"Meditators, these two extremes ought to be avoided by one who has gone forth from the household life. What are the two?
"There is devotion (addiction) to indulgence of sense-pleasures -- which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable. And there is devotion to severe asceticism (self-mortification,
self-abuse beyond the 13 kinds of
"sane" ascetic practices), which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable [and the way of many penitents, hermits, and
religieux].
 |
| Discourse (sutra) to the Five Ascetics (MT) |
"Avoiding both of these extremes, the Wayfarer (the
Tathagata, the Perfect One) has realized the Middle Path; it gives knowledge, gives vision, and leads to calm, to liberating-insight, to enlightenment, and to nirvana. And what is that Middle Path realized by the Wayfarer...?
It is the
Noble Eightfold Path, and nothing else, namely: (1) right understanding, (2) right thought (intention), (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration (absorption).
This is the Middle Path realized by the Wayfarer, which gives knowledge and vision (knowing and seeing), and leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, and to nirvana.
I. "The noble truth of
disappointment (
dukkha)
, meditators, is this: Birth is disappointing, aging is disappointing, sickness is disappointing, death is disappointing, association with the unpleasant is disappointing, separation from the pleasant is disappointing, not getting what one desires is disappointing -- in brief the
Five Aggregates subject to clinging are disappointing.
II."The noble truth of the origin (cause) of disappointment is this: It is this craving (thirst), which produces re-becoming (rebirth) accompanied by passionate greed, finding fresh delight now here, now there -- namely, craving for sense pleasure, craving for [eternal] existence, and craving for non-existence (self-annihilation).
III."The noble truth of the cessation of disappointment is this: It is the complete cessation of this very craving, giving it up, relinquishing it, liberating oneself from it, and detaching from it (letting go by dispassion brought on by insight into the
true nature of all phenomena).
IV."The noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of disappointment is this: It is the Noble Eightfold Path, and nothing else, namely: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
 |
| The Five Ascetics became the first monastic disciples (earthyogi) |
"'This is the noble truth of disappointment' -- such was the knowledge, the vision, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before. 'This disappointment, as a noble truth, should be fully realized' -- such was the vision, the knowledge, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before. 'This disappointment, as a noble truth has been fully realized' -- such was the vision, the knowledge, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before.
"'This is the noble truth of the origin (cause) of disappointment': such was the knowledge, the vision, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before. 'This origin of disappointment as a noble truth should be eradicated' -- such was the knowledge, the vision, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before. 'This origin of disappointment as a noble truth has been eradicated' -- such was the knowledge, the vision, the wisdom, the certainty, the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before.
"'This is the noble truth of the cessation of disappointment' -- such was the knowledge, the vision... the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before.
"'This is the noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of disappointment' -- such was the knowledge, the vision... the light that arose in me concerning things never heard before.
"As long as my knowledge of seeing things as they really are was not clear in these three aspects, in these 12 ways, concerning the
Four Noble Truths, I did not claim to have realized the matchless, supreme enlightenment, in this world with its
devas (
fairies), with its
maras (killers), and
brahmas (
divinities), in this [human] generation with its
wandering ascetics and Brahmins, with its
devas and human beings.
"But when my knowledge of seeing things as they really are was clear in these three aspects, in these 12 ways, concerning the Four Noble Truths, then I claimed to have realized the matchless, supreme enlightenment in this world with its fairies, with its killers and divinities, in this generation with its wandering ascetics and Brahmins, with its
devas and human beings. And a vision of insight arose in me:
"'Unshakable is the deliverance of my heart. This is the final birth. Now there is no more re-becoming (rebirth).'"
This is what the Blessed One said. The group of five ascetics was gladdened, and they rejoiced in the words of the Blessed One.
Reaction  |
| Buddha, ascetics, devas (sundaytimes.lk) |
When this (first) discourse was expounded, there arose in Kondañña the passion-free, stainless vision of Truth (
dhamma-cakkhu). In other words, he attained stream entry
, the first stage of enlightenment, realizing: "Whatever has the nature of arising has the nature of ceasing."
When the Blessed One set in motion the Wheel of Truth (Dharma), the earthbound
devas proclaimed: "The matchless Wheel of Truth that cannot be set in motion by any (ordinary) wandering ascetic, Brahmin,
deva, killer, divinity, or anyone in the world, is set in motion by the Blessed One in the Deer Park at the Resort of Seers near Varanasi."
Hearing these words of the earthbound
devas, all the
devas of the Realm of the Four Great Kings (of the four quarters) proclaimed: "The matchless Wheel of Truth that cannot be set in motion by any ordinary wandering ascetic, Brahmin,
deva, killer, divinity, or anyone in the world, is set in motion by the Blessed One in the Deer Park at the Resort of Seers near Varanasi."
These words were heard in the upper
deva realms, and from Realm of the Four Great Sky Kings it was proclaimed in
deva Realm of the Thirty-Three... Contented...
Tusita (Joyful)...Delighting in Creating... Delighting in the Creation of Others... and the Divinities of Brahma's Retinue... Brahma Ministers... Great Brahma... Limited Radiance... Limitless Radiance... Feeding on Delight (Splendid)... Limited Beauty... Limitless Beauty... Total Beauty... Of Great Fruit... Insensate... [The
Pure Abodes:] Not Falling Back... Beautiful... Clear-Seeing... and Equal-in-Rank:
"The matchless Wheel of Truth that cannot be set in motion by any ordinary wandering ascetic, Brahmin,
deva, killer, divinity, or anyone in the world, is set in motion by the Blessed One in the Deer Park at the Resort of Seers near Varanasi."
At that very moment, at that instant, the cry (that the Wheel of Truth had been set in motion) spread as far as Brahma world [in space], and the system of 10,000 worlds trembled and quaked and shook.
And an unbounded sublime radiance surpassing the effulgence (power) of (self-luminous)
devas appeared in the world-system.
Then the Blessed One uttered this paean of joy: "Truly Kondañña knows, truly Kondañña knows (has penetrated these four ennobling truths)." So it was that Ven. Kondañña received the name Añña Knondañña -- "Kondañña who knows."
Marathon Monks" of Japan undertake a perilous journey to "enlightenment" (satori, which is not enlightenment in Zen or kenshō but only an "epiphany") -- choosing suicide if they fail to complete the journey, and often dying en route. 
