This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon greed as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."1 This is the meaning of what the Blessed One said. So with regard to this it was said:2

The greed with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	coveting:
from rightly discerning that greed,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This, too, was the meaning of what was said by the Blessed One, so I have heard.4

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon aversion as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."

The aversion with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	upset:
from rightly discerning that aversion,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon delusion as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."

The delusion with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	confused:
from rightly discerning that delusion,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon anger as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."

The anger with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	enraged:
from rightly discerning that anger,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon contempt as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."

The contempt with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	disdainful:
from rightly discerning that contempt,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Abandon one quality, monks, and I guarantee you non-return. Which one quality? Abandon conceit as the one quality, and I guarantee you non-return."

The conceit with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	proud:
from rightly discerning that conceit,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
		again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, one who has not fully known & fully understood the All,1 whose mind has not been cleansed of passion for it, has not abandoned it, is incapable of putting an end to stress. But one who has fully known & fully understood the All, whose mind has been cleansed of passion for it, has abandoned it, is capable of putting an end to stress."

Knowing the All
	from all around,
not stirred by passion
	for anything at all:
he, having comprehended
	the All,
has gone beyond
	all stress.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, one who has not fully known & fully understood conceit, whose mind has not been cleansed of it, has not abandoned it, is incapable of putting an end to stress. But one who has fully known & fully understood conceit, whose mind has been cleansed of it, has abandoned it, is capable of putting an end to stress."

People are
	possessed by conceit
	tied up with conceit
	delighted with becoming.
Not comprehending conceit,
they come to becoming again.
But those who, letting go of conceit,
are, in its destruction, released,
conquering the bond of conceit,
	go beyond
all bonds.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, one who has not fully known & fully understood greed, who has not detached his mind from it and let go of it, is incapable of putting an end to stress. But one who has fully known & fully understood greed, who has detached his mind from it and let go of it, is capable of putting an end to stress."

The greed with which
beings go to a bad destination,
	coveting:
from rightly discerning that greed,
those who see clearly
		let go.
	Letting go,
they never come to this world
				again.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, one who has not fully known & fully understood aversion... delusion... anger... contempt, who has not detached his mind from it and let go of it, is incapable of putting an end to stress. But one who has fully known & fully understood aversion... delusion... anger... contempt, who has detached his mind from it and let go of it, is capable of putting an end to stress."

[The verses for these discourses = those for discourses 2-5.]

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, I don't envision even one other obstruction — obstructed by which people go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time — like the obstruction of ignorance. Obstructed with the obstruction of ignorance, people go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time."

No one other thing
so obstructs people
that they wander on, day & night,
	as when they're ensnared
with delusion.
But those who, letting go of delusion,
shatter		the mass of darkness,
wander		no further.
	Their cause isn't found.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, I don't envision even one other fetter — fettered by which beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time — like the fetter of craving. Fettered with the fetter of craving, beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time."

With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.
Neither in this state here
nor anywhere else
does he go beyond
the wandering-	on.
Knowing this drawback — 
that craving brings stress into play — 
free		from craving,
devoid		of clinging,
mindful,		the monk
	lives the mendicant life.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "With regard to internal factors, I don't envision any other single factor like appropriate attention1 as doing so much for a monk in training,2 who has not attained the heart's goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage.3 A monk who attends appropriately abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful.

Appropriate attention
	as a quality
of a monk in training:
nothing else
does so much
for attaining the superlative goal.
A monk, striving appropriately,
	attains the ending of stress.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "With regard to external factors, I don't envision any other single factor like admirable friendship1 as doing so much for a monk in training, who has not attained the heart's goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage. A monk who is a friend with admirable people abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful."

A monk with admirable people
	as friends
— who's reverential, respectful,
doing what his friends advise — 
mindful, alert,
attains step by step
	the ending of all fetters.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "One thing, when arising in the world, arises for the detriment of many, for the unhappiness of many, for the detriment & unhappiness of many beings, both human & divine. Which one thing? Schism in the Sangha. When the Sangha is split, there are arguments with one another, there is abuse of one another, ganging up on one another, abandoning of one another. Then those with little confidence [in the teaching] lose all confidence, while some of those who are confident become otherwise."

Doomed for an aeon
	to deprivation,
		to hell:
one who has split the Sangha.
	Delighting in factions,
	unjudicious — 
	he's barred
from safety from bondage.
Having split a Sangha in concord,
he cooks for an aeon
	in hell.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "One thing, when arising in the world, arises for the welfare of many, for the happiness of many, for the welfare & happiness of many beings, both human & divine. Which one thing? Concord in the Sangha. When the Sangha is in concord, there are no arguments with one another, no abuse of one another, no ganging up on one another, no abandoning of one another. Then those with little confidence [in the teaching] become confident, while those already confident become even more so."

Blissful is concord in the Sangha.
One who assists in concord — 
	delighting in concord,
	judicious — 
isn't barred from safety from bondage.
Having brought concord to the Sangha,
he rejoices for an aeon
	in heaven.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "There is the case where a certain person is a corrupt-minded. Having encompassed that mind with [my] awareness, I discern, 'If this person were to die at this instant, then as if he were to be carried off, he would thus be placed in hell.' Why is that? Because his mind is corrupt. It's because of corrupt-mindedness that there are cases where beings — at the break-up of the body, after death — reappear in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell."

Knowing the case
of a corrupt-minded person,
the One Awakened explained its meaning
in the presence of the monks.
If that person
were to die at this instant,
he'd reappear in hell
because his mind is corrupt — 
	as if he were carried off
	and placed there.
It's because of corrupt-mindedness
	that beings go
	to a bad destination.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "There is the case where a certain person is a clear-minded. Having encompassed that mind with [my] awareness, I discern, 'If this person were to die at this instant, then as if he were to be carried off, he would thus be placed in heaven.' Why is that? Because his mind is clear. It's because of clear-mindedness that there are cases where beings — at the break-up of the body, after death — reappear in the heavenly world."

Knowing the case
of a clear-minded person,
the One Awakened explained its meaning
in the presence of the monks.
If that person
were to die at this instant,
he'd reappear in heaven
because his mind is clear — 
	as if he were carried off
	and placed there.
It's because of clear-mindedness
	that beings go
	to a good destination.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Monks, don't be afraid of acts of merit. This is another way of saying what is blissful, desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming — i.e., acts of merit. I am cognizant that, having long performed meritorious deeds, I long experienced desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming results. Having developed a mind of good will for seven years, then for seven aeons of contraction & expansion I didn't return to this world. Whenever the aeon was contracting, I went to the realm of Streaming Radiance. Whenever the aeon was expanding, I reappeared in an empty Brahma-abode. There I was the Great Brahman, the Unconquered Conqueror, All-seeing, & Wielder of Power. Then for thirty-six times I was Sakka, ruler of the gods. For many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning emperor, a righteous king of Dhamma, conqueror of the four corners of the earth, maintaining stable control over the countryside, endowed with the seven treasures1 — to say nothing of the times I was a local king. The thought occurred to me: 'Of what action of mine is this the fruit, of what action the result, that I now have such great power & might?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'This is the fruit of my three [types of] action, the result of three types of action, that I now have such great power & might: i.e., giving, self-control, & restraint.'"

Train in acts of merit
that bring long-lasting bliss — 
develop giving,
		a life in tune,
	a mind of good-will.
Developing these
three things
that bring about bliss,
		the wise reappear
		in a world of bliss
unalloyed.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "This one quality, if developed & pursued, keeps both kinds of benefit secure: benefits in this life & benefits in lives to come. Which one quality? Heedfulness with regard to skillful qualities. This the one quality that, if developed & pursued, keeps both kinds of benefit secure: benefits in this life & benefits in lives to come."

They praise heedfulness, the wise,
in doing acts of merit.
When heedful, wise,
you achieve both kinds of benefit:
	benefits	in this life,
	& benefits	in lives to come.

By breaking through to your benefit,
you're called enlightened,
	wise.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "If a single person were to wander & transmigrate on for an aeon, he/she would leave behind a chain of bones, a pile of bones, a heap of bones, as large as this Mount Vepulla, if there were someone to collect them and the collection were not destroyed."

The accumulation
of a single person's
bones for an aeon
would be a heap
on a par with the mountain,
so said the Great Seer.
	(He declared this to be
	the great Mount Vepulla
	to the north of Vulture's Peak
	in the mountain-ring
	of the Magadhans.)
But when that person sees
with right discernment
the four Noble Truths — 
	stress,
	the cause of stress,
	the transcending of stress,
	& the Noble Eightfold Path,
	the way to the stilling of stress — 
having wandered on
seven times at most, then,
	with the ending of all fetters,
		he puts a stop
		to stress.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "For the person who transgresses in one thing, I tell you, there is no evil deed that is not to be done. Which one thing? This: telling a deliberate lie."

The person who lies,
who transgress in this one thing,
transcending concern for the world beyond:
	there's no evil
		he might not do.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of selfishness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared, if there were someone to receive their gift. But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they eat without having given. The stain of selfishness overcomes their minds."

If beings knew
what the Great Seer said,
how the result of sharing
has such great fruit,
then, subduing the stain of selfishness
with brightened awareness,
they'd give in season
	to the noble ones,
	where a gift bears great fruit.
Having given food
	as an offering
	to those worthy of offerings,
many donors,
when they pass away from here,
	the human state,
go
	to heaven.
They, having gone there
	to heaven,
		rejoice,
enjoying sensual pleasures.
Unselfish, they
partake of the result
			of sharing.