{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn22.89/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn22.89","id":"suttacentral_sn22.89","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn22.89/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"At one time several senior mendicants were staying near Kosamb\u012b in Ghosita\u2019s monastery. Now at that time Venerable Khemaka was staying in the Jujube Tree Monastery, and he was sick, suffering, gravely ill. In the late afternoon those senior mendicants came out of retreat and addressed Venerable D\u0101saka, \u201cPlease, Reverend D\u0101saka, go to the mendicant Khemaka and say to him: \u2018Reverend Khemaka, the seniors hope you\u2019re keeping well; they hope you\u2019re all right. They hope your pain is fading, not growing; that its fading is evident, not its growing.\u2019\u201d \u201cYes, reverends,\u201d replied D\u0101saka. He went to Khemaka and said to him: \u201cReverend Khemaka, the seniors hope you\u2019re keeping well; they hope you\u2019re all right. They hope your pain is fading, not growing; that its fading is evident, not its growing.\u201d \u201cReverend, 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 Then D\u0101saka went to those senior mendicants and told them what had happened. They said, \u201cPlease, Reverend D\u0101saka, go to the mendicant Khemaka and say to him: \u2018Reverend Khemaka, the seniors say that these five grasping aggregates have been taught by the Buddha, that is: the grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. Do you regard anything among these five grasping aggregates as self or as belonging to self?\u2019\u201d \u201cYes, reverends,\u201d replied D\u0101saka. He relayed the message to Khemaka, who replied: \u201cThese five grasping aggregates have been taught by the Buddha, that is: the grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. I do not regard anything among these five grasping aggregates as self or as belonging to self.\u201d Then D\u0101saka went to those senior mendicants and told them what had happened. They said: \u201cPlease, Reverend D\u0101saka, go to the mendicant Khemaka and say to him: \u2018Reverend Khemaka, the seniors say that these five grasping aggregates have been taught by the Buddha, that is: the grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. If, as it seems, Venerable Khemaka does not regard anything among these five grasping aggregates as self or as belonging to self, then he is a perfected one, with defilements ended.\u2019\u201d \u201cYes, reverends,\u201d replied D\u0101saka. He relayed the message to Khemaka, who replied: \u201cThese five grasping aggregates have been taught by the Buddha, that is: the grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. I do not regard anything among these five grasping aggregates as self or as belonging to self, yet I am not a perfected one, with defilements ended. For when it comes to the five grasping aggregates I\u2019m not rid of the conceit \u2018I am\u2019. But I don\u2019t regard anything as \u2018I am this\u2019.\u201d Then D\u0101saka went to those senior mendicants and told them what had happened. They said: \u201cPlease, Reverend D\u0101saka, go to the mendicant Khemaka and say to him: \u2018Reverend Khemaka, the seniors ask, when you say \u201cI am\u201d, what is it that you\u2019re talking about? Is it form or apart from form? Is it feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, or apart from consciousness? When you say \u201cI am\u201d, what is it that you\u2019re talking about?\u201d \u201cYes, reverends,\u201d replied D\u0101saka. He relayed the message to Khemaka, who replied: \u201cEnough, Reverend D\u0101saka! What\u2019s the point in running back and forth? Bring my staff, I\u2019ll go to see the senior mendicants myself.\u201d Then Venerable Khemaka, leaning on a staff, went to those senior mendicants and exchanged greetings with them. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side. They said to him: \u201cReverend Khemaka, when you say \u2018I am\u2019, what is it that you\u2019re talking about? Is it form or apart from form? Is it feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, or apart from consciousness? When you say \u2018I am\u2019, what is it that you\u2019re talking about?\u201d \u201cReverends, I don\u2019t say \u2018I am\u2019 with reference to form, or apart from form. I don\u2019t say \u2018I am\u2019 with reference to feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, or apart from consciousness. For when it comes to the five grasping aggregates I\u2019m not rid of the conceit \u2018I am\u2019. But I don\u2019t regard anything as \u2018I am this\u2019. It\u2019s like the scent of a blue water lily, or a pink or white lotus. Would it be right to say that the scent belongs to the petals or the stalk or the pistil?\u201d \u201cNo, reverend.\u201d \u201cThen, reverends, how should it be said?\u201d \u201cIt would be right to say that the scent belongs to the flower.\u201d \u201cIn the same way, reverends, I don\u2019t say \u2018I am\u2019 with reference to form, or apart from form. I don\u2019t say \u2018I am\u2019 with reference to feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, or apart from consciousness. For when it comes to the five grasping aggregates I\u2019m not rid of the conceit \u2018I am\u2019. But I don\u2019t regard anything as \u2018I am this\u2019. Although a noble disciple has given up the five lower fetters, they still have a lingering residue of the conceit \u2018I am\u2019, the desire \u2018I am\u2019, and the underlying tendency \u2018I am\u2019 which has not been eradicated. After some time they meditate observing rise and fall in the five grasping aggregates. \u2018Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the disappearance of form. Such is feeling \u2026 Such is perception \u2026 Such are choices \u2026 Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the disappearance of consciousness.\u2019 As they do so, that lingering residue is eradicated. Suppose there was a cloth that was dirty and soiled, so the owners give it to a launderer. The launderer kneads it thoroughly with salt, lye, and cow dung, and rinses it in clear water. Although that cloth is clean and bright, it still has a lingering scent of salt, lye, or cow dung that had not been eradicated. The launderer returns it to its owners, who store it in a fragrant casket. And that lingering scent would be eradicated. In the same way, although a noble disciple has given up the five lower fetters, they still have a lingering residue of the conceit \u2018I am\u2019, the desire \u2018I am\u2019, and the underlying tendency \u2018I am\u2019 which has not been eradicated. After some time they meditate observing rise and fall in the five grasping aggregates. \u2018Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the disappearance of form. Such is feeling \u2026 Such is perception \u2026 Such are choices \u2026 Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the disappearance of consciousness.\u2019 As they do so, that lingering residue is eradicated.\u201d When he said this, the senior mendicants said to Venerable Khemaka, \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to trouble Venerable Khemaka with our questions. But you\u2019re capable of explaining, teaching, asserting, establishing, clarifying, analyzing, and revealing the Buddha\u2019s instructions in detail. And that\u2019s just what you\u2019ve done.\u201d That is what Venerable Khemaka said. Satisfied, the senior mendicants approved what Khemaka said. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of sixty senior mendicants and of Venerable Khemaka were freed from defilements by not grasping.","title":"With Khemaka","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1188}