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The Great Sutra Treasury - Southern Transmission 17
In the Forest Collection (Saṃyutta), the sutras advise mindfulness and right conduct for the monks living in the forest: guarding against unwholesome thoughts, not becoming overly intimate with lay friends, only entering the village at the time of alms offering, and maintaining appropriate distance. The Wandering Sutra tells of the devas longing for the quiet forest after the rains retreat, with the following gatha:
“They go to Magadha, Kosala, Vesālī—
Like deer freed from the trap, running and leaping in all directions.
The homeless mendicant lives freely in this way.”
The Yakkha Collection records:
• The rainy night journey of Sudatta (Anāthapiṇḍika), encouraged by the Yakkha Sivaka, leading to his first meeting with the Buddha (S 1.210).
• The Sukkā Sutra (S 1.212) praises the nun Sukkā, with the Yakkha spreading the Dharma to the people.
• The Āḷavaka Sutra (S 1.218) with the verse: “Faith in the Noble One is the highest treasure…”
The Sakka Saṃyutta opens with the image of a banner on the celestial battlefield, teaching mindfulness of the Buddha to overcome fear; followed by the story of Sakka, who left human existence through keeping the precepts and practicing generosity; the definition of a “lovable place” as one where the presence of an Arahant can be found; and the praise of the Buddha by Sakka, Lord of the Devas (S 1.233).
The Nidāna Saṃyutta (S 2) focuses on dependent origination and the nutriments that sustain life:
- The Vibhaṅga Sutra (S 2.2) gives a brief definition of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination.
- The sutras recount how Buddhas Vipassī, Sikhī, Vessabhū, Kakusandha, Konāgamana, and Kassapa contemplated the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination to attain enlightenment.
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The Food Sutra (S 2.11) distinguishes four kinds of nutriments:
- Physical food (material food)
- Contact food (food through sense contact)
- Volitional thought food (food through thinking)
- Consciousness food (food through awareness)
- The Kaccānagotta Sutra (S 2.16) affirms the Middle Way: “When this is, that is; when this is not, that is not,” transcending the concepts of being and non-being.