3.7.11

Lesson 3.7.11 Upaññātasuttaṃ - Let My Efforts Be Maintained Until I Have Attained What Is Attainable!

Upaññāta here symbolizes knowledge achieved through the approach of one’s own acquired wisdom. On the base of his own realised knowledge—upaññāsiṃ—the Buddha motivates his disciples with the following stirring words: “There are two facts, Bhikkhus, that I have fully realized: not to be contented with wholesome states so far developed and never to stop fighting one’s own resistance.” This laid the base for his famous determination when the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree to “maintain his energy until he had attained what was attainable...” till he reached full enlightenment of a sammasambuddha. At another occasion the Buddha explained that “…final knowledge has to be accomplished by gradual training, by ongoing practice and by gradual walking on the path. In the case of someone who has set out as a Bodhisatta to realize full enlightenment, the ten perfections as a compulsory precondition need to be fulfilled in their threefold ways.” But for an ordinary follower on the path, it is important that every step of the gradual training be carried out with the healthy foundation of a balanced mind!