1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Benares, in the deer park at Isipatana.

Now at that time, after the meal, on return from alms-round, several senior mendicants sat together in the pavilion and this discussion came up among them: “Reverends, this was said by the Buddha in ‘The Way to the Beyond’, in ‘The Questions of Metteyya’:

2‘The sage has known both ends,
and is not stuck in the middle.
He is a great man, I declare,
he has escaped the seamstress here.’

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3But what is one end? What’s the second end? What’s the middle? And who is the seamstress?” When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“Contact, reverends, is one end. The origin of contact is the second end. The cessation of contact is the middle. And craving is the seamstress, for craving weaves one to rebirth in this or that state of existence. That’s how a mendicant directly knows what should be directly known and completely understands what should be completely understood. Knowing and understanding thus they make an end of suffering in this very life.”

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4When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“The past, reverends, is one end. The future is the second end. The present is the middle. And craving is the seamstress … That’s how a mendicant directly knows … an end of suffering in this very life.”

5When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“Pleasant feeling, reverends, is one end. Painful feeling is the second end. Neutral feeling is the middle. And craving is the seamstress … That’s how a mendicant directly knows … an end of suffering in this very life.”

6When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“Name, reverends, is one end. Form is the second end. Consciousness is the middle. And craving is the seamstress … That’s how a mendicant directly knows … an end of suffering in this very life.”

7When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“The six interior sense fields, reverends, are one end. The six exterior sense fields are the second end. Consciousness is the middle. And craving is the seamstress … That’s how a mendicant directly knows … an end of suffering in this very life.”

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8When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“Identity, reverends, is one end. The origin of identity is the second end. The cessation of identity is the middle. And craving is the seamstress, for craving weaves one to rebirth in this or that state of existence. That’s how a mendicant directly knows what should be directly known and completely understands what should be completely understood. Knowing and understanding thus they make an end of suffering in this very life.”

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9When this was said, one of the mendicants said to the senior mendicants:

“Each of us has spoken from the heart. Come, reverends, let’s go to the Buddha, and inform him about this. As he answers, so we’ll remember it.”

10“Yes, reverend,” those senior mendicants replied. Then those senior mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and informed the Buddha of all they had discussed. They asked: “Sir, who has spoken well?”

“Mendicants, you’ve all spoken well in a way. However, this is what I was referring to in ‘The Way to the Beyond’, in ‘The Questions of Metteyya’ when I said:

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11‘The sage has known both ends,
and is not stuck in the middle.
He is a great man, I declare,
he has escaped the seamstress here.’

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12Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Contact, mendicants, is one end. The origin of contact is the second end. The cessation of contact is the middle. And craving is the seamstress, for craving weaves one to rebirth in this or that state of existence. That’s how a mendicant directly knows what should be directly known and completely understands what should be completely understood. Knowing and understanding thus they make an end of suffering in this very life.”

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1Evaṁ me sutaṁ — ​   ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā bārāṇasiyaṁ viharati isipatane migadāye.

Tena kho pana samayena sambahulānaṁ therānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantānaṁ maṇḍalamāḷe sannisinnānaṁ sannipatitānaṁ ayamantarākathā udapādi:  "vuttamidaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā pārāyane metteyyapañhe: 

2‘Yo ubhonte viditvāna,
majjhe mantā na lippati;
Taṁ brūmi mahāpurisoti,
sodha sibbini maccagā’"ti.

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3"Katamo nu kho, āvuso, eko anto, katamo dutiyo anto, kiṁ majjhe, kā sibbinī"ti?

Evaṁ vutte, aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca:  "phasso kho, āvuso, eko anto, phassasamudayo dutiyo anto, phassanirodho majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (1)

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4Evaṁ vutte, aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"atītaṁ kho, āvuso, eko anto, anāgataṁ dutiyo anto, paccuppannaṁ majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto, pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (2)

5Evaṁ vutte, aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"sukhā, āvuso, vedanā eko anto, dukkhā vedanā dutiyo anto, adukkhamasukhā vedanā majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto, pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (3)

6Evaṁ vutte, aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"nāmaṁ kho, āvuso, eko anto, rūpaṁ dutiyo anto, viññāṇaṁ majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (4)

7Evaṁ vutte aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"cha kho, āvuso, ajjhattikāni āyatanāni eko anto, cha bāhirāni āyatanāni dutiyo anto, viññāṇaṁ majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (5)

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8Evaṁ vutte aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"sakkāyo kho, āvuso, eko anto, sakkāyasamudayo dutiyo anto, sakkāyanirodho majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti. (6)

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9Evaṁ vutte, aññataro bhikkhu there bhikkhū etadavoca: 

"byākataṁ kho, āvuso, amhehi sabbeheva yathāsakaṁ paṭibhānaṁ. Āyāmāvuso, yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamissāma; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavato etamatthaṁ ārocessāma. Yathā no bhagavā byākarissati tathā naṁ dhāressāmā"ti. (7)

10"Evamāvuso"ti kho therā bhikkhū tassa bhikkhuno paccassosuṁ. Atha kho therā bhikkhū yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho therā bhikkhū yāvatako ahosi sabbeheva saddhiṁ kathāsallāpo, taṁ sabbaṁ bhagavato ārocesuṁ. "Kassa nu kho, bhante, subhāsitan"ti?

"Sabbesaṁ vo, bhikkhave, subhāsitaṁ pariyāyena, api ca yaṁ mayā sandhāya bhāsitaṁ pārāyane metteyyapañhe: 

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11‘Yo ubhonte viditvāna,
majjhe mantā na lippati;
Taṁ brūmi mahāpurisoti,
sodha sibbinimaccagā’ti.

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12Taṁ suṇātha, sādhukaṁ manasi karotha, bhāsissāmī"ti.

"Evaṁ, bhante"ti kho therā bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca: 

"phasso kho, bhikkhave, eko anto, phassasamudayo dutiyo anto, phassanirodho majjhe, taṇhā sibbinī; taṇhā hi naṁ sibbati tassa tasseva bhavassa abhinibbattiyā. Ettāvatā kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānāti, pariññeyyaṁ parijānāti, abhiññeyyaṁ abhijānanto pariññeyyaṁ parijānanto diṭṭheva dhamme dukkhassantakaro hotī"ti.

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Sattamaṁ.