Saɱyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
35. Saḷāyatana Saɱyutta
§ II: Paññāsaka Dutiya
5. Saḷa Vagga
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
IV. The Book of the Six Sense Bases
35: Connected Discourses on the Six Sense Bases
The Second Fifty
5. The Sixes
Sutta 94
Cha-Phass'Āyatana (Paṭhama Saṅgayya) Suttaɱ
Untamed, Unguarded
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Copyright Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)
This selection from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saɱyutta Nikāya by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/connected-discourses-buddha.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available
at http://www.wisdompubs.org/terms-use.
"Bhikkhus, these six bases for contact — if untamed, unguarded, unprotected, unrestrained — are bringers of suffering.
What six?
"The eye, bhikkhus, as a base for contact — if untamed, unguarded, unprotected, unrestrained — is a bringer of suffering.
The ear as a base for contact ...
The mind as a base for contact ... is a bringer of suffering.
These six bases for contact — if untamed, unguarded, unprotected, unrestrained — are bringers of suffering.
"Bhikkhus, these six bases for contact — if well tamed, well guarded, well protected, well restrained — are bringers of happiness.
What six?
"The eye, bhikkhus, as a base for contact — if well tamed, well guarded, well protected, well restrained — is a bringer of happiness.
The ear as a base for contact ...
The mind as a base for contact ... is a bringer of happiness.
These six bases for contact — if well tamed, well guarded, well protected, well restrained — are bringers of happiness."
This is what the Blessed One said.
Having said this, the Fortunate One, the Teacher, further said this:
"Just six, O bhikkhus, are the bases for contact,
Where one unrestrained meets with suffering.
Those who know how to restrain them
Dwell uncorrupted, with faith their partner.
"Having seen forms that delight the mind
And having seen those that give no delight,
Dispel the path of lust towards the delightful
And do not soil the mind by thinking,
'[The other] is displeasing to me.'
[71] "Having heard sounds both pleasant and raucous,
Do not be enthralled with pleasant sound.
Dispel the course of hate towards the raucous,
And do not soil the mind by thinking,
'[This one] is displeasing to me.'
"Having smelt a fragrant, delightful scent,
And having smelt a putrid stench,
Dispel aversion towards the stench
And do not yield to desire for the lovely.
"Having enjoyed a sweet delicious taste,
And having sometimes tasted what is bitter,
Do not greedily enjoy the sweet taste,
Do not feel aversion towards the bitter.
"When touched by pleasant contact do not be enthralled,
Do not tremble when touched by pain.
Look evenly on both the pleasant and painful,
Not drawn or repelled by anything.
"When common people of proliferated perception
Perceive and proliferate they become engaged.
Having dispelled every mind-state bound to the home life,
One travels on the road of renunciation.
"When the mind is thus well developed in six,
If touched, one's mind never flutters anywhere.
Having vanquished both lust and hate, O bhikkhus,
Go to the far shore beyond birth and death."
