{"id":"sn56.41","title":"Speculation About the World","languageCodes":["en","pi"],"languageNotes":{"en":"Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0","pi":"Mahāsaṅgīti edition · SuttaCentral"},"chapters":[{"id":"sn56.41","title":"Speculation About the World","units":[{"id":"sn56.41:0","sourceIds":["sn56.41:0.1","sn56.41:0.2","sn56.41:0.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.41\n5. Papātavagga\nLokacintāsutta","en":"Linked Discourses 56.41\n5. A Cliff\nSpeculation About the World"}},{"id":"sn56.41:1","sourceIds":["sn56.41:1.1","sn56.41:1.2","sn56.41:1.3","sn56.41:1.4","sn56.41:1.5","sn56.41:1.6","sn56.41:1.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe.\nTatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:\n“bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, aññataro puriso rājagahā nikkhamitvā ‘lokacintaṁ cintessāmī’ti yena sumāgadhā pokkharaṇī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā sumāgadhāya pokkharaṇiyā tīre nisīdi lokacintaṁ cintento.\nAddasā kho, bhikkhave, so puriso sumāgadhāya pokkharaṇiyā tīre caturaṅginiṁ senaṁ bhisamuḷālaṁ pavisantaṁ.\nDisvānassa etadahosi:\n‘ummattosmi nāmāhaṁ, vicetosmi nāmāhaṁ.\nYaṁ loke natthi taṁ mayā diṭṭhan’ti.","en":"At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.\nThere the Buddha addressed the mendicants:\n“Once upon a time, mendicants, a certain person left Rājagaha, thinking ‘I’ll speculate about the world.’ They went to the Sumāgadhā lotus pond and sat down on the bank speculating about the world.\nThen that person saw an army of four divisions enter a lotus stalk.\nWhen he saw this he thought,\n‘I’ve gone mad, really, I’ve lost my mind!\nI’m seeing things that don’t exist in the world.’"}},{"id":"sn56.41:2","sourceIds":["sn56.41:2.1","sn56.41:2.2","sn56.41:2.3","sn56.41:2.4","sn56.41:2.5","sn56.41:2.6","sn56.41:2.7","sn56.41:2.8","sn56.41:2.9","sn56.41:2.10","sn56.41:2.11"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Atha kho so, bhikkhave, puriso nagaraṁ pavisitvā mahājanakāyassa ārocesi:\n‘ummattosmi nāmāhaṁ, bhante, vicetosmi nāmāhaṁ, bhante.\nYaṁ loke natthi taṁ mayā diṭṭhan’ti.\n‘Kathaṁ pana tvaṁ, ambho purisa, ummatto kathaṁ viceto?\nKiñca loke natthi yaṁ tayā diṭṭhan’ti?\n‘Idhāhaṁ, bhante, rājagahā nikkhamitvā “lokacintaṁ cintessāmī”ti yena sumāgadhā pokkharaṇī tenupasaṅkamiṁ; upasaṅkamitvā sumāgadhāya pokkharaṇiyā tīre nisīdiṁ lokacintaṁ cintento.\nAddasaṁ khvāhaṁ, bhante, sumāgadhāya pokkharaṇiyā tīre caturaṅginiṁ senaṁ bhisamuḷālaṁ pavisantaṁ.\nEvaṁ khvāhaṁ, bhante, ummatto evaṁ viceto.\nIdañca loke natthi yaṁ mayā diṭṭhan’ti.\n‘Taggha tvaṁ, ambho purisa, ummatto taggha viceto.\nIdañca loke natthi yaṁ tayā diṭṭhan’ti.","en":"Then that person entered the city and informed a large crowd,\n‘I’ve gone mad, really, I’ve lost my mind!\nI’m seeing things that don’t exist in the world.’\n‘But how is it that you’re mad? How have you lost your mind?\nAnd what have you seen that doesn’t exist in the world?’\n‘Sirs, I left Rājagaha, thinking “I’ll speculate about the world.” I went to the Sumāgadhā lotus pond and sat down on the bank speculating about the world.\nThen I saw an army of four divisions enter a lotus stalk.\nThat’s why I’m mad, that’s why I’ve lost my mind.\nAnd that’s what I’ve seen that doesn’t exist in the world.’\n‘Well, my man, you’re definitely mad, you’ve definitely lost your mind.\nAnd you’re seeing things that don’t exist in the world.’"}},{"id":"sn56.41:3","sourceIds":["sn56.41:3.1","sn56.41:3.2","sn56.41:3.3","sn56.41:3.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Taṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, so puriso bhūtaṁyeva addasa, no abhūtaṁ.\nBhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, devāsurasaṅgāmo samupabyūḷho ahosi.\nTasmiṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, saṅgāme devā jiniṁsu, asurā parājiniṁsu.\nParājitā ca kho, bhikkhave, asurā bhītā bhisamuḷālena asurapuraṁ pavisiṁsu devānaṁyeva mohayamānā.","en":"But what that person saw was in fact real, not unreal.\nOnce upon a time, a battle was fought between the gods and the titans.\nIn that battle the gods won and the titans lost.\nThe defeated and terrified titans entered the citadel of the titans through the lotus stalk only to confuse the gods."}},{"id":"sn56.41:4","sourceIds":["sn56.41:4.1","sn56.41:4.2","sn56.41:4.3","sn56.41:4.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, mā lokacintaṁ cintetha:\n‘sassato loko’ti vā ‘asassato loko’ti vā, ‘antavā loko’ti vā ‘anantavā loko’ti vā, ‘taṁ jīvaṁ taṁ sarīran’ti vā ‘aññaṁ jīvaṁ aññaṁ sarīran’ti vā, ‘hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā ‘na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā, ‘hoti ca na ca hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā, ‘neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā.\nTaṁ kissa hetu?\nNesā, bhikkhave, cintā atthasaṁhitā nādibrahmacariyakā na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṁvattati.","en":"So mendicants, don’t speculate about the world.\nFor example: the cosmos is eternal, or not eternal, or finite, or infinite; the soul and the body are one and the same, or the soul is one thing, the body another; after death, a realized one still exists, or no longer exists, or both still exists and no longer exists, or neither still exists nor no longer exists.\nWhy is that?\nBecause those thoughts aren’t beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They don’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment."}},{"id":"sn56.41:5","sourceIds":["sn56.41:5.1","sn56.41:5.2","sn56.41:5.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Cintentā kho tumhe, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti cinteyyātha …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti cinteyyātha.\nTaṁ kissa hetu?\nEsā, bhikkhave, cintā atthasaṁhitā esā ādibrahmacariyakā esā nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati.","en":"When you think something up, you should think: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.\nWhy is that?\nBecause those thoughts are beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment."}},{"id":"sn56.41:6","sourceIds":["sn56.41:6.1","sn56.41:6.2"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo”ti.\nPaṭhamaṁ.","en":"That’s why you should practice meditation …”"}}]}],"sourceRevision":"afdafa92450cfe7573b280da50382888323666d2","sourceUrl":"https://suttacentral.net/sn56.41/en/sujato","licence":"CC0 1.0","licenceUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","editionNote":"Full supplied source file; inherited abbreviations are preserved. Not a reconstructed expansion of every repetition. No Malay or Mandarin translation is implied."}