Snp 4.4 — Eight on the Pure

English translation by Bhikkhu Candana.

Translation

Text

Snp. 4.4

Suddhaṭṭhaka Sutta

“Eight on the Pure-Hearted”

788. “I see the highest purity which makes the heart truly healthy. When people possess the purity of view and see how it transcends all others, they develop the genuine understanding that recognizes through knowledge, and sees with no more resistance, the spotless purity of the heart.

789. “But a person’s heart is not purified by merely seeing; nor is suffering abandoned by simply picking up new knowledge; nor does one become free of attachments through someone else, for the truth of what lies hidden underneath will come out into the open, in times of strife.

790. “The Great Brahmin declared how ‘purity of the heart is not attained through mere seeing, or listening to another, or the following of rituals and ceremonial practices, including the keeping of one’s vows and training rules, to impress others.’ None of these will bring purity to the heart, for the truly pure stand taintless amid both good and evil, as they take up, only to give up.

791. “But others, though they give up one thing, soon latch on to another, with emotionality and hearts full of longing for this, and later for that. As a result, they will never cross

over the floods. So, they remain no different than the monkey jumping from tree to tree; letting go of one branch, only to grab another.

792. “Although having undertaken the training rules, he still goes from teacher to teacher, while grabbing onto new views that he collects, as he develops more and more conceit. But the one who has seen with the right wisdom, no longer needs teachers to go to, nor views to collect or hoard, for he practices while dwelling with the Dhamma in his heart.

793. “Not being associated with anyone, he is no longer angry at anyone. Being secluded from all worldly dhammas, he has nothing left for him to see, hear, or experience in the world. And while living so openly and with nothing to hide, who could look upon such a Bhikkhu with blaming eyes?

794. “Not making a big deal about this view versus that, they do not latch on to theirs, claiming it to be the best, for they have removed the venom of grabbing from their hearts, and now live liberated from all burdens, having fully relinquished everything, with nothing left to yearn for, in any world.

795. “With nothing left, the Brahmin has now gone beyond all boundaries that confined him. Although he knows and sees, he is left with nothing to grasp or hold on to, as he is no more a victim of passions, nor latching on to the experience of ‘being passionless.’

Thus, he is left with nothing to grab, and nothing to pick up anew.”