The Book of the Threes

Another Sāmā

thig3.1:1 In the twenty-five years since I went forth, I don’t know that I had ever found serenity in my mind.

thig3.1:2 I had failed to find peace of heart, or any control over my mind. When I remembered the victor’s instructions, I was struck with a sense of urgency.

thig3.1:3 Though subject to so many painful things, I have, through my love of diligence, reached the ending of craving, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions. This is the seventh day since my craving dried up.

The Book of the Threes

Uttamā

thig3.2:1 Four or five times I left my dwelling. I had failed to find peace of heart, or any control over my mind.

thig3.2:2 I approached a nun in whom I had faith. She taught me the Dhamma: the aggregates, sense fields, and elements.

thig3.2:3 When I had heard her teaching, in accordance with her instructions, I sat cross-legged for seven days without moving, given over to rapture and bliss. On the eighth day I stretched out my feet, having shattered the mass of darkness.

The Book of the Threes

Another Uttamā

thig3.3:1 Of the seven awakening factors, the path for attaining extinguishment, I have developed them all, just as the Buddha taught.

thig3.3:2 I attain the meditations on emptiness and signlessness whenever I want. I am the Buddha’s bosom daughter, always delighting in extinguishment.

thig3.3:3 All sensual pleasures are cut off, whether human or heavenly. The wandering of heedlessness is finished, now I await the Hereafter in peace.

The Book of the Threes

Dantikā

thig3.4:1 Leaving my day’s meditation on Vulture’s Peak Mountain, I saw an elephant on the riverbank having just come up from his bath.

thig3.4:2 A man, taking a pole with a hook, asked the elephant, “Give me your foot.” The elephant presented his foot, and the man mounted him.

thig3.4:3 Seeing a wild beast so tamed, submitting to human control, my mind became serene: <em>that</em> is why I’ve gone to the forest!

The Book of the Threes

Ubbirī

thig3.5:1 “You cry ‘Live, my dear mother!’ in the forest. Ubbirī, get a hold of yourself! Eighty-four thousand people, all named ‘Live’, have been burnt in this funeral ground: which one do you grieve for?”

thig3.5:2 “Oh! For you have plucked the arrow from me, so hard to see, stuck in the heart. You’ve swept away the grief for my daughter in which I once was mired.

thig3.5:3 Today I’ve plucked the arrow, I’m hungerless, quenched. I go for refuge to that sage, the Buddha, to his teaching, and to the Saṅgha.”

The Book of the Threes

Sukkā

thig3.6:1 “What’s up with these people in Rājagaha? They sprawl like they’ve been drinking mead! They don’t attend on Sukkā as she teaches the Buddha’s instructions.

thig3.6:2 But the wise— it’s as if they drink it up, so irresistible, delectable, and nutritious, like travelers enjoying a cool cloud.”

thig3.6:3 “She’s known as Sukkā because of her bright qualities, free of greed, serene. She bears her body to the last, having vanquished Satan with his legions.”

The Book of the Threes

Selā

thig3.7:1 “There’s no escape in the world, so what will seclusion do for you? Enjoy erotic delights; don’t regret it later.”

thig3.7:2 “Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears the aggregates are their chopping block. What you call erotic delight is now no delight for me.

thig3.7:3 Relishing is banished in every respect, and the mass of darkness is shattered. So know this, Wicked One: you’re beaten, terminator!”

The Book of the Threes

Somā

thig3.8:1 “That state’s very challenging; it’s for the sages to attain. With her two-inch wisdom, it’s not possible for a woman.”

thig3.8:2 “What difference does womanhood make when the mind is serene, and knowledge is present as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

thig3.8:3 Relishing is banished in every respect, and the mass of darkness is shattered. So know this, Wicked One: you’re beaten, terminator!”