A Tangle (SN1.23)

Linked Discourses 1.23

3. A Sword

A Tangle

“Tangled within, tangled without:¹

these people are tangled in tangles.

I ask you this, Gotama:

who can untangle this tangle?”

“A wise person grounded in ethics,²

developing the mind and wisdom,³

a keen and alert mendicant—

they can untangle this tangle.

Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance⁴

have faded away;

the perfected ones with defilements ended—

they have untangled the tangle.

And where name and form

cease with no residue left behind;

and impingement and perception of form:

it’s here this tangle is cut.”