Salayatana Vagga

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Salayatana Vagga — The Section on the Six Sense Bases (samyuttas 35-44) [go up] Samyutta: 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 35. Salayatana-samyutta — The six senses {S iv 1; CDB ii 1133} [go up]

• SN 35.23: Sabba Sutta — The All {S iv 15; CDB ii 1140} [Thanissaro]. The precise way in which the Buddha uses the word for "everything" or "all."
• SN 35.24: Pahanaya Sutta — To Be Abandoned {S iv 15; CDB ii 1140} [Thanissaro]. What has to be abandoned in the course of the practice.
• SN 35.28: Adittapariyaya Sutta — The Fire Sermon {S iv 19; CDB ii 1143} SuttaReadings.net icon [Ñanamoli | Thanissaro]. Several months after his Awakening, the Buddha delivers this sermon to an audience of 1,000 fire-worshipping ascetics. In his characteristically brilliant teaching style, the Buddha uses a metaphor that quickly penetrates to the heart of the audience — in this case, the metaphor of fire. Upon hearing this sermon, the entire audience attains full Awakening (arahatta).
• SN 35.63: Migajala Sutta — To Migajala {S iv 35; CDB ii 1150} [Thanissaro]. Why is true solitude so hard to find? The Buddha explains why, no matter where you go, some of your most annoying companions always seem to tag along.
• SN 35.69: Upasena Sutta — Upasena {S iv 35; CDB ii 1150} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Upasena, mortally wounded by a venomous snake, but having thoroughly freed himself from any identification with the body, remains perfectly composed as he utters his dying words to Ven. Sariputta.
• SN 35.74: Gilana Sutta — Ill (1) {S iv 46; CDB ii 1157} [Thanissaro]. An ailing monk attains stream-entry when the Buddha engages him in a dialogue about not-self.
• SN 35.75: Gilana Sutta — Ill (2) {S iv 47; CDB ii 1159} [Thanissaro]. An ailing monk attains arahatship when the Buddha engages him in a dialogue about not-self.
• SN 35.80: Avijja Sutta — Ignorance {S iv 50; CDB ii 1161} [Thanissaro]. What one thing must be abandoned in order to overcome ignorance?
• SN 35.82: Loka Sutta — The World {S iv 52; CDB ii 1162} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how all things in the world share one inevitable and unfortunate characteristic. Do you want to remain bound to a world like this?
• SN 35.85: Suñña Sutta — Empty {S iv 54; CDB ii 1163} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains to Ven. Ananda in what way the world is devoid of anything that can rightly be called "self."
• SN 35.88: Punna Sutta — To Punna {S iv 60; CDB ii 1167} [Thanissaro]. What would you do with your mind while you're being beaten and stabbed? Consider the Buddha's advice to Punna.
• SN 35.95: Malunkyaputta Sutta — To Malunkyaputta {S iv 72; CDB ii 1175} [Thanissaro]. An aging Ven. Malunkyaputta receives from the Buddha a short teaching regarding dispassion towards the senses ("In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen..."), and soon thereafter becomes an arahant.
• SN 35.97: Pamadaviharin Sutta — Dwelling in Heedlessness {S iv 79; CDB ii 1179} [Thanissaro]. What is the difference between living with and without heedfulness (appamada)?
• SN 35.99: Samadhi Sutta — Concentration {S iv 80; CDB ii 1181} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha recommends concentration practice as a way to develop discernment of the inconstancy of the six sense doors.
• SN 35.101: Na Tumhaka Sutta — Not Yours {S iv 81; CDB ii 1181} [Thanissaro]. Do you usually think of "grass" or "leaves" as being "you"? Of course not. In the same way, the sense of "self" cannot be found anywhere within the realm of the senses.
• SN 35.115: Marapasa Sutta — Mara's Power {S iv 93; CDB ii 1188} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains that once one completely frees oneself from chasing after sense pleasures, one is then finally safe from Mara.
• SN 35.127: Bharadvaja Sutta— About Bharadvaja {S iv 110; CDB ii 1197} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Pindola Bharadvaja explains to a king how to maintain one's resolve towards celibacy.
• SN 35.135: Khana Sutt — The Opportunity {S iv 126; CDB ii 1207} [Thanissaro]. This human realm — neither too pleasurable nor too painful — is the best place to practice Dhamma.
• SN 35.145: Kamma Sutta — Action {S iv 132; CDB ii 1211; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.146} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how "old" kamma (the actions we performed in the past) and "new" kamma (the actions we perform in the present) are both experienced in the present.
• SN 35.153: Indriya Sutta — Faculties {S iv 140; CDB ii 1216; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.154} [Thanissaro]. A monk asks the Buddha: "What does it mean to be 'consummate in faculties'"?
• SN 35.189: Balisika Sutta — The Fisherman {S iv 158; CDB ii 1228; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.230} [Thanissaro]. How to avoid getting caught, like a fish, on Mara's hooks.
• SN 35.191: Kotthita Sutta — To Kotthita {S iv 162; CDB ii 1230; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.232} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Sariputta explains to Ven. Maha Kotthita that our problem lies neither in the senses themselves nor in the objects to which the senses cling; rather, suffering comes from the passion that arises in dependence on both.
• SN 35.193: Udayin Sutta — With Udayin {S iv 166; CDB ii 1232; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.234} [Thanissaro]. Since none of the five aggregates can arise on their own, independent of their objects, how can we identify any one of them as "self"?
• SN 35.197: Asivisa Sutta — Vipers {S iv 172; CDB ii 1237; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.238} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha uses some vivid imagery to illustrate the life-and-death urgency of Dhamma practice.
• SN 35.199: Kumma Sutta — The Tortoise {S iv 177; CDB ii 1240; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.240} [Thanissaro]. If we guard the senses wisely, as a tortoise guards against attack by withdrawing into the safety of its shell, we are safely out of Mara's reach.
• SN 35.200: Daruka-khanda Sutta — The Log {S iv 179; CDB ii 1241; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.241} [Thanissaro]. A lowly cowherd overhears the Buddha speak of the many hazards that lurk in the stream to Nibbana. He takes it to heart and soon succeeds in reaching the goal.
• SN 35.202: Avassuta Sutta — Soggy {S iv 182; CDB ii 1244; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.243} [Thanissaro]. How to guard your concentration against Mara's onslaughts.
• SN 35.204: Kimsuka Sutta — The Riddle Tree {S iv 191; CDB ii 1251; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.245} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana) function together as a "swift pair of messengers" to guide the meditator onwards to Nibbana.
• SN 35.205: Vina Sutta — The Lute {S iv 195; CDB ii 1253; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.246} [Thanissaro]. The heart of insight (vipassana): When you take apart a lute in search of its music, what do you find? When you take apart the five aggregates in search of "self," what do you find?
• SN 35.206: Chappana Sutta — The Six Animals {S iv 198; CDB ii 1255; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.247} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how training one's own mind is like keeping six unruly animals tied together on a leash.
• SN 35.207: Yavakalapi Sutta — The Sheaf of Barley {S iv 201; CDB ii 1257; this sutta corresponds to CDB 35.248} [Thanissaro]. This sutta, if perhaps a bit disjointed, offers some fine similes to illustrate the mind's tendency to create suffering for itself.

36. Vedana-samyutta — Feeling {S iv 204; CDB ii 1260} [go up]

• SN 36.1: Samadhi Sutta — Concentration {S iv 204; CDB ii 1260} [Nyanaponika]. How an understanding of the nature of feelings leads to Nibbana.
• SN 36.2: Sukha Sutta — Happiness {S iv 204; CDB ii 1260} [Nyanaponika]. How an understanding of the nature of feelings leads to the ending of passion.
• SN 36.3: Pahana Sutta — Giving up {S iv 205; CDB ii 1261} [Nyanaponika]. True freedom is found by abandoning the mind's underlying habitual tendencies (anusaya).
• SN 36.4: Patala Sutta — The Bottomless Chasm {S iv 206; CDB ii 1262} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. The Buddha teaches that by meeting intense physical pain with mindfulness, we can spare ourselves from falling headlong into the bottomless pit of anguish and distress.
• SN 36.5: Datthabba Sutta — To Be Known {S iv 207; CDB ii 1263} [Nyanaponika]. Behind even the happiest and most pleasant of feelings lurks a persistent pain that can, with correct practice, be overcome.
• SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta — The Arrow {S iv 207; CDB ii 1263} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. When shot by the arrow of physical pain, an unwise person makes matters worse by piling mental anguish on top of it, just as if he had been shot by two arrows. A wise person feels the sting of one arrow alone.
• SN 36.7: Gelañña Sutta — The Sick Ward (1) {S iv 210; CDB ii 1266} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. The Buddha visits a sick ward, and offers advice to the monks on how to approach death with mindfulness.
• SN 36.8: Gelañña Sutta — At the Sick Room (2) {S iv 213; CDB ii 1268} [Nyanaponika]. (This sutta is nearly identical to the preceding one, except here the feeling of pleasure, etc., is said to be dependent on contact rather than on the body.)
• SN 36.9: Anicca Sutta — Impermanent {S iv 214; CDB ii 1269} [Nyanaponika]. The impermanence of feeling.
• SN 36.10: Phassamulaka Sutta — Rooted in Sense-impression {S iv 215; CDB ii 1270} [Nyanaponika]. How sense-impression gives rise to feeling.
• SN 36.11: Rahogata Sutta — Alone {S iv 216; CDB ii 1270} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how the practice of jhana leads to progressive stages of cessation and stillness. Only when the defilements are finally extinguished, however, is true peace and stillness achieved.
• SN 36.12: Akasa Sutta — In the Sky (1) {S iv 218; CDB ii 1272} [Nyanaponika]. Feelings rise and fall, like winds blowing across the skies.
• SN 36.13: Akasa Sutta — In the Sky (2). {S iv 219; CDB ii 1273} [This sutta repeats the prose section of the preceding sutta, without the verse.]
• SN 36.14: Agara Sutta — The Guest House {S iv 219; CDB ii 1273} [Nyanaponika]. Feelings come and go, like house-guests.
• SN 36.15: Santaka Sutta — To Ananda (1) {S iv 219; CDB ii 1273} [Nyanaponika]. The Buddha explains to Ven. Ananda the origin of, danger in, and escape from feeling.
• SN 36.16: Santaka Sutta — To Ananda (2) {S iv 221; CDB ii 1274}. [In this sutta the Buddha puts to Ven. Ananda the same questions as in the preceding sutta, and answers them in the same way.]
• SN 36.17: Atthaka Sutta — Eightfold (1) {S iv 221; CDB ii 1274}.
• SN 36.18: Atthaka Sutta — Eightfold (2) {S iv 221; CDB ii 1274}.

[In these two suttas the same questions and answers found in SN 36.15 are repeated in the case of "many monks."]

• SN 36.19: Pañcakanga Sutta — To Pañcakanga/Carpenter FiveTools {S iv 223; CDB ii 1274} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro ]. The Buddha describes the many kinds of happiness that can be experienced through sustained practice. Which kind of happiness do you seek? [The text of this sutta is identical to MN 59.]
• SN 36.20: Bhikkhu Sutta — Monks {S iv 228; CDB ii 1278}. [This text, addressed to some bhikkhus, repeats the main part of the preceding sutta, without its introductory section.]
• SN 36.21: Sivaka Sutta — To Sivaka {S iv 230; CDB ii 1278} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains that present experience cannot be described solely in terms of the results of past actions (kamma).
• SN 36.22: Atthasata (Atthasatapariyaya) Sutta — One Hundred Eight Feelings {S iv 231; CDB ii 1280} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. A summary and enumeration of the different ways that the Buddha has analyzed feeling (hint: 3x6x6=108).
• SN 36.23: Bhikkhu Sutta — To a Certain Bhikkhu {S iv 232; CDB ii 1281} [Thanissaro]. A discussion of the ways that feeling must be understood in order to gain freedom from attachment to feeling. Includes an interesting reference to craving as an unskillful "path of practice."
• SN 36.30: Suddhikavedana Sutta — Purified of Feeling {S iv 235; CDB ii 1283}. [Contains only an enumeration of the three kinds of feeling: pleasant, painful, and neither-pleasant-nor-painful.]
• SN 36.31: Niramisa Sutta — Unworldly {S iv 235; CDB ii 1283} [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]. The Buddha describes the various grades of potential happiness and freedom, ranging from the worldly to the transcendent.

37. Matugama-samyutta — Destinies of women {S iv 238; CDB ii 1286} [go up] 38. Jambhukhadaka-samyutta — Jambhukhadaka the wanderer {S iv 251; CDB ii 1294} [go up]

• SN 38.14: Dukkha Sutta — Stress {S iv 259; CDB ii 1299} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Sariputta describes three kinds of stress (dukkha) and how they are to be fully comprehended.

39. Samandaka-samyutta — Samandaka the wanderer {S iv 261; CDB ii 1301} [go up] 40. Moggallana-samyutta — Ven. Moggallana {S iv 261; CDB ii 1302} [go up] 41. Citta-samyutta — Citta the householder {S iv 281; CDB ii 1314} [go up]

• SN 41.3: Isidatta Sutta — About Isidatta {S iv 285; CDB ii 1316} [Thanissaro]. What is the origin of self-view? The touching story of Ven. Isidatta, a wise young forest monk, who declines his elders' invitation to become a Dhamma teacher, and instead quietly slips off into the forest and disappears.
• SN 41.4: Mahaka Sutta — About Mahaka {S iv 288; CDB ii 1319} [Thanissaro]. How one monk misused his psychic powers.
• SN 41.6: Kamabhu Sutta — With Kamabhu (On the Cessation of Perception & Feeling) {S iv 293; CDB ii 1322} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Kamabhu answers a layperson's detailed questions concerning cessation-attainment (nirodha-samapatti), a state of profound — and potentially liberating — concentration that has full mastery of the jhanas as a prerequisite.
• SN 41.7: Godatta Sutta — To Godatta (On Awareness-release) {S iv 295; CDB ii 1325} [Thanissaro]. A layperson points out the similarities and differences between several states of concentration.
• SN 41.10: Gilana Sutta — Sick (Citta the Householder's Last Hours) {S iv 302; CDB ii 1330} [Thanissaro]. While on his deathbed, Citta delivers an inspiring teaching on generosity to his friends, his family, and a gathering of devas.

42. Gamani-samyutta — Village headmen {S iv 305; CDB ii 1332} [go up]

• SN 42.2: Talaputa Sutta — Talaputa the Actor {S iv 306; CDB ii 1333} [Thanissaro]. Comedians and actors take heed: making others laugh may not always be a particularly commendable occupation, as Talaputa learns.
• SN 42.3: Yodhajiva Sutta — To Yodhajiva (The Warrior) {S iv 308; CDB ii 1334} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha cautions a soldier against expecting a favorable rebirth because of his battlefield heroics.
• SN 42.6: Paccha-bhumika Sutta — [Brahmans] of the Western Land {S iv 311; CDB ii 1336} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how the principles of kamma and rebirth are as inviolable as the law of gravity. Choose your actions with care, lest you sink like a stone!
• SN 42.8: Sankha Sutta — The Conch Trumpet {S iv 317; CDB ii 1340} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha clarifies a crucial point about kamma: although you can never undo a past misdeed, there are ways you can mitigate its inevitable harmful results.
• SN 42.9: Kula Sutta — Families {S iv 322; CDB ii 1345} [Thanissaro]. A questioner challenges the Buddha: "If you're so supportive of familial harmony, then how can you justify accepting alms from poor families in times of famine?"
• SN 42.10: Maniculaka Sutta — To Maniculaka {S iv 325; CDB ii 1346} [Thanissaro]. A questioner asks the Buddha: "Are monks allowed to use money?"
• SN 42.11: Gandhabhaka (Bhadraka) Sutta — To Gandhabhaka (Bhadraka) {S iv 327; CDB ii 1348} [Thanissaro]. Why do we experience suffering and stress? Using simple analogies, the Buddha offers a clear and penetrating answer.

43. Asankhata-samyutta — The unfashioned (Nibbana) {S iv 359; CDB ii 1372} [go up] 44. Avyakata-samyutta — Undeclared {S iv 374; CDB ii 1380} [go up]

See Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Introduction to this samyutta.

• SN 44.1: Khema Sutta — With Khema {S iv 374; CDB ii 1380} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Sister Khema explains to King Pasenadi that questions about the fate of the Tathagata after death are unanswerable because the Tathagata is unfathomable.

   * SN 44.2: Anuradha Sutta — To Anuradha {S iv 381; CDB ii 1383; this sutta is identical to SN 22.86} SuttaReadings.net icon [Thanissaro]. Ven. Anuradha learns that if one can't even locate the Tathagata in the present life, how can one ever hope to answer questions about his fate after death?

• SN 44.3: Sariputta-Kotthita Sutta — Sariputta and Kotthita (1) {S iv 384; CDB ii 1383} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha takes no position on questions about the fate of the Tathagata after death because each question is bound up in the five khandhas.
• SN 44.4: Sariputta-Kotthita Sutta — Sariputta and Kotthita (2) {S iv 386; CDB ii 1384} [Thanissaro]. Questions regarding the fate of the Tathagata do not arise in those who see the aggregates as they actually are.
• SN 44.5: Sariputta-Kotthita Sutta — Sariputta and Kotthita (3) {S iv 387; CDB ii 1385} [Thanissaro]. Questions regarding the fate of the Tathagata do not arise in those who have abandoned passion for the aggregates.
• SN 44.6: Sariputta-Kotthita Sutta — Sariputta and Kotthita (4) {S iv 388; CDB ii 1386} [Thanissaro]. Questions regarding the fate of the Tathagata do not arise in those who no longer take delight in the aggregates, in clinging, in becoming, or in craving.
• SN 44.7: Moggallana Sutta — With Moggallana {S iv 391; CDB ii 1388} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha takes no position on the ten speculative views because he does not identify any of the six senses as "self."
• SN 44.8: Vacchagotta Sutta — With Vacchagotta {S iv 395; CDB ii 1390} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha takes no position on the ten speculative views because he does not identify any of the five aggregates as "self."
• SN 44.9: Kutuhalasala Sutta — The Debating Hall {S iv 398; CDB ii 1392} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha uses the image of a fire to explain what carries a being over into its next rebirth.
• SN 44.10: Ananda Sutta — To Ananda (on Self, No Self, and Not-self) {S iv 400; CDB ii 1393} [Thanissaro]. Why the Buddha did not take a position on the question of whether or not there is a self.
• SN 44.11: Sabhiya Sutta — With Sabhiya {S iv 401; CDB ii 1394} [Thanissaro]. The fate of the Tathagata after death cannot be described because the causes for any worldly description of his fate would have totally ceased