Aṅguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
III. Puggala Vagga
The Book of Threes
III. People
Sutta 23
Saṅkhāra Suttaṃ
Made One's Own
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
[23][pts][bodh][upal] I Hear Tell:
Once upon a time the Sammā-saṃ-Buddha, Sāvatthī-town residing,
Anāthapiṇḍika's Jeta Grove.
There, to the beggars gathered round he said:
"There are these three sorts of persons to be seen in the world.
What three?
Here beggars, a person
conjures up an identified-with[1] body associated with the injurious;
conjures up identified-with speech associated with the injurious;
conjures up an identified-with mind associated with the injurious.
He, having conjured up an identified-with body associated with the injurious,
having conjured up identified-with speech associated with the injurious;
having conjured up an identified-with mind associated with the injurious,
rises up in a world associated with the injurious.
He, having risen up in a world associated with the injurious,
is subsequently contacted by injurious contacts.
He, contacted by injurious contacts,
experiences extremely[2] painful injurious sensations
such as do the beings in Niraya.
■
Then, again, beggars, a person
conjures up an identified-with body dis-associated from the injurious;
conjures up identified-with speech dis-associated from the injurious;
conjures up an identified-with mind dis-associated from the injurious.
He, having conjured up an identified-with body dis-associated from the injurious,
having conjured up identified-with speech dis-associated from the injurious;
having conjured up an identified-with mind dis-associated from the injurious,
rises up in a world dis-associated from the injurious.
He, having risen up in a world dis-associated from the injurious,
is subsequently contacted by non-injurious contacts.
He, contacted by non-injurious contacts,
experiences extremely pleasant non-injurious sensations
such as do the Subhakiṇṇā gods.
■
Then, again, beggars, a person
conjures up an identified-with body both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious;
conjures up identified-with speech both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious;
conjures up an identified-with mind both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious.
He, having conjured up an identified-with body both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious,
having conjured up identified-with speech both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious;
having conjured up an identified-with mind both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious,
rises up in a world both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious.
He, having risen up in a world both associated with and dis-associated from the injurious,
is subsequently contacted by both injurious and non-injurious contacts.
He, contacted by both injurious and non-injurious contacts,
experiences mixed-up pleasant and painful sensations
such as do humans,
some gods,
and some in the lower realms.
"These, beggars, are these three sorts of persons to be seen in the world.
[1] Sankhāraṃ. Own-made; made one's own, of one's own making. Sankharaming is the act of creating identified-with experience through identification with the intent associated with acts of body, speech and mind.
[2] Ekanta. One-ended. Extreme.
