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people would give him less 
respect. Besides, because 
some said that he was an arahant, 
he mistakenly came 
to think that he really was one. 
Thus, because he was 
a man of wrong views who was 
wearing a piece of 
bark as his clothing, he came to be 
known as BAhiya 
DArucEriya. 
At about this time, Maha BrahmA, 
who had been 
the friend who had attained 
anAgAmE in one of his 
previous existences, saw BAhiya's 
views going 
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astray and felt that it was his duty 
to put him on the 
right path. Thus, the BrahmA came 
to him in the 
night and said to him, "BAhiya, 
you are not an 
arahant yet, and what is more, you 
do not have the 
qualities that make one an 
arahant." Faced with the 
truth, BAhiya looked up at the 
BrahmA and said, 
"Yes, I must admit that I am not an 
arahant, as you 
have said. I now realise that I have 
made a great mistake. 
But is there anyone in this world 
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now who is 
an arahant?" The BrahmA then 
advised him to go 
and seek help from the Buddha 
who was staying in 
SAvatthE. 
BAhiya, realized the enormity of 
his guilt, felt very 
much distressed and travelled all 
the way to 
SAvatthE to see the Buddha. 
BAhiya found the Buddha 
going on an almsround with other 
bhikkhus and 
respectfully followed him. He 
pleaded with the Buddha 
to teach him the Dhamma, but the 
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Buddha replied 
that since they were on an 
almsround it was 
not yet time for a religious 
discourse. And again, 
BAhiya pleaded, "Venerable Sir! 
One cannot know 
the danger to your life or to my 
life, so please teach 
me the Dhamma." The Buddha 
knew that BAhiya's 
mental faculties were not yet ready 
to completely 
realize the Dhamma. The Buddha 
also knew that 
BAhiya's mind was not receptive 
at that time because 
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he had just made the long journey 
and also because 
he was overwhelmed with joy at 
seeing him. 
The Enlightened One did not want 
to expound the 
Dhamma immediately but wanted 
him to calm down 
to enable him to absorb the 
Dhamma properly. Still, 
BAhiya persistentlypleaded. So, 
while standing at 
the roadside, the Buddha said to 
him, "BAhiya, when 
you see an object, be conscious of 
just the visible object; 
when you hear a sound, be 
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conscious of just the 
sound; when you smell or taste or 
touch something, 
be conscious of just the smell, the 
taste or the touch; 
and when you think of anything, 
be conscious of just 
that mind-object." 
BAhiya did as he was told and 
because of his deep 
concentration, the accumulated 
karmic force of his 
past good deeds became dominant 
and he attained 
Arahanthood. He asked permission 
from the Buddha 
to join the Order. The Buddha told 
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him first to 
collect the robes, the bowl and 
other requisites of a 
bhikkhu. On his way to get them, 
he was gored by a 
mad cow and died. This is said to 
be one of the only 
examples of those to attain 
arahantship before ordination 
— but without ordination, he could 
not support 
such a high mental state and so 
passed away 
within seven days of his 
enlightenment. 
Blessing Thirty-Three: Seeing the 
Four Noble Truths 371 
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A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 Blessing Thirty-three in the 
order of things 
This blessing and the remaining 
five blessings of 
the Malgala Sutta are the 
culmination of all the 
previous thirty-two blessings. It is 
not to say that 
there was nothing gained from the 
foregoing blessings, 
but those previous blessings have 
not yet managed 
to raise us to liberation or 
transcendental purity. 
In the Blessing Thirty-two we 
discussed cosmology 
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saying that our current sphere of 
existence can 
be compared to `life in a ping-pong 
ball' (!), i.e. the 
Sphere of Sense-Pleasure. Our 
sphere of existence 
is enclosed within a larger sphere 
like a tennis ball, 
which is called the `sphere of 
form-BrahmAs'. This 
tennis ball is enclosed within a 
larger football which 
is called the `sphere of 
formless-BrahmAs'. Sometimes 
we think that our cosmos is 
incomprehensibly 
large, but to a meditator, it is no 
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more cosmically 
significant than a ping-pong ball. 
We refer to 
all three of these spheres together 
as the `ti-bhEmi' 
or `Triple World'. The knowledge 
of anything any 
further than this `Triple World' is 
unique to Buddhism 
amongst world religions. 
Buddhism, has specialized 
in the fact that its implicit 
knowledge extends 
further than the Triple World into 
experiences 
that truly transcend the mundane 
world [lokuttara] 
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and concern Nirvana. 
Of all the blessings we have 
studied, those which 
have emphasized earnest practice 
the most are 
blessings Thirty-One and 
Thirty-Two. Those who 
practice must use austere 
techniques to burn up the 
defilements in the mind —
overcoming laziness and 
their habitual bad habits 
concerning use of clothing, 
food and shelter. In the blessing 
concerning the 
`Brahma-faring' we sowed the 
seeds of goodness 
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in the pure mind. The process of 
sowing virtue is 
like smelting a metal to purity. We 
have already said 
that overcoming impurities in the 
mind can only 
take place if we have 
transcendental happiness to 
replace our mundane happiness. 
As we change the 
staple diet of the mind from 
mundane happiness 
to transcendental happiness, 
eventually when this 
becomes habitual, it will dictate 
our rebirth in the 
corresponding transcendental 
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realm orlead to no 
further rebirth. 
As you practice more and more 
according to the 
prescribed stages, the clarity and 
brightness of the 
mind will increase. As the 
brightness of your mind 
increases, the mind will have the 
ability to appreciate 
the reality of life and the world. If 
you are able 
to appreciate such a reality, in that 
way you can 
come to an end of all suffering —
and attain real 
happiness. Buddhism refers to 
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`seeing reality in the 
way that can bring you to an end of 
suffering' as 
`Seeing the Noble Truths' —
which is the subject of 
this blessing. 
A.2 Definition: The Noble Truths 
The word `noble' is used to 
describe the truths examined 
in this Blessing. The reason for 
them being 
noble is threefold 
they are: 
Blessing 
Thirty-Three: 
Seeing the 
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Four Noble Truths 
372 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
• Noble in themselves: Seeing 
these truths, you discover 
the key to the nature of reality. 
Simply 
knowing the truth about certain 
key issues, you 
will be able to appreciate the truth 
of everything 
— in contrast to the knowledge of 
mundane 
matters which does nothing to 
transform us for 
the better; 
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• Discovered by someone who 
was noble: The 
Noble Truths can be discovered 
only by those 
who are really noble — not by 
birth but by the 
utter purity of their minds; 
• Will make the attainer noble: 
Whosoever attains 
the noble truths will gain 
penetrating knowledge 
of all things and that in itself will 
make that person 
noble. 
We might ask ourselves, having 
studied the forgoing 
blessings, why we have not yet see 
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the Noble 
Truths as a result. The reason is 
because we have 
not yet trained ourselves to the 
utmost. First, we 
have to ask ourselves honestly 
whether we have 
really practiced the forgoing 
blessings in earnest or 
not? Once satisfied with our efforts 
to study the preceding 
blessings, it is also pertinent to 
remind ourselves 
that even if we are not yet at the 
point where 
we can see the Noble Truths for 
ourselves, the study 
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of this blessing is still essential, 
even if only to know 
what we are looking for. 
To see the Noble Truths is not the 
work of a single 
day. Even if we cannot reach this 
spiritual destination 
today, at least we can know the 
route to take 
us there — so that in the future we 
can orientate 
ourselves in the right direction. 
Thus, this blessing 
will deal with `knowing about the 
Noble Truths' so 
that we know what they comprise. 
When we have 
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practised further, then we will be 
able to recognize 
the Noble Truths when we see 
them for ourselves. 
A.3 Noble Truths: overlooked for 
epochs 
The Four Noble Truths are Truths 
which have existed 
as long as the Earth or longer. 
However, even 
though they existed, no-one ever 
noticed them. 
Their discovery had to wait for 
many aeons (an aeon 
being defined as the time it takes 
to wear a 16km x 
16km x 16 km solid stone 
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mountain down to the 
ground by rubbing it once every 
hundred years 
with a light cloth [Pabbata Sutta 
S.ii.181]). Not just 
a single epoch, but a period of the 
order of 10140 aeons. 
This is how long it takes for 
someone to train 
themselves sufficiently well in the 
thirty-eight blessings 
to discover the Noble Truths anew. 
If such a 
person has not arisen in the world, 
the world will 
remain in ignorance concerning 
those truths. However, 
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