MN 4 Summary

The Bhayabherava Sutta begins with the brahmin Janussoni asking the Buddha if living in remote forest thickets is difficult and if it leads to fear. The Buddha agrees that forest life is hard but explains that fear and dread arise in those who have unpurified bodily, verbal, or mental conduct, or those who are covetous, full of ill will, or lack wisdom. He recounts his own experience as a Bodhisatta, noting that because he was purified in conduct and possessed wisdom, he felt solace in the forest rather than dread. To overcome fear when it did arise on auspicious nights, he would remain in whatever posture he was in—walking, standing, sitting, or lying down—until he had subdued the fear in that position.

After entering the four jhanas, he attained the first true knowledge in the first watch of the night: the recollection of his manifold past lives. In the middle watch, he attained the second knowledge, the divine eye, which allowed him to see how beings pass away and reappear according to their actions and karma. In the last watch, he attained the third knowledge, the destruction of the taints, which included a direct understanding of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. This realization liberated his mind from the taints of sensual desire, being, and ignorance. Finally, the Buddha explains that he continues to live in the forest for his own pleasant abiding and out of compassion for future generations, leading Janussoni to take refuge in him as a lay follower.