Saṁyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
XXI. Bhikkhu Saṁyutta

II. The Nidana Book

21. The Kindred Sayings about Brethren

Sutta 1

Kolita [Moggallāna] Suttaṁ

Kolita¹

 

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[273] [184]

Thus have I heard:

The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthi at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.

There the venerable Mahā-Moggallāna addressed the brethren: —

'Friends, brethren!'

'Yes, friend,' responded the brethren.

The venerable Mahā-Moggallāna said this: —

To me, friends, as I was meditating in seclusion, there arose a consideration of that which we call Ariyan silence.

'Ariyan silence' — what may that be?

And methought: when a brother from the suppression of applying and sustaining his thinking enters into and abides in Second Jhāna, a state of inward mental calm, uplifted, with no applying or sustaining of thought, which is born of concentration, full of zest and ease, then this is what we call Ariyan silence.

Now I, friends, entered into and remained in Second Jhāna.

But when I had remained therein,² perceptions and work of mind in applying thought still went on.

Then, friends, the Exalted One came to me by the power of his will and said:

'Moggallāna, Moggallāna! Be not careless, brahmin,³ as to the Ariyan silence. Establish thy mind therein. Lift up thy heart therein. Plant thy thought⁴ therein.'

Thereafter, friends, I entered into and remained in Second Jhāna. Verily, friends, if anyone were to say rightly of anyone:

'Furthered by the Master the disciple attained to great super-knowledge,'

it is of me that he would say it.⁵

 

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¹ The personal name of Great Moggallāna. See Pss. of the Brethren, p.341.

² And had emerged therefrom. Comy.

³ He was of the brahmin class

⁴ Mind, heart, thought, all = cittaṁ. These admonitions are, in Chapter XL., repeated for each jhāna.

⁵ According to the Comy. the Buddha developed Moggallāna's concentration in this manner for a week, whereby Moggallāna attained all six super-knowledges.