dn26:1.0 1. Taking Refuge in Oneself
dn26:1.1 So I have heard.
dn26:1.2 At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Magadhans at Mātulā.
dn26:1.3 There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,
dn26:1.4 “Mendicants!”
dn26:1.5 “Venerable sir,” they replied.
dn26:1.6 The Buddha said this:
dn26:1.7 “Mendicants, live as your own island, your own refuge, with no other refuge. Let the teaching be your island and your refuge, with no other refuge.
dn26:1.8 And how does a mendicant do this?
dn26:1.9 They meditate observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.
dn26:1.10 They meditate observing an aspect of feelings …
dn26:1.11 mind …
dn26:1.12 principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.
dn26:1.13 That’s how a mendicant lives with themselves as island and refuge, without other refuge; with the teachings as island and refuge, without other refuge.
dn26:1.14 You should roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers.
dn26:1.15 If you roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers, Māra won’t find a vulnerability or get an opportunity.
dn26:1.16 It is due to undertaking skillful qualities that merit grows.

