{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn35.127/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn35.127","id":"suttacentral_sn35.127","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn35.127/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"At one time Venerable Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja the Alms-Gatherer was staying near Kosamb\u012b in Ghosita\u2019s monastery. Then King Udena went up to Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja the Alms-Gatherer and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and said to him: \u201cWorthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja, there are these young monks who are youthful, with pristine black hair, blessed with youth, in the prime of life; and they\u2019ve never played around with sensual pleasures. What is the cause, what is the reason why they practice the full and pure spiritual life as long as they live, maintaining it for a long time?\u201d \u201cGreat king, this has been stated by the Blessed One, who knows and sees, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha: \u2018Please, monks, think of women your mother\u2019s age as your mother. Think of women your sister\u2019s age as your sister. And think of women your daughter\u2019s age as your daughter.\u2019 This is a cause, Great King, this is a reason why these young monks practice the full and pure spiritual life as long as they live, maintaining it for a long time.\u201d \u201cBut worthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja, the mind is wanton. Sometimes thoughts of desire come up even for women your mother\u2019s age, your sister\u2019s age, or your daughter\u2019s age. Is there another cause, another reason why these young monks live the full and pure spiritual life for their entire life?\u201d \u201cGreat king, this has been stated by the Blessed One, who knows and sees, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha: \u2018Please, monks, examine your own body up from the soles of the feet and down from the tips of the hairs, wrapped in skin and full of many kinds of filth. In this body there is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, undigested food, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, synovial fluid, urine.\u2019 This is also a cause, Great King, this is a reason why these young monks live the full and pure spiritual life for their entire life, maintaining it for a long time.\u201d \u201cThis is easy to do for those mendicants who have developed their physical endurance, ethics, mind, and wisdom. But it\u2019s hard to do for those mendicants who have not developed their physical endurance, ethics, mind, and wisdom. Sometimes I plan to focus on something as ugly, but only its beauty comes to mind. Is there another cause, another reason why these young monks live the full and pure spiritual life for their entire life?\u201d \u201cGreat king, this has been stated by the Blessed One, who knows and sees, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha: \u2018Please, monks, live with sense doors guarded. When you see a sight with your eyes, don\u2019t get caught up in the features and details. If the faculty of sight were left unrestrained, bad unskillful qualities of covetousness and displeasure would become overwhelming. For this reason, practice restraint, protect the faculty of sight, and achieve its restraint. When you hear a sound with your ears \u2026 When you smell an odor with your nose \u2026 When you taste a flavor with your tongue \u2026 When you feel a touch with your body \u2026 When you know an idea with your mind, don\u2019t get caught up in the features and details. If the faculty of mind were left unrestrained, bad unskillful qualities of covetousness and displeasure would become overwhelming. For this reason, practice restraint, protect the faculty of mind, and achieve its restraint.\u2019 This is also a cause, Great King, this is a reason why these young monks practice the full and pure spiritual life as long as they live, maintaining it for a long time.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s incredible, worthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja, it\u2019s amazing! How well this was said by the Buddha! This is the real cause, this is the reason why these young monks practice the full and pure spiritual life as long as they live, maintaining it for a long time. For sometimes I too enter the harem with unprotected body, speech, mind, mindfulness, and sense faculties. At those times powerful thoughts of desire get the better of me. But sometimes I enter the harem with protected body, speech, mind, mindfulness, and sense faculties. At those times such thoughts of desire don\u2019t get the better of me. Excellent, worthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja! 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 worthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the Buddha, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha. From this day forth, may the worthy Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.\u201d","title":"With Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":815}