Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Related Discourses

3. Dependent Origination

(二九〇) 無聞 8 (290). Unlearned
如是我聞： 一時，佛住王舍城迦蘭陀竹園。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at Squirrels’ Bamboo Grove of Rājagṛha.
爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「愚癡、無聞凡夫於四大色身生厭、離欲、背捨，但非識。 所以者何？ 四大色身現有增減、有取、有捨。 若心、若意、若識，彼愚癡無聞凡夫不能於識生厭、離欲、背捨。 長夜保惜繫我。 若得、若取，言： 『是我、我所、相在。』 是故愚癡無聞凡夫不能於彼生厭、離欲、背捨。 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “A foolish, untaught ordinary man becomes disillusioned, free of desire, and freed from the form body of four elements, but not awareness. Why is that? It’s apparent that the form body of the four elements increases and decreases, and it’s acquired and discarded. Whether it’s his heart, mind, or awareness, that foolish, untaught ordinary man cannot become disillusioned, free of desire, or freed from that awareness. Throughout the long night, he protects, values, and ties it to himself.2 Whether it’s ascertained or grasped, he says: ‘This is my self, it belongs to me, they exist together.’ Therefore, the foolish, untaught ordinary man isn’t able to become disillusioned, free of desire, freed from that.
「愚癡無聞凡夫寧於四大色身繫我、我所，不可於識繫我、我所。 所以者何？ 四大色身或見十年住，二十、三十⋯乃至⋯百年。 若善消息或復少過。 彼心、意、識日夜時刻，須臾不停，種種轉變，異生、異滅。 譬如獼猴遊林樹間，須臾處處。 攀捉枝條，放一取一。 彼心、意、識亦復如是，種種變易，異生、異滅。 3. “It would be better for a foolish, untaught ordinary man to tie his self and what belongs to that self to the form body of four elements, and he shouldn’t tie his self and what belongs to self to awareness. Why is that? The form body of four elements might last ten, twenty, thirty … up to … a hundred years. If he’s in a good situation, it might last a little longer. His heart, mind, and awareness is divided day and night, not remaining for a moment as it develops and changes in verious ways, arising as one thing and ceasing as another.3 It’s like a large monkey wandering in a forest, staying in each place for a moment. It takes hold of branches and twigs, letting go of one and grabbing another. A man’s heart, mind, and awareness is likewise, arising as one thing and ceasing as another.
「多聞聖弟子於諸緣起思惟觀察。 所謂樂觸緣生樂受。 樂受覺時，如實知樂受覺。 彼樂觸滅，樂因緣生樂受亦滅。 止、清涼、息、沒。 如樂受，苦觸⋯喜觸⋯憂觸⋯捨觸因緣生捨受。 捨受覺時，如實知捨受覺。 彼捨觸滅，捨觸因緣生捨受亦滅。 止、清涼、息、沒。 4. “The well-versed, noble disciple considers and observes the dependent arising of things.4 That is, contact with something pleasant conditions the arising of pleasant feeling. When he’s aware of a pleasant feeling, he truly knows that he’s aware of a pleasant feeling. When that contact with something pleasant ceases, then the feeling that dependently arose from that pleasant contact also ceases. It stops, cools, calms, and disappears. Like that pleasant feeling, a painful contact … happy contact … sad contact … neutral contact conditions the arising of a neutral feeling. When he’s aware of that neutral feeling, he truly knows that he’s aware of a neutral feeling. When that neutral contact ceases, the neutral feeling that dependently arose from that neutral contact also ceases. It stops, cools, calms, and disappears.5
「譬如兩木相磨，和合生火。 若兩木離散，火亦隨滅。 如是諸受緣觸集，觸生觸集。 若彼彼觸集故，彼彼受亦集。 彼彼觸集滅故，彼彼受集亦滅。 止、清涼、息、沒。 5. “It’s like two pieces of wood that combine to produce a fire when rubbed together. If those two pieces of wood are thrown away, the fire also ceases as a result. Thus, feelings are conditioned by the formation of contact, and contact produces that formation of contact.6 If this or that contact forms, then this or that feeling also forms. When the formation of this or that contact ceases, the formation of this or that feeling also ceases. It stops, cools, calms, and disappears.
「多聞聖弟子如是觀者，於色解脫⋯於受⋯想⋯行⋯識解脫。 於生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦解脫。 我說彼於苦得解脫。」 6. “The well-versed noble disciple who contemplates in this way will be liberated from form … feeling … conception … volition … liberated from awareness. He’ll be liberated from birth, old age, illness, death, grief, sorrow, pain, and trouble. I say he will become liberated from suffering.”
佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 7. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what he taught rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 290 in the Taisho edition and no. 471 in Yinshun (T99.2.82a1-27, Y30.17a9-8a8). It’s parallel with SN 12.62.

    This sūtra is interesting in that it addresses the fact that it’s much easier to identify with our mind (or spirit), while our body is more naturally viewed as something else possessed or controlled by our mind. The rationale give for this, however, gives us some insight into the cultural assumptions of early Buddhists. Instead of pointing out that the body is controlled by the mind, the Buddha says the reason is that it changes much more slowly, and the impermanence is more obvious.

    We also must remember the assumption of rebirth informing the idea that the body is discarded by what animates it, which then continues in some spiritual form or takes another physical body. These ideas common to early human belief systems would certainly cause people to consider what survives death of the body to be an enduring self. In Buddhism, this was usually called “awareness” (S. vijñāna), but the idea of an eternal self was rejected.

    We also find in this sūtra the idea that the mind arises and ceases from one moment to the next rather than persisting continuously, like a motion picture that consists of individual frames that flash by rapidly. This would become an important theory in Abhidharma Buddhism used to explain the continuous change of all things, including one’s mental state. [back]

  2. the long night. C. 長夜, G. digharatra, P. dīgharattaṃ, S. dīrgharātram. Most sources reduce this figurative expression to its functional meaning of “for a long time,” but I think its usage here refers specifically to a long time being reborn in saṃsāra. In that context, the imagery of a long night is meaningful and signals something more than the passage of time. There is the struggle to get through it, and the implicit metaphor of darkness for ignorance. I have translated it literally here for this reason. [back]

  3. divided day and night, not remaining for a moment as it develops and changes in verious ways, arising as one thing and ceasing as another. C. 日夜時刻，須臾不停，種種轉變，異生、異滅, P. taṁ rattiyā ca divasassa ca aññadeva uppajjati aññaṁ nirujjhati. The P. parallel here lacks the additional description beyond “arises as one thing and ceases as another all day and all night.”

    The illustration of a monkey moving continuously through a forest canopy is not found in SN 35.62, either. [back]

  4. dependent arising of things. C. 諸緣起, P. paṭiccasamuppādaṃyeva. The C. translation here makes dependent arising (緣起) effectively plural with the modifier 諸 (“all, many”). This might refer to the steps in a chain of dependent arising, but I’ve read it more simply as the dependent arising of various things in general. The idea being that the noble disciple analyzes any given thing with the principle of dependent arising.

    The P. parallel passage instead reads “dependent arising only” (paṭiccasamuppāda + eva), but I think this intends the same idea: That the principle is applied to everything the noble disciple encounters. [back]

  5. Here, happy (喜) and sad (憂) feelings have been inserted into the analysis of three types of feeling to cover both physical and mental feelings, but otherwise the passage here and the metaphor below is equivalent to the passage in SN 35.62. [back]

  6. contact produces that formation of contact. C. 觸生觸集. This statement seems circular and unnecessary, and there is no parallel to it in SN 35.62. I suspect it may be a copyist or editor error. However, I have left it as-is in case it did have some doctrinal significance for Sarvāstivādins. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 22 June 2025

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