SN 36.6 Sallatha Sutta

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SN 36.6 Sallatha Sutta : The Arrow
"Monks, an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person feels feelings/sensations of pleasure, feelings/sensations of pain, feelings/sensations of neither-pleasure-nor-pain. A well-instructed disciple of the noble ones also feels feelings/sensations of pleasure, feelings/sensations of pain, feelings/sensations of neither-pleasure-nor-pain. So what difference, what distinction, what distinguishing factor is there between the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones and the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person?"

"For us, lord, the teachings have the Lord Buddha as their root, their guide, & their arbitrator. It would be good if the Lord Buddha himself would explicate the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from the Lord Buddha, the monks will remember it."

"In that case, monks, listen & pay close attention. I will speak."

"As you say, lord," the monks responded.

The Lord Buddha said, "When touched with a feeling/sensation of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows; in the same way, when touched with a feeling/sensation of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental.

"As he is touched by that painful feeling, he is resistant. Any resistance-obsession with regard to that painful feeling/sensation obsesses him. Touched by that painful feeling, he delights in sensual pleasure. Why is that? Because the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person does not discern any escape from painful feeling/sensation aside from sensual pleasure. As he is delighting in sensual pleasure, any passion-obsession with regard to that feeling/sensation of pleasure obsesses him. He does not discern, as it actually is present, the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, or escape from that feeling. As he does not discern the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, or escape from that feeling, then any ignorance-obsession with regard to that feeling/sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-pain obsesses him.

"Sensing a feeling/sensation of pleasure, he senses it as though joined with it. Sensing a feeling/sensation of pain, he senses it as though joined with it. Sensing a feeling/sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it as though joined with it. This is called an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person joined with birth, aging, & death; with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is joined, I tell you, with suffering & stress.

"Now, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones, when touched with a feeling/sensation of pain, does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. So he feels one pain: physical, but not mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, did not shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pain of only one arrow. In the same way, when touched with a feeling/sensation of pain, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. He feels one pain: physical, but not mental.

"As he is touched by that painful feeling, he is not resistant. No resistance-obsession with regard to that painful feeling/sensation obsesses him. Touched by that painful feeling, he does not delight in sensual pleasure. Why is that? Because the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones discerns an escape from painful feeling/sensation aside from sensual pleasure. As he is not delighting in sensual pleasure, no passion-obsession with regard to that feeling/sensation of pleasure obsesses him. He discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from that feeling. As he discerns the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from that feeling, no ignorance-obsession with regard to that feeling/sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-pain obsesses him.

"Sensing a feeling/sensation of pleasure, he senses it disjoined from it. Sensing a feeling/sensation of pain, he senses it disjoined from it. Sensing a feeling/sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it disjoined from it. This is called a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones disjoined from birth, aging, & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is disjoined, I tell you, from suffering & stress.

"This is the difference, this the distinction, this the distinguishing factor between the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones and the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person." *** The discerning person, learned, doesn't sense a (mental) feeling/sensation of pleasure or pain: This is the difference in skillfulness between the sage & the person run-of-the-mill. *** For a learned person who has fathomed the Dhamma, clearly seeing this world & the next, desirable things don't charm the mind, undesirable ones bring no resistance. *** His acceptance & rejection are scattered, gone to their end, do not exist. <p style="text-align:center;">*** <p style="text-align:center;">Knowing the dustless, sorrowless state, <p style="text-align:center;">he discerns rightly, <p style="text-align:center;">has gone, beyond becoming, <p style="text-align:center;">to the Further Shore. <p style="text-align:center;">***