34d: The 20th Rains Retreat (Sudinna) – 1171 

 

evil practice when he had sexual intercourse with his ex-wife, or so the teachers 
say. 

[738]

 

A question may arise here: “Was such a hindrance possible to occur to one, 
who is endowed with the potential for higher attainments, even in the 
lifetime of a Buddha?” The answer is: “Yes, it was.” But the hindrance did 
not derive from the Buddha. In fact, Buddhas are those who endeavour to 
help others attain the paths and fruitions; they constantly put efforts for 
the spiritual welfare of others. Therefore no hindrance can come from 
them to those who are possessed of the merits of their past. 

In reality, a hindrance on spiritual progress is due to inadequacy of 
performance, and association with bad friends. Of these two, inadequacy 
of performance is of two kinds: the lack of teaching effort which is 
conductive to the paths and fruitions on the part of the teacher, and the 
lack of practice conductive to the paths and fruitions on the part of the 
student who is endowed with the merits of the past. 

Of these, inadequacy of performance on the part of the teacher means that 
on the part of a Buddha’s disciple only, and not on the part of Buddhas. 
Explanation: in the Discourse to Dhanañjānī (

Dhanañjānī-sutta

, MN 97) it 

says that while the Brahmin Dhānañjānī was dying, Ven. Sāriputta taught 
him the doctrine of the four sublime practices (

Brahma-vihāra

) that could 

lead him to the Brahma abode. When the Brahmin died, he was reborn in 
that very plane of existence. Details should be taken from the discourse. If 
Ven. Sāriputta, the General of the Dhamma, had known of the latent 
qualifications of the Brahmin and if he had taught him accordingly, he 
would have become a Stream-enterer (

Sotāpanna

). But now the teaching 

was different and the Brahmin’s attainment was short of the noble status. 
Inadequacy of performance on the part of the teacher thus can cause the 
danger of failure to reach the paths and fruitions. 

An example of inadequacy of performance on the part of the student who 
has qualifications may be seen in the Discourse to Kandaraka (

Kandaraka-

sutta

, MN 51). According to this discourse, a wandering ascetic, named 

Kandaraka and an elephant trainer’s son, named Pessa, once went to the 
Buddha, who taught them the four individuals, the first being one who 
worries himself (

attantapa

). 

When the Buddha finished just an outline of the discourse, and before he 
could go on to deal with it in detail, Pessa, the elephant trainer’s son, 
departed in satisfaction. If he had listened to the discourse in detail, Pessa 
would have become a Stream-enterer (

Sotāpanna

). As he left after hearing