Verses of the Senior Monks 9.1

The Book of the Nines

Chapter One

Bhūta

When an astute person knows, “Old age and death are suffering;

yet an ignorant ordinary person is bound to them”,

completely understanding suffering, being mindful, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When clinging, the carrier of suffering,

and craving, the carrier of this painful mass of proliferation,

are destroyed, and one is mindful, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When the eightfold way, so full of grace,

the supreme path, cleanser of all corruptions,

is seen with wisdom; and one is mindful, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one develops that peaceful state,

sorrowless, stainless, unconditioned,

cleanser of all corruptions, cutter of fetters and bonds:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When the thundercloud rumbles in the sky,

while the rain pours on the path of birds all around,

and a monk has gone to a mountain cave, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When sitting on a riverbank covered in flowers,

garlanded with brightly colored forest plants,

one is truly happy, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When it is midnight in a lonely forest,

and the lions roar as the heavens pour,

and a monk has gone to a mountain cave, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one’s own thoughts have been cut off,

between the mountains, sheltered inside a cleft,

without stress or heartlessness, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one is happy, destroyer of stains, heartlessness, and sorrow,

free of obstructions, snarls, and thorns,

and with all defilements annihilated, practicing absorption:

there is no greater pleasure than this.