{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn12.17/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn12.17","id":"suttacentral_sn12.17","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn12.17/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near R\u0101jagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels\u2019 feeding ground. Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered R\u0101jagaha for alms. The naked ascetic Kassapa saw the Buddha coming off in the distance. He went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he stood to one side and said to the Buddha, \u201cI\u2019d like to ask the worthy Gotama about a certain point, if you\u2019d take the time to answer.\u201d \u201cKassapa, it\u2019s the wrong time for questions. We\u2019ve entered an inhabited area.\u201d A second time, and a third time, Kassapa spoke to the Buddha and the Buddha replied. When this was said, Kassapa said to the Buddha, \u201cI don\u2019t want to ask much.\u201d \u201cAsk what you wish, Kassapa.\u201d \u201cWell, worthy Gotama, is suffering made by oneself?\u201d \u201cNot so, Kassapa,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cThen is suffering made by another?\u201d \u201cNot so, Kassapa,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cWell, is suffering made by both oneself and another?\u201d \u201cNot so, Kassapa,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cThen does suffering arise anomalously, not made by oneself or another?\u201d \u201cNot so, Kassapa,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cWell, is there no such thing as suffering?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not that there\u2019s no such thing as suffering. Suffering is real.\u201d \u201cThen does the worthy Gotama not know or see suffering?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not that I don\u2019t know or see suffering. I do know suffering, I do see suffering.\u201d \u201cWorthy Gotama, when asked these questions, you say \u2018not so\u2019. Yet you say that there is such a thing as suffering. And you say that you do know suffering, and you do see suffering. Sir, let the Blessed One explain suffering to me! Let the Blessed One teach me about suffering!\u201d \u201cSuppose that he who does the deed and he who experiences the result are one and the same. Then for one who has existed since the beginning, suffering is made by oneself. In speaking like this, one implies this is eternal. Suppose that he who does the deed is one, and he who experiences the result is another. Then for one stricken by feeling, suffering is made by another. In speaking like this, one implies this is annihilated. Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One teaches by the middle way: \u2018Ignorance is a requirement for choices. Choices are a requirement for consciousness. \u2026 That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. When ignorance fades away and ceases with no residue left behind, choices cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. \u2026 That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.\u2019\u201d When this was said, Kassapa said to the Buddha, \u201cExcellent, sir! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what\u2019s there, the Buddha has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the Buddha, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha. Sir, may I receive the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha\u2019s presence?\u201d \u201cKassapa, if someone formerly ordained in another sect wishes to take the going forth, the ordination in this teaching and training, they must spend four months on probation. When four months have passed, if the mendicants are satisfied, they\u2019ll give the going forth, the ordination into monkhood. However, I have recognized individual differences.\u201d \u201cSir, if four months probation are required in such a case, I\u2019ll spend four years on probation. When four years have passed, if the mendicants are satisfied, let them give me the going forth, the ordination into monkhood.\u201d And the naked ascetic Kassapa received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha\u2019s presence. Not long after his ordination, Venerable Kassapa, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, keen, and resolute, soon realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life. He lived having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness. He understood: \u201cRebirth is ended; the spiritual journey has been completed; what had to be done has been done; there is nothing further for this place.\u201d And Venerable Kassapa became one of the perfected.","title":"With Kassapa, the Naked Ascetic","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":716}