Itivuttaka 109

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Adapted From the Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu(Geoffrey DeGraff)

Compared with the Pali Tipitaka at www.tipitaka.org

109. Nadisotasuttam (Rivers & Streams )

This was said by the Lord Buddha(Bhagavata), said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, suppose a man were being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring. And then another man with good eyesight, standing on the bank, on seeing him would say, ‘My good man, even though you are being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring, further down from here is a pool with waves & whirlpools, with seizers & demons. On reaching that pool you will suffer death or death-like pain.’ Then the first man, on hearing the words of the second man, would make an effort with his hands & feet to go against the flow. “I have given you this simile to illustrate a meaning. The meaning is this: the flow of the river stands for craving(tanha). Lovely & alluring stands for the six internal sense-media. The pool further down stands for the five lower fetters.[1] The waves stand for anger & disuffering. The whirlpools stand for the five strings of sensuality. The seizers & demons stand for the opposite sex. Against the flow stands for renunciation. Making an effort with hands & feet stands for the arousing of persistence. The man with good eyesight standing on the bank stands for the Tathagata(Buddha), worthy & rightly self-awakened.”

Even if it’s with suffering, you should abandon sensual desires if you aspire to future safety from bondage. Rightly fully aware(in meditation with equanimity), with a mind freed, knowing sensation here & there(within self), An attainer-of-wisdom, having fulfilled the holy celibate life, is said to have gone to the end of the world, gone beyond.

NOTE: 1. The five lower fetters are self-identity view, uncertainty, attachment to habits & practices, sensual passion, and resistance. See also AN 7:48 and AN 10:13.