#Linked Discourses 1

A series of deities give verses praising association with the good, and the Buddha gives his own response.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then, late at night, several glorious deities of the Satullapa Group, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence: “Associate only with the virtuous! [Read More]

The Buddha is asked how to find release from suffering.“O hero so lean, with antelope calves, not greedy, eating little, living alone like a lion or an elephant, you’re not concerned for sensual pleasures. We’ve come to ask a question: How is one released from all suffering?” “There are five kinds of sensual stimulation in the world, and the mind is said to be the sixth. When you’ve discarded desire for these, you’re released from all suffering. [Read More]

A riddle on the topic of escape.“Four are its wheels, and nine its doors; it’s fettered, filled with greed, and born from a bog. Great hero, how am I supposed to live like this?” “Having cut the strap and harness—the wicked desire and greed—and having plucked out craving, root and all: that’s how you’re supposed to live like this. [Read More]

Even the rich are full of greed for more—is there anyone free of greed?“The affluent and the wealthy, even the aristocrats who rule the land, are jealous of each other, insatiable in sensual pleasures. Among those of such an avid nature, flowing along the stream of lives, who here has given up craving? Who in the world is not avid?” “Having given up their home, their child, their cattle, and all that they love, they went forth. [Read More]

The stream of rebirth stops flowing when name and form ceases.“From where do streams turn back? Where does the cycle spin no more? Where do name and form cease with nothing left over?” “Where water and earth, fire and air find no footing. From here the streams turn back; here the cycle spins no more; and here it is that name and form cease with nothing left over. [Read More]

How many lights are there that light up the world?“How many lamps are there, that shine their light on the world? We’ve come to ask the Buddha; how are we to understand this?” “There are four lamps in the world, a fifth is not found. The sun shines by day, the moon glows at night, while a fire burns both by day and by night. But a Buddha is the best of lights: this is the supreme radiance. [Read More]

If a perfected one has gone beyond all sense of self, would they still refer to themselves as “I”? “When a mendicant is perfected, proficient, with defilements ended, bearing the final body: would they say, ‘I speak’, or even ‘they speak to me’?” “When a mendicant is perfected, proficient, with defilements ended, bearing the final body: they would say, ‘I speak’, and also ‘they speak to me’. Skillful, understanding the world’s conventions, they’d use these terms as no more than expressions. [Read More]

One should rein in the mind, but only from that which is evil.“Whatever you’ve shielded the mind from can’t cause you suffering. So you should shield the mind from everything, then you’re freed from all suffering.” “You needn’t shield the mind from everything. When the mind is under control, you need only shield the mind from where the bad things come. [Read More]

This generation is all tangled up like a nest of matted hair. But who can unravel the tangle?“Tangled within, tangled without: these people are tangled in tangles. I ask you this, Gotama: Who can untangle this tangle?” “A wise person grounded in ethics, developing the mind and wisdom, a keen and alert mendicant, they can untangle this tangle. Those who have discarded greed, hate, and ignorance—the perfected ones with defilements ended—they have untangled the tangle. [Read More]

The evil you do hurts yourself.“It doesn’t impact a person who doesn’t impact others. It impacts a person because they impact others. That’s why it impacts one who impacts, who wrongs one who’s done no wrong.” “Whoever wrongs a man who’s done no wrong, a pure man who has not a blemish, the evil backfires on the fool, like fine dust thrown upwind. [Read More]