The Related Discourses

1. The Aggregates

161 (49). 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 shall 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 answer him in this way.”

4. The Buddha told Ānanda, “Good, good! You should answer him in this way. 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 is sūtra no. 49 in the Taisho edition and no. 161 in Yinshun (T99.2.12a27-b9). It’s parallel with SN 22.37. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 21 October 2022