The Discovery of Truth

‘But in what way, Master Gotama, is there the discovery of truth? In what way does one discover truth?’

‘We ask Master Gotama about the discovery of truth.’

Here, Bhāradvāja, a Monk may be living in dependence on some village or town. Then a Householder or a Householder’s son goes to him and investigates him in regard to three kinds of states:

In regard to states based on craving/greed,

In regard to states based on anger/hatred,

In regard to states based on ignorance/delusion:

Are there in this Venerable One any states based on craving/greed such that, with his mind obsessed by those states, while not knowing he might say, ‘I know,’ or while not seeing he might say, ‘I see’ or he might urge others to act in a way that would lead to their harm and discontentedness for a long time? As he investigates him he comes to know: There are no such states based on craving/greed in this Venerable One. The bodily behavior and the verbal behavior of this Venerable One are not those of one affected by craving/greed. And The Teachings that this Venerable One teaches are profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and superb, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. These Teachings cannot easily be taught by one affected by craving/greed.

When he has investigated him and has seen that he is purified from states based on craving/greed, he next investigates him in regard to states based on anger/hate: Are there in this Venerable One any states based on anger/hate such that, with his mind obsessed by those states, while not knowing he might say, ‘I know,’ or while not seeing he might say, ‘I see’ or he might urge others to act in a way that would lead to their harm and discontentedness for a long time? As he investigates him he comes to know: There are no such states based on anger/hate in this Venerable One. The bodily behavior and the verbal behavior of this Venerable One are not those of one affected by anger/hate. And The Teachings that this Venerable One teaches are profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and superb, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. These Teachings cannot easily be taught by one affected by anger/hate.

When he has investigated him and has seen that he is purified from states based on anger/hate, he next investigates him in regard to states based on ignorance/delusion: Are there in this Venerable One any states based on ignorance/delusion such that, with his mind obsessed by those states, while not knowing he might say, ‘I know,’ or while not seeing he might say, ‘I see’ or he might urge others to act in a way that would lead to their harm and discontentedness for a long time? As he investigates him he comes to know: There are no such states based on ignorance/delusion in this Venerable One. The bodily behavior and the verbal behavior of this Venerable One are not those of one affected by ignorance/delusion. And The Teachings that this Venerable One teaches are profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and superb, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. These Teachings cannot easily be taught by one affected by ignorance/delusion.

When he has investigated him and has seen that he is purified from states based on ignorance/delusion,

(1) then he places confidence in him; filled with confidence,

(2) he visits him and pays respect to him;

(3) having paid respect to him,

(4) he gives ear; when he gives ear,

(5) he hears The Teachings; having heard The Teachings,

(6) he memorizes them,

(7) and examines the meaning of The Teachings he has memorized; when he examines their meaning,

(8) he gains a reflective understanding of those Teachings; when he has gained a reflective understanding of those Teachings,

(9) enthusiasm springs up; when enthusiasm has sprung up,

(10) he applies his will; having applied his will,

(11) he investigates throughly; having investigated throughly,

(12) he applies effort and energy through purposeful striving; determined to apply effort and energy through striving, he realizes the ultimate truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom.

In this way, Bhāradvāja, there is the discovery of truth; in this way one discovers truth; in this way we describe the discovery of truth. But as yet there is no final arrival at truth.

(Reference: MN 95)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how one can discover the truth through selecting a Teacher. He shares that one should observe and investigate a potential Teacher to determine if there are any unwholesome qualities of mind that exist in one’s potential Teacher.

A Student should investigate a potential Teacher to determine if there is any craving, anger, or ignorance (unknowing of true reality). The ideal Teacher to share these Teachings and guide others to Enlightenment is a Teacher who has already attained Enlightenment.

If one has not attained Enlightenment, they would be unable to guide others to Enlightenment because they have not been able to accomplish this goal for themselves, how could they lead others to that goal.

This would be like attempting to teach someone to drive a car yet one has never driven a car. It would be impossible for someone who has never driven a car to teach others how to drive a car.

Similarly, The Buddha is advising that to discover the truth one would need to have a Teacher who has eliminated craving, anger, and ignorance from the mind which is how to produce Enlightenment. He explains that “these Teachings cannot easily be taught by one affected by” craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) because the mind would be unEnlightened.

Additionally, The Buddha suggests one observes a potential Teacher’s bodily and verbal behavior (moral conduct). If a Teacher has craving, anger, or ignorance in their bodily or verbal conduct, they would not be well suited to share these Teachings guiding you to Enlightenment because they have not yet attained Enlightenment.

For you to attain Enlightenment, you will need to spend many hours, days, months, and years to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings. Having a Teacher who has attained Enlightenment will ensure you are discovering the truth in The Teachings they share helping to guide you to Enlightenment. If you were to overlook the process of taking the time to select a wise Teacher to guide you, you might be spending an enormous amount of time without experiencing substantial results on The Path to Enlightenment.

The Buddha advises that it would be wise to ensure a Student is making a wise decision about one’s own Teacher.

Detailed explanation of “How to Determine If A Potential Teacher Has Attained Enlightenment” is available in this same book series found in Chapter 3 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

Next, The Buddha describes that once a Student has “investigated him and has seen that he is purified from states based on ignorance/delusion” a Student should:

(1) then he places confidence in him: filled with confidence,

(2) he visits him and pays respect to him;

(3) having paid respect to him,

(4) he gives ear; when he gives ear,

(5) he hears The Teachings; having heard The Teachings,

(6) he memorizes them,

(7) and examines the meaning of The Teachings he has memorized; when he examines their meaning,

(8) he gains a reflective understanding of those Teachings; when he has gained a reflective understanding of those Teachings,

(9) enthusiasm springs up; when enthusiasm has sprung up,

(10) he applies his will; having applied his will,

(11) he investigates throughly; having investigated throughly,

(12) he applies effort and energy through purposeful striving; determined to apply effort and energy through striving, he realizes the ultimate truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom.

In this way, a Student is then able to discover the truth but there has been no final arrival at truth. While the Student is working towards discovering the truth to attain Enlightenment, in this description, the Student has not yet attained Enlightenment but instead, working towards the discovery of truth.