The River Torrent (SA268)

Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “Take the example of a river produced by a mountain torrent. Its water is deep and fast moving. The current flows violently, and many things bob up and down in it. Both shores of that river have a mixture of reeds and trees growing on them. They form a bridge that leans across that large river from its shores. When a group of people attempt to ford the river there, many are carried away by the water, following the current until they disappear. When a wave pushes them near the shore, they grab at the reeds and trees, but the reeds and trees break, and they continue floating down the river.

“In this way, monks, if ordinary, foolish sentient beings don’t truly know form … the formation of form … cessation of form … enjoyment of form … trouble of form … don’t truly know the escape from form, they will delight in form, saying: ‘Form is myself.’ That form subsequently breaks. In the same way, they don’t truly know feeling … conception … volition … awareness … the formation of awareness … cessation of awareness, enjoyment of awareness, trouble of awareness … don’t truly know the escape from awareness. Because they don’t truly know it, they delight in awareness. They say, ‘Awareness is myself.’ That awareness will also subsequently break.

“If a well-versed noble disciple truly knows form … the formation of form … cessation of form … enjoyment of form … trouble of form … truly knows the escape from form, then they won’t delight in form. Truly knowing feeling … conception … volition … awareness … the formation of awareness … cessation of awareness … enjoyment of awareness … trouble of awareness … truly knowing the escape from awareness, they don’t delight in awareness. Because they don’t delight in it, they will themselves know the attainment of parinirvāṇa: ‘My births have been ended, the religious life has been established, and the task has been accomplished. I myself know that I won’t be subject to a later existence.’”

After the Buddha taught this sūtra, the monks who heard what he taught rejoiced and approved.

This sūtra is part of the Dharma Pearls translation project.

Prepared by Charles Patton for SuttaCentral.