{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn15.7/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn15.7","id":"suttacentral_sn15.7","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn15.7/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"At S\u0101vatth\u012b. Then several mendicants went up to the Buddha \u2026 and asked him, \u201cSir, how many eons have passed?\u201d \u201cMendicants, many eons have passed. It\u2019s not easy to calculate how many eons have passed, how many hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of eons.\u201d \u201cBut sir, is it possible to give a simile?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s possible,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cSuppose there were four disciples with a lifespan of a hundred years. And each day they would each recollect a hundred thousand eons. Those four disciples would pass away after a hundred years and there would still be eons that they haven\u2019t recollected. That\u2019s how many eons have passed. It\u2019s not easy to calculate how many eons have passed, how many hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of eons. Why is that? This transmigration has no known beginning. \u2026 This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.\u201d","title":"Disciples","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":155}