The Related Discourses

1. The Aggregates

161. Ānanda

1. Thus have I heard:[1] One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.

2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed Venerable Ānanda, “Suppose a faithful prominent man or a prominent man’s son comes and asks you, ‘How do I know the arising and ceasing of things?’ How would you answer him?”

3. Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Bhagavān, if some prominent man or a prominent man’s son came and asked me that, I would answer, ‘Know that form is something that arises and ceases, know that feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases.’ Bhagavān, if a prominent man or a prominent man’s son thus questions me, I would thus answer him.”

4. The Buddha told Ānanda, “Good, good! You should thus answer him. Why is that? Form is something that arises and ceases, feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases. Knowing that form is something that arises and ceases is called knowing form. Knowing that feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases is called knowing feeling … conception … volition … consciousness.”

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

Notes

1. This sūtra is parallel with SN 22.37. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 9 June 2022