So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Magadhans at Mātulā. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Mendicants, live as your own island, your own refuge, with no other refuge. Let the teaching be your island and your refuge, with no other refuge. And how does a mendicant do this? They meditate observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. That’s how a mendicant lives with themselves as island and refuge, without other refuge; with the teachings as island and refuge, without other refuge. You should roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers. If you roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers, Māra won’t find a vulnerability or get an opportunity. It is due to undertaking skillful qualities that merit grows.

2. King Daḷhanemi