35.29. Weighed Down (SN35.29)

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:

“Bhikkhus, all is weighed down. And what, bhikkhus, is the all that is weighed down? The eye is weighed down, forms are weighed down, eye-consciousness is weighed down, eye-contact is weighed down, and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is weighed down. Weighed down by what? Weighed down by birth, aging, and death; by sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair, I say.

“The ear is weighed down … The mind is weighed down … Weighed down by what? Weighed down by birth … by despair, I say.

“Seeing thus … He understands: ‘… there is no more for this state of being.’”

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Based on the work Connected Discourses of the Buddha at Wisdom Publications.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Wisdom Publications.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Blake Walsh.