Dhamma Principles › The Sāriputta Saṃyutta: Jhāna Without an "I", and Food Rightly Obtained
The Sāriputta Saṃyutta: Jhāna Without an "I", and Food Rightly Obtained
Practice

The Sāriputta Saṃyutta: Jhāna Without an "I", and Food Rightly Obtained

Sārīputtasaṃyuttaṃ

Seeing Sāriputta's radiant face, Ānanda asks what he has been dwelling in. He answers that he entered jhāna without the thought "I am entering jhāna". And when the wanderer Sūcimukhī asks whether he eats facing down or facing up, he replies that he seeks alms righteously.

7 points

The Sāriputta Saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya contains ten short discourses. The first nine share one pattern: Sāriputta returns from his day's abiding, and Ānanda, seeing him from afar, says: "Your faculties are very clear, friend Sāriputta, your complexion pure and bright. What dwelling have you dwelt in today?"

Sāriputta answers that he has entered the various jhānas, from the first jhāna to the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, and the cessation of perception and feeling, but did not think "I am entering", "I have entered" or "I have emerged". The discourse explains that this is because he had long since uprooted I-making, mine-making and the underlying tendency to conceit.

In the tenth, Sāriputta walks for alms in Rājagaha and eats sitting by a wall. A female wanderer named Sūcimukhī asks whether he eats facing down, facing up, facing the main directions or facing the intermediate directions. He denies each one, then explains that these terms refer to wrong livelihood through various arts, whereas he seeks alms righteously. She then goes along the streets of Rājagaha announcing that people should give alms to the Sakyan ascetics.

  1. 1

    A well-trained mind shows on the face Vippasannāni kho te āvuso sārīputta indriyāni

    Ānanda sees Sāriputta coming from afar and, before they even speak, notices that his faculties are clear and his complexion pure, and asks what he has dwelt in today. The inner state of the mind can be seen by those around.

    Applying it in daily life

    When a friend looks especially calm or refreshed, ask them as Ānanda did what they've been doing. You may learn a good way to care for the mind.

  2. 2

    Doing it without "I am doing it" Ahaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ samāpajjāmīti

    Sāriputta enters the first jhāna but does not think, "I am entering the first jhāna", "I have entered the first jhāna" or "I have emerged from the first jhāna". The same answer repeats at every stage up to the cessation of perception and feeling.

    Applying it in daily life

    When meditating or doing good, if you hear a voice in your head saying "I'm doing really well", notice it and set it down, returning to what you're doing.

  3. 3

    The root of the thought "I" Ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā

    The discourse explains he doesn't think this way because he had long since uprooted I-making, mine-making and the underlying tendency to conceit. Self-importance doesn't vanish because thinking is forbidden, but because its root has been pulled out.

    Applying it in daily life

    When it hurts not to get credit for your work, ask whether what hurts is the work itself or the "me" attached to it.

  4. 4

    Sūcimukhī's strange questions Kiṃ nu kho samaṇa adhomukho bhuñjasīti

    Sūcimukhī asks Sāriputta whether he eats facing down, facing up, facing the main directions or facing the intermediate directions. He answers no to each in turn until she asks how, then, does he eat, and he explains the meaning of each term.

    Applying it in daily life

    When faced with a question that sounds odd or fault-finding, try answering by calmly explaining the meaning instead of hitting back.

  5. 5

    Four kinds of wrong livelihood Micchājīvena jīvikaṃ kappenti

    Sāriputta explains that ascetics and brahmins who live by the art of reading sites are said to eat facing down; by astrology, facing up; by running errands and carrying messages, facing the main directions; and by palmistry and reading bodily marks, facing the intermediate directions. All of these are wrong livelihood for renunciants.

    Applying it in daily life

    Look over your income for any part that relies on making people afraid or believe more than is true, and gradually reduce it.

  6. 6

    Seek rightly, then eat Dhammena bhikkhaṃ pariyesāmi

    He says he lives by none of these means. He seeks alms righteously, and having obtained them righteously, he eats.

    Applying it in daily life

    Before a meal, reflect briefly that this food comes from honest work. That small pride helps you stand firm in integrity.

  7. 7

    Integrity announced by others Dhammikaṃ samaṇā sakyaputtiyā āhāraṃ āhārenti

    After hearing his answer, Sūcimukhī goes from street to street and from square to square in Rājagaha, announcing that the Sakyan ascetics eat food that is righteous and blameless, and urging people to give them alms.

    Applying it in daily life

    Lasting reputation needs no self-promotion. Work honestly and consistently, and those who see it will speak for you.

Try it in daily life

These discourses show two sides of someone well trained. Inwardly, a deeply calm mind that builds no self out of that calm. Outwardly, an honest livelihood, so much so that a wanderer of another sect goes out to tell others.

In daily life we often use success to build up our identity: "I'm someone with good concentration", "I'm talented". Sāriputta shows that you can do good things fully without carrying a name badge.

The arts Sāriputta lists are wrong livelihood for renunciants, so lay people needn't conclude that all messenger work or land surveying is wrong. The shared principle is income that doesn't come from making people afraid or credulous, so you can live without having to avoid anyone's eyes.

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