“Bhikkhus, the uninstructed worldling feels a pleasant feeling, a painful feeling, and a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. The instructed noble disciple too feels a pleasant feeling, a painful feeling, and a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. Therein, bhikkhus, what is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between the instructed noble disciple and the uninstructed worldling?”
“Venerable sir, our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One, guided by the Blessed One, take recourse in the Blessed One. It would be good if the Blessed One would clear up the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it.”
“Then listen and attend closely, bhikkhus, I will speak.”
“Yes, venerable sir,” the bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Bhikkhus, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling, he sorrows, grieves, and laments; he weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught. He feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, and then they would strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by two darts. So too, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling … he feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one.
“Being contacted by that same painful feeling, he harbours aversion towards it. When he harbours aversion towards painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling lies behind this. Being contacted by painful feeling, he seeks delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the uninstructed worldling does not know of any escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure. When he seeks delight in sensual pleasure, the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling lies behind this. He does not understand as it really is the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these feelings. When he does not understand these things, the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling lies behind this.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. This, bhikkhus, is called an uninstructed worldling who is attached to birth, aging, and death; who is attached to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; who is attached to suffering, I say.
“Bhikkhus, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught. He feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, but they would not strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by one dart only. So too, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling … he feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one.
“Being contacted by that same painful feeling, he harbours no aversion towards it. Since he harbours no aversion towards painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling does not lie behind this. Being contacted by painful feeling, he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the instructed noble disciple knows of an escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure. Since he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure, the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling does not lie behind this. He understands as it really is the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these feelings. Since he understands these things, the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling does not lie behind this.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. This, bhikkhus, is called a noble disciple who is detached from birth, aging, and death; who is detached from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; who is detached from suffering, I say.
“This, bhikkhus, is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between the instructed noble disciple and the uninstructed worldling.”
The wise one, learned, does not feel
The pleasant and painful mental feeling.
This is the great difference between
The wise one and the worldling.
For the learned one who has comprehended Dhamma,
Who clearly sees this world and the next,
Desirable things do not provoke his mind,
Towards the undesired he has no aversion.
For him attraction and repulsion no more exist;
Both have been extinguished, brought to an end.
Having known the dust-free, sorrowless state,
The transcender of existence rightly understands.
“Monks, the uneducated commoner feels pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings, and neutral feelings. Monks, an educated disciple of the noble ones also feels pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings, and neutral feelings. Monks, in this case, what is the difference, what is the distinction, what is the variance between an educated disciple of the noble ones and an uneducated commoner?”
“Bhante, our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One, guided by the Blessed One, based on the Blessed One. Bhante, it would be wonderful if the Blessed One would elucidate the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from from the Blessed One, the monks will remember it.”
“Therefore, monks, listen and carefully pay attention; I will speak.”
“Yes, Bhante,” those monks replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
“Monks, when an uneducated commoner is touched by a painful sensation, he sorrows, frets, and laments, beating his chest and wailing, and becomes confused. He feels two feelings – one physical and one mental. Monks, it is just like a person who has been pierced by a thorn. Then he is pierced again by a second thorn. Monks, in this way, the person feels the feeling of two thorns.
“Monks, in the same way, when an uneducated commoner is touched by a painful sensation, he sorrows, frets, and laments, beating his chest and wailing, and becomes confused. He feels two feelings – physical and mental. When touched by that painful feeling, he is aversive. Since he is aversive towards that painful feeling, the tendency of aversion towards painful feelings is latent in him.
“When touched by painful feelings, he seeks delight in sensual pleasure. Why is that? Monks, an uneducated commoner does not know any escape from painful feelings other than sensual pleasure. Since he seeks delights in sensual pleasure, the tendency of passion towards pleasant feelings is latent in him.
“He does not accurately understand the origin, disappearance, appeal, drawback, and escape regarding those feelings. Since he does not accurately understand the origin, disappearance, appeal, drawback, and escape regarding those feelings, the tendency of ignorance towards neutral feelings is latent in him.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he is trapped. If he feels a painful feeling, he is trapped. If he feels a neutral feeling, he is trapped. Monks, this is called ‘An uneducated commoner is trapped by birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, depression, and anguish; he is trapped by dissatisfaction,’ I say.
“Monks, when an educated disciple of the noble ones is touched by a painful sensation, he does not sorrow, fret, lament, beat his chest, wail, or become confused. He feels one feeling – physical, not mental. Monks, it is just like a person who has been pierced by a thorn. But he is not pierced again by a second thorn. Monks, in this way, the person feels the feeling of only one thorn.
“Monks, in the same way, when an educated disciple of the noble ones is touched by a painful sensation, he does not sorrow, fret, lament, beat his chest, wail, or become confused. He feels one feeling – physical, not mental. When touched by that painful feeling, he is not aversive. Since he is not aversive towards that painful feeling, the tendency of aversion towards painful feelings is not latent in him.
“When touched by painful feelings, he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure. Why is that? Monks, an educated disciple of the noble ones knows an escape from painful feelings other than sensual pleasure. Since he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure, the tendency of passion towards pleasant feelings is not latent in him.
“He accurately understands the origin, disappearance, appeal, drawback, and escape regarding those feelings. Since he accurately understands the origin, disappearance, appeal, drawback, and escape regarding those feelings, the tendency of ignorance towards neutral feelings is not latent in him.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he is not trapped. If he feels a painful feeling, he is not trapped. If he feels a neutral feeling, he is not trapped. Monks, this is called ‘An educated disciple of the noble ones is not trapped by birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, depression, and anguish; he is not trapped by dissatisfaction,’ I say.
“Monks, this is the difference, the distinction, the variance between an educated disciple of the noble ones and an uneducated commoner.
“The wise one who has learned much
Does not feel pleasure or pain.
This is the great distinction
Between a steadfast wholesome one and a commoner.
“When one has learned much of the recognized teachings,
Seeing clearing both this world and other worlds,
Then one‘s mind is not agitated by desirable things
Or aversive towards what is undesirable.
“For that one, both approval and rejection
Have been vaporized, have disappeared, and do not exist.
Having known the path, flawless and sorrowless,
One fully understands, and transcends existence.”
