..续本文上一页d by mental proliferation" (papañcasaññasankha).

　　The underlying springs of this conceptual proliferation are three defilements: craving (tanha), conceit (mana), and wrong view (ditthi). When these three gain control of the thought process, cognition runs wild, churning up a host of delusive ideas, obsessions, and passions which overpower the subject and reduce him to their hapless victim. This process of sense perception, as Maha Kaccana shows, is "the source through which perceptions and notions tinged by mental proliferation beset a person," referred to by the Buddha in his brief statement. When there is no delighting in the process of perception by way of craving, which elaborates upon experience in terms of the notion "mine"; when there is no welcoming it by way of conceit, which introduces the notion "I am"; when there is no holding to it by way of wrong view, which proliferates in notions of a self, then all the underlying tendencies to the defilements will be uprooted, and one can dwell in the world as a liberated sage, holy and wise, without quarrels, conflicts, and disputes.

　　Such was the explanation of the Buddha”s words that the Venerable Maha Kaccana offered to the monks. Afterwards the monks approached the Blessed One and told him what Maha Kaccana had said. The Buddha replied with words of the highest praise for his disciple: "Maha Kaccana is wise, bhikkhus, Maha Kaccana has great wisdom. If you had asked me the meaning of this, I would have explained it to you in the same way that Maha Kaccana has explained it. Such is the meaning of this, and so you should remember it."

　　Just then the Venerable Ananda, standing nearby, added a memorable simile to highlight the beauty of Maha Kaccana”s exposition: "Just as if a man exhausted by hunger and weakness came upon a honeyball, in the course of eating it he would find a sweet delectable flavor; so too, venerable sir, any able bhikkhu, in the course of scrutinizing with wisdom the meaning of this discourse on the Dhamma, would find satisfaction and confidence of mind." On the basis of this simile the Buddha named the discourse the Madhupindika Sutta, "The Honeyball Discourse."

　　The other two Majjhima Nikaya suttas featuring Maha Kaccana, and one in the Anguttara Nikaya, conform to this same stereotyped pattern: the Buddha makes a brief statement, gets up, and enters his dwelling; the monks approach the Venerable Maha Kaccana to ask for an explanation of the meaning; he reprimands them for coming to him rather than asking the Lord himself, but finally he complies with their request and elucidates the Buddha”s utterance; the monks return to the Buddha and repeat his analysis, which the Master applauds with words of praise for the elder.

　　The Maha Kaccana Bhaddekaratta Sutta (MN 133) centers around the famous Bhaddekaratta poem, a set of verses spoken by the Buddha that had been circulating within the Sangha. The poem stresses the need to abandon longing for the past and anticipation of the future; it calls instead for urgent effort to marshal one”s energies for penetrating with insight the present reality itself. Many of the monks had learned the poem by heart, along with the Buddha”s own exegesis of it, and had been using it as an inspiration for their meditation practice and as a theme for sermons.[18]

　　One bhikkhu named Samiddhi, however, did not know even the poem, let alone its exegesis. One day a benevolent deity, taking compassion on him, came to him in the early morning and urged him to learn the Bhaddekaratta poem and exposition. The Venerable Samiddhi went to the Buddha and asked him to teach him the Bhaddekaratta summary and its analysis. The Buddha recited the poem:

　　"Let not a person revive the past

　　Or on the future build his hopes,

　　For the p…

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