93. Thus I shall put a stop to old feelings and shall not arouse new feelings: thus as a sick man uses medicine, he uses [alms food, thinking]: “By use of this alms food I shall put a stop to the old feeling of hunger, and I shall not arouse a new feeling by immoderate eating, like one of the [proverbial] brahmans, that is, one who eats
till he has to be helped up by hand, or till his clothes will not meet, or till he rolls there [on the ground], or till crows can peck from his mouth, or until he vomits what he has eaten. Or alternatively, there is that which is called ‘old feelings’ because, being conditioned by former kamma, it arises now in dependence on unsuitable
immoderate eating—I shall put a stop to that old feeling, forestalling its condition by suitable moderate eating. And there is that which is called ‘new feeling’ because it will arise in the future in dependence on the accumulation of kamma consisting in making improper use [of the requisite of alms food] now—I shall also not arouse that new feeling, avoiding by means of proper use the production of its root.” This is how the meaning should be understood here. What has been shown so far can be understood to include proper use [of requisites], abandoning of devotion to self-mortification, and not giving up lawful bliss (pleasure).
94. And I shall be healthy: “In this body, which exists in dependence on requisites, I shall, by moderate eating, have health called ‘long endurance’ since there will be no danger of severing the life faculty or interrupting the [continuity of the] postures.” [Reflecting] in this way, he makes use [of the alms food] as a sufferer from a chronic disease does of his medicine. And blameless and live in comfort (lit. “and have blamelessness and a comfortable abiding”): he makes use of them thinking: “I shall have blamelessness by avoiding improper search, acceptance and eating, and I shall have a comfortable abiding by moderate eating.” Or he does so thinking: “I shall have blamelessness due to absence of such faults as boredom, sloth, sleepiness, blame by the wise, etc., that have unseemly immoderate eating as their condition; and I shall have a comfortable abiding by producing bodily strength that has seemly moderate eating as its condition.” Or he does so thinking: “I shall
have blamelessness by abandoning the pleasure of lying down, lolling and torpor, through refraining from eating as much as possible to stuff the belly; and I shall have a comfortable abiding by controlling the four postures through eating four or five mouthfuls less than the maximum.” For this is said:
With four or five lumps still to eat
Let him then end by drinking water;
For energetic bhikkhus’ needs
This should suffice to live in comfort (Th 983).
Now, what has been shown at this point can be understood as discernment of purpose and practice of the middle way.
95. Resting place (senásana): this is the bed (sena) and seat (ásana). For wherever one sleeps (seti), whether in a monastery or in a lean-to, etc., that is the bed (sena); wherever one seats oneself (ásati), sits (nisìdati), that is the seat (ásana). Both together are called “resting-place” (or “abode”—senásana).
For the purpose of warding off the perils of climate and enjoying retreat: the climate itself in the sense of imperilling (parisahana) is “perils of climate” (utu-parissaya). Unsuitable climatic conditions that cause mental distraction due to bodily affliction can be warded off by making use of the resting place; it is for the purpose of warding off these and for the purpose of the pleasure of solitude, is what is meant. Of course, the warding off of the perils of climate is stated by [the phrase] “protection from cold,” etc., too; but, just as in the case of making use of the robes the concealment of the private parts is stated as an invariable purpose while the others are periodical [purposes], so here also this [last] should be understood as mentioned with reference to the invariable warding off of the perils of climate. Or alternatively, this “climate” of the kind stated is just climate; but “perils” are of two kinds: evident perils and concealed perils (see Nidd I 12). Herein, evident perils are lions, tigers, etc., while concealed perils are greed, hate, and so on. When a bhikkhu knows and
reflects thus in making use of the kind of resting place where these [perils] do not, owing to unguarded doors and sight of unsuitable visible objects, etc., cause affliction, he can be understood as one who “reflecting wisely makes use of the resting place for the purpose of warding off the perils of climate.”
96. The requisite of medicine as cure for the sick: here “cure” (paccaya = going against) is in the sense of going against (pati-ayana) illness; in the sense of countering, is the meaning. This is a term for any suitable remedy. It is the medical man’s work (bhisakkassa kammaí) because it is permitted by him, thus it is medicine (bhesajja).
Or the cure for the sick itself as medicine is “medicine as cure for the sick.” Any work of a medical man such as oil, honey, ghee, etc., that is suitable for one who is sick, is what is meant. A “requisite” (parikkhára), however, in such passages as “It is well supplied with the requisites of a city” (A IV 106) is equipment; in such passages
as “The chariot has the requisite of virtue, the axle of jhána, the wheel of energy” (S V 6) it is an ornament; in such passages as “The requisites for the life of one who has gone into homelessness that should be available” (M I 104), it is an accessory. But here both equipment and accessory are applicable. For that medicine as a cure for the sick is equipment for maintaining life because it protects by preventing the arising of affliction destructive to life; and it is an accessory too because it is an instrument for prolonging life. That is why it is called “requisite.” So it is medicine as cure for the sick and that is a requisite, thus it is a “requisite of
medicine as cure for the sick.” [He makes use of] that requisite of medicine as cure for the sick; any requisite for life consisting of oil, honey, molasses, ghee, etc., that is allowed by a medical man as suitable for the sick, is what is meant.
By Bhikkhu Ñānamoli