June has been a month of editing, editing, and more editing. While the new translation work will be focusing on a new sponsor’s requests, I will continue to edit and translate from the MĀ for my patrons at Patreon. This month, I cleaned up the draft of MĀ 9 that has been sitting for a few months, MĀ 10 and 186 that were 16 years old (yikes!), and MĀ 82, which was drafted last month.
Below are quick summaries of the sutra released today. You can quickly reach them from the “What’s New” page.
MĀ 9: Seven Chariots (MN 24)
This sutra relates when Sariputra met Purna Maitrayaniputra for the the first time. When he gets a chance to talk to Purna, he asks him why he practices the Buddha’s teaching. He asks whether it’s one of seven reasons, all of which Purna denies. Purna explains that it’s really all of those reasons because they lead to Nirvana. He illustrates this with the parable of seven chariots, which King Prasenajit uses to travel between two cities in a single day.
MĀ 10: Ending the Contaminants (MN 2)
The Buddha gives a discourse on seven strategies that a renunciant uses to end the contaminants. By identifying the sources of affliction and grief, they systematically eliminate them in one of these seven ways.
MĀ 82: Crickets (AN 6.60)
This sutra is named after one of the analogies used about being able to hear the chirping of crickets in a quiet place. A monk named Citra Hastisariputra causes trouble at a meeting of monks by interrupting the senior monks and wrangling over what they were saying. Mahakausthila rebukes Citra and tells him to wait his turn to speak and do so respectfully. When Citra’s friends attempt to intervene with Mahakausthila, he gives them a discourse on how monks who achieve great peace of mind can revert to the lay life because they socialize with the laity. Citra indeed decides to return to the lay life at the end of the sutra.
MĀ 186: Inquiry (MN 47)
The Buddha discusses how a disciple who isn’t yet able to know other’s minds can determine for himself whether the Tathagata’s enlightenment is genuine. He details a program of careful observation and questioning to discover any hidden defilements that’s akin to a detective’s investigation. In this way, unenlightened disciples can develop the faith needed to practice the Dharma fully.