Without Compunction
Anottāpī Sutta (SN 16:2)
I have heard that on one occasion Ven. Mahā Kassapa and Ven. Sāriputta were staying near Vārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana. Then Ven. Sāriputta, emerging from his seclusion in the evening, went to Ven. Mahā Kassapa and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Mahā Kassapa, “It is said, friend Kassapa, that a person without ardency, without compunction,1 is incapable of self-awakening, incapable of unbinding, incapable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage. Now, how is a person without ardency, without compunction, incapable of self-awakening, incapable of unbinding, incapable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage? And how is a person ardent & compunctious capable of self-awakening, capable of unbinding, capable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage?”
Ven. Mahā Kassapa: “There is the case, friend, where a monk, (thinking,) ‘Unarisen evil, unskillful qualities arising in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ arouses no ardency. (Thinking,) ‘Arisen evil, unskillful qualities not being abandoned in me…’ … ‘Unarisen skillful qualities not arising in me …’ … ‘Arisen skillful qualities ceasing in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ he arouses no ardency. This is how one is without ardency.
“And how is one a person without compunction? There is the case where a monk, (thinking,) ‘Unarisen evil, unskillful qualities arising in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ feels no compunction. (Thinking,) ‘Arisen evil, unskillful qualities not being abandoned in me…’ … ‘Unarisen skillful qualities not arising in me …’ … ‘Arisen skillful qualities ceasing in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ he feels no compunction. This is how one is without compunction.
“This is how a person without ardency, without compunction, is incapable of self-awakening, incapable of unbinding, incapable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage.
“And how is one ardent? There is the case where a monk, (thinking,) ‘Unarisen evil, unskillful qualities arising in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ arouses ardency. (Thinking,) ‘Arisen evil, unskillful qualities not being abandoned in me…’ … ‘Unarisen skillful qualities not arising in me …’ … ‘Arisen skillful qualities ceasing in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ he arouses ardency. This is how one is ardent.
“And how is one compunctious? There is the case where a monk, (thinking,) ‘Unarisen evil, unskillful qualities arising in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ feels compunction. (Thinking,) ‘Arisen evil, unskillful qualities not being abandoned in me…’ … ‘Unarisen skillful qualities not arising in me …’ … ‘Arisen skillful qualities ceasing in me would lead to what is unbeneficial,’ he feels compunction. This is how one is compunctious.
“This is how a person ardent & compunctious is capable of self-awakening, capable of unbinding, capable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage.”
Note
1. There is alliteration in the Pali here: “Without ardency” is anātāpī; “without compunction,” anottāpī. Ven. Sāriputta is apparently referring here to the teaching in Iti 34:
A person without ardency, without compunction, is incapable of self-awakening, incapable of unbinding, incapable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage. A person ardent & compunctious is capable of self-awakening, capable of unbinding, capable of attaining the unexcelled security from bondage.
Without ardency, without compunction,
lazy, with low persistence,
full of sloth & drowsiness,
shameless, without respect:
He’s incapable, a monk like this,
of touching superlative self-awakening.
But whoever is mindful, masterful,
absorbed in jhāna,
ardent, compunctious, & heedful,
cutting the fetter of birth & aging,
touches right here & now
a self-awakening unsurpassed.
