And there are ascetics and brahmins in the realm who refrain from intoxication and negligence, are settled in patience and sweetness, and who tame, calm, and extinguish themselves. From time to time you should go up to them and ask and learn:
“Sirs, what is skillful? What is unskillful? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be cultivated? What should not be cultivated? Doing what leads to my lasting harm and suffering? Doing what leads to my lasting welfare and happiness?”
Having heard them, you should reject what is unskillful and undertake and follow what is skillful.
Ye ca te, tāta, vijite samaṇabrāhmaṇā madappamādā paṭiviratā khantisoracce niviṭṭhā ekamattānaṁ damenti, ekamattānaṁ samenti, ekamattānaṁ parinibbāpenti, te kālena
kālaṁ upasaṅkamitvā paripuccheyyāsi pariggaṇheyyāsi:
“kiṁ, bhante, kusalaṁ, kiṁ akusalaṁ, kiṁ sāvajjaṁ, kiṁ anavajjaṁ, kiṁ sevitabbaṁ, kiṁ na sevitabbaṁ, kiṁ me karīyamānaṁ dīgharattaṁ ahitāya dukkhāya assa, kiṁ vā pana me karīyamānaṁ dīgharattaṁ hitāya sukhāya assā”ti?
Tesaṁ sutvā yaṁ akusalaṁ taṁ abhinivajjeyyāsi, yaṁ kusalaṁ taṁ samādāya vatteyyāsi.
Cakkavattisutta
We should always ask these questions when visiting the wise. These are not just general questions. They are the most fundamental and complete questions a righteous person can ask.
One might think “I’ve already asked these questions before. Do I really need to ask them again?”
I would say Yes for the following reasons:
- The sages can answer differently and provide more details each time you ask
- The Dhamma never gets old
- You will rejoice
- You build the habit of seeing sages and asking astute questions to them
The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths in many suttas.
The monks didn’t say, “We already heard this.”
They rejoiced: “Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu!”
It’s always good to discuss the Dhamma again and again because it makes one mindful and happy.
Here is an example of how a meeting with the sages would go if you ask the question 'What is skillful?"
First visit
King: “What is skillful?”
Sage: “Giving, virtue, and harmlessness.”
Second visit
King: “What is skillful?”
Sage: “Guarding the mind, abandoning craving, and cultivating jhāna.”
Third visit
King: “What is skillful?”
Sage: “Seeing that all conditioned things are impermanent, suffering and not-self. That is true wisdom. That is the gateway to Nibbāna.”
Another example:
If a righteous king asks,
“What is skillful?”
The sage may answer: “Giving is skillful.”
If he asks again on his next visit, he may hear:
Giving without attachment, giving with wisdom, is more skillful."
So from the same question, deeper answers are unlocked as the questioner’s wisdom deepens.
The benefits of asking these questions are as follows:
“Mendicants, in some past lives the Realized One was reborn as a human being.
He approached an ascetic or brahmin and asked:
‘Sirs, what is skillful? What is unskillful? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be cultivated? What should not be cultivated? Doing what leads to my lasting harm and suffering? Doing what leads to my lasting welfare and happiness?’
Due to performing those deeds he was reborn in a heavenly realm.
When he came back to this place he obtained this mark:
he has delicate skin, so delicate that dust and dirt don’t stick to his body.
Possessing this mark, if he stays at home he becomes a wheel-turning monarch.
And what does he obtain as king?
He has great wisdom. Of those who enjoy sensual pleasures, none is his equal or better in wisdom.
That’s what he obtains as king.
And what does he obtain as Buddha?
He has great wisdom, widespread wisdom, laughing wisdom, swift wisdom, sharp wisdom, and penetrating wisdom. No sentient being is his equal or better in wisdom.
That’s what he obtains as Buddha.”
Lakkhaṇasutta
Note: According to ChatGPT, hāsapañño(translated as ‘laughing wisdom’ here) might refer to joyful, delightful, or bright wisdom in context. It can be interpreted as wisdom that is cheerful, delightful, or joy-bringing, or wisdom that inspires joy in others or arises with a bright, gentle mind. Nevertheless, one should confirm this with the wise and ask about this word. That’s the point of this post: asking questions to the wise.
Here’s a ChatGPT-generated poem to summarize the post.
When kings approach the wise with grace,
Not seeking war, nor seeking praise—
But humbly ask with heart sincere:
“What leads to joy, what leads to tears?”The sages speak with patient mind,
Revealing truths both rare and kind.
One day they speak of giving free,
The next, of mind’s tranquility.Again they speak of letting go,
Of seeing things as flux and flow—
That what we cling to fades away,
Like dawn that yields to break of day.Each visit yields a deeper light,
Each answer makes the heart more bright.
And so the question, asked anew,
Opens the path, both old and true.So ask again, and ask once more,
The Dhamma’s gems are endless store.
For those who seek with faith and grace,
Will find the path to a blissful place.