Teaching the Ten Thoughts

ap1.1Homage to the Three Jewels.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Grove of Twin Sal Trees, in the city of Kuśinagarī in the country of the Mallas.

ap1.2When he intended to attain parinirvāṇa, the Blessed One spoke to the fourfold assembly: “Bhikṣus, at the moment of death, you should cultivate ten thoughts. What are the ten? You should establish the thought of nonattachment to the domain of this life, the thought of love and compassion for all beings, the thought of giving up and abandoning all resentments, the thought of acknowledging all faults and corruptions of moral discipline and undertaking the entirety of moral discipline, the thought that great harms caused by oneself and others are insignificant, the thought that there is significant fruit and benefit in the small acts of virtue committed by oneself and others, the thought of fearlessness and a lack of fright in moving on to the next world, the thought that conditioning is impermanent, the thought that all phenomena lack a self, and the thought that nirvāṇa is bliss and peace.”

ap1.3When the Blessed One had spoken thus, the bhikṣus rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.

ap1.4This completes “The Sūtra Teaching the Ten Thoughts”