6. Mahali Sutta

When the Buddha, with the assembly of Bhikkhus, was dwelling in the Kutagarasala of the great forest in Vesali, Mahali otthaddha, the Slit-Lip Licchavi ruler, came there with a great number of companions; he approached Nagita, the attendant bhikkhu. He expressed his desire to see the Buddha. Sinha, a student-disciple, came up to Nagita and begged on behalf of all the audience, to see the Buddha. He had his wish fulfilled, and the Buddha came out of his room.

Then Mahali put a question to the Buddha about a complaint made by Sunakkhatta, Licchavi-prince. About three years before, he had left the Order of Bhikkhus and become a householder. His complaint was simply this. He had seen the spiritual sights through the practice of meditation but could not hear the spiritual sounds. So Mahali asked the Buddha : “Lord, is it due to the non-existence of such sounds that he could not hear them, or did he not hear them, even though they actually existed ?” read more

The Buddha answered. “It was his own inabillity to hear such sounds, although these sounds were truly there. If Sunakkhatta had given due attention to these facts of practice, he would certainly have been able to hear these sounds. But it is neither in order to see spiritual sights, nor hear spiritual sounds that candidates join the Sangha. It is for a purpose much higher than students pursue the Buddhist discipline. It is for the purpose of directly realizing the stages of Nibbana the Stream-entrant, Once-Returner, Non-Returner and ultimately, the last stage of Liberation. It is to eradicate defilement entirely, to achieve mental freedom, intellectual liberation, and direct visualization by one’s own insight. The path to realize these is the Eight-fold Path.”