{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn35.248/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn35.248","id":"suttacentral_sn35.248","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn35.248/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"\u201cMendicants, suppose a sheaf of barley was placed at a crossroads. Then six people would come along carrying flails, and start threshing the sheaf of barley. So that sheaf of barley would be thoroughly threshed by those six flails. Then a seventh person would come along carrying a flail, and they\u2019d give the sheaf of barley a seventh threshing. So that sheaf of barley would be even more thoroughly threshed by that seventh flail. In the same way, an unlearned ordinary person is struck in the eye by both pleasant and unpleasant sights. They\u2019re struck in the ear \u2026 nose \u2026 tongue \u2026 body \u2026 mind by both pleasant and unpleasant ideas. And if that unlearned ordinary person intends to be reborn in a new state of existence in the future, that futile person is even more thoroughly struck, like that sheaf of barley threshed by the seventh person. Once upon a time, a battle was fought between the gods and the titans. Then Vepacitti, lord of titans, addressed the titans, \u2018My good fellows, if the titans defeat the gods in this battle, bind Sakka, the lord of gods, by his limbs and neck and bring him to my presence in the citadel of the titans.\u2019 Meanwhile, Sakka, lord of gods, addressed the gods of the thirty-three, \u2018My good fellows, if the gods defeat the titans in this battle, bind Vepacitti by his limbs and neck and bring him to my presence in the Hall of Clear Right of the gods.\u2019 In that battle the gods won and the titans lost. So the gods of the thirty-three bound Vepacitti by his limbs and neck and brought him to Sakka\u2019s presence in the Hall of Clear Right of the gods. And there Vepacitti remained bound by his limbs and neck. That is, until he thought, \u2018It\u2019s the gods who are principled, while the titans are unprincipled. Now I belong right here in the castle of the gods.\u2019 Then he found himself freed from the bonds on his limbs and neck. He amused himself, supplied and provided with the five kinds of heavenly sensual stimulation. But when he thought, \u2018It\u2019s the titans who are principled, while the gods are unprincipled. Now I will go over there to the citadel of the titans,\u2019 he found himself bound by his limbs and neck, and the five kinds of heavenly sensual stimulation fell away. That\u2019s how subtly Vepacitti was bound. But the bonds of M\u0101ra are even more subtle than that. When you conceive, you\u2019re bound by M\u0101ra. Not conceiving, you\u2019re free from the Wicked One. These are what is conceived: \u2018I am\u2019, \u2018I am this\u2019, \u2018I will be\u2019, \u2018I will not be\u2019, \u2018I will have form\u2019, \u2018I will be formless\u2019, \u2018I will be percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be non-percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be neither percipient nor non-percipient.\u2019 What is conceived is a disease, a boil, a dart. So mendicants, you should train yourselves like this: \u2018We will live with a heart that does not conceive.\u2019 These are what is perturbed: \u2018I am\u2019, \u2018I am this\u2019, \u2018I will be\u2019, \u2018I will not be\u2019, \u2018I will have form\u2019, \u2018I will be formless\u2019, \u2018I will be percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be non-percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be neither percipient nor non-percipient.\u2019 What is perturbed is a disease, a boil, a dart. So mendicants, you should train yourselves like this: \u2018We will live with a heart free of perturbation.\u2019 These are what has floundered: \u2018I am\u2019, \u2018I am this\u2019, \u2018I will be\u2019, \u2018I will not be\u2019, \u2018I will have form\u2019, \u2018I will be formless\u2019, \u2018I will be percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be non-percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be neither percipient nor non-percipient.\u2019 What has floundered is a disease, a boil, a dart. So mendicants, you should train yourselves like this: \u2018We will live with a heart free of floundering.\u2019 These are what is proliferated: \u2018I am\u2019, \u2018I am this\u2019, \u2018I will be\u2019, \u2018I will not be\u2019, \u2018I will have form\u2019, \u2018I will be formless\u2019, \u2018I will be percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be non-percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be neither percipient nor non-percipient.\u2019 What is proliferated is a disease, a boil, a dart. So mendicants, you should train yourselves like this: \u2018We will live with a heart free of proliferation.\u2019 These are states of conceit: \u2018I am\u2019, \u2018I am this\u2019, \u2018I will be\u2019, \u2018I will not be\u2019, \u2018I will have form\u2019, \u2018I will be formless\u2019, \u2018I will be percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be non-percipient\u2019, \u2018I will be neither percipient nor non-percipient.\u2019 The state of conceit is a disease, a boil, a dart. So mendicants, you should train yourselves like this: \u2018We will live with a heart that has struck down conceit.\u2019\u201d The Linked Discourses on the six sense fields are complete.","title":"The Sheaf of Barley","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":780}