sn.35.84 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Subject to Disintegration

At Savatthi. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘the world, the world.’ In what way, venerable sir, is it said ‘the world’?”

“Whatever is subject to disintegration, Ānanda, is called the world in the Noble One’s Discipline. And what is subject to disintegration? The eye, Ānanda, is subject to disintegration, forms … eye-consciousness … eye-contact … whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition … that too is subject to disintegration. The ear is subject to disintegration … The mind is subject to disintegration … Whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … that too is subject to disintegration. Whatever is subject to disintegration, Ānanda, is called the world in the Noble One’s Discipline.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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Liable to Wear Out

At Sāvatthī.
Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:
“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘the world’.
How is the world defined?”
“Ānanda, that which is liable to wear out is called the world in the training of the Noble One.
And what is liable to wear out?
The eye is liable to wear out. Sights … eye consciousness … eye contact is liable to wear out. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises conditioned by eye contact is also liable to wear out.
The ear … nose … tongue … body …
The mind … thoughts … mind consciousness … mind contact is liable to wear out. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises conditioned by mind contact is also liable to wear out.
That which is liable to wear out is called the world in the training of the Noble One.”