Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta
The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya
http://metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/2Majjhima-Nikaya/Majjhima2/063-cula-malunkhyaputta-s.html
On one occasion Buddha was staying near Savatthi at vana, Then, as Ven. Malunkyaputta thinking, "These positions that are undisclosed, set aside, discarded by Buddha -- 'The Universe is eternal,' 'The Universe is not eternal,' 'The Universe is finite,' 'The Universe is infinite,' 'The soul & the body are the same,' 'The soul is one thing and the body another,' 'After death a Tathagata exists,' 'After death a Tathagata does not exist,' 'After death a Tathagata both exists & does not exist,' 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist' -- I don't approve, I don't accept that Buddha has not disclosed them to me. I'll go ask Buddha about this matter. If he discloses to me them,' then I will live the holy life under him. If he does not disclose to me then I will renounce the life as a monk and return to the lower house holders life."
Then, when it was evening, Ven. Malunkyaputta arose from seclusion and went to Buddha. On arrival, having bowed down, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he asked Buddha, "Lord, just now, as I was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in my awareness: 'These positions that are undisclosed, set aside, discarded by Buddha...I don't approve, I don't accept that Buddha has not disclosed them to me. I'll go ask Buddha about this matter. If he discloses to me that "The Universe is eternal,"...or that "After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist," then I will live the holy life under him. If he does not disclose to me that "The Universe is eternal,"...or that "After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist," then I will renounce the training and return to the lower life.'
"Lord, if Buddha knows that then may he disclose to me . But if he doesn't know or see , the straightforward things is to admit, 'I don't know. I don't see.'...
"Malunkyaputta, did I ever say to you, 'Come, Malunkyaputta, live the Samana life under me, and I will disclose to you all those?"
"No, lord."
"And did you ever say to me, 'Lord, I will live the Samana life under Buddha and [in return] he will disclose to me all those"
"No, lord."
"Then that being the case,
Foolish man, who are you to be claiming making demands of anyone?
"Malunkyaputta, if anyone were to say,
'I won't live the holy life under Buddha as long as he does not disclose to me that "The Universe is eternal,"...
"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.'
He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me...until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short...until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored...until I know his home village, town, or city...until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow...until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark...until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated...until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird...until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.
"In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under Buddha as long as he does not disclose to me that 'The Universe is eternal,'...and all those questions..
"Malunkyaputta, it's not the case that when there is the view, 'The Universe is eternal,' there is the living of the holy life. And it's not the case that when there is the view, 'The Universe is not eternal,' there is the living of the holy life. When there is the view, 'The Universe is eternal,' and when there is the view, 'The Universe is not eternal,' there is still the birth, there is the aging, there is the death, there is the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, & distress whose ceasation I make known right in the here & now.
"So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undisclosed by me as undisclosed,
And why are they undisclosed by me?
Because they are not connected with the goal, are not fundamental to Samana life. They do not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, calming, direct knowledge, self-awakening, and Nibbana.
That's why they are undisclosed by me.
"And what is disclosed by me? 'This is Suffering,' is disclosed by me. 'This is the origination of Suffering,' is disclosed by me. 'This is the cessation of Suffering,' is disclosed by me. 'This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of Suffering,' is disclosed by me.
And why are they disclosed by me? Because they are connected with the goal, are fundamental to life. They lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, calming, direct knowledge, self-awakening, Nibbana. That's why they are disclosed by me.
"So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undisclosed by me as undisclosed, and what is disclosed by me as disclosed."