{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn22.88/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn22.88","id":"suttacentral_sn22.88","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn22.88/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near R\u0101jagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels\u2019 feeding ground. Now at that time Venerable Assaji was staying in a monastery built by a Kassapa, and he was sick, suffering, gravely ill. Then he addressed his carers: \u201cPlease, reverends, go to the Buddha, and in my name bow with your head to his feet. Say to him: \u2018Sir, the mendicant Assaji is sick, suffering, gravely ill. He bows with his head to your feet.\u2019 And then say: \u2018Sir, please go to the mendicant Assaji out of sympathy.\u2019\u201d \u201cYes, reverend,\u201d those monks replied. They did as he asked. The Buddha consented with silence. Then in the late afternoon, the Buddha came out of retreat and went to Venerable Assaji. Venerable Assaji saw the Buddha coming off in the distance, and stirred in his cot. But the Buddha said to him, \u201cIt\u2019s all right, Assaji, don\u2019t get up. There are some seats spread out, I will sit there.\u201d He sat down on the seat spread out and said, \u201cI hope you\u2019re keeping well, Assaji; I hope you\u2019re all right. I hope your pain is fading, not growing; that its fading is evident, not its growing.\u201d \u201cSir, I\u2019m not keeping well, I\u2019m not getting by. My pain is terrible and growing, not fading; its growing is evident, not its fading.\u201d \u201cI hope you don\u2019t have any remorse or regret?\u201d \u201cIndeed, sir, I have no little remorse and regret.\u201d \u201cI hope you have no reason to blame yourself when it comes to ethical conduct?\u201d \u201cNo sir, I have no reason to blame myself when it comes to ethical conduct.\u201d \u201cIn that case, Assaji, why do you have remorse and regret?\u201d \u201cSir, before my time of illness I meditated having completely stilled the physical process. But now I can\u2019t get immersion. Since I can\u2019t get immersion, I think: \u2018May I not decline!\u2019\u201d \u201cThere are, Assaji, ascetics and brahmins for whom sam\u0101dhi is the essence, equating immersion with the ascetic life. They think: \u2018May we not decline!\u2019 What do you think, Assaji? Is form permanent or impermanent?\u201d \u201cImpermanent, sir.\u201d \u2026 \u201cIs consciousness permanent or impermanent?\u201d \u2026 \u201cSo you should truly see \u2026 Seeing this \u2026 They understand: \u2018\u2026 there is nothing further for this place.\u2019 If they feel a pleasant feeling, they understand that it\u2019s impermanent, that they\u2019re not attached to it, and that they don\u2019t relish it. If they feel a painful feeling, they understand that it\u2019s impermanent, that they\u2019re not attached to it, and that they don\u2019t relish it. If they feel a neutral feeling, they understand that it\u2019s impermanent, that they\u2019re not attached to it, and that they don\u2019t relish it. If they feel a pleasant feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a painful feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a neutral feeling, they feel it detached. Feeling the end of the body draw close, they understand: \u2018I feel the end of the body draw close.\u2019 Feeling the end of life draw close, they understand: \u2018I feel the end of life draw close.\u2019 They understand: \u2018When my body breaks up and my life is over, everything that\u2019s felt, being no longer relished, will become cool right here.\u2019 Suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn. As the oil and the wick are used up, it would be extinguished due to not being fed. In the same way, feeling the end of the body draw close, they understand: \u2018I feel the end of the body draw close.\u2019 Feeling the end of life draw close, they understand: \u2018I feel the end of life draw close.\u2019 They understand: \u2018When my body breaks up and my life is over, everything that\u2019s felt, being no longer relished, will become cool right here.\u2019\u201d","title":"With Assaji","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":629}