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Living Like an Arahant for a Day

AN 8.41, the Saṅkhittūposatha Sutta — set 2, The Basic Diagnosis and the Path

Reading time: about 5 min · 802 words

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Before you read

The observance day is the day each week, by the moon's phases, when lay followers traditionally take on extra precepts for a day and a night. This short discourse lists the eight that make up the observance.

The method is simple and repeated eight times. The disciple reflects that the arahants, the fully awakened, live in a certain way for their whole lives, and says: today, for this night and day, I will live that way too.

The first four match the precepts most people know: not killing, not stealing, not lying, and here, for the day, complete celibacy. The fifth is not taking intoxicants. The last three are what make it a day apart: eating once, giving up shows and adornment, and sleeping on a plain, low bed.

Translation

The Setting

So I heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery. There the Buddha addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus."

"Bhadante," the bhikkhus replied. The Buddha said this:

The Eight Factors

"Bhikkhus, when the observance day is kept with its eight factors, it bears great fruit and great benefit; it is glorious and far-reaching. And how is the observance day kept with its eight factors so that it bears great fruit and great benefit, and is glorious and far-reaching?

Bhikkhus, a noble disciple reflects: 'For as long as they live, the arahants give up killing living beings and refrain from it. They have set aside rod and sword. They are scrupulous and kind, and live full of sympathy for all living beings.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up killing living beings and refrain from it. I set aside rod and sword. I am scrupulous and kind, and I live full of sympathy for all living beings.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the first factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up taking what is not given and refrain from it. They take only what is given and expect only what is given, and they live cleanly, without stealing.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up taking what is not given and refrain from it. I take only what is given and expect only what is given, and I live cleanly, without stealing.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the second factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up unchaste conduct. They live the celibate life, set apart, refraining from sex, the villager's way.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up unchaste conduct. I live the celibate life, set apart, refraining from sex, the villager's way.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the third factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up false speech and refrain from it. They speak the truth and hold to the truth; they are reliable and dependable, and do not deceive the world.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up false speech and refrain from it. I speak the truth and hold to the truth; I am reliable and dependable, and do not deceive the world.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the fourth factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up liquor, wine, and intoxicants, which are a basis for heedlessness, and refrain from them.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up liquor, wine, and intoxicants, which are a basis for heedlessness, and refrain from them.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the fifth factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants eat once a day, refraining from eating at night and at the wrong time.

'Today, for this night and day, I eat once a day, refraining from eating at night and at the wrong time.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the sixth factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up dancing, singing, music, and shows, and wearing garlands, scents, and makeup, and adorning and beautifying themselves, and refrain from them.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up dancing, singing, music, and shows, and wearing garlands, scents, and makeup, and adorning and beautifying myself, and refrain from them.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the seventh factor they have.

'For as long as they live, the arahants give up high and luxurious beds and refrain from them. They sleep in a low place, on a small bed or a mat of grass.

'Today, for this night and day, I give up high and luxurious beds and refrain from them. I sleep in a low place, on a small bed or a mat of grass.

'In this factor I follow the example of the arahants, and I will have kept the observance day.'

This is the eighth factor they have.

When the observance day is kept with its eight factors like this, bhikkhus, it bears great fruit and great benefit; it is glorious and far-reaching."

The first discourse is finished.

Words used in this translation (6)
bhikkhus
Buddhist monks -- those who have left household life to practise full time. The Buddha's usual way of addressing the assembly, roughly "friends" in force.
conduct
This project's rendering of "sīla", often translated "morality" or "virtue". It means how a person actually behaves. The rest of the practice grows from it; it is not a set of rules to obey.
heedlessness
The opposite of heedfulness: drifting, letting things slide, not noticing what the mind is doing.
noble disciple
Someone who has had the breakthrough into the path and so is no longer merely an ordinary person. It does not mean noble by birth, and does not require being a monastic.
observance day
This project's rendering of "uposatha": the days of the lunar month when lay followers keep extra precepts for a night and a day. On these days monastics recite their code.
world
A word whose scope shifts with the teaching. It can mean the lived world we build through the senses and the mind, or the wider physical cosmos. The surrounding passage shows which sense it has.
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