68. Discourse on the Six Sense-spheres (SA68)

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

At that time the Blessed One said to the monks: “You should constantly cultivate meditation with diligence, calm the mind within, and examine the aggregates as they really are.

“How to examine the aggregates as they really are? By understanding as it really is: ‘This is bodily form, this is the arising of bodily form, this is the cessation of bodily form. This is feeling … perception … formations … consciousness, this is the arising of consciousness, this is the cessation of consciousness.’

“What is the arising of bodily form, the arising of feeling … perception … formations … consciousness? In dependence on eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. With the coming together of the three, contact arises. In dependence on contact, feeling arises. In dependence on feeling, craving arises … up to … this entire great mass of dukkha arises. This is called the arising of bodily form.

“In the same way in dependence on ear … nose … tongue … body … the mind and mental objects, mind-consciousness arises. With the coming together of the three, contact arises. In dependence on contact, feeling arises. In dependence on feeling, craving arises … in the same way up to … this entire great mass of dukkha arises. This is called the arising of bodily form, the arising of feeling … perception … formations … consciousness.

“What is the cessation of bodily form, the cessation of feeling … perception … formations … consciousness? In dependence on eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. With the coming together of the three, contact arises. With the cessation of contact, feeling ceases … up to … this entire great mass of dukkha ceases.

“In the same way in dependence on ear … nose … tongue … body … the mind and mental objects, mind-consciousness arises. With the coming together of the three, contact arises. With the cessation of contact, feeling ceases. With the cessation of feeling … up to … this entire great mass of dukkha ceases. This is called the cessation of bodily form, the cessation of feeling … perception … formations … consciousness.

“Therefore, monks, you should constantly cultivate meditation with diligence, calm the mind within.”

When the Buddha had spoken this discourse, the monks, hearing what the Buddha had said, were delighted and received it respectfully.

As for ‘examining’ … up to … ‘realizing’, twelve discourses should be recited fully in the same way.

Translated by Bhikkhu Anālayo. Originally published in ‘On the Five Aggregates (3)—A Translation of Saṁyukta-āgama Discourses 59 to 87’. Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, vol. 13, pp. 1–65 (2013). New Taipei City: Dharma Drum Buddhist College.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.