Saṃyukta Āgama (285), Part 1

(1) Original text: Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was dwelling at Śrāvastī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park. At that time, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "I recollect, when I had not yet attained full enlightenment in my past lives, dwelling alone in a secluded place, diligently practicing meditation and contemplation, this thought arose in me: The world is fraught with suffering—whether arising from birth, aging, sickness, death, passing away, or rebirth. Yet sentient beings do not truly understand the faults of birth, aging, and death, nor do they truly understand the dharmas upon which birth, aging, and death depend."

Explanation: When the Blessed One was dwelling at Śrāvastī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park, he addressed the bhikkhus: "Using the recollection of past lives through psychic power, I recall a time before I attained Buddhahood and complete enlightenment. Alone in a quiet, undisturbed place, with single-minded diligence I engaged in meditative contemplation. This thought arose: This world is filled with suffering—suffering brought about either by birth, or by aging, or by sickness, or by death; or by the decline of life; or by rebirth. Yet sentient beings do not truly understand the faults of birth, aging, sickness, and death, nor do they truly understand the dharmas upon which birth, aging, sickness, and death depend."

Original text: "I thought: 'What exists that gives rise to the existence of life? Conditioned by what does the existence of life arise?' Immediately, through right contemplation, I gave rise to uninterrupted, equal knowledge: 'Conditioned by the existence (of the realm of the three worlds), the existence of life arises; due to the condition of existence, the existence of life comes to be.' Again I contemplated: 'What exists that gives rise to the existence (of the realm)? Conditioned by what does the existence (of the realm) arise?' Immediately, through right contemplation, I gave rise to true, uninterrupted, equal knowledge: 'Conditioned by clinging, the existence (of the realm) arises; due to the condition of clinging, the existence (of the realm) comes to be.'"

Explanation: The Buddha said: "During my contemplation, this doubt arose: What dharma, when present, causes the appearance of a living being? Conditioned by what dharma does a living being come into existence? Immediately, right contemplation arose within the meditation. After right contemplation, uninterrupted wisdom-knowledge without doubt arose, and I realized the following principle: Because the realm of the three worlds (the vessel-world) exists, living beings are born; due to the condition of the vessel-world where the conditions for life in the three realms are fulfilled, living beings appear."

"Building upon this, I contemplated further: What dharma, when present, causes the fulfillment of the conditions for existence in the threefold realm? Conditioned by what dharma does the existence of the threefold realm arise? Thus I entered into right contemplation. After right contemplation, true, uninterrupted, equal wisdom-knowledge arose: Due to clinging to the dharmas of the world of the five aggregates, the existence of the threefold realm arises; because the mind clings to the dharmas of the world of the five aggregates, the existence of the threefold realm comes to appear."

In this passage, the Buddha is describing the process of genuine cultivation according to truth, recounting the actual experience of authentic investigation. First, doubt arises regarding the dharma being investigated. When deep doubt arises, ordinary mental contemplation cannot resolve it, because it is the mind-root (manas) that doubts—this doubt must be resolved by oneself; the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) cannot substitute for the mind-root. Thus, the Buddha engaged in right contemplation within samādhi—that is, deep and subtle investigation by the mind-root. The result of this investigation was the arising of uninterrupted, equal knowledge. Uninterrupted knowledge is precisely the knowledge of the mind-root, whereas the knowledge of the conscious mind is intermittent, especially after death. Because the mind-root itself investigated, it ultimately realized the truth without interruption, realizing the true nature of the dharma.

If the Buddha had lacked samādhi: first, the mind-root would not have been able to give rise to doubt—only superficial doubt in the conscious mind; second, the mind-root would have been unable to engage in deep, subtle investigation, and thus uninterrupted, equal knowledge could not have arisen. Only the conscious mind could have engaged in reasoning, analysis, understanding, and judgment, unable to truly realize the reality of the dharma. Therefore, solitary realizers (pratyekabuddhas) who practice alone in deep mountains possess very profound samādhi, their contemplative power being extremely deep and subtle, surpassing others, and moreover, it is right contemplation. Although non-Buddhists may also have deep samādhi, they lack right contemplation due to wrong views, so their contemplation is not correct. With deep samādhi, concentrated mental focus, and powerful contemplative ability, great wisdom and true wisdom can be awakened.

At that time, the Buddha was still a solitary realizer. With no Buddha appearing in the world, no Dharma present, and no Sangha teaching the Dharma, he renounced the world alone in the mountain forests. With deep and subtle samādhi and wisdom, he contemplated the causes of suffering—birth, aging, sickness, and death—in the world of the five aggregates. Then he contemplated: "Since the world is so full of suffering, why do sentient beings not awaken to it?" Seeking to liberate sentient beings from suffering, the Buddha investigated within samādhi how life comes into existence.