The Related Discourses
2. The Sense Fields
| （二〇八） 內入處無常 | 81-84 (208). The Inner Sense Fields Are Impermanent, Etc. |
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| 如是我聞： 一時，佛住毘舍離、耆婆拘摩羅藥師菴羅園。 | 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying in Doctor Jīvaka Kumāra’s Mango Park of Vaiśālī. |
| 爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「過去、未來眼無常。 況現在眼？ 多聞聖弟子如是觀者不顧過去眼，不欣未來眼，於現在眼厭。 不樂、離欲、向厭。 耳、鼻、舌、身、意亦復如是。」 | 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “The eye in the past and future is [81] impermanent … [82] painful … [83] empty … [84] not self. Wouldn’t that be the case for the eye in the present, too? The well-versed noble disciple who contemplates in this way doesn’t look back at the eye in the past, doesn’t anticipate the eye in the future, and becomes disillusioned with the eye in the present. They don’t enjoy it, become free of desire for it, and are disillusioned with the eye. The ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are likewise.” |
| 佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 | 3. After he spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
| （如無常，苦、空、無我亦如是說。） | (As with impermanence, pain, emptiness, and not self were likewise taught.) |
| （如內入處四經，如是外入處色、聲、香、味、觸、法四經。內外入處四經亦如是說。） | (Like the four sūtras on the inner sense fields, there are four sūtras about the outer sense fields of form, sound, odor, flavor, touch, and ideas, and four sūtras about the inner and outer sense fields were taught as well.) |
| 85-88 (208). The Outer Sense Fields Are Impermanent, Etc. | |
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| 1. Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying in Doctor Jīvaka Kumāra’s Mango Park of Vaiśālī. | |
| 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “Form in the past and future is [85] impermanent … [86] painful … [87] empty … [88] not self. Wouldn’t that be the case for form in the present, too? The well-versed noble disciple who contemplates in this way doesn’t look back at form in the past, doesn’t anticipate form in the future, and becomes disillusioned with form in the present. They don’t enjoy it, become free of desire for it, and are disillusioned with it. Sound, odor, flavor, touch, and ideas are likewise.” | |
| 3. After he spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
| 89-92 (208). The Inner and Outer Sense Fields Are Impermanent, Etc. | |
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| 1. Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying in Doctor Jīvaka Kumāra’s Mango Park of Vaiśālī. | |
| 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “The eye and form in the past and future are [89] impermanent … [90] painful … [91] empty … [92] not self. Wouldn’t that be the case for the eye and form in the present, too? The well-versed noble disciple who contemplates in this way doesn’t look back at the eye and form in the past, doesn’t anticipate the eye and form in the future, and becomes disillusioned with eye and form in the present. They don’t enjoy them, become free of desire for them, and are disillusioned with them. The ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and flavor, body and touch, and mind and ideas are likewise.” | |
| 3. After he spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
Notes
This is sūtra no. 208 in the Taisho edition and nos. 259-270 in Yinshun (T99.2.52c7-16). The variant notes at the end describe three sets of four sūtras, so I have partially reconstituted them as three sūtras with an abbreviation embedded in each.
These sūtras are parallel to SN 35.186-194 and SN 35.7-12. SN 35.7-12 match the template better, but that set of suttas doesn’t combine inner and outer sense fields. SN 35.186-194 only treat the impermanence of the inner and outer sense fields and has separate suttas for the past, future, and present, respectively. Those suttas belong to a group that begins at SN 35.160 that were located at Jīvaka’s Mango Grove, so it seems likely that there is a direct relationship with SĀ 2.81-92. They may all form a large group of variations of a few older sūtras. [back]
Translator: Charles Patton
Last Revised: 6 February 2025
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