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Saṁyutta Nikāya 45.2 Linked Discourses 45.2
1. Avijjāvagga 1. Ignorance
Upaḍḍhasutta Half the Spiritual Life
Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard. This incident is relayed by the Buddha to Pasenadi at SN 3.18:3.1. Placed so prominently, it emphasizes the role of friendship in the path.
ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sakyesu viharati nagarakaṁ nāma sakyānaṁ nigamo. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans, where they have a town named Townsville.
Atha kho āyasmā ānando yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:
“upaḍḍhamidaṁ, bhante, brahmacariyaṁ, yadidaṁ—kalyāṇamittatā kalyāṇasahāyatā kalyāṇasampavaṅkatā”ti. “Sir, good friends, companions, and associates are half the spiritual life.”
“Mā hevaṁ, ānanda, mā hevaṁ, ānanda. “Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda!
Sakalamevidaṁ, ānanda, brahmacariyaṁ, yadidaṁ—kalyāṇamittatā kalyāṇasahāyatā kalyāṇasampavaṅkatā. Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life.
Kalyāṇamittassetaṁ, ānanda, bhikkhuno pāṭikaṅkhaṁ kalyāṇasahāyassa kalyāṇasampavaṅkassa—ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāvessati, ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkarissati. A mendicant with good friends, companions, and associates can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.
Kathañcānanda, bhikkhu kalyāṇamitto kalyāṇasahāyo kalyāṇasampavaṅko ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāveti, ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkaroti? And how does a mendicant with good friends develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path?
Idhānanda, bhikkhu sammādiṭṭhiṁ bhāveti vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ; It’s when a mendicant develops right view, which relies on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripens as letting go. This formula is highly characteristic of the Mahāvagga. In the rare cases it appears outside the Saṁyutta it is in passages identical to here. The four terms can be understood both as a sequential deepening of practice toward realization, and as synonyms for awakening or Nibbāna. The meaning depends on context, so here it means “seclusion” from wrong view; the “fading away”, “cessation”, and “letting go” of wrong view. | Viveka (“seclusion”) means to distinguish or differentiate (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.9.2). In Buddhism it can mean physical separation, but often means separation from defilements, especially through the practice of absorption. | Virāga has a dual sense in Pali: a state of “dispassion” where lust (rāga) is absent, and the process of defilements “fading away”, which leans on the sense of rāga as “dye” (eg. the “fading away of ignorance” at SN 12.51:9.4). | The mention of “cessation” (nirodha) further links the path to dependent origination (SN 12.2:15.4). | Vossagga is one of many words in Pali having the sense “letting go”. For Jains, it meant giving up the body (Uttarādhyayanasūtra 30.6), for Vedists, dismissing the deities at the completion of the sacrifice (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.9.2.27). In the Suttas, it is a word for generosity (SN 11.11:1.8), and for giving up defilements on entering absorption (SN 48.9:4.2).
sammāsaṅkappaṁ bhāveti vivekanissitaṁ …pe… They develop right purpose …
sammāvācaṁ bhāveti …pe… right speech …
sammākammantaṁ bhāveti …pe… right action …
sammāājīvaṁ bhāveti …pe… right livelihood …
sammāvāyāmaṁ bhāveti …pe… right effort …
sammāsatiṁ bhāveti …pe… right mindfulness …
sammāsamādhiṁ bhāveti vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ. right immersion, which relies on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripens as letting go.
Evaṁ kho, ānanda, bhikkhu kalyāṇamitto kalyāṇasahāyo kalyāṇasampavaṅko ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāveti, ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkaroti. That’s how a mendicant with good friends develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.
Tadamināpetaṁ, ānanda, pariyāyena veditabbaṁ yathā sakalamevidaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, yadidaṁ—kalyāṇamittatā kalyāṇasahāyatā kalyāṇasampavaṅkatā. And here’s another way to understand how good friends are the whole of the spiritual life.
Mamañhi, ānanda, kalyāṇamittaṁ āgamma jātidhammā sattā jātiyā parimuccanti; jarādhammā sattā jarāya parimuccanti; maraṇadhammā sattā maraṇena parimuccanti; sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsadhammā sattā sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsehi parimuccanti. For, by relying on me as a good friend, sentient beings who are liable to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress are freed from all these things.
Iminā kho etaṁ, ānanda, pariyāyena veditabbaṁ yathā sakalamevidaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, yadidaṁ—kalyāṇamittatā kalyāṇasahāyatā kalyāṇasampavaṅkatā”ti. This is another way to understand how good friends are the whole of the spiritual life.”
Dutiyaṁ.