SA 815（八一五） 布萨

Thus have I heard:

Once, the Buddha was staying at Jetavana Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma in Śrāvastī during the summer retreat. At that time, many senior bhikṣus were staying in the trees and caves near the World-Honored One. Then, some young bhikṣus went to where the Buddha was, bowed their heads at the Buddha's feet, and sat to one side.

The Buddha spoke various teachings to the young bhikṣus, showing, teaching, illuminating, and delighting them. Having shown, taught, illuminated, and delighted them, he remained silent.

The young bhikṣus, having heard what the Buddha said, rejoiced and followed his teachings. They rose from their seats, bowed, and departed.

The young bhikṣus went to the elder bhikṣus, paid homage at their feet, and sat to one side.

At that time, the elder bhikṣus thought, "We should accept these young bhikṣus, either one accepting one, or one accepting two or three or many." Having thought this, they immediately accepted them, either one accepting one, or accepting two or three or many. Some elders accepted up to sixty.

At that time, the World-Honored One, on the fifteenth day of the fortnight, sat down in front of the assembly and arranged his seat.

At that time, the World-Honored One, having observed the bhikṣus, said to the bhikṣus, "Excellent! Excellent! I am pleased with the bhikṣus practicing the right things. Therefore, bhikṣus! You should diligently practice."

In this Śrāvastī country, during the Māgha month, the bhikṣus in various places heard that the World-Honored One was staying in Śrāvastī during the Māgha month. After completing the robe, they took their robes and alms bowls and traveled through the human realm of Śrāvastī. Gradually arriving in Śrāvastī, they put away their robes and alms bowls, washed their feet, went to where the World-Honored One was, bowed their heads at his feet, and then sat to one side.

At that time, the World-Honored One, for the bhikṣus in the human realm, spoke various teachings, showing, teaching, illuminating, and delighting them, then remained silent.

At that time, the bhikṣus in the human realm, having heard the Buddha's teachings, rejoiced and followed them. They rose from their seats, bowed, and departed. They went to where the senior bhikṣus were, bowed their heads at their feet, and then sat to one side.

At that time, the senior bhikṣus thought, "We should accept these bhikṣus from the human realm. One person can accept one person, or two, three, up to many people." They then accepted them, with one person accepting one person, or two, three, up to some accepting sixty people. Those senior bhikṣus accepted the bhikṣus from the human realm, instructing and teaching them, well knowing the sequence of before and after.

At that time, the World Honored One, on the fifteenth day of the month during the confession ceremony, sat on a prepared seat in front of the great assembly, observed the assembly of bhikṣus, and addressed the bhikṣus, saying, "Excellent! Excellent! Bhikṣus! I rejoice in the correct practices of you all, and delight in the correct practices of you all. Bhikṣus! The assemblies of bhikṣus of past buddhas also practiced correctly as they do now. The assemblies of bhikṣus of future buddhas will also be like this, practicing correctly as they do now. Why is this? Because in this assembly, the elder bhikṣus have attained the first, second, third, and fourth dhyānas, and dwell in the perfection of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothingness, and the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. Some bhikṣus have exhausted the three fetters, attained the state of srota-āpanna, will not fall into the evil destinies, are definitely headed for supreme perfect enlightenment, will be reborn seven times among gods and humans, and will finally put an end to suffering. Some bhikṣus have exhausted the three fetters, and their greed, hatred, and delusion are weakened, attaining the state of sakṛd-āgāmin. Some bhikṣus have exhausted the five lower fetters, attained the state of anāgāmin, and will be born in parinirvāṇa, never again to be reborn in this world. Some bhikṣus have attained the realm of immeasurable supernormal powers, the divine ear, knowledge of others' minds, knowledge of past lives, knowledge of death and rebirth, and knowledge of the exhaustion of taints. Some bhikṣus cultivate the contemplation of impurity to eliminate desire, cultivate loving-kindness to eliminate hatred, cultivate the perception of impermanence to eliminate the conceit of self, and cultivate the mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation to eliminate conceptualization. How do bhikṣus cultivate the mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation to eliminate conceptualization? These bhikṣus rely on a village, and so on, and observe the cessation of exhalation as they learn to observe the cessation of exhalation. This is called cultivating the mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation to eliminate conceptualization."

Having spoken this sūtra, the Buddha said to the bhikṣus, "Excellent! Excellent! Bhikṣus! I rejoice in the correct practices of you all, and delight in the correct practices of you all. Bhikṣus! The assemblies of bhikṣus of past buddhas also practiced correctly as they do now. The assemblies of bhikṣus of future