[ Dhamma Talk ]
The Eight Worldly Concerns[1]
I HEAR TELL:
Once upon a time, Savatthi Town, Anāthapiṇḍika Park, Jeta Grove, The Lucky Man came a revisiting. There, to the Beggars gathered round, he said:
Eight, Beggars, are the worldly conditions that obsess the worldly; the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions.
What eight?
Gain and loss,
honor and dishonor,
praise and blame,
pleasure and pain.
Such are the eight worldly conditions, Beggars, that obsess the worldly; the eight worldly conditions around which the world revolves.
Gain and loss,
honor and dishonor,
praise and blame,
pleasure and pain;
impermanent, human conditions ... ending things;
things vulnerable to reversal!
Recognizing and reflecting, the wise consider these:
things vulnerable to reversal!
By the pleasant not stirred up in heart,
nor by the unpleasant repulsed,
tranquilized, gone past all that,
neither collaborating nor resisting,
walking the path free of lust, sorrowless,
knowing the highest knowing,
passed beyond.
§
The Failings of the World[2]
Eight, Beggars, are the worldly conditions that obsess the worldly, the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions.
What eight?
Gain and loss,
honor and dishonor,
praise and blame,
pleasure and pain.
Such are the eight worldly conditions, beggars, that obsess the worldly; the eight worldly conditions around which the world revolves.
Beggars! To the uneducated common man come gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, and pleasure and pain.
And, Beggars, to the well educated student of the Aristocrats come gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, and pleasure and pain.
So then, this being the case, what distinguishes the path of the well educated student of the Aristocrats from that of the uneducated common man?
"For us," said those Beggars, "the Lucky Man is the source of Dhamma, our guide, our protector. It would clearly be for our good, Venerable, if the Lucky Man were to explain the meaning of this; when the Beggars hear this from the Lucky Man they will retain it in mind."
Very well, then, Beggars!
Pay Attention!
Give Ear!
I will speak!
and
"Venerable!" those Beggars responded.
In this case, Beggars, gain comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This gain is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Loss comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This loss is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Honor comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This honor is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Dishonor comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This dishonor is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Praise comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This praise is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Blame comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This blame is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Pleasure comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This pleasure is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
Pain comes to the uneducated common man unaccompanied by the reflection:
"This pain is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
This is a thing they really do not understand.
They let gain take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let loss take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let honor take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let dishonor take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let praise take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let blame take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let pleasure take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They let pain take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They are excited by the gains that arise.
They are repulsed by the losses that arise.
They are excited by the honors that arise.
They are repulsed by the dishonors that arise.
They are excited by the praise that arises.
They are repulsed by the blame that arises.
They are excited by the pleasure that arises.
They are repulsed by the pain that arises.
Thus they collaborate and resist
and are in no way released from birth,
aging,
sickness and death,
grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
so I say.
But here, Beggars, gain comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This gain is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Loss comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This loss is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Honor comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This honor is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Dishonor comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This dishonor is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Praise comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This praise is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Blame comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This blame is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Pleasure comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This pleasure is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
Pain comes to the well educated student of the Aristocrats accompanied by the reflection:
"This pain is impermanent, inherently painful, a thing subject to reversal."
And they really understand this.
They do not let gain take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let loss take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let honor take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let dishonor take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let praise take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let blame take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let pleasure take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They do not let pain take a lasting hold on their hearts.
They are not excited by the gains that arise.
They are not repulsed by the losses that arise.
They are not excited by the honors that arise.
They are not repulsed by the dishonors that arise.
They are not excited by the praise that arises.
They are not repulsed by the blame that arises.
They are not excited by the pleasure that arises.
They are not repulsed by the pain that arises.
Thus they do not collaborate or resist
and are released from birth,
aging,
sickness and death,
grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
so I say.
This, Beggars is what distinguishes the path of the well educated student of the Aristocrats from that of the uneducated common man.
Gain and loss, honor and dishonor,
praise and blame, pleasure and pain;
impermanent, human conditions ... ending things;
things vulnerable to reversal!
Recognizing and reflecting, the wise consider these:
things vulnerable to reversal!
By the pleasant not stirred up in heart,
nor by the unpleasant repulsed,
tranquilized, gone past all that,
neither collaborating nor resisting,
walking the path free of lust, sorrowless,
knowing the highest knowing,
passed beyond
[1] This is one of two acceptable answers to The Eighth Question. I use the other, primarily, because it is more instructive to those beginning their studies of the Dhamma.
Loka-dhammā: Worldly dhammas; objectives, objects, things. At one point I was translating dhamma only with the term "Object" which fits remarkably well in virtually every case except the one involving being understood by most people.
From: Anguttara Nikāya, Atthaka-Nipata, Metta Vagga, V pp 156
[2] From: Anguttara Nikāya, Atthaka-Nipata, Metta Vagga, VI, pp 157
This one is available also in an Access to Insight version translated by Bhikkhu Thanissaro.
References:
PTS The Book of the Gradual Sayings, IV, The Book of the Eights, On Amity, pp107
