Once the Heavenly Beings and the Asuras Were Arrayed for Battle

Monks, once in the past a certain man set out from Rājagaha and went to the Sumāgadhā Lotus Pond, thinking: ‘I will reflect about the world.’ He then sat down on the bank of the Sumāgadhā Lotus Pond reflecting about the world.

Then, Monks, the man saw a four‑division army entering a lotus stalk on the bank of the pond. Having seen this, he thought: I must be mad! I must be insane! I’ve seen something that doesn’t exist in the world. The man returned to the city and informed a great crowd of people: I must be mad, Sirs! I must be insane! I’ve seen something that doesn’t exist in the world.

[They said to him:] But how is it, good man, that you are mad? How are you insane? And what have you seen that doesn’t exist in the world?

Here, Sirs, I left Rājagaha and approached the Sumāgadhā Lotus Pond, thinking: ‘I will reflect about the world.’ He then sat down on the bank of the Sumāgadhā Lotus Pond reflecting about the world. I saw a four‑division army entering a lotus stalk on the bank of the pond. That’s why I’m mad, that’s why I’m insane, and that’s what I’ve seen that doesn’t exist in the world.

Surely you’re mad, good man! Surely you’re insane! And what you have seen doesn’t exist in the world.

Nevertheless, Monks, what that man saw was actually real, not unreal. Once in the past the heavenly beings and the asuras were arrayed for battle. In that battle the heavenly beings won and the asuras were defeated. In their defeat, the asuras were frightened and entered the asura city through the lotus stalk, to the bewilderment of the heavenly beings.

Therefore, Monks, do not reflect about the world, thinking: ‘The world is eternal’ or ‘The world is not eternal’; or ‘The world is finite’ or ‘The world is infinite’; or ‘The soul and the body are the same’ or ‘The soul is one thing, the body is another’; or ‘The Tathāgata exists after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata does not exist after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’

For what reason?

Because, Monks, this reflection is unbeneficial, irrelevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and does not lead to fading away of strong feelings, to freedom from strong feelings, to elimination, to peace, to direct knowledge (experience), to Enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

When you reflect, Monks, you should reflect: This is discontentedness; you should reflect: This is the cause of discontentedness; you should reflect: This is the elimination of discontentedness; you should reflect: This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.

For what reason?

Because, Monks, this reflection is beneficial, relevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and leads to fading away of strong feelings, to freedom from strong feelings, to elimination, to peace, to direct knowledge (experience), to Enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

Therefore, Monks, an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the cause of discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the elimination of discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.’

(Reference: SN 56.41)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how he recommends that a Practitioner should focus on reflection about The Four Noble Truths, not about “the world”.

While The Buddha shared many Teachings during his forty-five (45) year teaching career, and those are The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment, there are certain Teachings that he did not share. A Buddha would share an extensive amount of Teachings that lead to Enlightenment during their lifetime but, they would not share everything they know.

The wisdom acquired by a Buddha throughout their journey over countless lifetimes, and the life where they became a Buddha, would be deep, profound, and extensive. A Buddha would need to be selective about what they do and do not share, and how they share it, in order to guide countless beings to Enlightenment. If a Buddha attempted to share everything they know and have acquired as wisdom during their current life and past lives, the average human being would be unable to comprehend the wisdom and it would detract the Student from the core and central path to Enlightenment.

Instead, a Buddha chooses to only share those Teachings that lead to Enlightenment. They will share the core and central Teachings that are needed to guide individual Students to Enlightenment. In some situations, there are Teachings that a Buddha will not share, and these are referred to as “undeclared Teachings”.

In this Teaching and others, The Buddha explains his undeclared Teachings, while at the same time, directing his Students to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings that he did declare. The Buddha points to The Four Noble Truths again and again throughout his teaching career because it is The Four Noble Truths that is the beginning of The Path to Enlightenment. Without understanding and practicing The Four Noble Truths, a Practitioner would be unable to experience the breakthrough to understand discontentedness, the cause of discontentedness, the elimination of discontentedness, and the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.

A Practitioner will need to deeply learn, reflect, and practice The Four Noble Truths to establish Right View, and then build everything else they learn on The Path to Enlightenment on this solid foundation. Therefore, The Buddha will continually point to The Four Noble Truths as the start of this path. The Four Noble Truths was his first discourse upon awakening to Enlightenment and he continually points to this discourse throughout his entire teaching career.

There are also places where he points to those Teachings that are undeclared.

These are the undeclared Teachings of Gotama Buddha.

- the world is eternal

- the world is not eternal

- the world is finite

- the world is infinite

- the soul is the same as the body

- the soul is one thing and the body is another

- after death The Tathāgata exists

- after death The Tathāgata does not exist

- after death The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist

- after death The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist

Tathāgata is another term used to refer to Gotama Buddha.

Gotama Buddha is referring to himself who was an Arahant, therefore, you can also insert “Enlightened Being” for Tathāgata. This means, he left The Teachings “undeclared” of whether a human being who has attained Enlightenment as an Arahant “after death exists, does not exist, both exists and does not exist, neither exists nor does not exist”.

An “afterlife”, which Gotama Buddha left as an “undeclared” Teaching, is what happens when one has attained Enlightenment in this life or at death - what happens next? That is the afterlife.

Gotama Buddha did not teach about an afterlife or a soul. He left these “undeclared” in his Teachings. He did not teach whether we exist nor not exist once we attain Enlightenment and die. He shared that there is no more rebirth as “a being” in The Cycle of Rebirth which is different than no existence at all. If we do not attain Enlightenment during this life or at death, we will be reborn through The Cycle of Rebirth.

Just like all craving/desire/attachment, if we crave the answer to these questions, it will cause the mind to be discontent. Knowing the answer to any of these questions will not lead to an individual’s own Enlightenment and therefore Gotama Buddha never taught or “declared” these Teachings. They are “undeclared”.

There were many Teachings Gotama Buddha did not share, as his main focus was to help people understand that they needed to work towards their own salvation through the process of attaining Enlightenment.

Gotama Buddha focused everyone’s attention, the mind, and their development on The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment - the elimination of discontentedness and the suffering it causes rather than rites, rituals, ceremonies and worship or any other aspects of life that do not lead to Enlightenment. He taught people to practice The Teachings of being a good moral person that eliminates all unwholesome Kamma production, producing only wholesome Kamma.