{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn23.2/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn23.2","id":"suttacentral_sn23.2","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn23.2/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"At S\u0101vatth\u012b. Seated to one side, Venerable R\u0101dha said to the Buddha: \u201cSir, they speak of this thing called a \u2018sentient being\u2019. How is a sentient being defined?\u201d \u201cR\u0101dha, when you cling, strongly cling, to desire, greed, relishing, and craving for form, then a being is spoken of. When you cling, strongly cling, to desire, greed, relishing, and craving for feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, then a being is spoken of. Suppose some boys or girls were playing with sandcastles. As long as they\u2019re not rid of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for those sandcastles, they cling to them, dally with them, treasure them, and treat them as their own. But when they are rid of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for those sandcastles, they scatter, smash, and destroy them with their hands and feet, making them unplayable. In the same way, you should scatter, smash, and destroy form, making it unplayable. And you should practice for the ending of craving. You should scatter, smash, and destroy feeling \u2026 perception \u2026 choices \u2026 consciousness, making it unplayable. And you should practice for the ending of craving. For the ending of craving is extinguishment.\u201d","title":"Sentient Beings","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":199}