Knowledge and Vision

With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to knowing and vision.

He understands thus: This body of mine is material, made up of the four great elements, born of mother and father, nourished with rice and gruel, subject to impermanence, to being worn and rubbed away, to breaking apart and destruction; and this consciousness of mine is dependent on it and bound up with it.

Just as, O great king, a beautiful beryl gem, eight-faceted, well-cut, clear, bright, and unblemished, would be strung with a blue, yellow, red, white, or orange thread. A man with good eyesight, taking it in his hand, would examine it thus: This is a beautiful beryl gem, eight-faceted, well-cut, clear, bright, and unblemished, and this thread is blue, yellow, red, white, or orange.

In the same way, O great king, a disciple with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines it to knowing and vision. He understands thus: This body of mine is material, made up of the four great elements, born of mother and father, nourished with rice and gruel, subject to impermanence, to being worn and rubbed away, to breaking apart and destruction; and this consciousness of mine is dependent on it and bound up with it. This, O great king, is a visible fruit of the ascetic life, more excellent and sublime than the previous visible fruits of the ascetic life.

4.3.3.2. Knowledge of the Mind-Made Body

With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to the creation of a mind-made body. From this body, he creates another body, having form, mind-made, complete in all its limbs and faculties.

Just as, O great king, a man might draw a reed from its sheath. He would think thus: This is the reed, this is the sheath; the reed is one thing, the sheath is another; the reed has been drawn out from the sheath. Or just as, O great king, a man might draw a sword from its scabbard. He would think thus: This is the sword, this is the scabbard; the sword is one thing, the scabbard is another; the sword has been drawn out from the scabbard. Or just as, O great king, a man might draw a snake from its basket. He would think thus: This is the snake, this is the basket; the snake is one thing, the basket is another; the snake has been drawn out from the basket. In the same way, O great king, a disciple with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines it to the creation of a mind-made body. From this body, he creates another body, having form, mind-made, complete in all its limbs and faculties. This, O great king, is a visible fruit of the ascetic life, more excellent and sublime than the previous visible fruits of the ascetic life.

4.3.3.3. Knowledge of Various Supernormal Powers

With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to the various supernormal powers. He experiences various supernormal powers: being one, he becomes many; being many, he becomes one; he appears and vanishes; he goes unhindered through walls, through enclosures, through mountains as if through space; he dives in and out of the earth as if it were water; he walks on water without sinking as if it were earth; he flies cross-legged through the sky like a bird; he touches and strokes with his hand the sun and moon, so powerful and mighty; he travels in the body as far as the Brahma world.

Just as, O great king, a skilled potter or his apprentice could create from well-prepared clay whatever kind of pot he wishes to make. Or just as, O great king, a skilled ivory carver or his apprentice could create from well-prepared ivory whatever kind of ivory work he wishes to make.

he would do exactly that and bring it to completion. Just as, great king, a skilled goldsmith or his apprentice, having prepared the gold, would shape it into whatever form he wishes, so too, great king, a disciple with a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the various kinds of supernormal powers. He enjoys various supernormal powers: being one, he becomes many; being many, he becomes one; he appears and vanishes; he goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space; he dives in and out of the earth as if it were water; he walks on water without sinking as if it were earth; sitting cross-legged, he flies through the air like a winged bird; with his hand he touches and strokes the moon and sun, mighty and powerful as they are; he exercises mastery with the body as far as the Brahma world. This too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent and sublime than the previous ones.

4.3.3.4. Divine Ear Knowledge

With a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the divine ear element. With the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, he hears both kinds of sounds, divine and human, whether near or far. Just as, great king, a man traveling along a road might hear the sound of a drum, a conch, a cymbal, or a small drum, and he would recognize it as such, so too, great king, a disciple with a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the divine ear element. With the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, he hears both kinds of sounds, divine and human, whether near or far.

This too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent and sublime than the previous ones.

4.3.3.5. Knowledge of Others Minds

With a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of the awareness of other beings. He knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it with his own mind. He knows a mind with lust as a mind with lust, and a mind without lust as a mind without lust. He knows a mind with hate as a mind with hate, and a mind without hate as a mind without hate. He knows a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. He knows a contracted mind as a contracted mind, and a distracted mind as a distracted mind. He knows an exalted mind as an exalted mind, and an unexalted mind as an unexalted mind. He knows a surpassed mind as a surpassed mind, and an unsurpassed mind as an unsurpassed mind. He knows a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind, and an unconcentrated mind as an unconcentrated mind. He knows a liberated mind as a liberated mind, and an unliberated mind as an unliberated mind. Just as, great king, a young woman or man, youthful and fond of adornment, would look at their reflection in a clear, bright mirror or in a bowl of clear water and would know a blemish as a blemish and the absence of a blemish as the absence of a blemish, so too, great king, a disciple with a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of the awareness of other beings. He knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it with his own mind. He knows a mind with lust as a mind with lust, and a mind without lust as a mind without lust. He knows a mind with hate as a mind with hate, and a mind without hate as a mind without hate. He knows a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. He knows a contracted mind as a contracted mind, and a distracted mind as a distracted mind. He knows an exalted mind as an exalted mind, and an unexalted mind as an unexalted mind.

He knows the superior mind as superior mind, and the unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed mind. He knows the concentrated mind as concentrated mind, and the unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated mind. He knows the liberated mind as liberated mind, and the unliberated mind as unliberated mind. This too, great king, is a visible fruit of the ascetic life, more excellent and sublime than the previous visible fruits of the ascetic life.

4.3.3.6. Knowledge of Recollection of Past Lives

With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of world-contraction, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion: There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifes end. Passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifes end. Passing away from there, I reappeared here. Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes and details.

Just as if a man were to go from his own village to another village, and from that village to another village, and from that village to return to his own village. He would think: I went from my own village to that village, there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, spoke in such a way, was silent in such a way. From that village, I went to another village, there too I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, spoke in such a way, was silent in such a way. From that village, I returned to my own village. In the same way, great king, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of world-contraction, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion: There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifes end. Passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my lifes end. Passing away from there, I reappeared here. Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes and details. This too, great king, is a visible fruit of the ascetic life, more excellent and sublime than the previous visible fruits of the ascetic life.

4.3.3.7. Knowledge of the Divine Eye

With his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions: These beings, who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, revilers of the noble ones, wrong in their views, and undertaking actions under the influence of wrong views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell. But these beings, who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, not revilers of the noble ones, right in their views, and undertaking actions under the influence of right views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in the heavenly world. Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions.

Just as if there were a mansion in the central square, and a man with good sight standing there might see people entering a house, leaving it, walking along the street, and sitting in the central square. He would think: These people are entering a house, these are leaving it, these are walking along the street, and these are sitting in the central square. In the same way, great king...

The disciple, with a mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowing of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions: These worthy beings who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views, and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell. But these worthy beings who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in a heavenly world. Thus, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions.

This too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent and sublime than the previous ones.

DN2

And what, monks, is a monk's life span?

Here, monks, a monk develops the basis of spiritual power that is endowed with concentration due to desire and volitional formations of striving,

he develops the basis of spiritual power that is endowed with concentration due to energy and volitional formations of striving,

he develops the basis of spiritual power that is endowed with concentration due to mind and volitional formations of striving,

he develops the basis of spiritual power that is endowed with concentration due to investigation and volitional formations of striving.

Having developed and cultivated these four bases of spiritual power, he could, if he wished, live for a full eon or the remainder of an eon. This, monks, is a monk's life span.

DN25