The Related Discourses

35. Views

61-63 (161). Materialism

1. Thus I have 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 the monks, “Because of what’s existence, what’s cause, being bound by what, adherence to what, and viewing what as self do sentient beings make such views and such statements as this? ‘Seven bodies are not made, not made by a maker, not created, and not created by a creator. They are not killed, not disturbed, and substantial. What are the seven? They are the body of earth, body of water, body of fire, body of air … pleasure … pain … life. These seven kinds of body are not made, not made by a maker, not created, and not created by a creator. They are not killed, not disturbed, and substantial. They don’t evolve, don’t change, and don’t constrain each other. Whether fortunate, unfortunate, or fortunate and unfortunate, whether painful, pleasant, or painful and pleasant, or whether it’s a man who beheads or [the other] man’s head, these things don’t constrain the world, either. Whether it’s his life or body, the blade passes between the seven bodies and returns, but it doesn’t harm his life. Nothing is killed by that, and there’s no killer. Nothing binds, and nothing is bound. Nothing is thought, and there’s no thinker. There’s no teaching, and no teacher.’”[2]

3. The monks said to the Buddha, “The Bhagavān is the Dharma root, the Dharma eye, and the Dharma refuge …”

It’s explained in detail the same as the remainder of SĀ 35.7, and the next two sūtras are like SĀ 35.8-9 above but with this introduction.

Notes

1. Parallels for this sūtra include SN 24.8 and DN 2. [back]
2. This wrong view is attributed to Pakudha Kaccāyana in DN 2 but doesn’t appear in DĀ 27. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 1 November 2023