{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn35.235/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn35.235","id":"suttacentral_sn35.235","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn35.235/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"\u201cMendicants, I will teach you an exposition of the teaching on burning. Listen \u2026 And what is the exposition of the teaching on burning? You\u2019d be better off mutilating your eye faculty with a red-hot iron nail, burning, blazing, and glowing, than getting caught up in the features by way of the details in sights known by the eye. Should consciousness tied to gratification in the features or details continue to remain, and you were to die at that time, it\u2019s possible you would go to one of two destinations: hell or the animal realm. I speak having seen this drawback. You\u2019d be better off mutilating your ear faculty with a sharp iron spike \u2026 You\u2019d be better off mutilating your nose faculty with a sharp nail cutter \u2026 You\u2019d be better off mutilating your tongue faculty with a sharp razor \u2026 You\u2019d be better off mutilating your body faculty with a sharp spear, burning, blazing, and glowing, than getting caught up in the features by way of the details in touches known by the body. Should consciousness tied to gratification in the features or details continue to remain, and you were to die at that time, it\u2019s possible you would go to one of two destinations: hell or the animal realm. I speak having seen this drawback. You\u2019d be better off sleeping. For I say that sleep is useless, fruitless, and folly for the living. But while you\u2019re asleep you won\u2019t fall under the sway of such thoughts that would make you create a schism in the Sa\u1e45gha. I speak having seen this drawback. A learned noble disciple reflects on this: \u2018Forget mutilating the eye faculty with a red-hot iron nail, burning, blazing, and glowing! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is also impermanent. Forget mutilating the ear faculty with a sharp iron spike, burning, blazing, and glowing! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the ear, sounds, ear consciousness, and ear contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on ear contact is also impermanent. Forget mutilating the nose faculty with a sharp nail cutter, burning, blazing, and glowing! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the nose, smells, nose consciousness, and nose contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on nose contact is also impermanent. Forget mutilating the tongue faculty with a sharp razor, burning, blazing, and glowing! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the tongue, tastes, tongue consciousness, and tongue contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on tongue contact is also impermanent. Forget mutilating the body faculty with a sharp spear, burning, blazing, and glowing! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the body, touches, body consciousness, and body contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on body contact is also impermanent. Forget sleeping! I\u2019d better focus on the fact that the mind, ideas, mind consciousness, and mind contact are impermanent. And the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is also impermanent.\u2019 Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact. And they grow disillusioned with the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact. They grow disillusioned with the ear \u2026 nose \u2026 tongue \u2026 body \u2026 mind \u2026 painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they\u2019re freed. When they\u2019re freed, they know they\u2019re freed. They understand: \u2018Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.\u2019 This is the exposition of the teaching on burning.\u201d","title":"The Exposition on Burning","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":653}