Annie Nugent ended the February retreat in St. Louis with reading and elaborating on the sutta, variously titled Four Wonderful Things or Four Incredible Things About the Realized One. Annie referred to it as the Four Wonderful and Marvelous Things Sutta.
Here is the sutta as translated by Bhikkhu Sujato:
Numbered Discourses 4
Incredible Things About the Realized One (2nd)“Mendicants, with the appearance of a Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, four incredible and amazing things appear. What four?
People like attachment, they love it and enjoy it. Yet when a Realized One is teaching the Dhamma of non-adherence, they want to listen, they lend an ear, and they apply their minds to understand it. This is the first incredible and amazing thing that appears with the appearance of a Realized One.
People like conceit, they love it and enjoy it. Yet when a Realized One is teaching the Dhamma of removing conceit, they want to listen, they lend an ear, and they apply their minds to understand it. This is the second incredible and amazing thing that appears with the appearance of a Realized One.
People like excitement, they love it and enjoy it. Yet when a Realized One is teaching the Dhamma of peace, they want to listen, they lend an ear, and they apply their minds to understand it. This is the third incredible and amazing thing that appears with the appearance of a Realized One.
This population is lost in ignorance, trapped in their shells. Yet when a Realized One is teaching the Dhamma of removing ignorance, they want to listen, they lend an ear, and they apply their minds to understand it. This is the fourth incredible and amazing thing that appears with the appearance of a Realized One.
With the appearance of a Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, four incredible and amazing things appear.”
Three days of sitting, walking and listening. My mind was calm and I was feeling gratefulness for hearing the Dharma from Annie and sharing our practice together. Annie had moved us through the foundations of mindfulness, conducted group interviews, led us through the various focuses for metta practice and answered questions. The final talk of a retreat wisely provides impetus for and reflection on our home practice.
This sutta, rarely shared on retreat, and Annie’s elaboration, gave me great joy and faith in the Dharma. I could reflect on my fifteen years of practice and feel how much my heart and mind has been transformed. I have returned to this sutta daily as a reminder of my progress on the path and as inspiration to continue.
I remember how my mind gets attached, moment to moment, in ways that create pain and suffering and I remember how “it used to be” – much worse! Back and forth with desire and aversion, sometimes the same thought and I was swinging between the two. The causes and conditions in my life have resulted in some strong attachment to trying to maintain safety and security. I have to practice consistently to stay awake to my destructive mental habits and emotions. How grateful I am that I have come so far with the help of so many.
Oh, and conceit! My sense of I am SOMEBODY. I want to be IMPORTANT. What I want or don’t want is of the utmost importance. I am gladdened to reflect on how differently I think and feel now. That I can step out of the limelight in a group and listen to others. I don’t have to expound or explain or debate about my point of view. There is a humility that has come about that results in greater equanimity for me, when I am mindful and practice regularly.
Excitement? Retreats are important for me to see, yet again and again, my habit of being busy, moving quickly, trying to absorb and manage lots of experiences and information. My daily practice can easily be sidetracked by thinking that I have too much to do, too much to accomplish in a day. Mindfulness becomes a distraction from the next shiny thing. Throw in that conceit and attachment and I am a bundle of hurried, worried mind with a pushy, opinionated and manipulative person creating suffering for myself and the rest of the world! Again, a concentrated and consistent practice helps me ride the waves of desire and allows me to work with my mind, seeing clearly how excitement is not a path to happiness.
Lastly, I am grateful for moving out of ignorance. The Triple Jewels of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha – what joy I have found! Learning to sit quietly, observe my mind, practice generosity and live a life intent on right speech and right action has transformed me. Compassion and loving-kindness have arisen in myriad ways that I recognize on a daily basis.
I listen, lend my ears and apply my mind to understanding the suffering that comes from attachment, conceit, and excitement. I practice to move out of ignorance and live this precious life with peace, gratitude and happiness.
May all our practice lead to the end of suffering for all beings.
Christy Hart is a practitioner of Insight Meditation, a sangha member living in St. Louis.