sn.45.153 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)
The Pot
“Bhikkhus, just as a pot that has been turned upside down gives up its water and does not take it back, so a bhikkhu who develops and cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path gives up evil unwholesome states and does not take them back.
“And how does a bhikkhu do so? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu develops right view … right concentration, which is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release. It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a bhikkhu develops and cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path so that he gives up evil unwholesome states and does not take them back.”
- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Editor: Blake Walsh
Pots
“Mendicants, suppose a pot full of water is tipped over, so the water drains out and doesn’t go back in.
In the same way, a mendicant who develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path expels bad, unskillful qualities and doesn’t let them back in.
And how does a mendicant who develops the noble eightfold path expel bad, unskillful qualities and not let them back in?
It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go.
That’s how a mendicant who develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path expels bad, unskillful qualities and doesn’t let them back in.”
