B1. Development in Detail: The Ten Impediments

29. The detail is this:

Firstly it was said above, he should sever any of the ten impediments that he may have. [90] Now, the “ten impediments” are:

A dwelling, family, and gain,
A class, and building too as fifth,
And travel, kin, affliction, books,
And supernormal powers: ten.

Herein, the dwelling itself is the “impediment due to the dwelling.” So too with the family and so on.

1. A dwelling:

30. 1. Herein, a single inner room or a single hut or a whole monastery for the Community is called a dwelling. This is not an impediment for everyone. It is an impediment only for anyone whose mind is exercised about the building, etc., that goes on there, or who has many belongings stored there, or whose mind is caught up by some business connected with it. For any other it is not an impediment.

31. Here is a relevant story. Two clansmen left Anurādhapura, it seems, and eventually went forth at the Thūpārāma.^[1] One of them made himself familiar with the Two Codes,^[2] and when he had acquired five years’ seniority, he took part in the Pavāraṇā^[3] and then left for the place called Pācīnakhaṇḍarājī.^[4] The other stayed on where he was. Now, when the one who had gone to Pācīnakhaṇḍarājī had lived there a long time and had become an elder,^[5] he thought, “This place is good for retreat; suppose I told my friend about it?” So he set out, and in due course he entered the Thūpārāma. As he entered, the elder of the same seniority saw him, went to meet him, took his bowl and robe and did the duties.

32. The visiting elder went into his lodging. He thought, “Now my friend will be sending me ghee or molasses or a drink; for he has lived long in this city.” He got nothing that night, and in the morning he thought, “Now he will be sending me rice gruel and solid food sent by his supporters.” When he saw none, he thought, “There is no one to bring it. No doubt they will give it when we go into the town.” Early in the morning they went into the town together. When they had wandered through one street and had got only a ladleful of gruel, they sat down in a sitting hall to drink it.^[6]

33. Then the visitor thought, “Perhaps there is no individual giving of gruel. But as soon as it is the time for the meal people will give special food.” But when it was time for the meal, they ate what they had got by wandering for alms. Then the visitor said, “Venerable sir, how is this? Do you live in this way all the time?”—“Yes, friend.”—”Venerable sir, Pācīnakhaṇḍarājī is comfortable; let us go there.” Now, as the elder came out from the city[91] by the southern gate he took the Kumbhakāragāma road [which leads to Pācīnakhaṇḍarājī]. The visitor asked, “But, venerable sir, why do you take this road?”—”Did you not recommend Pācīnakhaṇḍarājī, friend?”—”But how is this, venerable sir, have you no extra belongings in the place you have lived in for so long?”—”That is so, friend. The bed and chair belong to the Community, and they are put away [as usual]. There is nothing else.”—”But, venerable sir, I have left my staff and my oil tube and my sandal bag there.”—”Have you already collected so much, friend, living there for just one day?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”

34. He was glad in his heart, and he paid homage to the elder: “For those like you, venerable sir, everywhere is a forest dwelling. The Thūpārāma is a place where the relics of four Buddhas are deposited; there is suitable hearing of the Dhamma in the Brazen Palace; there is the Great Shrine to be seen; and one can visit elders. It is like the time of the Buddha. It is here that you should live.” On the following day he took his bowl and [outer] robe and went away by himself. It is no impediment for one like that.

2. Family:

35. 2 Family means a family consisting of relatives or of supporters. For even a family consisting of supporters is an impediment for someone who lives in close association with it in the way beginning, “He is pleased when they are pleased” (S III 11), and who does not even go to a neighbouring monastery to hear the Dhamma without members of the family.

36. But even mother and father are not an impediment for another, as in the case of the young bhikkhu, the nephew of the elder who lived at the Koraṇḍaka Monastery. He went to Rohaṇa for instruction, it seems. The elder’s sister, who was a lay devotee, was always asking the elder how her son was getting on. One day the elder set out for Rohaṇa to fetch him back.

37. The young bhikkhu too thought, “I have lived here for a long time. Now I might go and visit my preceptor and find out how the lay devotee is,” and he left Rohaṇa. The two met on the banks of the [Mahaveli] River. He did the duties to the elder at the foot of a tree. When asked, “Where are you going?” he told him his purpose. The elder said: “You have done well. The lay devotee is always asking after you. That was why I came. You may go, but I shall stay here for the Rains,” and he dismissed him.[92] He arrived at the monastery on the actual day for taking up residence for the Rains. The lodging allotted to him happened to be the one for which his father had undertaken responsibility.

38. His father came on the following day and asked, “To whom was our lodging allotted, venerable sirs?” When he heard that it had fallen to a young visitor, he went to him. After paying homage to him, he said, “Venerable sir, there is an obligation for him who has taken up residence for the Rains in our lodging.”—”What is it, lay follower?”—”It is to take alms food only in our house for the three months, and to let us know the time of departure after the Pavāraṇā ceremony.” He consented in silence. The lay devotee went home and told his wife. “There is a visiting lord who has taken up residence for the Rains in our lodging. He must be carefully looked after,” and she agreed. She prepared good food of various kinds for him.^[7] Though the youth went to his relatives’ home at the time of the meal, no one recognized him.

39. When he had eaten alms food there during the three months and had completed the residence for the Rains, he announced his departure. Then his relatives said, “Let it be tomorrow, venerable sir,” and on the following day, when they had fed him in their house and filled his oil tube and given him a lump of sugar and a nine-cubit length of cloth, they said, “Now you are leaving, venerable sir.” He gave his blessing and set out for Rohaṇa.

40. His preceptor had completed the Pavāraṇā ceremony and was on his way back. They met at the same place as before. He did the duties to the elder at the foot of a tree. The elder asked him, “How was it, my dear, did you see the good woman lay devotee?” He replied, “Yes, venerable sir,” and he told him all that had happened. He then anointed the elder’s feet with the oil, made him a drink with the sugar, and presented him with the length of cloth. He then, after paying homage to the elder, told him, “Venerable sir, only Rohaṇa suits me,” and he departed. The elder too arrived back at his monastery, and next day he went into the village of Koraṇḍaka.

41. The lay devotee, his sister, had always kept looking down the road, thinking, “My brother is now coming with my son.” When she saw him coming alone, she thought, “My son must be dead; that is why the elder is coming alone,” and she fell at the elder’s feet, lamenting and weeping. Suspecting that it must have been out of fewness of wishes that the youth had gone away without announcing himself, [93] the elder comforted her and told her all that had happened, and he took the length of cloth out of his bag and showed it to her.

42. She was appeased. She prostrated herself in the direction taken by her son, and she said: “Surely the Blessed One taught the way of the Rathavinīta, the way of the Nālaka, the way of the Tuvaṭaka, and the way of the great Noble Ones’ heritages^[8] showing contentment with the four requisites and delight in development, making a bhikkhu such as my son a body-witness. So, although for three months he ate in the house of the mother who bore him, yet he never said ‘I am your son, you are my mother!’ Oh, admirable man!” Even mother and father are no impediment for one such as him, so how much less any other family that supports him.

3. Gain:

43. 3. Gain is the four requisites. How are they an impediment? Wherever a meritorious bhikkhu goes, people give him a large supply of requisites. With giving blessings to them and teaching them the Dhamma he gets no chance to do the ascetic’s duties. From sunrise till the first watch of the night he never breaks his association with people. Again, even at dawn, alms-food eaters fond of opulence come and say, “Venerable sir, such and such a man lay follower, woman lay follower, friend, friend’s daughter, wants to see you,” and being ready to go, he replies, “Take the bowl and robe, friend.” So he is always on the alert. Thus these requisites are an impediment for him. He should leave his group and wander by himself where he is not known. This is the way his impediment is severed.

4. Class:

44. 4 Class is a class (group) of students of suttas or students of Abhidhamma. If with the group’s instruction and questioning he gets no opportunity for the ascetic’s duties, then that group is an impediment for him. He should sever that impediment in this way: if those bhikkhus have already acquired the main part and little still remains, he should finish that off and then go to the forest. If they have only acquired little and much still remains, [94] he should, without travelling more than a league, approach another instructor of a class within the radius of a league and say, “Help those venerable ones with instruction, etc.” If he does not find anyone in this way, he should take leave of the class, saying. “I have a task to see to, friends; go where it suits you,” and he should do his own work.

5. Building:

45. 5. Building (kamma) is new building work (nava-kamma). Since one engaged in this must know about what [material] has and has not been got by carpenters, etc., and must see about what has and has not been done, it is always an impediment. It should be severed in this way. If little remains it should be completed. If much remains, it should be handed over to the Community or to bhikkhus who are entrusted with the Community’s affairs, if it is a new building for the Community; or if it is for himself, it should be handed over to those whom he entrusts with his own affairs, but if these are not available, he should relinquish it to the Community and depart.

6. Travel:

46. 6. Travel is going on a journey. If someone is expected to give the going forth somewhere else, or if some requisite is obtainable there and he cannot rest content without getting it [that will be an impediment; for] even if he goes into the forest to do the ascetic’s duties, he will find it hard to get rid of thoughts about the journey. So one in this position should apply himself to the ascetic’s duties after he has done the journey and transacted the business.

7. Kin:

47. 7 Kin in the case of the monastery means teacher, preceptor, co-resident, pupil, those with the same preceptor as oneself, and those with the same teacher as oneself; and in the case of the house it means mother, father, brother, and so on. When they are sick they are an impediment for him. Therefore that impediment should be severed by curing them with nursing.

48. Herein, when the preceptor is sick he must be cared for as long as life lasts if the sickness does not soon depart. Likewise the teacher at the going forth, the teacher at the admission, the co-resident, the pupils to whom one has given the admission and the going forth, and those who have the same preceptor. But the teacher from whom one takes the dependence, the teacher who gives one instruction, the pupil to whom one has given the dependence, the pupil to whom one is giving instruction, and those who have that same teacher as oneself, should be looked after as long as the dependence or the instruction has not been terminated. If one is able to do so, one should look after them even beyond that [period].

49. Mother and father should be treated like the preceptor; if they live within the kingdom and look to their son for help, it should be given. [95] Also if they have no medicine, he should give them his own. If he has none, he should go in search of it as alms and give that. But in the case of brothers or sisters, one should only give them what is theirs. If they have none, then one should give one’s own temporarily and later get it back, but one should not complain if one does not get it back. It is not allowed either to make medicine for or to give it to a sister’s husband who is not related by blood; but one can give it to one’s sister saying, “Give it to your husband.” The same applies to one’s brother’s wife. But it is allowed to make it for their children since they are blood relatives.

8. Affliction:

50. 8. Affliction is any kind of illness. It is an impediment when it is actually afflicting; therefore it should be severed by treatment with medicine. But if it is not cured after taking medicine for a few days, then the ascetic’s duties should be done after apostrophizing one’s person in this way: “I am not your slave, or your hireling. I have come to suffering through maintaining you through the beginningless round of rebirths.”

9. Books:

51. 9. Books means responsibility for the scriptures. That is an impediment only for one who is constantly busy with recitations, etc., but not for others. Here are relevant stories. The Elder Revata, it seems, the Majjhima reciter, went to the Elder Revata, the dweller in Malaya (the Hill Country), and asked him for a meditation subject. The elder asked him, “How are you in the scriptures, friend?”—”I am studying the Majjhima [Nikāya], venerable sir.”—”The Majjhima is a hard responsibility, friend. When a man is still learning the First Fifty by heart, he is faced with the Middle Fifty; and when he is still learning that by heart, he is faced with the Last Fifty. How can you take up a meditation subject?”—”Venerable sir, when I have taken a meditation subject from you, I shall not look at the scriptures again.” He took the meditation subject, and doing no recitation for nineteen years, he reached Arahantship in the twentieth year. He told bhikkhus who came for recitation: “I have not looked at the scriptures for twenty years, friends, [96] yet I am familiar with them. You may begin.” And from beginning to end he had no hesitation even over a single syllable.

52. The Elder Mahā-Nāga, too, who lived at Karuliyagiri (Karaliyagiri) put aside the scriptures for eighteen years, and then he recited the Dhātukathā to the bhikkhus. When they checked this with the town-dwelling elders [of Anurādhapura], not a single question was found out of its order.

53. In the Great Monastery too the Elder Tipiṭaka-Cūḷa-Abhaya had the golden drum struck, saying: “I shall expound the three Piṭakas in the circle of [experts in] the Five Collections of discourses,” and this was before he had learnt the commentaries. The Community of Bhikkhus said, “‘Which teachers’ teaching is it? Unless you give only the teaching of our own teachers we shall not let you speak.” Also his preceptor asked him when he went to wait on him, “Did you have the drum beaten, friend?”—”Yes, venerable sir.”—”For what reason?”—”I shall expound the scriptures, venerable sir.”—”Friend Abhaya, how do the teachers explain this passage?”—”They explain it in this way, venerable sir.” The elder dissented, saying “Hum.” Again three times, each time in a different way, he said, “They explain it in this way, venerable sir.” The elder always dissented, saying, “Hum.” Then he said, “Friend, your first explanation was the way of the teachers. But it is because you have not actually learnt it from the teachers’ lips that you are unable to maintain that the teachers say such and such. Go and learn it from our own teachers.”—”Where shall I go, venerable sir?”—”There is an elder named Mahā Dhammarakkhita living in the Tulādhārapabbata Monastery in the Rohaṇa country beyond the [Mahaveli] River. He knows all the scriptures. Go to him.” Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” he paid homage to the elder. He went with five hundred bhikkhus to the Elder Mahā-Dhammarakkhita, and when he had paid homage to him, he sat down. The elder asked, “Why have you come?”—”To hear the Dhamma, venerable sir.”—”Friend Abhaya, they ask me about the Dīgha and the Majjhima from time to time, but I have not looked at the others for thirty years. Still you may repeat them in my presence by night, and I shall explain them to you by day.” He said, “Good, venerable sir,” and he acted accordingly.

54. The inhabitants of the village had a large pavilion built at the door of his dwelling, and they came daily to hear the Dhamma. Explaining by day what had been repeated by night, [97] the Elder [Dhammarakkhita] eventually completed the instruction. Then he sat down on a mat on the ground before the Elder Abhaya and said, “Friend, explain a meditation subject to me.”—”What are you saying, venerable sir, have I not heard it all from you? What can I explain to you that you do not already know?” The senior elder said, “This path is different for one who has actually travelled by.”

55. The Elder Abhaya was then, it seems, a stream-enterer. When the Elder Abhaya had given his teacher a meditation subject, he returned to Anurādhapura. Later, while he was expounding the Dhamma in the Brazen Palace, he heard that the elder had attained Nibbāna. On hearing this, he said, “Bring me [my] robe, friends.” Then he put on the robe and said, “The Arahant path befits our teacher, friends. Our teacher was a true thoroughbred. He sat down on a mat before his own Dhamma pupil and said, ‘Explain a meditation subject to me.’ The Arahant path befits our teacher, friends.”

For such as these, books are no impediment.

10. Supernormal powers:

56. 10. Supernormal powers are the supernormal powers of the ordinary man. They are hard to maintain, like a prone infant or like young corn, and the slightest thing breaks them. But they are an impediment for insight, not for concentration, since they are obtainable through concentration. So the supernormal powers are an impediment that should be severed by one who seeks insight; the others are impediments to be severed by one who seeks concentration.

This, in the first place, is the detailed explanation of the impediments.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

One of the principal monasteries in Anurādhapura.

[2]:

Dve mātikā—the “two codes”: see Ch. I, n. 11. But Vism-mhṭ says here: “‘Observers of the codes’ are observers of the codes (summaries) of the Dhamma and Vinaya” (Vism-mhṭ 117).

[3]:

Pavāraṇa: ceremony held at the end of the rains, during three months of which season bhikkhus have to undertake to live in one place in order to avoid travel while crops are growing. It consists in a meeting of the bhikkhus who have spent the rains together, at which each member present invites (pavāreti) the Community to point out his faults (breaches of Vinaya rules) committed during the preceding three months (Vin I 155).

[4]:

“Pācinakhaṇḍarājā ti puratthimadisāya pabbatakhaṇḍānaṃ antare vanarājīṭṭhānaṃ” (Vism-mhṭ 97).

[5]:

For the first five years after the admission (upasampadā) a bhikkhu is called a “new (nava) bhikkhu”; from five to ten years he is called a “middle (majjhima) bhikkhu”; with ten or more years’ seniority he is called an “elder (thera) bhikkhu.”

[6]:

The last sentence here might refer to a free mass distribution of gruel (yāgu), which appears to have been more or less constantly maintained at Anurādhapura.

[7]:

It is usual to render the set phrase paṇītaṃ khādanīyaṃ bhojanīyaṃ by some such phrase as “sumptuous food both hard and soft,” which is literal but unfamiliarsounding.

[8]:

“The way of the Rathavinīta (Rathavinīta-paṭipadā)”: this is a reference to certain suttas that were adopted by bhikkhus as a “way” (paṭipadā) or guide to practice. The suttas mentioned here are Rathavinīta (M I 145), Nālaka (Sn, p. 131), Tuvaṭaka (Sn 179), Noble One’s Heritages (ariyavaṃsa—A II 27). Others are mentioned at M-a I 92; III 6; S-a III 291. The Ariyavaṃsa Sutta itself has a long commentary on practice, and it is mentioned in the Commentaries as a popular subject for preaching (see e.g. commentary to AN III 42).