“Monks, I will teach you the level of a person of no integrity and the level of a person of integrity. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”

“As you say, lord,” the monks responded.

The Blessed One said, “Now what is the level of a person of no integrity? A person of no integrity is ungrateful & unthankful. This ingratitude, this lack of thankfulness, is advocated by rude people. It is entirely on the level of people of no integrity. A person of integrity is grateful & thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity.”

“I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, and were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate & urinate right there [on your shoulders], you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world. But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother & father, settles & establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother & father, settles & establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays & repays one’s mother & father.”

33. A Certain Brahman

Then a certain brahman approached the Blessed One. Having approached the Blessed One, he exchanged friendly greetings. After pleasant conversation had passed between them, he sat to one side. Having sat to one side, the brahman spoke to the Blessed One thus:

“What does the Venerable Gotama assert, what does he preach?”

“I am one who asserts that which ought to be done, brahman, and one who asserts that which ought not to be done.”

“But in what way is the Venerable Gotama one who asserts that which ought to be done, and one who asserts that which ought not to be done?”

“I say ‘that which ought not to be done’, brahman, of wrong-doing by body, wrong-doing by speech, wrong-doing by the thinking mind; of manifold evil and unwholesome thoughts, I say ‘that which ought not to be done’.

“I say ‘that which ought to be done’, brahman, of doing good by body, doing good by speech, doing good by the thinking mind; of manifold wholesome thoughts, I say ‘that which ought to be done’. In this way, brahman, I am one who preaches ‘that which ought to be done’ and one who preaches ‘that which ought not to be done’.”

“Superb, Venerable Gotama! Superb, Venerable Gotama! Venerable Gotama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been turned upside down, revealing what had been concealed, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark: ‘Those who have eyes see forms!’ Just so, the Venerable Gotama has illuminated the Dhamma in various ways. I go to Venerable Gotama as refuge, and to the Dhamma, and to the assembly of monks. From this day, for as long as I am endowed with breath, let Venerable Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge.”

38. To Kandarayana

On one occasion Ven. Maha Kaccana was staying at Madhura in the Gunda Forest. Then Kandarayana the brahman went to Ven. Maha Kaccana and on arrival exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Maha Kaccana, “I have heard it said, Master Kaccana, that, ‘Kaccana the contemplative does not raise his hands in respect to aged, venerable brahmans—advanced in years, come to the last stage of life—nor does he rise up to greet them, nor does he offer them a seat.’ Insofar as you don’t raise your hands in respect to aged, venerable brahmans—advanced in years, come to the last stage of life—nor rise up to greet them, nor offer them a seat, that is simply not right, Master Kaccana.”

“Brahman, the Blessed One—the one who knows, the one who sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened—has declared the level of one who is venerable and the level of one who is a youngster. Even if one is venerable—80, 90, 100 years old—yet if one partakes of sensuality, lives in the midst of sensuality, burns with sensual fever, is chewed up by sensual thoughts, and is eager in the search for sensuality, then one is reckoned simply as a young fool, not an elder.

“But if one is a youngster, youthful—a black-haired young person endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of life—yet does not partake of sensuality, does not live in the midst of sensuality, does not burn with sensual fever, is not chewed up by sensual thoughts, and is not eager in the search for sensuality, then one is reckoned as a wise elder.”

When this was said, Kandarayana the brahman rose up from his seat, arranged his cloak over one shoulder, and bowed down at the feet of the monks who were youngsters, [saying,] “You, sirs, are the venerable ones, standing on the level of those who are venerable. We are the youngsters, standing on the level of those who are youngsters.

“Magnificent, Master Kaccana! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Kaccana—through many lines of reasoning—made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the community of monks. May Master Kaccana remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life.”