{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn35.245/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn35.245","id":"suttacentral_sn35.245","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn35.245/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"Then one mendicant went up to another mendicant and asked, \u201cReverend, at what point is a mendicant\u2019s vision well purified?\u201d \u201cWhen a mendicant truly understands the origin and disappearance of the six fields of contact, at that point their vision is well purified.\u201d Not content with that answer, that mendicant went up to a series of other mendicants and received the following answers: \u201cWhen a mendicant truly understands the origin and disappearance of the five grasping aggregates, at that point their vision is well purified.\u201d \u201cWhen a mendicant truly understands the origin and disappearance of the four principal states, at that point their vision is well purified.\u201d \u201cWhen a mendicant truly understands that everything that is liable to arise is liable to cease, at that point their vision is well purified.\u201d Not content with any of those answers, that mendicant went up to the Buddha and told him what had happened. Then he said to him, \u201cSir, at what point is a mendicant\u2019s vision well purified?\u201d \u201cMendicant, suppose a person had never seen a parrot tree before. They\u2019d go up to someone who had seen a parrot tree and ask them, \u2018My man, what\u2019s a parrot tree like?\u2019 They\u2019d say, \u2018A parrot tree is blackish, like a charred stump.\u2019 Now, at that time a parrot tree may well have been just as that person saw it. Not content with that answer, that person would go up to a series of other people and receive the following answers: \u2018A parrot tree is reddish, like a scrap of meat.\u2019 \u2018A parrot tree has flaking bark and burst pods, like a lebbeck tree.\u2019 \u2018A parrot tree has luxuriant, shady foliage, like a banyan.\u2019 Now, at each of those times a parrot tree may well have been just as those people saw them. In the same way, those true persons each answered according to what they were focused on when their vision was well purified. Suppose there was a king\u2019s frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, and arches, and six gates. And it has a gatekeeper who is astute, competent, and intelligent. He keeps strangers out and lets known people in. A swift pair of messengers would arrive from the east and say to the gatekeeper, \u2018Worthy man, where is the lord of the city?\u2019 They\u2019d say, \u2018There he is, sirs, seated at the central square.\u2019 Then that swift pair of messengers would deliver a message of truth to the lord of the city and depart the way they came. A swift pair of messengers would come from the west \u2026 north \u2026 south \u2026 deliver a message of truth to the lord of the city and depart the way they came. I\u2019ve made up this simile to make a point. And this is the point. \u2018City\u2019 is a term for this body made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction. \u2018Six gates\u2019 is a term for the six interior sense fields. \u2018Gatekeeper\u2019 is a term for mindfulness. \u2018A swift pair of messengers\u2019 is a term for serenity and discernment. \u2018The lord of the city\u2019 is a term for consciousness. \u2018The central square\u2019 is a term for the four principal states: the elements of earth, water, fire, and air. \u2018A message of truth\u2019 is a term for extinguishment. \u2018The way they came\u2019 is a term for the noble eightfold path, that is, right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.\u201d","title":"The Simile of the Parrot Tree","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":598}