leads to 
  a favourable and happy rebirth. It will preserve and unfold what is 
  best in us and prevent it from deterioration. Considering the fearful 
  possibilities in man's own nature and in the realms of existence, this 
  is no mean benefit of training the mind for the final effacement of 
  defilements, even if the results remain modest for a long time.
      
      (Sec. 16) For him who has advanced so far, there is now the 
  warning in the text that he should not set himself up as a saviour of 
  others while "there is still more to do" for him. At this stage, the 
  disciple may have effected some partial effacement, but still the 
  fires of greed, hatred and delusion are not quenched in him; or, to 
  express it with the other metaphor here used, he is still immersed in 
  the mire. Though his chances for freeing himself from that bog of 
  samsara have improved, any wrong step, or just his negligence and lack 
  of persevering effort, may cause a setback. Hence a determined effort 
  should now be made for the final "quenching," for radical effacement.
      
      (Secs. 1-11) This warning against an overestimation of one's 
  position links up with the first sections of our text which we have 
  still to consider. They likewise deal with the overrating of one's 
  achievements, here in the fields of insight and meditative 
  absorptions. Even initial steps in these fields may result in 
  experiences having such a strong impact on the mind that it is 
  psychologically understandable if they lead to overestimation. This 
  does not necessarily mean overrating oneself through pride, but 
  overrating the position of one's achievements on the path of progress. 
  One may believe them to be complete in their field while they are only 
  partial or to be final while they are only temporary suppressions.
      
      (Sec. 3) If confronted with "wrong views on self and world," one 
  will, at first sight, be inclined to believe that any trace of them in 
  oneself can be eliminated by intellectual refutation, that is, by 
  proving to one's own satisfaction that they are untenable. And if one 
  has a firm conviction in the truth of the Dhamma, it will be easy to 
  assume that one has discarded wrong views for good. In that 
  overestimation one may even go as far as to believe that one has 
  entirely overcome the first of the ten fetters, personality-belief, 
  and hence is on the way to Stream-entry, or has even reached it. But 
  this can never be achieved on the intellectual level alone, nor even 
  on the first stages of insight-meditation, which in themselves are no 
  mean achievement.
      
      Misconceptions of self and world, which may be quite instinctive 
  and un-philosophical, are deeply anchored in man's nature. They are 
  rooted not only in his intellectual opinions (//ditthi//), but also in 
  his cravings (//tanha//) and in his pride and self-assertion 
  (//mana//). All these three roots of wrong attitudes identify the 
  alleged self or ego with the five aggregates (//khandha//) comprising 
  personality-and-environment. These wrong attitudes towards self and 
  world may manifest themselves on various levels:  as casual 
  thought-arisings, as a habitual bias, and in words and deeds (see Note 
  8). Only if the self-identification with the actual "objects of wrong 
  views," i.e. the five aggregates, is radically dissolved on the stage 
  of Stream-entry, can it be said that wrong views of self and world 
  have been totally eliminated, together with the bias towards them. As 
  also craving and pride are involved in the formation of wrong views, 
  efforts for their effacement have to be undertaken also on the level 
  of ethical behaviour.  Hence the ethical part of the forty-four Modes 
  of Effacement has validity also for the removal of wrong views.
      
      (Secs. 4-11) The eight meditative attainments lift the human 
  consciousness to sublime heights of refinement; yet, in the case of 
  each, the Buddha emphatically says that they are not states of 
  effacement, as he understands them. They can effect only temporary 
  subsidence of defilements, and if unsupported by mature virtue and 
  insight, they cannot penetrate deep enough into the recesses of the 
  mind for a radical removal of moral and intellectual defilements. It 
  comes as a kind of anti-climax that after mentioning those sublime 
  meditative attainments, the Buddha now speaks (in Sec. 12) of such 
  quite "ordinary and earth-bound" ethical qualities as harmlessness, 
  and ascribes to them, and not to the meditative absorptions, the 
  capacity of leading to effacement.  This juxtaposition implies, 
  indeed, a very strong emphasis on the necessity of a sound ethical 
  foundation for any spiritual progress.  Often we find that mystic 
  thought, in India and elsewhere, evolving a monastic system from 
  wrongly interpreted unificatory meditative experience, has either 
  ignored ethics or found it difficult to give it a convincing place and 
  motivation in its system. The exultation of mystic experience also 
  often leads the meditator to a premature feeling of having gone 
  "beyond good and evil".  Such developments illustrate the wisdom of 
  the Buddha in insisting on a sound ethical basis instead of an 
  exclusive reliance on mystic experience.
      
      
                                 * * *
                                          
                                          
      When examining closely the structure of this discourse, we find in 
  it a repeated balancing of contrasting attitudes of mind and of 
  complementary qualities required for progress on the path. Just now we 
  have observed that meditative achievements have to be balanced with 
  deeply rooted ethical virtues, which will also provide a link between 
  the "lone meditator" and "common humanity." With the last of the 
  forty-four Modes of Effacement the effacing of wrong views is taken up 
  again, linking up with the beginning of the discourse and balancing 
  the stress on ethical values in most of the other modes. In the 
  phrasing of that last mode we note the stress laid on the overcoming 
  of opinionatedness and tenacity.  This points to the fact that, for 
  the initial "loosening up" and final overcoming of wrong views, the 
  following ethical modes are of decisive importance:  amenability (34) 
  and an increasing freedom from a domineering attitude (27), obstinacy 
  (32) and arrogance (33).
      
      The entire discourse seems to be designed to meet, in a very 
  thorough manner, two opposite psychological obstacles on the path:  
  discouragement in the face of its difficulties, and overrating of 
  partial results. The first part of the discourse (Sees. 1-11) deals 
  with the latter extreme, by stressing the limitations of initial and 
  partial progress. But for meeting any discouragement caused by these 
  warnings, the Compassionate Master speaks of the value of seemingly 
  simple ethical virtues and stresses the importance of the heart's 
  earnest resolve (Sec. 13) as the first step which anyone can take who 
  is serious about treading the path of actual effacement.
      
      These features of the discourse, without being stated explicitly, 
  are inherent in its very structure. They will reveal themselves by a 
  close scrutiny as here attempted, and particularly by the actual 
  practice of the teachings concerned. The Buddha appears here as the 
  great Teacher of the Middle Path and the incomparable guide of men's 
  hearts, deeply concerned that those who tread the path may avoid the 
  pitfalls of extreme emotional reactions and of one-sided emphasis on 
  any single aspect of the threefold totality of training: in virtue, 
  concentration and insight.
      
      
                                 * * *
      
      
      As in the preceding discourse, the rendering of the present one 
  also has been chiefly based on Nanamoli Thera's manuscript 
  translation. To a lesser extent use has been made of phrasings by Soma 
  Thera and I. B.  Horner; and for some passages the Editor's own 
  version has been included.
  
  
  
  
                      The Discourse on Effacement
                            (Sallekha Sutta)
  
      1. Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was staying at 
  Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery.
      
      2. Then one evening the venerable Maha-Cunda[1] rose from 
  meditative seclusion and went to the Blessed One. Having paid homage 
  to him, he sat down at one side and spoke thus to the Blessed One:
      
      3. "Venerable sir, there are these various views that arise in the 
  world concerning self-doctrines or world-doctrines.[2] Does the 
  abandoning and discarding of such views come about in a monk who is 
  only at the beginning of his (meditative) reflections?"[3]
      
      "Cunda, as to those several views that arise in the world 
  concerning self-doctrines and world-doctrines, if (the object) in 
  which [4] these views arise, in which they underlie and become active, 
  [5] is seen with right wisdom [6] as it actually is, [7] thus: 'This 
  is not mine, [8] this I am not, [9] this is not my self'[10] -then the 
  abandoning of these views, their discarding, [11] takes place in him 
  (who thus sees).
  
  
                         The Eight Attainments
  
      4. "It may be, Cunda, that some monk, detached from sense-objects, 
  detached from unsalutary ideas, enters into the first absorption that 
  is born of detachment, accompanied by thought-conception and 
  discursive thinking, and filled with rapture and joy, and he then 
  might think: 'I am abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's 
  discipline it is not these (attainments) that are called 'effacement'; 
  in the Noble One's discipline they are called 'abidings in ease here 
  and now.' [12]
      
      5. "It may be that after the stilling of thought conception and 
  discursive thinking, he gains the inner tranquillity and harmony of 
  the second absorption that is free of thought-conception and 
  discursive thinking, born of concentration and filled with rapture and 
  joy; and he then might think: 'I am abiding in effacement.' But in the 
  Noble One's discipline it is not these (attainments) that are called 
  'effacement'; in the Noble One's discipline they are caged 'abidings 
  in ease here and now.'
      
      6. "It may be that after the fading away of rapture, the monk 
  dwells in equanimity, mindful and clearly aware, and he experiences a 
  happiness in his body of which the Noble Ones say: 'Happily lives he 
  who dwells in equanimity and is mindful!' -- that third absorption he 
  wins; and he then might think: 'I am abiding in effacement.' But in 
  the Noble One's discipline it is not these (attainments) that are 
  called 'effacement'; in the Noble One's discipline they are called 
  'abidings in ease here and now.'
      
      7. "It may be that with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and 
  with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, he enters upon and 
  abides in the fourth absorption, which is beyond pleasure and pain and 
  has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity; and he then might think: 
  'I am abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's discipline it is 
  not these (attainments) that are called 'effacement'; in the Noble 
  One's discipline they are called 'abidings in ease here and now.'
      
      8. "It may be that, with the entire transcending of perceptions of 
  corporeality,[13] with the disappearance of perceptions of 
  sense-response,' [14] with non-attention to perceptions of variety, 
  [15] thinking: 'Space is infinite,' some monk enters upon and abides 
  in the sphere of infinite space; and he then might think: 'I am 
  abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's discipline it is not 
  these (attainments) that are called 'effacement'; in the Noble One's 
  discipline they are called 'peaceful abidings.'
      
      9. "It may be that by entirely transcending the sphere of infinite 
  space, thinking: 'Consciousness is infinite,' some monk enters and 
  abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness; and he then might 
  think: 'I am abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's discipline 
  it is not these (attainments) that are called 'effacement'; in the 
  Noble One's discipline they are called 'peaceful abidings.'
      
      10. "It may be that by entirely transcending the sphere of 
  infinite consciousness, some monk enters and abides in the sphere of 
  nothingness; and he then might think: I am abiding in effacement.' But 
  in the Noble One's discipline it is not these (attainments) that are 
  called 'effacement'; in the Noble One's discipline they are called 
  'peaceful abidings.'
      
      11. "It may be that, by entirely transcending the sphere of 
  nothingness, some monk enters and abides in the sphere of 
  neither-perception-nor-non-perception; and he then might think: 'I am 
  abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's discipline it is not 
  these (attainments) that are called 'effacement'; in the Noble one's 
  discipline they are called 'peaceful abidings.'
  
  
                               Effacement
  
      12. "But herein, Cunda, effacement should be practised by you: 
  [16]
      
      (1) others will be harmful; we shall not be harmful here -- thus 
  effacement can be done. [17]
      
      (2) Others will kill living beings; we shall abstain from killing 
  living beings here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (3) Others will take what is not given; we shall abstain from 
  taking what is not given here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (4) Others will be unchaste; we shall be chaste here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (5) Others will speak falsehood; we shall abstain from false 
  speech here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (6) Others win speak maliciously; we shall abstain from malicious 
  speech here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (7) Others will speak harshly; we shall abstain from harsh speech 
  here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (8) Others will gossip; we shall abstain from gossip here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (9) Others will be covetous; we shall not be covetous here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (10) Others will have thoughts of ill will; we shall not have 
  thoughts of ill will here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (11) Others will have wrong views; we shall have right view here 
  -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (12) Others will have wrong intention; we shall have right 
  intention here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (13) Others will use wrong speech; we shall use right speech here 
  -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (14) Others will commit wrong actions; we shall do right actions 
  here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (15) Others will have wrong livelihood; we shall have right 
  livelihood here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (16) Others will make wrong effort; we shall make right effort 
  here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (17) Others will have wrong mindfulness; we shall have right 
  mindfulness here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (18) Others will have wrong concentration; we shall have right 
  concentration here -- thus effacement can be done.
  
      (19) Others will have wrong knowledge; we shall have right 
  knowledge here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (20) Others will have wrong deliverance; we shall have right 
  deliverance here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (21) Others will be overcome by sloth and torpor; we shall be free 
  from sloth and torpor here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (22) Others will be agitated; we shall be unagitated here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (23) Others will be doubting; we shall be free from doubt here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (24) Others will be angry; we shall not be angry here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (25) Others will be hostile; we shall not be hostile here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (26) Others will denigrate; we shall not denigrate here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (27) Others will be domineering; we shall not be domineering here 
  -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (28) Others will be envious; we shall not be envious here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (29) Others will be jealous; we shall not be jealous here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (30) Others will be fraudulent; we shall not be fraudulent here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (31) Others will be hypocrites; we shall not be hypocrites here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (32) Others will be obstinate; we shall not be obstinate here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (33) Others will be arrogant; we shall not be arrogant here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (34) Others will be difficult to admonish; we shall be easy to 
  admonish here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (35) Others will have bad friends; we shag have noble friends here 
  -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (36) Others will be negligent; we shall be heedful here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (37) Others will be faithless; we shall be faithful here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (38) Others will be shameless; we shall be shameful here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
  
      (39) Others will be without conscience; we shall have conscience 
  here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (40) Others will have no learning; we shall be learned here -- 
  thus effacement can be done.
      
      (41) Others will be idle; we shall be energetic here -- thus 
  effacement can be done.
      
      (42) Others will be lacking in mindfulness; we shall be 
  established in mindfulness here -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (43) Others will be without wisdom; we shag be endowed with wisdom 
  -- thus effacement can be done.
      
      (44) Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, 
  hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them;[18] we shall 
  not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them 
  tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease -- thus effacement can 
  be done.
  
  
                         The Arising of Thought
  
      13. "Cunda, I say that even the arising of a thought concerned 
  with salutary things (and ideas)[19] is of great importance, not to 
  speak of bodily acts and words conforming (to such thought).[20] 
  Therefore, Cunda:
      
      (1) The thought should be produced: 'Others will be harmful; we 
  shall not be harmful here.'
      
      (2) The thought should be produced: 'Others will kill living 
  beings; we shall abstain from killing living beings here.'
      
      (3)-(43) . . .
      
      (44) The thought should be produced: 'Others will misapprehend 
  according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and 
  not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to 
  individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shag discard 
  them with ease.'
      
      
                               Avoidance
      
      14. "Suppose, Cunda, there were an uneven road and another even 
  road by which to avoid it; and suppose there were an uneven ford and 
  another even ford by which to avoid it. [21] So too:
      
      (1) A person given to harmfulness has non-harming by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (2) A person given to killing living beings has abstention from 
  killing by which to avoid it.
      
      (3) A person given to taking what is not given has abstention from 
  taking what is not given by which to avoid it.
      
      (4) A person given to unchastity has chastity by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (5) A person given to false speech has abstention from false 
  speech by which to avoid it.
      
      (6) A person given to malicious speech has abstention from 
  malicious speech by which to avoid it.
      
      (7) A person given to harsh speech has abstention from harsh 
  speech by which to avoid it.
      
      (8) A person given to gossip has abstention from gossip by which 
  to avoid it.
      
      (9) A person given to covetousness has non-covetousness by which 
  to avoid it.
      
      (10) A person given to thoughts of ill will has non-ill will by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (11) A person given to wrong view has right view by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (12) A person given to wrong intention has right intention by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (13) A person given to wrong speech has right speech by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (14) A person given to wrong action has right action by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (15) A person given to wrong livelihood has right livelihood by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (16) A person given to wrong effort has right effort by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (17) A person given to wrong mindfulness has right mindfulness by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (18) A person given to wrong concentration has right concentration 
  by which to avoid it.
      
      (19) A person given to wrong knowledge has right knowledge by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (20) A person given to wrong deliverance has right deliverance by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (21) A person overcome by sloth and torpor has freedom from sloth 
  and torpor by which to avoid it.
      
      (22) A person given to agitation has non-agitation by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (23) A person given to doubting has freedom from doubt by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (24) A person given to anger has freedom from anger by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (25) A person given to hostility has freedom from hostility by 
  which to avoid it.
      
      (26) A person given to denigrating has non-denigrating by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (27) A person given to domineering has non-domineering by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (28) A person given to envy has non-envy by which to avoid it.
      
      (29) A person given to jealousy has non-jealousy by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (30) A person given to fraud has non-fraud by which to avoid it.
      
      (31) A person given to hypocrisy has non-hypocrisy by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (32) A person given to obstinacy has non-obstinacy by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (33) A person given to arrogance bas non-arrogance by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (34) A person difficult to admonish has amenability by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (35) A person given to making bad friends has making good friends 
  by which to avoid it.
      
      (36) A person given to negligence has heedfulness by which to 
  avoid it.
      
      (37) A person given to faithlessness has faith by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (38) A person given to shamelessness has shame by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (39) A person without conscience has conscience by which to avoid 
  it.
      
      (40) A person without learning has acquisition of great learning 
  by which to avoid it.
      
      (41) A person given to idleness has energetic endeavour by which 
  to avoid it.
      
      (42) A person without mindfulness has the establishment of 
  mindfulness by which to avoid it.
      
      (43) A person without wisdom has wisdom by which to avoid it.
      
      (44) A person given to misapprehending according to his individual 
  views, to holding on to them tenaciously and not discarding them 
  easily, has non-misapprehension of individual views, non-holding on 
  tenaciously and ease in discarding by which to avoid it.
  
  
                             The Way Upward
      
      15. "Cunda, as all unsalutary states lead downward and all 
  salutary states lead upward, even so, Cunda:
      
      (1) A person given to harmfulness has harmlessness to lead him 
  upward.[22]
      
      (2) A person given to killing living beings bas abstention from 
  killing to lead him upwards.
      
      (3)-(43) . . .
      
      (44) A person given to misapprehending according to his individual 
  views, to holding on to them tenaciously and not discarding them 
  easily, has non-misapprehension of individual views, non-holding on 
  tenaciously and ease in discarding to lead him upward.
  
  
                               Quenching
  
      16. "Cunda, it is impossible that one who is himself sunk in the 
  mire[23] should pull out another who is sunk in the mire. But it is 
  possible, Cunda, that one not sunk in the mire himself should pull out 
  another who is sunk in the mire.
      
      "It is not possible, Cunda, that one who is himself not 
  restrained, not disciplined and not quenched (as to his passions), 
  [24] should make others restrained and disciplined, should make them 
  attain to the full quenching (of passions).[25] But it is possible, 
  Cunda, that one who is himself restrained, disciplined and fully 
  quenched (as to his passions) should make others restrained and 
  disciplined, should make them attain to the full quenching (of 
  passions). Even so, Cunda: [26]
      
      (1) A person given to harmfulness has harmlessness by which to 
  attain to the full quenching (of it).
      
      (2) A person given to killing living beings has abstention from 
  killing by which to attain to the full quenching (of it).
      
      (3)-(43) . . .
      
      (44) A person given to misapprehending according to his individual 
  views, to holding on to them tenaciously and not discarding them 
  easily, has non-misapprehension of individual views, non-holding on 
  tenaciously and ease in discarding by which to attain the quenching 
  (of them).
      
      
                               Conclusion
      
      17. "Thus, Cunda, I have shown to you the instruction on 
  effacement, I have shown to you the instruction on thought's arising, 
  I have shown to you the instruction on avoidance, I have shown to you 
  the instruction on the way upward, I have shown to you the instruction 
  on quenching.
      
      18. "What can be done for his disciples by a Master who seeks 
  their welfare and has compassion and pity on them, that I have done 
  for you, Cunda. [27] There are these roots of trees, there are empty 
  places.  Meditate, Cunda, do not delay, lest you later regret it. 
  'This is my message to you."
      
      Thus spoke the Blessed One. Satisfied, the venerable Cunda 
  rejoiced in the Blessed One's words.
      
      
                                 * * *
      
      
      The concluding verse added by the 'Theras of the First Council:
      
            Deep like the ocean is this Suttanta on 
            Effacement,
            Dealing with forty-four items, showing them in 
              five sections.
            
            
            
            
            
            
                                 NOTES
  
  1. Maha-Cunda Thera was the brother of the venerable Sariputta Thera.
  
  2. //Self-doctrines or world-doctrines// (//atta-vada, lokavada//). 
       According to Comy., this refers: (a) to the twenty types of 
       personality-belief (//sakkaya-ditthi//), i.e. four for each of 
       the five aggregates (//khandha//); (b) to eight wrong views about 
       self and world, as being eternal, not eternal, both eternal and 
       not eternal, neither eternal nor not eternal, and the same four 
       alternatives concerning finite and infinite.
  
  3. //In a monk who is only at the beginning of his (meditative) 
       reflections// (//adim-eva manasikaroto//). Comy.: "This refers to 
       one who is at the beginning of his insight-meditation 
       (//vipassana-bhavana//) and has not yet attained to 
       Stream-entry," when the fetter of personality-belief is finally 
       eliminated. The beginner's insight-practice extends from the 
       "discernment of mentality and corporeality" 
       (//namarupa-pariccheda//) up to the "knowledge of rise and fall" 
       (//udayabbaya-nana//), on which see //Path of Purification// 
       (//Visuddhimagga//), Chs. XVIII, XX, XXI.
  
         According to the Comy., the Thera's question concerns those 
       who overrate the degree of their achievement, i.e. those who 
       believe that, in their meditative practice, they have achieved 
       this or that result while actually they have not. Overestimation 
       (//abhimana//), in that sense, "does not arise in ignorant common 
       people (//bala-puthujjana//) who are entirely engrossed in 
       worldly life, nor does it arise in Noble Disciples 
       (//ariya-savaka//); because in a Stream-winner the overestimation 
       does not arise that he is a Once-returner, etc. 
       Self-overestimation can occur only in one who actually practises 
       (meditation) and has temporarily subdued the defilements by way 
       of tranquillity or insight.  Maha-Cunda Thera, being an Arahat, 
       was no self-overrater himself, but in formulating his question, 
       he put himself in the place of one who is; or, as others say, 
       there may have been such "self-overraters" among his pupils, and 
       for conveying to them the Buddha's reply, he put his question.
  
  4. //(The object) in which// (//yattha//). Comy.: //yattha// (where) = 
       //yasmim arammane//. The object, or basis, the five aggregates, 
       because all false views on self and world can refer only to the 
       five aggregates to one of them. See //Discourse on the Snake 
       Simile// (Wheel No. 47/48), p. 8, and //Anatta and Nibbana//, by 
       Nyanaponika Thera (Wheel No. 11), p. 18 (quotation).
  
  5. //In which these views arise// (//yattha uppajjanti//), i.e. arise 
       for the first time, without having occurred earlier (Comy.).
  
         //Underlie// (//anusenti//), i.e. habitually occur (cf.  
       //anusaya//, "tendency," which may be latent or active). Comy.: 
       "This refers to views which, having been indulged in repeatedly, 
       have become strong and have not been removed." Sub.Comy.: "By 
       ultimate elimination (//samuccheda-vinaya-vasena//)."
  
         //Become active// (//samudacaranti//). Comy.: "Wrong views 
       have arrived at the (action-) doors of body and speech," i.e. 
       which have found expression in words and deeds.
  
  6. //With right wisdom// (//sammappannaya//). Comy.: "With 
       insight-wisdom, ending with the knowledge pertaining to the path 
       of Stream-entry."
  
  7. //As it actually is// (//yatha-bhutam//). Comy.: "Because the five 
       aggregates exist only in that manner (i.e. as something 'that is 
       not mine,' etc.). But if conceived in the way 'It is mine,' etc., 
       it simply does not exist (//n'ev'atthi//)."
  
  8. //This is not mine//: hereby craving (//tanha//) is rejected.
  
  9. //This I am not//: this refers to the rejection of conceit 
       (//mana//).
  
  10. //This is not my self//: this refers to the rejection of false 
       views (//ditthi//).
  
  11. //Abandoning . . . discarding// (//pahanam . . . patinissaggo//). 
       Comy.:  "Both terms are synonymous with the ultimate eradication 
       of wrong views, taking place at Stream-entry when the fetter of 
       personality belief is destroyed."
  
  12. Now the Buddha speaks, on his own, of another type of 
       "self-overrater," i.e. of those who have realized any of the 
       eight meditative attainments (//samapatti//) and believe that 
       this signifies true "effacement" (//sallekha//).
  
         The common meaning of //sallekha//* is austere practice or 
       asceticism; but in the Buddha's usage it is the radical 
       "effacing" or removal of the defilements.
  
         *[//Sallekha// (= //sam-lekha//) is derived from the verbal 
       root //likh//, to scratch; hence //likhati// (a) to scratch in, 
       to write; (b) to scratch off, to remove: //samlikhati//, "to 
       remove fully." An interesting parallel is "//ascesis//," derived 
       from the Greek //askeuein//, to scratch. The rendering by 
       "effacement" is Nanamoli Thera's; Soma Thera has "cancelling"; I. 
       B. Horner, "expunging."]
  
         The eight stages of meditation given here in the discourse, 
       consist of the four fine-material absorptions (//rupajjhana/) and 
       the four immaterial absorptions (/arupajjhana//). Comy. says that 
       these meditative attainments "are in common with the ascetics 
       outside (the Buddha's Dispensation)."
         
         Comy.:  "The overrater's meditative absorption is neither 
       'effacement' nor is it the 'path of practice for effacement' 
       (//sallekha-patipada//). And why not?  Because that jhana is not 
       used by him as a basis for insight; that is, after rising from 
       jhana he does not scrutinise the (physical and mental) 
       formations" (see //Visuddhimagga// transl. by Nanamoli, Ch. 
       XVIII, 3).  His jhana produces only one-pointedness of mind, and 
       is, as our text says, an "abiding in ease here and now."
  
  13. "By '//perceptions of corporeality//' (//rupasanna//) are meant 
       the absorptions of the fine-material sphere (//rupajjhana//) as 
       well as those things that are their objects" (//Visuddhimagga//).
  
  14. //Perceptions of sense-response// (lit. resistance, 
       //patigha-sanna//) are perceptions arisen through the impact of 
       the physical sense bases (eye, etc.) and their objects.
  
  15. //Perceptions of variety// (//nanatta-sanna//) are perceptions 
       that arise in a variety of fields, or various perceptions in 
       various fields.  This refers to all perceptions belonging to the 
       sense sphere (//kamavacara//).
  
  16. Comy.: "Now, the Blessed One shows in forty-four ways where 
       effacement should be practised. But why are harmlessness and the 
       other states regarded as effacement, unlike the eight meditative 
       attainments? Because they are a basis for the supramundane 
       (//lokuttara-padaka//); while, for outsiders, the eight 
       attainments are merely a basis for (continuing) the round of 
       existence (//vatta-padaka//), (because by non-Buddhists they are 
       practised for the sake of rebirth in higher worlds). But in the 
       Buddha's Dispensation, even the Going for Refuge is a basis for 
       the supramundane.
  
         Sub.Comy.: "If one, wishing to overcome the suffering of 
       samsara, goes with joyful confidence for refuge to the Triple 
       Gem, then this Refuge will be for him a supporting condition for 
       higher virtue, etc.  (i.e. higher mentality and higher wisdom), 
       and it may gradually lead him to the attainment of the path of 
       understanding (//dassana-magga//; i.e. Stream-entry)."
  
  
                   The Forty-four Ways of Effacement
  
  (1) //Harmful and harmless// are not attached to a group of standard 
       doctrinal categories as most of the other qualities are. On 
       "harmlessness" see Note 17.
  
  (2)-(11) are the courses of action (//kammapatha//), unsalutary 
       (//akusala//) and salutary (//kusala//), referring to body (2-4), 
       speech (5-8) and mind (9-11).
  
  (12)-(18) are the last seven factors of the eightfold path (wrong and 
       right), also called the eight states of wrongness or rightness 
       (//micchatta, sammatta//). The first path factor, right (or 
       wrong) view, is not separately mentioned, being identical with 
       (11).
  
  (19)-(20) are often added to the eightfold path.
  
  (21)-(23) are the last three of the five hindrances (//nivarana//); 
       the first two are identical with (9) and (10), and therefore not 
       repeated here.
  
  (24)-(33) are ten of the sixteen defilements (//upakkilesa//) 
       mentioned in M.7 (Simile of the Cloth).
  
  (34)-(36) are called in the Commentary the miscellaneous factors 
       (//pakinnaka//).
  
  (37)-(43) are the seven "good qualities" (//saddhamma//), mentioned in 
       M. 53. Comy.: "In this connection they are mentioned as forming 
       the complete equipment required for insight (//vipassana-sambharo 
       paripuro//)."
  
  (44) is unattached to any group of terms. (See Note 18).
  
  17. Comy.: "Harmlessness is called 'effacement,' because it effaces 
       harmfulness, i.e. it cuts it off (//chindati//). This method of 
       explanation applies to all other terms."
  
         Sub.Comy.: "But why is harmlessness (or nonviolence, 
       //ahimsa//) mentioned at the very beginning? Because it is the 
       root of all virtues; harmlessness, namely, is a synonym of 
       compassion.  Especially, it is the root-cause of morality because 
       it makes one refrain from immorality which has as its 
       characteristic mark the harming of others. Just as the killing of 
       living beings has the harming of others as its mark, so also the 
       taking away of others' property; for 'robbing a man's wealth is 
       worse than stabbing him.'* Similarly, chastity removes the cause 
       for the pains of child bearing, etc., and there is hardly a need 
       to mention the harm done by adultery.
  
         *[This is given in Pali as direct speech or quote; perhaps it 
       was a common adage.]
  
         "Obvious is also the harm done to others by deception, by 
       causing dissension and by backbiting. The mark of harming others 
       is also attached to gossip because it takes away what is 
       beneficial and causes to arise what is not beneficial; to 
       covetousness, as it causes one to take what is not given; to ill 
       will, as it causes killing, etc.; to wrong views, as they are the 
       cause of all that is un-beneficial. One who holds wrong views 
       may, in the conviction of acting righteously, kill living beings 
       and incite others to do likewise. There is nothing to say about 
       other (and lesser immoral acts induced by false views).
         
         "Harmlessness (i.e. the principle of non-violence) has the 
       characteristic mark of making one refrain from immorality which, 
       on its part, has the mark of harming. Hence harmlessness is an 
       especially strong productive cause of morality; and morality, 
       again, is the basis for concentration of mind, while 
       concentration is the basis for wisdom. In that way harmlessness 
       (non-violence) is the root of all virtues.
         
         "Furthermore, in the case of the highest type of men 
       (//uttamapurisa//) who have noble aspirations, who act 
       considerately and wisely, also their mental concentration and 
       their wisdom, just as their morality, is conducive to the weal 
       and happiness of others. In that way, too, compassion is the root 
       of all virtues, and therefore it has been mentioned at the 
       beginning.
         
         "Now, (after harmlessness), the salutary courses of action 
       (//kusala-kammapatha//; 2-11) are to show that these states are 
       produced by harmlessness. Then follow the eight states of 
       rightness (11-18) to show that they must be brought about by 
       basing them on morality, which is the root of these virtues. Now 
       the separation from the hindrances (21-23, and 16, 17) is 
       included to indicate that this is the primary task for one intent 
       on purifying (his practice of) the eightfold path. Then follows 
       the cleansing from the defilements (24-33) to indicate that 
       effacement is accomplished by giving up anger (24), etc. And the 
       cleansing from the defilements will be successful when aided by 
       amenability to advice, noble friendship and heedful diligence 
       (34-36).
  
         "Now the seven noble qualities (37-43) are included to show 
       that they will come to perfection in him who is endowed with 
       amenability and the other (two factors); and that they, on their 
       part, after having strengthened insight, will lead to the paths 
       of sanctitude. (See end of Note 16.)
         
         "Finally, the passage on 'misapprehending according to one's 
       individual views,' etc. (44) is meant to indicate that for such a 
       one (i.e. for one bent on effacement) that wrong attitude is an 
       obstacle to the attainment of the supramundane virtues and is, 
       therefore, to be avoided totally. This passage on misapprehending 
       (about which see Note 18) is also meant to show that one who, by 
       the right conduct here described, is in the process of attaining 
       one of the paths of sanctitude, win be led to the acme of 
       effacement (by this last-mentioned threefold way of effacement).
         
         "In this manner should be understood the purpose of stating 
       these forty-four modes of effacement as well as the order in 
       which they appear in the discourse."
  
  18. Comy.: "A single wrong view (or wrong attitude), which is an 
       obstacle for the supramundane qualities and hence does not lead 
       to emancipation, is here described in three aspects:
  
         (a) //Others will misapprehend according to their individual 
       views// (//sanditthi-paramasi//). Sub.Comy.: //sa(m)// = 
       //attano//, one's own.  //Paramasi// means setting aside the 
       actual nature of a thing, one conceives it differently 
       (//sabhavam atikkamitva parato amasana//).
         
         (b) Hold on tenaciously (//adhanaggahi//). Sub. Comy.: 
       //adhana// = //dalha//, tight, firm.
         
         (c) Discards not easily. Comy.: "There are those who can 
       discard their views on seeing a convincing reason. But others, 
       even if shown many reasons, cannot give up their views; and of 
       them it is said that they 'do not discard easily.' It refers to 
       those who cling firmly to a subjective view that has occurred to 
       them, believing 'only this is the truth.' Even if the Buddhas or 
       others show them reasons, they do not relinquish their views. 
       Such people, whatever idea they conceive, be it in accordance 
       with Dhamma or not, will say: 'So it has been told by our 
       teacher. So we have learned it'; and they will withdraw into 
       themselves like a turtle drawing its limbs into its shell. They 
       hold on to their views with the tight grip of a crocodile and do 
       not let go."
  
  19. //Salutary//: //kusala//, also translated by wholesome, 
       profitable, skilful. There salutary things, says Sub. Comy., are 
       the modes of effacement mentioned.
  
  20. Sub.Comy.: "For those who cannot take up, by actual application, 
       the practice of effacement, even the arising of a thought 
       (//cittuppado//), i.e. an inclination for it, is of great 
       importance.
  
         Comy. says that a salutary thought is of great importance as 
       it leads entirely to weal and happiness, and as it is the cause 
       for the subsequent actions conforming to it. Examples are given 
       beginning with the intention to give almsfood to monks, up to the 
       aspiration for Buddhahood. The Sub.Comy., however, says that in 
       some cases the importance is not in the thought itself but only 
       in the actual execution of it. This certainly applies to the 
       intention to give alms, etc. But in the efforts for effacing the 
       defilements, the formation of a mental attitude directed towards 
       it, in other words, the heart's resolve, is certainly an 
       important factor.
         
         This section of the discourse has been condensed in the 
       present translation. But he who has chosen the path of effacement 
       as his way of practice (//patipada//) is well advised to repeat 
       all forty-four items, linking them with his heart's earnest 
       resolve. Also, the last two sections of the discourse have been 
       condensed.
  
  21. Comy.: "//Parikkamana// (lit. going around, circumventing) has the 
       meaning of 'avoiding' (//parivajjana//). For the avoiding of 
       harmfulness there is the ready road of harmlessness, walking on 
       which one may easily experience felicity among humans or deities, 
       or one may cross over (by that ford) from this world (to the 
       other shore, Nibbana). The same method of explanation applies to 
       the other sentences."
  
  22. Comy.: "The meaning is this: Any unsalutary states of mind, 
       whether they produce rebirth or not, and whether, in a given 
       rebirth, they produce kamma results or not -- all, because of 
       their type, i.e. by being unsalutary, lead downwards (to lower 
       worlds).  They are just like that because, on the occasion of 
       their yielding a kamma result, that result will be undesirable 
       and unpleasant.
  
         "Any salutary states of mind, whether they produce rebirth or 
       not, and whether, in a given rebirth, they produce kamma results 
       or not -- all, because of their type, lead upwards. They are just 
       like that because, on the occasion of their yielding a kamma 
       result, that result will be desirable and pleasant.
         
         "The connection (in the discourse, between the general 
       principle stated first, and its specific application to the 
       forty-four cases) is as follows: just as unsalutary states lead 
       downwards, so it is with that one state of harmfulness for him 
       who is harmful. Just as all salutary states lead upwards, so it 
       is with that one state of harmlessness for him who is harmless."
  
  23. Comy.: "In the Noble One's discipline, the 'mire' is a name for 
       the five sense desires."
  
  24. //Not fully quenched// (//aparinibbuto//) Comy.: "with defilements 
       not extinguished (//anibbuta-kilesa//)."
  
  25. Comy.: "There may be those who object that this is not correct 
       because some come to penetration of the Dhamma 
       (//dhammabhisamaya//, i.e. Stream-entry) after listening to an 
       exposition of the Teaching by monks or nuns, male or female lay 
       followers, who are still worldlings (//puthujjana//; i.e. have 
       not attained to any of the paths of sanctitude). Hence one who is 
       still in the mire can pull out others.  (Reply:) This should not 
       be understood in that way. It is the Blessed One who here does 
       the pulling out.
  
         "Suppose there is a king who sends a letter to the border 
       region, and the people there, unable to read it by themselves, 
       have the letter read to them by another able to do it. Having 
       learned of the contents, they respond with respect, knowing it as 
       the king's order. But they do not think that it is the letter 
       reader's order; he will receive praise only for his smooth and 
       fluent reading of the letter. Similarly, even if preachers of the 
       ability of Sariputta Thera expound the Dhamma, still they are 
       just like readers of a letter written by another. Their sermon 
       should truly be attributed to the Blessed One, like the decree to 
       the king. The preachers, however, receive their limited praise, 
       just because they expound the Dhamma with a smooth and fluent 
       diction. Hence that statement in the discourse is correct."
  
  26. For the connection between the modes of effacement and the 
       preceding simile, Comy. gives two alterative explanations:
  
         (a) Just as one who is not sunk in the mire himself can pull 
       others out of it, similarly he who is harmless himself can quench 
       another's harmful volition.
         
         (b) Just as only he who has quenched his own passions can help 
       one who has not quenched them, similarly only a volition of 
       harmlessness can quench a harmful volition.
  
  27. Comy.: "So far goes a compassionate teacher's task namely, the 
       correct exposition of his teaching; that, namely, the practice 
       (according to the teaching; //patipatti//), is the task of the 
       disciples."
  
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