4:3 The Corrupted Octet

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But a monk at peace, fully unbound in himself, not boasting of his habits —"Thatâs how I am"— he, say the skilled, is noble by nature— he with no vanity anywhere in the world. One whose doctrines arenât clean— fabricated, formed, given preference when he sees it to his own advantage— relies on a peace dependent on the provoked.1 Because entrenchments2 in views arenât easily overcome when considering whatâs grasped among doctrines, thatâs why a person embraces or rejects a doctrine— in light of these very entrenchments. Now, one who is cleansed3 has no theorized view about states of becoming or not- anywhere in the world. Having abandoned conceit4 & illusion, by what means would he go?5 He isnât involved, for one whoâs involved enters into disputes over doctrines. But how—in connection with what6— would you argue with one uninvolved? He has nothing embraced or rejected,7 has sloughed off every view right here—every one. vv. 780–787 Notes 1. Kuppa-paṭicca. Underlying many of the Canonâs explanations of physical and mental phenomena is the theory of dhṅtu—element or property—in which phenomena are said to happen because an underlying dhṅtu, which normally exists in a potential form, is provoked into being actualized. Fires, for instance, come from the provocation of the fire dhṅtu that is everywhere present. When the provocation ends, the dhṅtu returns to its potential state, and the phenomenon ends. Thus any phenomenon that depends on provocation is by nature inconstant and unreliable. This is one of the reasons why the experience of full release is said to be unprovoked, because it does not depend on the provocation of a dhṅtu, and so is free from the potential for change. For more on this point, see MN 29, note 3. 2. Entrenchments: a rendering of the Pali term, nivesana, which can also be translated as dwelling (see Sn 1:12, note 5), abode, situation, home, or establishment. Nd II illustrates the meaning of "entrenchments in views" with these ten views (found, in various forms, in DN 9, MN 72, and AN 10:93): "The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless." "The cosmos is not eternalâ¦" "The cosmos is finiteâ¦" "The cosmos is infiniteâ¦" "The soul & the body are the sameâ¦" "The soul is one thing & the body anotherâ¦" "After death a Tathṅgata existsâ¦" "After death a Tathṅgata does not existâ¦" "After death a Tathṅgata both does & does not existâ¦" "After death a Tathṅgata neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless." 3. Nd I: Cleansed through discernment. See also the explanation of "washed" in Sn 3:6. 4. Nd I explains a variety of ways of understanding the word "conceit," the most comprehensive being a list of nine kinds of conceit: viewing people better than oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people on a par with oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people worse than oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself. In other words, the truth of the view is not the issue here; the issue is the tendency to compare oneself with others. See AN 6:49. See also AN 4:159. 5. Nd I: "By what means would he go" to any destination in any state of becoming. 6. "In connection with what": a rendering of the instrumental case that attempts to cover several of its meanings, in particular "by what means" and "in terms of what." For a discussion of the use of the instrumental case in the Aṭṭhaka Vagga, see Sn 4:9, note 4. 7. This reading follows the Thai, Sri Lankan, and PTS editions: attaṃ nirattaṃ. The Burmese edition reads, attṅ nirattṅ: "He has no self, nor whatâs opposed to self." As GD points out in its notes to the translation of this verse, the first reading is probably the correct one, as it relates to the poemâs earlier reference to a person embracing or rejecting a doctrine. The fact that an awakened person is free from both embracing and rejecting is a recurring theme in this vagga and the next; the confusion at present in the various recensions as to whether similar lines should read attaṃ/nirattaṃ or attṅ/nirattṅ is a recurring textual theme as well. (See Sn 4:4, note 4; Sn 4:10, note 7; Sn 4:14, note 2.) For a discussion of the conditions under which the Buddha would enter into a debate, see Skill in Questions, chapter 5. See also: MN 18; MN 22; MN 58; MN 72; AN 2:36 - --> - - - -