MN 38 — The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving
From Sāti’s mistaken idea of a consciousness that transmigrates unchanged, the Buddha unfolds a complete liberation teaching: conditional consciousness, nutriment, dependent arising, conception and sensual development, the six sense doors, sīla, sense restraint, sati-sampajañña, the five hindrances, all four jhānas, and the exact point where feeling no longer becomes delight, clinging and renewed becoming.
Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ. — Whatever delight there is in feelings, that is clinging.
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The discourse does not stop at explaining dependent origination—it shows where the chain is fed and how training stops feeding it
MN 38 begins with a doctrinal mistake but ends with an intensely practical liberation instruction. Sāti imagines a single consciousness that speaks, feels, receives kamma-results and travels through saṁsāra. The Buddha dismantles that view by showing that viññāṇa arises only in dependence on conditions.
From there the discourse asks what sustains what has come to be, traces nutriment to craving and craving backward through dependent origination, follows a being from conception into the world of sensuality, and then shows the untrained mind meeting the six doors through attraction and aversion.
The second half supplies the training: sīla → santuṭṭhi → indriya-saṁvara → sati-sampajañña → seclusion → abandonment of the five hindrances → four jhānas. The Buddha then returns to those same six sense doors. Experience continues, but feeling is no longer delighted in, affirmed or held to. With the cessation of nandī, clinging ceases; then becoming, birth and the whole mass of suffering cease.
Read the full movement of the discourse without abbreviated repetitions
The repeated passages at the five strands of sensual pleasure, the untrained six doors, sense restraint, the four jhānas and the liberated six-door sequence are written out in full so the symmetry of the teaching can be studied directly.
01Sāti insists that the same consciousness transmigrates
Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.
Tena kho pana samayena sātissa nāma bhikkhuno kevaṭṭaputtassa evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ hoti: “tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati anaññan”ti.
Assosuṁ kho sambahulā bhikkhū: “sātissa kira nāma bhikkhuno kevaṭṭaputtassa evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: ‘tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’”ti. Atha kho te bhikkhū yena sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etadavocuṁ: “saccaṁ kira te, āvuso sāti, evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: ‘tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’”ti?
“Evaṁ byā kho ahaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan”ti.
Atha kho te bhikkhū sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etasmā pāpakā diṭṭhigatā vivecetukāmā samanuyuñjanti samanugāhanti samanubhāsanti: “mā evaṁ, āvuso sāti, avaca, mā bhagavantaṁ abbhācikkhi, na hi sādhu bhagavato abbhakkhānaṁ, na hi bhagavā evaṁ vadeyya. Anekapariyāyenāvuso sāti, paṭiccasamuppannaṁ viññāṇaṁ vuttaṁ bhagavatā, aññatra paccayā natthi viññāṇassa sambhavo”ti.
Evampi kho sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tehi bhikkhūhi samanuyuñjiyamāno samanugāhiyamāno samanubhāsiyamāno tadeva pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ thāmasā parāmāsā abhinivissa voharati: “evaṁ byā kho ahaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati anaññan”ti.
Yato kho te bhikkhū nāsakkhiṁsu sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etasmā pāpakā diṭṭhigatā vivecetuṁ, atha kho te bhikkhū yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho te bhikkhū bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ: “sātissa nāma, bhante, bhikkhuno kevaṭṭaputtassa evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: ‘tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’ti. Assumha kho mayaṁ, bhante, sātissa kira nāma bhikkhuno kevaṭṭaputtassa evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: ‘tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’ti. Atha kho mayaṁ, bhante, yena sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tenupasaṅkamimha; upasaṅkamitvā sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etadavocumha: ‘saccaṁ kira te, āvuso sāti, evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: “tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan”’ti? Evaṁ vutte, bhante, sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto amhe etadavoca: ‘evaṁ byā kho ahaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’ti. Atha kho mayaṁ, bhante, sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etasmā pāpakā diṭṭhigatā vivecetukāmā samanuyuñjimha samanugāhimha samanubhāsimha: ‘mā evaṁ, āvuso sāti, avaca, mā bhagavantaṁ abbhācikkhi, na hi sādhu bhagavato abbhakkhānaṁ, na hi bhagavā evaṁ vadeyya. Anekapariyāyenāvuso sāti, paṭiccasamuppannaṁ viññāṇaṁ vuttaṁ bhagavatā, aññatra paccayā natthi viññāṇassa sambhavo’ti. Evampi kho, bhante, sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto amhehi samanuyuñjiyamāno samanugāhiyamāno samanubhāsiyamāno tadeva pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ thāmasā parāmasā abhinivissa voharati: ‘evaṁ byā kho ahaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’ti. Yato kho mayaṁ, bhante, nāsakkhimha sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etasmā pāpakā diṭṭhigatā vivecetuṁ, atha mayaṁ etamatthaṁ bhagavato ārocemā”ti.
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
At that time a harmful view had arisen in the bhikkhu Sāti, the fisherman’s son: “As I understand the Blessed One’s teaching, it is this very same consciousness that runs and wanders through saṁsāra, not another.” Several bhikkhus heard of this. They went to Sāti and asked whether he truly held such a view. Sāti replied that this was indeed how he understood the teaching.
The bhikkhus tried repeatedly to dissuade him. They told him not to speak in that way and not to misrepresent the Blessed One, because the Buddha had explained consciousness in many ways as dependently arisen: apart from a condition there is no arising of consciousness. Yet Sāti held stubbornly to the same view and continued to state it.
When they could not detach him from that view, the bhikkhus went to the Blessed One, paid respects, sat to one side, and reported the whole exchange.
02The Buddha questions Sāti and rejects a permanent carrier of kamma
Atha kho bhagavā aññataraṁ bhikkhuṁ āmantesi: “ehi tvaṁ bhikkhu, mama vacanena sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ āmantehi: ‘satthā taṁ, āvuso sāti, āmantetī’”ti.
“Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho so bhikkhu bhagavato paṭissutvā yena sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etadavoca: “satthā taṁ, āvuso sāti, āmantetī”ti.
“Evamāvuso”ti kho sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tassa bhikkhuno paṭissutvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinnaṁ kho sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ bhagavā etadavoca: “saccaṁ kira te, sāti, evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ: ‘tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan’”ti?
“Evaṁ byā kho ahaṁ, bhante, bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ sandhāvati saṁsarati, anaññan”ti.
“Katamaṁ taṁ, sāti, viññāṇan”ti?
“Yvāyaṁ, bhante, vado vedeyyo tatra tatra kalyāṇapāpakānaṁ kammānaṁ vipākaṁ paṭisaṁvedetī”ti.
“Kassa nu kho nāma tvaṁ, moghapurisa, mayā evaṁ dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāsi? Nanu mayā, moghapurisa, anekapariyāyena paṭiccasamuppannaṁ viññāṇaṁ vuttaṁ, aññatra paccayā natthi viññāṇassa sambhavoti? Atha ca pana tvaṁ, moghapurisa, attanā duggahitena amhe ceva abbhācikkhasi, attānañca khaṇasi, bahuñca apuññaṁ pasavasi. Tañhi te, moghapurisa, bhavissati dīgharattaṁ ahitāya dukkhāyā”ti.
Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave, api nāyaṁ sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto usmīkatopi imasmiṁ dhammavinaye”ti?
“Kiñhi siyā, bhante? No hetaṁ, bhante”ti. Evaṁ vutte, sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto tuṇhībhūto maṅkubhūto pattakkhandho adhomukho pajjhāyanto appaṭibhāno nisīdi.
Atha kho bhagavā sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ tuṇhībhūtaṁ maṅkubhūtaṁ pattakkhandhaṁ adhomukhaṁ pajjhāyantaṁ appaṭibhānaṁ viditvā sātiṁ bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ etadavoca: “paññāyissasi kho tvaṁ, moghapurisa, etena sakena pāpakena diṭṭhigatena. Idhāhaṁ bhikkhū paṭipucchissāmī”ti.
Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “tumhepi me, bhikkhave, evaṁ dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānātha yathāyaṁ sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto attanā duggahitena amhe ceva abbhācikkhati, attānañca khaṇati, bahuñca apuññaṁ pasavatī”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante. Anekapariyāyena hi no, bhante, paṭiccasamuppannaṁ viññāṇaṁ vuttaṁ bhagavatā, aññatra paccayā natthi viññāṇassa sambhavo”ti.
“Sādhu sādhu, bhikkhave. Sādhu kho me tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānātha. Anekapariyāyena hi vo, bhikkhave, paṭiccasamuppannaṁ viññāṇaṁ vuttaṁ mayā, aññatra paccayā natthi viññāṇassa sambhavo”ti. Atha ca panāyaṁ sāti bhikkhu kevaṭṭaputto attanā duggahitena amhe ceva abbhācikkhati, attānañca khaṇati, bahuñca apuññaṁ pasavati. Tañhi tassa moghapurisassa bhavissati dīgharattaṁ ahitāya dukkhāya.
The Blessed One sent a bhikkhu to summon Sāti. Sāti came, paid respects and sat to one side. The Buddha asked him directly whether he really held the view that the same consciousness transmigrates. Sāti answered yes.
The Buddha then asked, “Sāti, what is that consciousness?” Sāti replied: “It is that which speaks and feels and experiences here and there the results of good and bad actions.”
The Buddha strongly rebuked him: “Foolish man, from whom have you ever known me to teach the Dhamma in that way? Have I not explained in many ways that consciousness is dependently arisen, and that apart from a condition there is no arising of consciousness?” By grasping the teaching wrongly, Sāti was misrepresenting the Buddha, harming himself, and creating much demerit.
The Buddha asked the other bhikkhus whether Sāti had even become warmed or inspired in this Dhamma and discipline. They answered that he had not. Sāti sat silent, embarrassed, shoulders drooping, head down, brooding and unable to respond.
The Buddha then asked the assembled bhikkhus whether they too understood his teaching as Sāti did. They replied that they did not: the Buddha had repeatedly taught that consciousness is dependently arisen and cannot arise apart from conditions. The Buddha praised their understanding.
03Six classes of consciousness and the fire simile
“Yaṁ yadeva, bhikkhave, paccayaṁ paṭicca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, tena teneva viññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati. Variant: saṅkhyaṁ gacchati → saṅkhaṁ gacchati (bj, pts1ed) Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, cakkhuviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; sotañca paṭicca sadde ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, sotaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; ghānañca paṭicca gandhe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, ghānaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; jivhañca paṭicca rase ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, jivhāviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; kāyañca paṭicca phoṭṭhabbe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, kāyaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; manañca paṭicca dhamme ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, manoviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati.
Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, yaṁ yadeva paccayaṁ paṭicca aggi jalati tena teneva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati. Kaṭṭhañca paṭicca aggi jalati, kaṭṭhaggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; sakalikañca paṭicca aggi jalati, sakalikaggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; tiṇañca paṭicca aggi jalati, tiṇaggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; gomayañca paṭicca aggi jalati, gomayaggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; thusañca paṭicca aggi jalati, thusaggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; saṅkārañca paṭicca aggi jalati, saṅkāraggitveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati.
Evameva kho, bhikkhave, yaṁ yadeva paccayaṁ paṭicca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, tena teneva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati. Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, cakkhuviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati; sotañca paṭicca sadde ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, sotaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati, ghānañca paṭicca gandhe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, ghānaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati, jivhañca paṭicca rase ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, jivhāviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati. Kāyañca paṭicca phoṭṭhabbe ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, kāyaviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati. Manañca paṭicca dhamme ca uppajjati viññāṇaṁ, manoviññāṇantveva saṅkhyaṁ gacchati.
Bhikkhus, whatever condition consciousness arises in dependence on, it is reckoned according to that very condition. Consciousness arising dependent on eye and forms is called eye-consciousness; dependent on ear and sounds, ear-consciousness; dependent on nose and odors, nose-consciousness; dependent on tongue and tastes, tongue-consciousness; dependent on body and tangibles, body-consciousness; dependent on mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness.
It is just as a fire is named according to the fuel in dependence on which it burns. A fire dependent on wood is called a wood fire; dependent on chips, a chip fire; dependent on grass, a grass fire; dependent on cow-dung, a cow-dung fire; dependent on chaff, a chaff fire; dependent on rubbish, a rubbish fire.
In the same way, consciousness is designated according to the condition in dependence on which it arises. The simile directs attention away from an enduring entity and toward the specific supporting conditions of each occurrence of consciousness.
04What has come to be, its nutriment, its cessation—and the raft
Bhūtamidanti, bhikkhave, passathā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhārasambhavanti, bhikkhave, passathā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ, taṁ nirodhadhammanti, bhikkhave, passathā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Bhūtamidaṁ nossūti, bhikkhave, kaṅkhato uppajjati vicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhārasambhavaṁ nossūti, bhikkhave, kaṅkhato uppajjati vicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ, taṁ nirodhadhammaṁ nossūti, bhikkhave, kaṅkhato uppajjati vicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Bhūtamidanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato yā vicikicchā sā pahīyatī”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhārasambhavanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato yā vicikicchā sā pahīyatī”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ, taṁ nirodhadhammanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato yā vicikicchā sā pahīyatī”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Bhūtamidanti, bhikkhave, itipi vo ettha nibbicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhārasambhavanti, bhikkhave, itipi vo ettha nibbicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti, bhikkhave, itipi vo ettha nibbicikicchā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Bhūtamidanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhan”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhārasambhavanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhan”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti, bhikkhave, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhan”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Imañce tumhe, bhikkhave, diṭṭhiṁ evaṁ parisuddhaṁ evaṁ pariyodātaṁ allīyetha kelāyetha dhanāyetha mamāyetha, api nu me tumhe, bhikkhave, kullūpamaṁ dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājāneyyātha nittharaṇatthāya no gahaṇatthāyā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Imañce tumhe, bhikkhave, diṭṭhiṁ evaṁ parisuddhaṁ evaṁ pariyodātaṁ na allīyetha na kelāyetha na dhanāyetha na mamāyetha, api nu me tumhe, bhikkhave, kullūpamaṁ dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājāneyyātha nittharaṇatthāya no gahaṇatthāyā”ti?
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
The Buddha asks the bhikkhus whether they see: “This has come to be.” They answer, “Yes, Bhante.” He asks whether they see that what has come to be arises from nutriment. Again they answer yes. He asks whether they see that, with the cessation of its nutriment, what has come to be is subject to cessation. Again they answer yes.
He then turns to doubt. If someone is uncertain whether this has come to be, doubt arises. If uncertain whether it has arisen dependent on nutriment, doubt arises. If uncertain whether, with the cessation of the nutriment, what has come to be is of a nature to cease, doubt arises.
But when one sees with right wisdom, as it has actually come to be, that this has arisen, that it has arisen dependent on nutriment, and that with the cessation of its nutriment it is subject to cessation, that doubt is abandoned. The bhikkhus confirm that they are free of doubt here and that these things are well seen with right wisdom.
Then the Buddha gives a further warning. Even if their view is so purified and bright, if they cling to it, cherish it, treasure it and take it as “mine,” they have not understood the Dhamma as a raft—taught for crossing over, not for grasping. If they do not cling even to that purified understanding, then they have understood the raft simile correctly.
05The four nutriments and the backward investigation to ignorance
“Cattārome, bhikkhave, āhārā bhūtānaṁ vā sattānaṁ ṭhitiyā, sambhavesīnaṁ vā anuggahāya. Katame cattāro? Kabaḷīkāro āhāro oḷāriko vā sukhumo vā, phasso dutiyo, manosañcetanā tatiyā, viññāṇaṁ catutthaṁ.
Ime ca, bhikkhave, cattāro āhārā kiṁnidānā kiṁsamudayā kiṁjātikā kiṁpabhavā? Ime cattāro āhārā taṇhānidānā taṇhāsamudayā taṇhājātikā taṇhāpabhavā.
Taṇhā cāyaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānā kiṁsamudayā kiṁjātikā kiṁpabhavā? Taṇhā vedanānidānā vedanāsamudayā vedanājātikā vedanāpabhavā.
Vedanā cāyaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānā kiṁsamudayā kiṁjātikā kiṁpabhavā? Vedanā phassanidānā phassasamudayā phassajātikā phassapabhavā.
Phasso cāyaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidāno kiṁsamudayo kiṁjātiko kiṁpabhavo? Phasso saḷāyatananidāno saḷāyatanasamudayo saḷāyatanajātiko saḷāyatanapabhavo.
Saḷāyatanañcidaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānaṁ kiṁsamudayaṁ kiṁjātikaṁ kiṁpabhavaṁ? Saḷāyatanaṁ nāmarūpanidānaṁ nāmarūpasamudayaṁ nāmarūpajātikaṁ nāmarūpapabhavaṁ.
Nāmarūpañcidaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānaṁ kiṁsamudayaṁ kiṁjātikaṁ kiṁpabhavaṁ? Nāmarūpaṁ viññāṇanidānaṁ viññāṇasamudayaṁ viññāṇajātikaṁ viññāṇapabhavaṁ.
Viññāṇañcidaṁ, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānaṁ kiṁsamudayaṁ kiṁjātikaṁ kiṁpabhavaṁ? Viññāṇaṁ saṅkhāranidānaṁ saṅkhārasamudayaṁ saṅkhārajātikaṁ saṅkhārapabhavaṁ.
Saṅkhārā cime, bhikkhave, kiṁnidānā kiṁsamudayā kiṁjātikā kiṁpabhavā? Saṅkhārā avijjānidānā avijjāsamudayā avijjājātikā avijjāpabhavā.
Iti kho, bhikkhave, avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṁ, viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṁ, nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṁ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā, taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṁ, upādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
There are four nutriments for maintaining beings that have already come to be and for supporting those seeking renewed existence: edible food, coarse or subtle; contact as the second; mental intention as the third; and consciousness as the fourth.
What is the cause, origin, birth and source of these four nutriments? They have craving as their cause, origin, birth and source.
And craving—what is its cause, origin, birth and source? Feeling. Feeling has contact as its source. Contact has the six sense bases as its source. The six sense bases have name-and-form as their source. Name-and-form has consciousness as its source. Consciousness has formations as its source. Formations have ignorance as their source.
Thus, with ignorance as condition there are formations; with formations, consciousness; with consciousness, name-and-form; with name-and-form, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases, contact; with contact, feeling; with feeling, craving; with craving, clinging; with clinging, becoming; with becoming, birth; and with birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. This is the arising of the whole mass of suffering.
06The arising sequence is verified link by link
Jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇanti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; jātipaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, jarāmaraṇaṁ, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti?
“Jātipaccayā, bhante, jarāmaraṇaṁ; evaṁ no ettha hoti— Variant: evaṁ no ettha hoti → evaṁ no ettha hotīti (mr) jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇan”ti.
“Bhavapaccayā jātīti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; bhavapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, jāti, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Bhavapaccayā, bhante, jāti; evaṁ no ettha hoti— bhavapaccayā jātī”ti.
“Upādānapaccayā bhavoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; upādānapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, bhavo, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Upādānapaccayā, bhante, bhavo; evaṁ no ettha hoti— upādānapaccayā bhavo”ti.
“Taṇhāpaccayā upādānanti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ, taṇhāpaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, upādānaṁ, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Taṇhāpaccayā, bhante, upādānaṁ; evaṁ no ettha hoti— taṇhāpaccayā upādānan”ti.
“Vedanāpaccayā taṇhāti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; vedanāpaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, taṇhā, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Vedanāpaccayā, bhante, taṇhā; evaṁ no ettha hoti— vedanāpaccayā taṇhā”ti.
“Phassapaccayā vedanāti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; phassapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, vedanā, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Phassapaccayā, bhante, vedanā; evaṁ no ettha hoti— phassapaccayā vedanā”ti.
“Saḷāyatanapaccayā phassoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; saḷāyatanapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, phasso, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Saḷāyatanapaccayā, bhante, phasso; evaṁ no ettha hoti— saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso”ti.
“Nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatananti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; nāmarūpapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, saḷāyatanaṁ, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Nāmarūpapaccayā, bhante, saḷāyatanaṁ; evaṁ no ettha hoti— nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanan”ti.
“Viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpanti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; viññāṇapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, nāmarūpaṁ, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Viññāṇapaccayā, bhante, nāmarūpaṁ; evaṁ no ettha hoti— viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpan”ti.
“Saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇanti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; saṅkhārapaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, viññāṇaṁ, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Saṅkhārapaccayā, bhante, viññāṇaṁ; evaṁ no ettha hoti— saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇan”ti.
“Avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārāti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; avijjāpaccayā nu kho, bhikkhave, saṅkhārā, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti?
“Avijjāpaccayā, bhante, saṅkhārā; evaṁ no ettha hoti— avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā”ti.
“Sādhu, bhikkhave. Iti kho, bhikkhave, tumhepi evaṁ vadetha, ahampi evaṁ vadāmi— imasmiṁ sati idaṁ hoti, imassuppādā idaṁ uppajjati, yadidaṁ— avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṁ, viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṁ, nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṁ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā, taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṁ, upādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
The Buddha now asks the bhikkhus to verify the sequence link by link rather than merely repeat a formula. Is aging-and-death conditioned by birth? They answer yes. Is birth conditioned by becoming? Yes. Is becoming conditioned by clinging? Yes. Is clinging conditioned by craving? Yes. Is craving conditioned by feeling? Yes.
He continues backward through the sequence: feeling is conditioned by contact; contact by the six sense bases; the six sense bases by name-and-form; name-and-form by consciousness; consciousness by formations; and formations by ignorance. At every step the bhikkhus confirm that this is how they understand it.
The Buddha approves: “Good, bhikkhus. You say this and I say this: when this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises.” He then states the full dependent-arising sequence again, culminating in the whole mass of suffering.
07The cessation sequence is verified link by link
Avijjāya tveva asesavirāganirodhā saṅkhāranirodho, saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho, viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho, nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho, saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho, phassanirodhā vedanānirodho, vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho, taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; jātinirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, jarāmaraṇanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti?
“Jātinirodhā, bhante, jarāmaraṇanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇanirodho”ti.
“Bhavanirodhā jātinirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; bhavanirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, jātinirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Bhavanirodhā, bhante, jātinirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— bhavanirodhā jātinirodho”ti.
“Upādānanirodhā bhavanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; upādānanirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, bhavanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Upādānanirodhā, bhante, bhavanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho”ti.
“Taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; taṇhānirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, upādānanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Taṇhānirodhā, bhante, upādānanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho”ti.
“Vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; vedanānirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, taṇhānirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Vedanānirodhā, bhante, taṇhānirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho”ti.
“Phassanirodhā vedanānirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; phassanirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, vedanānirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Phassanirodhā, bhante, vedanānirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— phassanirodhā vedanānirodho”ti.
“Saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; saḷāyatananirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, phassanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotīti? Saḷāyatananirodhā, bhante, phassanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho”ti.
“Nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; nāmarūpanirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, saḷāyatananirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Nāmarūpanirodhā, bhante, saḷāyatananirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho”ti. “Viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; viññāṇanirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, nāmarūpanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti?
“Viññāṇanirodhā, bhante, nāmarūpanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho”ti. “Saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; saṅkhāranirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, viññāṇanirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti? “Saṅkhāranirodhā, bhante, viññāṇanirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho”ti.
“Avijjānirodhā saṅkhāranirodhoti iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ; avijjānirodhā nu kho, bhikkhave, saṅkhāranirodho, no vā, kathaṁ vā ettha hotī”ti?
“Avijjānirodhā, bhante, saṅkhāranirodho; evaṁ no ettha hoti— avijjānirodhā saṅkhāranirodho”ti.
“Sādhu, bhikkhave. Iti kho, bhikkhave, tumhepi evaṁ vadetha, ahampi evaṁ vadāmi— imasmiṁ asati idaṁ na hoti, imassa nirodhā idaṁ nirujjhati, yadidaṁ— avijjānirodhā saṅkhāranirodho, saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho, viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho, nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho, saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho, phassanirodhā vedanānirodho, vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho, taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
With the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes the cessation of formations; with the cessation of formations, consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, the six sense bases; with their cessation, contact; with contact ceasing, feeling; with feeling ceasing, craving; with craving ceasing, clinging; with clinging ceasing, becoming; with becoming ceasing, birth; with birth ceasing, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair cease. Thus this whole mass of suffering ceases.
The Buddha again has the bhikkhus verify the sequence one link at a time: with birth ceasing, aging-and-death ceases; with becoming ceasing, birth ceases; with clinging ceasing, becoming ceases; with craving ceasing, clinging ceases; with feeling ceasing, craving ceases; and so on backward to ignorance and formations.
He concludes: “When this is absent, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases.” The cessation sequence is therefore not merely believed—it is understood as conditionality.
08Direct knowing replaces speculation about self, past and future
Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā pubbantaṁ vā paṭidhāveyyātha: ‘ahesumha nu kho mayaṁ atītamaddhānaṁ, nanu kho ahesumha atītamaddhānaṁ, kiṁ nu kho ahesumha atītamaddhānaṁ, kathaṁ nu kho ahesumha atītamaddhānaṁ, kiṁ hutvā kiṁ ahesumha nu kho mayaṁ atītamaddhānan’”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā aparantaṁ vā paṭidhāveyyātha— bhavissāma nu kho mayaṁ anāgatamaddhānaṁ, nanu kho bhavissāma anāgatamaddhānaṁ, kiṁ nu kho bhavissāma anāgatamaddhānaṁ, kathaṁ nu kho bhavissāma anāgatamaddhānaṁ, kiṁ hutvā kiṁ bhavissāma nu kho mayaṁ anāgatamaddhānan”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā etarahi vā paccuppannamaddhānaṁ ajjhattaṁ kathaṅkathī assatha— ahaṁ nu khosmi, no nu khosmi, kiṁ nu khosmi, kathaṁ nu khosmi, ayaṁ nu kho satto kuto āgato, so kuhiṁ gāmī bhavissatī”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā evaṁ vadeyyātha— satthā no garu, satthugāravena ca mayaṁ evaṁ vademā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā evaṁ vadeyyātha— samaṇo evamāha, samaṇā ca nāma mayaṁ evaṁ vademā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā aññaṁ satthāraṁ uddiseyyāthā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā yāni tāni puthusamaṇabrāhmaṇānaṁ vata kotūhalamaṅgalāni tāni sārato paccāgaccheyyāthā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Nanu, bhikkhave, yadeva tumhākaṁ sāmaṁ ñātaṁ sāmaṁ diṭṭhaṁ sāmaṁ viditaṁ, tadeva tumhe vadethā”ti.
“Evaṁ, bhante”.
“Sādhu, bhikkhave, upanītā kho me tumhe, bhikkhave, iminā sandiṭṭhikena dhammena akālikena ehipassikena opaneyyikena paccattaṁ veditabbena viññūhi. Sandiṭṭhiko ayaṁ, bhikkhave, dhammo akāliko ehipassiko opaneyyiko paccattaṁ veditabbo viññūhi— iti yantaṁ vuttaṁ, idametaṁ paṭicca vuttanti.
Knowing and seeing in this way, would the bhikkhus run back to speculations about the past—“Did we exist in the past? Did we not? What were we? How were we? Having been what, what did we become?” They answer no.
Would they run forward into the future—“Will we exist? Will we not? What will we be? How will we be? Having been what, what will we become?” No.
Would they be inwardly perplexed about the present—“Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from, and where will it go?” No.
Do they speak this way merely out of reverence for their Teacher? No. Merely because some ascetic has said so? No. Would they appoint another teacher, or return to the rites, omens and auspicious practices of other ascetics and brahmins as though those were the essence? No.
The Buddha asks whether they speak only of what they have themselves known, seen and understood. They answer yes. He then says that he has led them by this Dhamma that is visible here and now, timeless, inviting inspection, leading inward/onward, to be individually known by the wise.
09Conception, gestation, childhood and the five strands of sensual pleasure
Tiṇṇaṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, sannipātā gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Idha mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca na utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca na paccupaṭṭhito hoti, neva tāva gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Idha mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca na paccupaṭṭhito hoti, neva tāva gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Yato ca kho, bhikkhave, mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca paccupaṭṭhito hoti—evaṁ tiṇṇaṁ sannipātā gabbhassāvakkanti hoti.
Tamenaṁ, bhikkhave, mātā nava vā dasa vā māse gabbhaṁ kucchinā pariharati mahatā saṁsayena garubhāraṁ. Variant: garubhāraṁ → garumbhāraṁ (bj, pts1ed) Tamenaṁ, bhikkhave, mātā navannaṁ vā dasannaṁ vā māsānaṁ accayena vijāyati mahatā saṁsayena garubhāraṁ. Tamenaṁ jātaṁ samānaṁ sakena lohitena poseti. Lohitañhetaṁ, bhikkhave, ariyassa vinaye yadidaṁ mātuthaññaṁ.
Sa kho so, bhikkhave, kumāro vuddhimanvāya indriyānaṁ paripākamanvāya yāni tāni kumārakānaṁ kīḷāpanakāni tehi kīḷati, seyyathidaṁ—vaṅkakaṁ ghaṭikaṁ mokkhacikaṁ ciṅgulakaṁ pattāḷhakaṁ rathakaṁ dhanukaṁ.
Sa kho so, bhikkhave, kumāro vuddhimanvāya indriyānaṁ paripākamanvāya pañcahi kāmaguṇehi samappito samaṅgībhūto paricāreti— cakkhuviññeyyehi rūpehi iṭṭhehi kantehi manāpehi piyarūpehi kāmūpasaṁhitehi rajanīyehi,
sotaviññeyyehi saddehi iṭṭhehi kantehi manāpehi piyarūpehi kāmūpasaṁhitehi rajanīyehi.
ghānaviññeyyehi gandhehi iṭṭhehi kantehi manāpehi piyarūpehi kāmūpasaṁhitehi rajanīyehi.
jivhāviññeyyehi rasehi iṭṭhehi kantehi manāpehi piyarūpehi kāmūpasaṁhitehi rajanīyehi.
kāyaviññeyyehi phoṭṭhabbehi iṭṭhehi kantehi manāpehi piyarūpehi kāmūpasaṁhitehi rajanīyehi.
Conception occurs through the coming together of three conditions. If the parents come together but the mother is not in season and the gandhabba is not present, conception does not occur. If the parents come together and the mother is in season but the gandhabba is not present, conception still does not occur. When the parents come together, the mother is in season, and the gandhabba is present, through the meeting of these three conception occurs.
The mother carries the pregnancy for nine or ten months with great risk and as a heavy burden. After that time she gives birth, again with great risk and burden. Once the child is born, she nourishes it with her own blood; in the Noble One’s discipline, mother’s milk is reckoned as blood.
As the child grows and the faculties mature, the child plays with children’s games—toy ploughs, stick games, somersaults, toy windmills, toy measures, carts and bows.
Later, when the faculties mature further, the young person becomes fully engaged with the five strands of sensual pleasure: sights known by the eye, sounds by the ear, smells by the nose, tastes by the tongue and touches by the body that are desirable, attractive, agreeable, pleasant, connected with sensual pleasure and arousing desire.
10The untrained person turns feeling into delight, clinging and becoming
So cakkhunā rūpaṁ disvā piyarūpe rūpe sārajjati, appiyarūpe rūpe byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Sotena saddaṁ sutvā piyarūpe sadde sārajjati, appiyarūpe sadde byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Ghānena gandhaṁ ghāyitvā piyarūpe gandhe sārajjati, appiyarūpe gandhe byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Jivhāya rasaṁ sāyitvā piyarūpe rase sārajjati, appiyarūpe rase byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Kāyena phoṭṭhabbaṁ phusitvā piyarūpe phoṭṭhabbe sārajjati, appiyarūpe phoṭṭhabbe byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
manasā dhammaṁ viññāya piyarūpe dhamme sārajjati, appiyarūpe dhamme byāpajjati, anupaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati parittacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhaṁ samāpanno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ, tassupādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Seeing a form with the eye, the untrained person becomes impassioned by a pleasant form and hostile toward an unpleasant one. Mindfulness of the body is not established and the mind is limited. The person does not understand as it really is the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom in which those bad, unskillful states cease without remainder. Being caught in favoring and opposing, whatever feeling is experienced—pleasant, painful or neutral—is delighted in, welcomed, affirmed and held to. From that comes delight. Whatever delight there is in feelings, that is clinging. With clinging as condition there is becoming; with becoming, birth; with birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Thus the whole mass of suffering arises.
The same complete pattern operates when a sound is heard: a pleasant sound is desired, an unpleasant sound resented; body-mindfulness is unestablished; feeling is delighted in and held to; delight becomes clinging; clinging conditions becoming, birth and the mass of suffering.
The same occurs when an odor is smelled, when a taste is tasted, and when a tangible is touched. At each door, the decisive issue is not that contact or feeling occurred but that the mind moves into attraction or aversion and then appropriates the feeling.
When a mental phenomenon is known by the mind, the same structure applies. Agreeable ideas, memories and images are desired; disagreeable ones are resisted. With body-mindfulness unestablished and citta constricted, feeling becomes the place where delight and clinging are built.
11A Tathāgata appears, Dhamma is heard, and renunciation begins
Idha, bhikkhave, tathāgato loke uppajjati arahaṁ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṁ buddho bhagavā. So imaṁ lokaṁ sadevakaṁ samārakaṁ sabrahmakaṁ sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiṁ pajaṁ sadevamanussaṁ sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā pavedeti. So dhammaṁ deseti ādikalyāṇaṁ majjhekalyāṇaṁ pariyosānakalyāṇaṁ sātthaṁ sabyañjanaṁ; kevalaparipuṇṇaṁ parisuddhaṁ brahmacariyaṁ pakāseti.
Taṁ dhammaṁ suṇāti gahapati vā gahapatiputto vā aññatarasmiṁ vā kule paccājāto. So taṁ dhammaṁ sutvā tathāgate saddhaṁ paṭilabhati. So tena saddhāpaṭilābhena samannāgato iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘sambādho gharāvāso rajāpatho, abbhokāso pabbajjā. Nayidaṁ sukaraṁ agāraṁ ajjhāvasatā ekantaparipuṇṇaṁ ekantaparisuddhaṁ saṅkhalikhitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ carituṁ. Yannūnāhaṁ kesamassuṁ ohāretvā, kāsāyāni vatthāni acchādetvā, agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajeyyan’”ti. So aparena samayena appaṁ vā bhogakkhandhaṁ pahāya, mahantaṁ vā bhogakkhandhaṁ pahāya, appaṁ vā ñātiparivaṭṭaṁ pahāya, mahantaṁ vā ñātiparivaṭṭaṁ pahāya, kesamassuṁ ohāretvā, kāsāyāni vatthāni acchādetvā, agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajati.
Here a Tathāgata arises in the world: accomplished, fully awakened, perfect in knowledge and conduct, well-gone, knower of the world, unsurpassed trainer of persons to be trained, teacher of devas and humans, awakened and blessed. Having directly known and realized this world with its devas, Māras, Brahmās, ascetics, brahmins, rulers and people, he makes it known to others.
He teaches a Dhamma good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end, with both meaning and expression; he reveals a spiritual life complete and purified.
A householder, a householder’s child, or someone born in another family hears that Dhamma and gains confidence in the Tathāgata. Reflecting, such a person sees household life as confined and dusty, while going forth is like open space. Realizing that it is not easy while living at home to live the spiritual life utterly complete and pure, the person resolves to shave hair and beard, put on ochre robes and go forth from home into homelessness. In time, whether leaving little or much wealth and a small or large circle of relatives, the person acts on that resolve and goes forth.
12The training in virtue removes the coarse fuel of agitation
So evaṁ pabbajito samāno bhikkhūnaṁ sikkhāsājīvasamāpanno pāṇātipātaṁ pahāya pāṇātipātā paṭivirato hoti, nihitadaṇḍo nihitasattho lajjī dayāpanno sabbapāṇabhūtahitānukampī viharati.
Adinnādānaṁ pahāya adinnādānā paṭivirato hoti, dinnādāyī dinnapāṭikaṅkhī athenena sucibhūtena attanā viharati.
Abrahmacariyaṁ pahāya brahmacārī hoti, ārācārī virato methunā gāmadhammā.
Musāvādaṁ pahāya musāvādā paṭivirato hoti, saccavādī saccasandho theto paccayiko avisaṁvādako lokassa.
Pisuṇaṁ vācaṁ pahāya pisuṇāya vācāya paṭivirato hoti—ito sutvā na amutra akkhātā imesaṁ bhedāya, amutra vā sutvā na imesaṁ akkhātā amūsaṁ bhedāya. Iti bhinnānaṁ vā sandhātā, sahitānaṁ vā anuppadātā samaggārāmo samaggarato samagganandī, samaggakaraṇiṁ vācaṁ bhāsitā hoti.
Pharusaṁ vācaṁ pahāya pharusāya vācāya paṭivirato hoti—yā sā vācā nelā kaṇṇasukhā pemanīyā hadayaṅgamā porī bahujanakantā bahujanamanāpā tathārūpiṁ vācaṁ bhāsitā hoti.
Samphappalāpaṁ pahāya samphappalāpā paṭivirato hoti, kālavādī bhūtavādī atthavādī dhammavādī vinayavādī, nidhānavatiṁ vācaṁ bhāsitā kālena, sāpadesaṁ pariyantavatiṁ atthasaṁhitaṁ.
So bījagāmabhūtagāmasamārambhā paṭivirato hoti, ekabhattiko hoti rattūparato, virato vikālabhojanā. Naccagītavāditavisūkadassanā paṭivirato hoti, mālāgandhavilepanadhāraṇamaṇḍanavibhūsanaṭṭhānā paṭivirato hoti, uccāsayanamahāsayanā paṭivirato hoti, jātarūparajatapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, āmakadhaññapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, āmakamaṁsapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, itthikumārikapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, dāsidāsapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, ajeḷakapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, kukkuṭasūkarapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, hatthigavāssavaḷavapaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, khettavatthupaṭiggahaṇā paṭivirato hoti, dūteyyapahiṇagamanānuyogā paṭivirato hoti, kayavikkayā paṭivirato hoti, tulākūṭakaṁsakūṭamānakūṭā paṭivirato hoti, ukkoṭanavañcananikatisāciyogā paṭivirato hoti, chedanavadhabandhanaviparāmosaālopasahasākārā paṭivirato hoti.
Having gone forth and undertaken the training and livelihood of the bhikkhus, the practitioner abandons killing. Laying aside rod and weapon, conscientious and compassionate, the practitioner lives concerned for the welfare of all living beings.
Taking what is not given is abandoned; one takes only what is given and lives honestly and cleanly. Sexual activity is abandoned; one lives the celibate life, remote from the sexual act.
False speech is abandoned. One speaks truth, is devoted to truth, trustworthy and dependable, not a deceiver of the world. Divisive speech is abandoned: one does not repeat here what was heard there in order to divide people, but reconciles those who are divided, supports harmony, delights in concord and speaks words that create concord.
Harsh speech is abandoned. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, affectionate, going to the heart, courteous, pleasing and agreeable to many. Idle and useless chatter is abandoned. One speaks at the right time, about what is factual, beneficial, Dhamma and discipline; speech is worth treasuring, timely, reasoned, measured and connected with the goal.
The discourse then lists further renunciant restraints: avoiding harm to seeds and plants; eating once a day and not at night or at improper times; refraining from dancing, singing, music and shows; from garlands, perfumes, cosmetics and adornment; from high and luxurious beds; from accepting gold and silver, raw grain and raw meat; from accepting women and girls, male and female slaves, livestock and property; from running messages and errands, buying and selling, cheating with weights and measures, bribery, fraud and deceit; and from mutilation, killing, imprisonment, robbery, plunder and violence.
13Contentment brings the happiness of blamelessness
So santuṭṭho hoti kāyaparihārikena cīvarena kucchiparihārikena piṇḍapātena. So yena yeneva pakkamati samādāyeva pakkamati. Seyyathāpi nāma pakkhī sakuṇo yena yeneva ḍeti sapattabhārova ḍeti; evameva bhikkhu santuṭṭho hoti kāyaparihārikena cīvarena, kucchiparihārikena piṇḍapātena. So yena yeneva pakkamati samādāyeva pakkamati. So iminā ariyena sīlakkhandhena samannāgato ajjhattaṁ anavajjasukhaṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.
The practitioner is content with robes sufficient to protect the body and almsfood sufficient to support the stomach. Wherever one goes, these basic requisites are taken along.
Just as a bird flies wherever it wishes carrying only its wings, the practitioner is content with simple requisites. Endowed with this noble aggregate of virtue, one experiences inwardly the happiness of blamelessness.
14Sense restraint at all six doors
So cakkhunā rūpaṁ disvā na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ cakkhundriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati cakkhundriyaṁ, cakkhundriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati.
Sotena saddaṁ sutvā na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ sotindriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati sotindriyaṁ, sotindriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati.
Ghānena gandhaṁ ghāyitvā na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ ghānindriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati ghānindriyaṁ, ghānindriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati.
Jivhāya rasaṁ sāyitvā na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ jivhindriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati jivhindriyaṁ, jivhindriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati.
Kāyena phoṭṭhabbaṁ phusitvā na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ kāyindriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati kāyindriyaṁ, kāyindriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati.
manasā dhammaṁ viññāya na nimittaggāhī hoti nānubyañjanaggāhī. Yatvādhikaraṇamenaṁ manindriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhādomanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvāssaveyyuṁ tassa saṁvarāya paṭipajjati, rakkhati manindriyaṁ manindriye saṁvaraṁ āpajjati. So iminā ariyena indriyasaṁvarena samannāgato ajjhattaṁ abyāsekasukhaṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.
Seeing a form with the eye, the practitioner does not grasp at its signs and details. If the eye faculty were left unrestrained, greed and distress—bad, unskillful qualities—could invade. Therefore one practises restraint, guards the eye faculty and undertakes restraint with regard to the eye.
The same complete discipline applies to the ear when hearing sounds, the nose when smelling odors, the tongue when tasting flavors, the body when touching tangibles, and the mind when knowing mental phenomena. At each door, one does not seize the sign and its secondary features in a way that opens the mind to covetousness and distress.
Endowed with this noble restraint of the faculties, the practitioner experiences inwardly an unspoiled happiness.
15Sati-sampajañña becomes a whole-day training
So abhikkante paṭikkante sampajānakārī hoti, ālokite vilokite sampajānakārī hoti, samiñjite pasārite sampajānakārī hoti, saṅghāṭipattacīvaradhāraṇe sampajānakārī hoti, asite pīte khāyite sāyite sampajānakārī hoti, uccārapassāvakamme sampajānakārī hoti, gate ṭhite nisinne sutte jāgarite bhāsite tuṇhībhāve sampajānakārī hoti.
The practitioner acts with clear comprehension when going forward and returning; when looking ahead and looking aside; when bending and stretching the limbs; when wearing robes and carrying bowl and outer robe; when eating, drinking, chewing and tasting; when urinating and defecating.
Clear comprehension is maintained when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking, speaking and remaining silent. The training is therefore continuous through the ordinary activities of the day.
16Seclusion, the five hindrances, and all four jhānas
So iminā ca ariyena sīlakkhandhena samannāgato, imāya ca ariyāya santuṭṭhiyā samannāgato, iminā ca ariyena indriyasaṁvarena samannāgato, iminā ca ariyena satisampajaññena samannāgato, vivittaṁ senāsanaṁ bhajati—araññaṁ rukkhamūlaṁ pabbataṁ kandaraṁ giriguhaṁ susānaṁ vanapatthaṁ abbhokāsaṁ palālapuñjaṁ.
So pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkanto nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā, ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya, parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā. So abhijjhaṁ loke pahāya vigatābhijjhena cetasā viharati, abhijjhāya cittaṁ parisodheti; byāpādapadosaṁ pahāya abyāpannacitto viharati, sabbapāṇabhūtahitānukampī, byāpādapadosā cittaṁ parisodheti; thinamiddhaṁ pahāya vigatathinamiddho viharati ālokasaññī, sato sampajāno, thinamiddhā cittaṁ parisodheti; uddhaccakukkuccaṁ pahāya anuddhato viharati ajjhattaṁ vūpasantacitto, uddhaccakukkuccā cittaṁ parisodheti; vicikicchaṁ pahāya tiṇṇavicikiccho viharati akathaṅkathī kusalesu dhammesu, vicikicchāya cittaṁ parisodheti.
So ime pañca nīvaraṇe pahāya cetaso upakkilese paññāya dubbalīkaraṇe, vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṁ savicāraṁ vivekajaṁ pītisukhaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.
Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vitakkavicārānaṁ vūpasamā ajjhattaṁ sampasādanaṁ cetaso ekodibhāvaṁ avitakkaṁ avicāraṁ samādhijaṁ pītisukhaṁ dutiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.
Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati, sato ca sampajāno, sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṁvedeti; yaṁ taṁ ariyā ācikkhanti ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti, tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.
Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā, pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā, adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.
Endowed with noble virtue, noble contentment, noble restraint of the faculties and noble sati-sampajañña, the practitioner resorts to a secluded dwelling—a forest, the root of a tree, a mountain, ravine, cave, charnel ground, woodland, open air or a heap of straw.
After the meal, sitting cross-legged with the body upright and mindfulness established in front, the practitioner abandons covetousness for the world and cleanses the mind of it; abandons ill will and lives compassionate for all beings; abandons sloth and torpor, dwelling percipient of light, mindful and clearly comprehending; abandons restlessness and remorse, inwardly calmed; and abandons doubt, no longer perplexed about skillful qualities.
Having abandoned these five hindrances—corruptions of mind that weaken wisdom—the practitioner, secluded from sensual pleasures and unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first jhāna, with thought and examination and the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion.
With the stilling of thought and examination, the practitioner enters and remains in the second jhāna, with internal confidence and unification of mind, without thought and examination, with rapture and pleasure born of samādhi.
With the fading of rapture, the practitioner dwells equanimous, mindful and clearly comprehending, experiencing pleasure with the body, and enters the third jhāna of which the noble ones say, “Equanimous and mindful, one dwells happily.”
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and the previous ending of joy and grief, the practitioner enters and remains in the fourth jhāna, neither painful nor pleasant, with purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.
17After training, the same six doors no longer feed renewed becoming
So cakkhunā rūpaṁ disvā piyarūpe rūpe na sārajjati, appiyarūpe rūpe na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Sotena saddaṁ sutvā piyarūpe sadde na sārajjati, appiyarūpe sadde na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Ghānena gandhaṁ ghāyitvā piyarūpe gandhe na sārajjati, appiyarūpe gandhe na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Jivhāya rasaṁ sāyitvā piyarūpe rase na sārajjati, appiyarūpe rase na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Kāyena phoṭṭhabbaṁ phusitvā piyarūpe phoṭṭhabbe na sārajjati, appiyarūpe phoṭṭhabbe na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso. Tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
manasā dhammaṁ viññāya piyarūpe dhamme na sārajjati, appiyarūpe dhamme na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyasati ca viharati appamāṇacetaso, tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti yatthassa te pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
So evaṁ anurodhavirodhavippahīno yaṁ kiñci vedanaṁ vedeti, sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā, so taṁ vedanaṁ nābhinandati nābhivadati nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati. Tassa taṁ vedanaṁ anabhinandato anabhivadato anajjhosāya tiṭṭhato yā vedanāsu nandī sā nirujjhati. Tassa nandīnirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti.
Seeing a form with the eye, the trained practitioner does not become impassioned by a pleasant form and does not become hostile toward an unpleasant one. Mindfulness of the body is established and the mind is immeasurable rather than constricted. The practitioner understands as it really is the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom in which bad, unskillful qualities cease without remainder.
Having abandoned favoring and opposing, whatever feeling is experienced—pleasant, painful or neutral—is not delighted in, not affirmed, and not held to. When feeling is not delighted in, affirmed or held to, the delight in feelings ceases. With the cessation of delight, clinging ceases; with clinging ceasing, becoming ceases; with becoming ceasing, birth ceases; and with birth ceasing, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair cease. Thus the whole mass of suffering ceases.
The same complete pattern is repeated for hearing a sound, smelling an odor, tasting a flavor and touching a tangible. Pleasant experience does not become passion; unpleasant experience does not become hostility; kāyasati remains established; feeling is not appropriated; and the downstream chain is not fed.
When a mental phenomenon is known, the same is true. Agreeable thoughts are not turned into passion; disagreeable thoughts are not turned into hostility. The mind remains established, spacious and knowing. Feeling is experienced, but the movement of delight and appropriation does not take possession of it.
18Taṇhāsaṅkhayavimutti—the concise liberation to be remembered
Imaṁ kho me tumhe, bhikkhave, saṅkhittena taṇhāsaṅkhayavimuttiṁ dhāretha, sātiṁ pana bhikkhuṁ kevaṭṭaputtaṁ mahātaṇhājālataṇhāsaṅghāṭappaṭimukkan”ti.
Idamavoca bhagavā. Attamanā te bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinandunti.
**Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhayasuttaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ aṭṭhamaṁ.**
The Buddha concludes: “Bhikkhus, remember this concise liberation through the destruction of craving. But Sāti, the bhikkhu and fisherman’s son, is caught in the great net and mass of craving.”
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in his words.
Thus ends the Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhayasutta, the eighth discourse.
Watch how a simple feeling becomes a future
| Movement | What happens | What to observe |
|---|---|---|
| Phassa | Contact occurs | Not yet the problem; experience has made contact. |
| Vedanā | Pleasant, painful or neutral feeling | Know its tone before the story accelerates. |
| Sārajjati / byāpajjati | Attraction or aversion | Notice leaning toward / pushing away. |
| Abhinandati | Relishing, delighting | The feeling is now being enjoyed as something worth feeding. |
| Abhivadati | Welcoming / affirming | The mind says yes to the movement and gives it legitimacy. |
| Ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati | Holding, settling into | The experience becomes something mentally possessed. |
| Nandī | Delight | The sutta identifies delight in feelings directly with upādāna. |
| Upādāna | Clinging | The object, feeling or story is no longer merely occurring; identity and continuation are being built. |
| Bhava | Becoming | A mode of being forms: consumer, lover, offended person, achiever, victim, controller. |
| Jāti | Birth | That identity is born into active experience and behavior. |
| Dukkha | The mass of suffering | What is born must change, be defended and eventually end. |
The critical insight: contact is not yet bondage, and vedanā is not yet bondage. MN 38 locates the grasping movement in what happens when feeling is delighted in, welcomed and held to: abhinandati → abhivadati → ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati → nandī → upādāna.
The six doors are where MN 38 becomes visible today
| Door | Ordinary contact | Vedanā | Taṇhā begins as | How it is fed | Becoming that follows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye | A new phone, attractive person, luxury house, social-media image | Pleasant | “I want another look / I should have that.” | Repeated viewing, comparison, fantasy | Identity and behavior begin organizing around acquisition, status or sensuality. |
| Ear | Praise, music, criticism, political argument | Pleasant or painful | “Say it again” / “How dare they say that?” | Replay, defend, attack, seek more validation | A praised or wounded ‘me’ is repeatedly reconstructed. |
| Nose | Coffee, bakery, perfume, food aromas | Pleasant | “I need that now.” | Follow the smell, imagine the taste, seek repetition | The simple odor becomes a demand for gratification. |
| Tongue | Sugar, favorite dish, spicy food, coffee/tea | Pleasant | “One more; tomorrow again.” | Plan the next meal while still eating this one | Food becomes sensual nutriment rather than merely support for the body. |
| Body | Soft bed, air-conditioning, sexual touch, relief from pain | Pleasant / painful | “This must continue” / “This must stop immediately.” | Chase comfort, resist discomfort, sexual fantasy, fear pain | The body becomes a field of constant bargaining with vedanā. |
| Mind | Memory, future fantasy, resentment, imagined success, worry | Pleasant / painful | “I want this future” / “I cannot allow that.” | Mental replay and story-building | Manoviññāṇa becomes the most continuous place where craving is rehearsed. |
The world does not have to disappear; the way citta receives it changes
| Experience | When craving is fed | When kāyasati and wisdom are established |
|---|---|---|
| Pleasant sight | “Beautiful—I need it.” | Beautiful is known; no need to possess. |
| Unpleasant sound | “He insulted me; I must respond.” | Painful feeling is known; hostility need not be fed. |
| Food taste | “This is wonderful; I want more.” | Taste is pleasant; eating can remain measured. |
| Sexual contact or fantasy | Pleasant vedanā becomes imagery, repetition and pursuit. | Pleasant vedanā is known without building a sensual future around it. |
| Physical discomfort | Immediate irritation, complaint, escape behavior. | Pain is responded to intelligently without making hatred of the feeling the ruler of citta. |
| Memory | Replayed because it feels good or because resentment feels justified. | Memory is known as a present mind-object; it need not become renewed becoming. |
Forty investigations into how craving is built—and how the same process is brought to cessation
01Sāti’s mistake can easily reappear as ‘I am the consciousness’
Many people understand that the body changes and dies, yet quietly transfer identity to consciousness: “The body is not me; the real me is the awareness inside.” MN 38 blocks that move.
The Buddha does not deny that consciousness occurs. He denies that it is a self-same entity wandering independently through conditions.
Every occurrence of viññāṇa is to be understood through the conditions that make that occurrence possible.
Everyday example: A person says, “My body ages, but the consciousness watching everything is the same permanent me.” MN 38 asks: which consciousness—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind—and dependent on what conditions did it arise?
02The fire simile changes the question from ‘what is it?’ to ‘what is feeding it?’
A fire looks like one continuing thing, yet it cannot be separated from fuel, heat and conditions. Its designation follows the fuel on which it burns.
The same practical intelligence applies to citta. Instead of searching for a permanent knower, examine the condition and nutriment sustaining this particular experience.
That shift—from substance to conditional process—is one of the deepest moves in the discourse.
Everyday example: Anger seems like “my anger.” Look closer: a remembered sentence, bodily heat, painful vedanā, repeated attention and the wish to retaliate are feeding it. Change the fuel and the ‘anger’ changes.
03‘This has come to be’ is a powerful meditation instruction
Bhūtamidaṁ can be approached simply: this has arisen; this has come to be.
The next questions are immediately practical: what nourished it, and what happens when that nourishment is removed?
Anything conditioned can be investigated this way—desire, jealousy, anxiety, excitement, even a meditation state.
Practice: When a strong state appears, replace “Why am I like this?” with three questions: What has come to be? What fed it? What happens when that food is not supplied?
04Direct causal seeing removes doubt better than argument
The Buddha repeatedly asks whether the bhikkhus see the arisen state, its nutriment and its cessation.
Vicikicchā weakens when conditionality becomes observable, not merely because one has memorized a doctrine.
This is why MN 38 later insists that the bhikkhus speak from what they themselves have known, seen and understood.
Everyday example: Rather than debating whether social media creates craving, stop scrolling for three days and observe whether mental replay, comparison and urge frequency change.
05Even right view can become upādāna
The raft passage arrives immediately after a purified understanding of conditionality.
One can be correct about dependent origination and still create identity around being the person with the correct view.
The Dhamma is used to cross the flood; it is not another possession to defend.
Everyday example: A practitioner wins every doctrinal argument but becomes angry whenever someone interprets a Pāḷi term differently. The view may be refined, but the mind is still grasping.
06The four nutriments reveal that saṁsāra is continuously fed
Physical food supports the body. Contact keeps the experiential field active. Mental intention directs action and future construction. Consciousness participates in the maintenance and renewal of conditioned existence.
MN 38 then makes the decisive move: all four nutriments are traced to taṇhā. SN 12.64 Atthirāgasutta carries this further by showing exactly what happens when rāga, nandī and taṇhā are present or absent regarding those nutriments.
The practical concern is therefore not simply ‘food’ but the relationship of craving to what sustains experience.
07Food shows how necessity becomes sensuality
Food is necessary for the body, but craving can turn necessity into identity, entertainment and endless anticipation.
The problem is not flavor itself. The problem begins when pleasant taste becomes a demand for repetition and mental occupation.
This distinction is crucial for bhojane mattaññutā. SN 12.63 Puttamaṁsasutta gives the unforgettable “son’s flesh” simile for how edible nutriment is to be regarded.
Everyday example: Lunch is finished, but the mind is already searching reviews for tomorrow’s restaurant. The stomach may be nourished; taṇhā is still eating.
Practice: During one meal, notice exactly when nourishment is sufficient but the mind continues because pleasant vedanā wants continuation.
08Vedanā is where craving becomes visible
MN 38 traces taṇhā directly to vedanā and later returns to vedanā at the six doors.
Pleasant feeling does not equal craving. Painful feeling does not equal aversion. Neutral feeling does not equal delusion.
The crucial observation is what citta does because a feeling has appeared.
Everyday example: A notification produces a small pleasant lift. The craving is the next movement: unlocking again, checking again, hoping for another message.
09Pleasant vedanā commonly becomes kāma-taṇhā through repetition
Pleasant feeling says only: this is pleasant. Taṇhā adds: more, again, longer, mine.
Modern environments are designed around this transition—from pleasant contact to repeated seeking.
Seeing the micro-movement from pleasantness to demand is far more useful than condemning pleasure.
Everyday example: One short video is enjoyable. Forty minutes later the thumb is still scrolling because each pleasant or interesting contact promises the next one.
10Painful vedanā can create a craving for non-experience
With painful feeling, the mind often wants the unpleasant object or state to disappear immediately.
That movement can become irritation, aggression, avoidance, compulsive distraction or vibhava-oriented thinking.
The training is not passive endurance; it is responding without adding hatred to pain.
Everyday example: A colleague criticizes your work. The first pain is brief. The next two hours are spent proving them wrong in imagination. Much of the suffering is now being nutritionally supplied by the mind.
11Neutral vedanā often drives boredom-based craving
Neutral feeling is easy to overlook because it lacks drama.
When nothing feels stimulating, the mind may immediately seek novelty: phone, food, conversation, fantasy, shopping or news.
This is one of the clearest ways to see craving that does not begin with obvious pleasure.
Everyday example: You stand in a lift for twenty seconds and automatically reach for the phone. Nothing was wrong; neutral vedanā simply felt insufficient.
12Dependent origination is not merely a diagram of twelve boxes
MN 38 first gives the full sequence, then later shows a live portion of it operating at the sense doors: vedanā → nandī/upādāna → bhava → jāti → dukkha.
The sutta therefore teaches dependent origination both as a broad account of conditioned existence and as something observable in immediate experience.
Readers should learn to move between the full chain and the lived mechanism.
13‘Am I? What am I?’ is replaced by conditional investigation
Once the bhikkhus know and see conditionality, the Buddha asks whether they still chase questions about what they were, will be, or essentially are.
The point is not that past and future do not matter. It is that identity speculation does not uproot suffering.
The useful question is: what condition is producing this present construction?
Everyday example: After a breakup, “What is wrong with me?” can run for months. A conditional investigation asks what contacts, memories, feelings and cravings keep rebuilding the wounded identity today.
14Sandiṭṭhiko and ehipassiko become concrete in MN 38
The Buddha explicitly says the bhikkhus speak from what they have themselves known, seen and understood.
Here ‘come and see’ is not a slogan. It is the demand that dependent arising and cessation become experientially intelligible.
Faith opens the door; seeing stabilizes confidence.
15Conception is presented inside the same logic of conditions
The discussion of conception does not interrupt the discourse. It shows that birth itself is conditioned.
Three conditions are described for conception; gestation, birth, nourishment and development then depend on further conditions.
The entire life that later becomes immersed in sensuality is therefore already a dependent process.
Gandhabba is best left visible as the Pāḷi term when teaching this passage; the liberation point of MN 38 does not depend on turning it into a permanent entity.
16A child is gradually educated into sensuality
MN 38 moves from childhood play to mature immersion in the five kāmaguṇas.
This is psychologically accurate: what begins as simple sensory experience becomes increasingly organized around what is attractive, exciting, desirable and identity-enhancing.
By adulthood, craving can feel natural because it has been rehearsed for years.
Everyday example: A child enjoys a toy. Later the adult may need a particular car, phone, clothing label or lifestyle not merely for utility but because the object now carries identity and status.
17Eye: craving begins with the second mental movement
Seeing is not yet craving. Pleasant vedanā is not yet craving.
The mind begins feeding the process when it selects attractive signs, returns for another look, compares, imagines possession or turns a person into a sensual object.
That is where indriya-saṁvara becomes practical.
Everyday example: You see an attractive person. The first seeing is simple. The second and third deliberate look, mental undressing, fantasy and later replay are how the fire is fed.
Practice: At the eye door, notice the difference between seeing and deliberately collecting details for future enjoyment.
18Ear: praise and criticism reveal two sides of taṇhā
Pleasant sound can generate thirst for validation. Unpleasant sound can generate thirst for rejection, retaliation or vindication.
In both cases citta becomes dependent on sound for identity.
MN 38’s trained person hears the same kinds of sounds without being governed by favoring and opposing.
Everyday example: Ten people praise your talk and one criticizes it. The mind replays the one criticism all evening. The sound ended hours ago; manoviññāṇa continues to feed it.
19Nose: craving can arise before a conscious decision
Odor can trigger memory and desire rapidly.
The smell itself is not the problem. The mind’s quick movement from pleasant vedanā to imagining consumption shows taṇhā forming.
Such small examples are ideal because they reveal the mechanism without heavy emotional complexity.
Everyday example: Walking past a bakery after eating, the smell produces pleasant feeling. Suddenly there is a plan to buy something despite no bodily hunger.
20Tongue: taste can continue in the mind after the food is gone
Taste consciousness ceases with its conditions, yet the memory of taste can be recreated as a mind-object.
Craving then shifts from tongue-door to mind-door.
This explains why sense restraint must include mano-indriya as well as the five physical faculties.
Everyday example: Dessert lasts five minutes; thinking about where to get it again lasts three days.
21Body: comfort, pain and sexuality are all powerful teachers of vedanā
The body door makes pleasant and painful feeling vivid.
Comfort easily becomes entitlement; pain easily becomes hostility; sexual contact can generate especially strong repetition, imagery and appropriation.
MN 38 asks whether feeling can be known without turning it into a future project.
Everyday example: A room is slightly warmer than preferred. The body feels discomfort; then the mind spends ten minutes complaining. The thermal sensation is one layer, the constructed suffering another.
22Mind: the sixth door can replay the other five indefinitely
Once a sight, sound, taste, touch or smell has ceased, mind can reproduce its image, meaning and feeling tone.
This makes manoviññāṇa a major field of craving.
Fantasy, resentment and worry can therefore nourish becoming even in a quiet room with little external stimulation.
Everyday example: No one is insulting you now. Yet remembering yesterday’s insult produces fresh bodily tension and painful feeling as though the event were still occurring.
23Anupaṭṭhitakāyasati: why the body matters at the moment of craving
The untrained sequence specifically says kāyasati is not established.
When attention is lost inside the object and the story, the body’s changing sensations are no longer seen as part of the process.
Re-establishing bodily mindfulness can interrupt the narrowing of citta.
Everyday example: During anger, attention is entirely on what the other person did. Returning to jaw tension, heat, breathing and posture reveals that ‘anger’ is already a changing embodied process.
24Parittacetaso: craving makes the mind small
A limited mind is one whose whole world has contracted around one object, one feeling or one demand.
The more important the object seems, the less visible the wider field of conditions becomes.
Appamāṇacetaso later marks the opposite transformation.
Everyday example: When waiting for a reply from someone you desire, the whole day can collapse into checking one chat window.
25Abhinandati: relishing is subtler than obvious craving
Craving is not always experienced as desperation.
Sometimes it appears as quietly savoring an image, memory, praise, fantasy or grievance because the feeling it produces is compelling.
MN 38 tracks precisely this subtle feeding.
Everyday example: You replay a compliment in the mind several times. Nothing harmful seems to be happening, but the mind is learning to seek identity through pleasant feeling.
26Abhivadati: the mind begins to say ‘yes, this is for me’
After relishing comes a form of welcoming or affirming.
The experience is no longer merely pleasant; it is endorsed as something that should continue or as something that says something important about ‘me’.
This is a movement toward appropriation.
Everyday example: A promotion produces pleasant feeling. Soon the mind says, “This proves I am successful.” A temporary event has started becoming identity.
27Ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati: holding turns experience into possession
This phrase captures remaining stuck to, settling into or taking possession of the experience.
The object may already be gone, but mentally the person continues to stand on it.
Here clinging becomes especially visible.
Everyday example: An argument is over, yet you preserve the grievance because letting it go would feel like giving up your position.
28Yā vedanāsu nandī tadupādānaṁ—delight in feeling is clinging
This is one of the sharpest statements in MN 38.
Upādāna need not first appear as a philosophical doctrine or dramatic attachment. Look at the delight in feeling itself.
When pleasantness, pain or even neutrality becomes something the mind identifies with and feeds, the movement of clinging is already underway.
Practice: Several times a day ask: ‘Is this feeling simply being known, or has the mind begun enjoying, defending, resisting or possessing it?’
29Bhava can be seen as the identity-mode being constructed now
Once clinging is active, a way of being is organized around it.
One becomes the offended person, the desired person, the successful person, the deprived person, the consumer, the one who must win.
This everyday becoming helps make the later link to jāti understandable.
Everyday example: After seeing a fitness influencer, craving and comparison grow. Soon a new identity is formed: “I must become that kind of person or I am inadequate.”
30Sīla prevents craving from becoming action that creates more fuel
The gradual training begins by cleaning conduct.
Without sīla, craving does not remain a private feeling; it becomes lying, stealing, sexual misconduct, harsh speech, manipulation and harm.
Each action then produces more memories, fear, remorse and relational conflict for the mind to feed on.
Everyday example: Desire for approval leads to exaggeration. The lie then creates anxiety about being exposed. One craving has produced several new nutriments for dukkha.
31Santuṭṭhi is the opposite of organizing life around ‘more’
Contentment reduces unnecessary acquisition and the mental burden of maintaining possessions and status.
It does not mean refusing what is useful.
It means the mind no longer assumes that the next object is required for completeness.
Everyday example: A functioning phone is replaced because a newer model promises status and excitement. Contentment asks whether utility ended or craving began.
32Indriya-saṁvara works before the mind is already on fire
Sense restraint is proactive. It notices signs and details that are likely to feed covetousness and distress and declines to keep collecting them.
This is not repression because the object is still seen or heard.
The practitioner simply refuses to turn contact into a supply chain for craving.
Everyday example: After seeing upsetting political news, repeatedly opening angry comments is not ‘staying informed’; it may be feeding byāpāda and mental proliferation.
33Sati-sampajañña keeps training alive between meditation sessions
MN 38 places clear comprehension in walking, looking, bending, eating, toileting, sleeping, waking, speaking and silence.
This continuity is essential because craving usually does not wait for formal meditation.
The ordinary day is where the six-door pattern must be recognized.
Practice: Choose one daily activity—eating, phone use, driving or conversation—and track contact, vedanā and the first movement of wanting throughout it.
34The five hindrances must be cleared for the mind to become workable
The sutta explicitly calls the hindrances corruptions of mind that weaken wisdom.
Kāmacchanda continues seeking; byāpāda fights; thīna-middha sinks; uddhacca-kukkucca scatters; vicikicchā hesitates and fragments.
A mind dominated by them cannot easily see the subtle transition from vedanā to delight.
35The four jhānas are part of the liberation engineering of MN 38
The four jhānas are not presented as an ornamental achievement after the real practice.
They come immediately before the discourse revisits the six sense doors and demonstrates non-attraction, non-aversion and non-delight in feeling.
The sequence suggests why deep collectedness matters: citta has been trained to experience pleasure, tranquillity and equanimity without depending on ordinary sensual feeding.
Practice: Read the two six-door passages before and after the jhāna section side by side; the sutta itself shows what the training is meant to transform.
36Upaṭṭhitakāyasati and appamāṇacetaso mark the transformed encounter
In the liberation sequence, body-mindfulness is established and citta is no longer narrow.
The pleasant object can remain pleasant and the unpleasant object unpleasant, but the mind is not compelled into passion or hostility.
This is not numbness. It is a larger freedom around feeling.
Everyday example: A delicious meal is still tasted; criticism is still heard; pain is still painful. What is absent is the necessity to build ‘more’, ‘mine’, ‘me’, or ‘get rid of this’ around every feeling.
37Nābhinandati does not mean suppressing pleasant feeling
The trained person does not need to turn pleasant into unpleasant.
Pleasant feeling can be fully known without relishing it as a basis for identity or future repetition.
Suppression keeps the object important; non-delight removes the need to possess it.
Everyday example: You enjoy a beautiful sunset and walk away when it ends without needing fifty photographs or frustration that the light changed.
38Nābhivadati does not mean denying what happened
Non-affirmation here is not pretending the feeling did not occur.
It means citta does not keep endorsing the feeling as a command or as proof of a self-story.
Feeling is allowed to be feeling.
Everyday example: Painful feedback can contain useful information. You can correct the work without affirming the secondary story, “I am a failure.”
39Nājjhosāya tiṭṭhati: experience is not made into a place to live
The mind does not take up residence in the feeling.
Pleasure passes; pain passes; neutral feeling passes. No experience is turned into a permanent address for identity.
This directly weakens the machinery of bhava.
Everyday example: A past success remains a memory rather than the identity you must keep reproducing to feel worthwhile.
40Taṇhāsaṅkhayavimutti is the end of feeding, not the destruction of experience
The discourse ends with liberation through the destruction of craving.
Eyes still see, ears still hear, mind still cognizes, and feelings still occur in the liberation passage.
What ends is the compulsive feeding of nandī, upādāna and renewed becoming.
That is why MN 38 is so practical: the place where saṁsāra is sustained and the place where it ceases are both found in how citta meets conditioned experience. Ud 1.10 Bāhiyasutta offers a remarkably concise parallel at the six doors.
Practice: At the end of each day, review one strong pleasant and one strong painful event. Where did simple vedanā end and feeding begin? Where, even briefly, was feeling known without becoming a future?
Take one strong contact and follow it through the MN 38 sequence
| Question | Investigation |
|---|---|
| Which door? | Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind? |
| What was the object? | What exactly was seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched or cognized? |
| What vedanā? | Pleasant, painful or neutral? |
| Did sārajjati or byāpajjati begin? | Did citta lean toward the pleasant or push against the unpleasant? |
| Was kāyasati established? | Could body, posture, breathing and changing sensations still be known, or had attention collapsed into the object? |
| Did abhinandati appear? | Was the feeling being relished or mentally replayed? |
| Did abhivadati appear? | Did the mind begin affirming the experience: “yes, this is what I want / this should not be happening”? |
| Did ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati appear? | Was the mind now holding, dwelling in or taking possession of it? |
| What identity was born? | The consumer, offended person, lover, victim, achiever, controller, fearful person? |
| What happens without feeding? | Can the feeling change and cease while citta remains established and does not build a future from it? |