36.5. Should Be Seen (SN36.5)

“Bhikkhus, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant feeling, painful feeling, neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. Pleasant feeling, bhikkhus, should be seen as painful; painful feeling should be seen as a dart; neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling should be seen as impermanent.

“When, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu has seen pleasant feeling as painful, painful feeling as a dart, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling as impermanent, he is called a bhikkhu who sees rightly. He has cut off craving, severed the fetters, and by completely breaking through conceit, he has made an end to suffering.”

One who has seen the pleasant as painful
And the painful as a dart,
Seen as impermanent the peaceful feeling
Neither painful nor pleasant:
He is a bhikkhu who sees rightly,
One who fully understands feelings.

Having fully understood feelings,
He is taintless in this very life.
Standing in Dhamma, with the body’s breakup
The knowledge-master cannot be reckoned.

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

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