Now is the Time!

Friends! I have seen the Hell that is brought about by attachment to the six senses.

There every sight seen by the eye is painful, repulsive, ugly, disagreeable, not very enchanting!

Every sound heard by the ear is painful, repulsive, ugly, disagreeable, not very enchanting!

Every scent, taste, and touch is painful, repulsive, ugly, disagreeable, not very enchanting!

Every thought is painful, repulsive, ugly, disagreeable, not very enchanting!

It is lucky for us, my friends, that we have been born at a time when the True Dhamma is still available to us. We have done badly by
missing the time to live the Good Life under Gotama in his lifetime; let us not compound the error by being careless here and now.

The Dhamma is available. It teaches us how to meditate. It points out the way to freedom in objective detachment.

Now is the Time! Make effort in the here and now.

I HEAR TELL:^[1]

Once upon a Time, the Lucky Man, Sakka Territory, Devadada town revisiting, said words to this effect:

"Beggars! I have seen the Hell brought about by attachment to the Six Senses! There whatever one sees, it appears uninviting, repulsive, not charming, ugly, not lovely.

Whatever one hears, smells, tastes, touches or thinks about it is sensed as uninviting, repulsive, not charming, ugly, not lovely.

Beggars! I have seen the Heaven brought about by attachment to the Six Senses! There whatever one sees, it appears inviting, attractive, enchanting, beautiful, lovely.

Whatever one hears, smells, tastes, touches or thinks about it is sensed as inviting, attractive, enchanting, beautiful, lovely.

It is well done for you, Beggars, that you have attained the right time to live the good life.

Gods and Men, Beggars, delight in objects, are entranced by objects.

It is because of the impermanence of objects, the coming to an end of objects, the vanishing of objects, Beggars, that Gods and Men live in pain.

Gods and Men, Beggars, delight in sights, sounds, scents, tastes, touches and thinking.

It is because of the impermanence of objects that sights, sounds, scents, tastes, touches and thinking also are impermanent, come to an end and vanish.

It is because of the impermanence of
sights, sounds, scents, tastes, touches and thinking,
the coming to an end of
sights, sounds, scents, tastes, touches and thinking,
the vanishing of
sights, sounds, scents, tastes, touches and thinking,
that Gods and Men live in Pain.

But the Teacher, Beggars, sees objects as they really are.
He sees their origin and their end,
the satisfaction and the misery associated with them, and
he sees the way of escape from objects and
does not delight in objects,
he finds no pleasure in objects,
he is not enchanted by objects.

Therefore, Beggars,
it is because of seeing the impermanence of objects,
it is because of seeing that they come to an end,
it is because of seeing that they vanish,
that the Teacher lives at ease.

What is not yours, Beggars, put that away!

Putting it away
will be for your gain and profit
for many a long day!

And what, Beggars, is not "yours"?

The eye, Beggars, is not yours.

The ear, Beggars, is not yours.

The nose, tongue, and body, Beggars, are not yours.

The mind, Beggars, is not yours.

Wherefore, Beggars,
put them away!
Putting them away will be
for your gain and profit
for many a long day!

In the same way, Beggars, as in the case of a man who came along and gathered up all the grass and leaves and sticks and limbs and trunks of all the trees in this Jeta Grove and were to destroy them by fire; would you say:
"This man is gathering us up, this man is burning us, this man is doing what he wills with us?

Of course not!

How Come?

Because that grass and those leaves and sticks and limbs and trunks of trees are
not "you",
not "a part of you, and
are seen to be not "you",
not "a part of you."
That's how come!

I will teach you, Beggars,
old kamma and
new kamma,
the escape from kamma, and
the way leading to the escape from kamma.

Pay Attention!
Give Ear!
I will Speak!

And what is old kamma?

The eye, Beggars, is old kamma!^[2] It has come to be as a consequence of identifying with intentional acts of body, word-thought-and-speech, and mind with the idea of creating sense experiences.

The ear, nose, tongue and body are old kamma! They have come to be as a consequence of identifying with intentional acts of body, word-thought-and-speech, and mind, with the idea of creating sense experiences.

The mind is old kamma! It has come to be as a consequence of identifying with intentional acts of body, word-thought-and-speech, and mind with the idea of creating sense experiences.

This is what is called "old kamma."

And what is new kamma?

The identifying with intentional acts of body, word-thought-and-speech, and mind with the idea of creating sense experiences.

This is called "new kamma."

And what is the escape from kamma?

It is that not-doing of acts of body, word-thought-and-speech, and mind that results in freedom.

This is called the "escape from kamma."

And what is The Way leading to the escape from kamma?

It is this all-round limitless way, that is:

High View,
High Principles,
High Speech,
High Works,
High Lifestyle,
High Self Control,
High Mind,
High Serenity,
High Vision, and
High Detachment.

This is what is called "The way leading to the escape from kamma."

I have taught you, Beggars, about old kamma and about new kamma and about the escape from kamma, and about the way leading to the escape from kamma.

Whatever, Beggars, should be done by a teacher, out of compassion for the profit of his disciples, that has been done by me, out of compassion.

Here are the roots of trees, here are places of solitude!

Do not be careless, Beggars!

Do not give yourself cause for regret later!

Now is the Time!"

^[1] Through the Book of the Kindred Sayings, Book IV, The Salayatana Book, 4, pp 80ff, PTS trans. Woodward, a combination of a few suttas from this section, not translated, not quoted, as I hear them.

^[2] A footnote in the text says: Comy. "Eye in itself is not old, but it has come about by former actions."
Putting aside the difficulty one will have in locating "the present moment" in time, this statement may be scientifically true but is subjectively problematic, especially for a Buddhist. Here we see it this way:
The sense organ comes into contact with the object of sense and there arises as a consequence sensation, perception, and consciousness. This "consciousness or awareness of the object of sense follows in Time, the Eye, the Object, The Contact, the Sensation and the Perception. Clearly what is subjectively experienced as a Sense Experience is the Experience of what has happened in the Past.
This is not nit picking. This is the dynamic of the error we are perpetually making here: we are continuously trying to create the Past. We experience a pleasant sensation, we would like to repeat the sensation. It can never happen. It is passed, done gone. In stead we immediately forget our disappointment that the pleasant sensation was only temporary and has gone, and, setting out to recreate it, we create a new sense experience which comes to the same end. The more we struggle, the further we get from our goal. This is Downbound Confounded Rebounding Conjuration.

References:

One reference for the "I have seen the hells" quote:
Saṃyutta Nikāya IV: Sal'ayatana Vagga: Sal'ayatana Saṃyutta: #135: Sangayha, pp81
PTS: Woodward: Kindred Sayings IV: Kindred Sayings on Sense #135: Including (the sixfold sense-sphere), pp81
WP: Bhikkhu Bodhi: Connected Discourses II: Connected discourses on the Six Sense Bases, #135: The Opportunity, pp1207

Reference for the "What is not yours" quote: same as above, but sutta #137:
Pāḷi: Palasina
PTS: Leaves, pp.83
WP: has this as sutta 138; Not Yours, pp1208

Reference for "New and Old Kamma"; same as above, but sutta #145:
Pāḷi: Kammam pp132
PTS: Action, pp85
WP: has this as sutta #146 pp1211