sn.35.7 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

The Internal as Impermanent in the Three Times

At Savatthi. “Bhikkhus, the eye is impermanent, both of the past and the future, not to speak of the present. Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple is indifferent towards the eye of the past; he does not seek delight in the eye of the future; and he is practising for revulsion towards the eye of the present, for its fading away and cessation.

“The ear is impermanent … The nose is impermanent … The tongue is impermanent … The body is impermanent … The mind is impermanent, both of the past and the future, not to speak of the present. Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple is indifferent towards the mind of the past … for its fading away and cessation.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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The Interior as Impermanent in the Three Times

“Mendicants, the eye of the past and future is impermanent,
let alone the present.
Seeing this, a learned noble disciple doesn’t worry about the eye of the past,
they don’t look forward to enjoying the eye in the future,
and they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the eye in the present.
The ear …
nose …
tongue …




body …
mind of the past and future is impermanent,
let alone the present.
Seeing this, a learned noble disciple doesn’t worry about the mind of the past,
they don’t look forward to enjoying the mind in the future,
and they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the mind in the present.”