SN35:135 The Opportunity
- fdg sc © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. (More copyright information)
1"Bhikkhus, it is a gain for you, it is well gained by you, that you have obtained the opportunity for living the holy life. I have seen, bhikkhus, the hell named ‘Contact's Sixfold Base.’[n.138] Chaphassāyatanikā. Spk: There is no separate hell named "Contact's Sixfold Base," for this designation applies to all thirty-one great hells; but this is said here with reference to the great hell Avīci. At SN56.43, a hell so described is referred to as mahāpariḷāha niraya, the Hell of the Great Conflagration. There whatever form one sees with the eye is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable. Whatever sound one hears with the ear … Whatever odour one smells with the nose … Whatever taste one savours with the tongue … Whatever tactile object one feels with the body … Whatever mental phenomenon one cognizes with the mind is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable. |
"It is a gain for you, bhikkhus, it is well gained by you, that you have obtained the opportunity for living the holy life. I have seen, bhikkhus, the heaven named ‘Contact's Sixfold Base.’[n.139] Spk: Here the Tāvatiṁsa city is intended. What does he show by this? "It isn’t possible to live the holy life of the path either in hell, because of extreme suffering, or in heaven, because of extreme pleasure, on account of which negligence arises through continuous amusements and delights. But the human world is a combination of pleasure and pain, so this is the field of action for the holy life of the path. The human state gained by you is the opportunity, the occasion, for living the holy life." There whatever form one sees with the eye is desirable, never undesirable; lovely, never unlovely; agreeable, never disagreeable. Whatever sound one hears with the ear … Whatever odour one smells with the nose … Whatever taste one savours with the tongue … Whatever tactile object one feels with the body … Whatever mental phenomenon one cognizes with the mind is desirable, never undesirable; lovely, never unlovely; agreeable, never disagreeable. |
"It is a gain for you, bhikkhus, it is well gained by you, that you have obtained the opportunity for living the holy life." |