{"collection":"Majjhima Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_mn148/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_mn148","id":"suttacentral_mn148","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/mn148/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Majjhima Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in Jeta\u2019s Grove, An\u0101thapi\u1e47\u1e0dika\u2019s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, \u201cMendicants!\u201d \u201cVenerable sir,\u201d they replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cMendicants, I shall teach you the Dhamma that\u2019s good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, meaningful and well-phrased. And I shall reveal a spiritual practice that\u2019s entirely full and pure, namely, the six sets of six. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.\u201d \u201cYes, sir,\u201d they replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cThe six interior sense fields should be understood. The six exterior sense fields should be understood. The six classes of consciousness should be understood. The six classes of contact should be understood. The six classes of feeling should be understood. The six classes of craving should be understood. \u2018The six interior sense fields should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? There are the sense fields of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. \u2018The six interior sense fields should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the first set of six. \u2018The six exterior sense fields should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? There are the sense fields of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. \u2018The six exterior sense fields should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the second set of six. \u2018The six classes of consciousness should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. Ear consciousness arises dependent on the ear and sounds. Nose consciousness arises dependent on the nose and smells. Tongue consciousness arises dependent on the tongue and tastes. Body consciousness arises dependent on the body and touches. Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. \u2018The six classes of consciousness should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the third set of six. \u2018The six classes of contact should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Ear consciousness arises dependent on the ear and sounds. The meeting of the three is contact. Nose consciousness arises dependent on the nose and smells. The meeting of the three is contact. Tongue consciousness arises dependent on the tongue and tastes. The meeting of the three is contact. Body consciousness arises dependent on the body and touches. The meeting of the three is contact. Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. \u2018The six classes of contact should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the fourth set of six. \u2018The six classes of feeling should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Ear consciousness arises dependent on the ear and sounds. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Nose consciousness arises dependent on the nose and smells. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Tongue consciousness arises dependent on the tongue and tastes. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Body consciousness arises dependent on the body and touches. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. \u2018The six classes of feeling should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the fifth set of six. \u2018The six classes of craving should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, but why did I say it? Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. Ear consciousness \u2026 Nose consciousness \u2026 Tongue consciousness \u2026 Body consciousness \u2026 Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. \u2018The six classes of craving should be understood.\u2019 That\u2019s what I said, and this is why I said it. This is the sixth set of six. If anyone says, \u2018the eye is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of the eye is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that the eye is self. So the eye is not self. If anyone says, \u2018sights are self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of sights is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that sights are self. So the eye is not self and sights are not self. If anyone says, \u2018eye consciousness is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of eye consciousness is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that eye consciousness is self. So the eye, sights, and eye consciousness are not self. If anyone says, \u2018eye contact is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of eye contact is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that eye contact is self. So the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are not self. If anyone says, \u2018feeling is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of feeling is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that feeling is self. So the eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and feeling are not self. If anyone says, \u2018craving is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of craving is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that craving is self. So the eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, feeling, and craving are not self. If anyone says, \u2018the ear is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018the nose is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018the tongue is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018the body is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018the mind is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of the mind is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that the mind is self. So the mind is not self. If anyone says, \u2018ideas are self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018mind consciousness is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018mind contact is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018feeling is self\u2019 \u2026 \u2018craving is self,\u2019 that is not tenable. The arising and vanishing of craving is evident, so it would follow that one\u2019s self arises and vanishes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not tenable to claim that craving is self. So the mind, ideas, mind consciousness, mind contact, feeling, and craving are not self. Now, mendicants, this is the practice that leads to the origin of substantial reality. You regard the eye like this: \u2018This is mine, I am this, this is my self.\u2019 You regard sights \u2026 eye consciousness \u2026 eye contact \u2026 feeling \u2026 craving like this: \u2018This is mine, I am this, this is my self.\u2019 You regard the ear \u2026 nose \u2026 tongue \u2026 body \u2026 mind \u2026 ideas \u2026 mind consciousness \u2026 mind contact \u2026 feeling \u2026 craving like this: \u2018This is mine, I am this, this is my self.\u2019 But this is the practice that leads to the cessation of substantial reality. You regard the eye like this: \u2018This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.\u2019 You regard sights \u2026 eye consciousness \u2026 eye contact \u2026 feeling \u2026 craving like this: \u2018This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.\u2019 You regard the ear \u2026 nose \u2026 tongue \u2026 body \u2026 mind like this: \u2018This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.\u2019 You regard ideas \u2026 mind consciousness \u2026 mind contact \u2026 feeling \u2026 craving like this: \u2018This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.\u2019 Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for the arising of what is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral. When you experience a pleasant feeling, if you approve, welcome, and keep clinging to it, the underlying tendency to greed underlies that. When you experience a painful feeling, if you sorrow and wail and lament, beating your breast and falling into confusion, the underlying tendency to aversion underlies that. When you experience a neutral feeling, if you don\u2019t truly understand that feeling\u2019s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, the underlying tendency to ignorance underlies that. Mendicants, without giving up the underlying tendency to greed for pleasant feeling, without dispelling the underlying tendency to aversion toward painful feeling, without eradicating ignorance in the case of neutral feeling, without giving up ignorance and without giving rise to knowledge, it is quite impossible to make an end of suffering in this very life. Ear consciousness \u2026 Nose consciousness \u2026 Tongue consciousness \u2026 Body consciousness \u2026 Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for the arising of what is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral. When you experience a pleasant feeling, if you approve, welcome, and keep clinging to it, the underlying tendency to greed underlies that. When you experience a painful feeling, if you sorrow and wail and lament, beating your breast and falling into confusion, the underlying tendency to aversion underlies that. When you experience a neutral feeling, if you don\u2019t truly understand that feeling\u2019s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, the underlying tendency to ignorance underlies that. Mendicants, without giving up the underlying tendency to greed for pleasant feeling, without dispelling the underlying tendency to aversion toward painful feeling, without eradicating ignorance in the case of neutral feeling, without giving up ignorance and without giving rise to knowledge, it is quite impossible to make an end of suffering in this very life. Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for the arising of what is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral. When you experience a pleasant feeling, if you don\u2019t approve, welcome, and keep clinging to it, the underlying tendency to greed does not underlie that. When you experience a painful feeling, if you don\u2019t sorrow or wail or lament, beating your breast and falling into confusion, the underlying tendency to aversion does not underlie that. When you experience a neutral feeling, if you truly understand that feeling\u2019s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, the underlying tendency to ignorance does not underlie that. Mendicants, after giving up the underlying tendency to greed for pleasant feeling, after dispelling the underlying tendency to aversion toward painful feeling, after eradicating ignorance in the case of neutral feeling, after giving up ignorance and giving rise to knowledge, it\u2019s quite possible to make an end of suffering in this very life. Ear consciousness \u2026 Nose consciousness \u2026 Tongue consciousness \u2026 Body consciousness \u2026 Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for what is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral. When you experience a pleasant feeling, if you don\u2019t approve, welcome, and keep clinging to it, the underlying tendency to greed does not underlie that. When you experience a painful feeling, if you don\u2019t sorrow or wail or lament, beating your breast and falling into confusion, the underlying tendency to aversion does not underlie that. When you experience a neutral feeling, if you truly understand that feeling\u2019s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, the underlying tendency to ignorance does not underlie that. Mendicants, after giving up the underlying tendency to greed for pleasant feeling, after dispelling the underlying tendency to aversion toward painful feeling, after eradicating ignorance in the case of neutral feeling, after giving up ignorance and giving rise to knowledge, it\u2019s quite possible to make an end of suffering in this very life. Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with the eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, feeling, and craving. They grow disillusioned with the ear \u2026 nose \u2026 tongue \u2026 body \u2026 mind, ideas, mind consciousness, mind contact, feeling, and craving. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they\u2019re freed. When it is freed, they know it is freed. They understand: \u2018Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.\u2019\u201d That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of sixty mendicants were freed from defilements by not grasping.","title":"Six By Six","tradition":"Majjhima Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":2234}