1“Mendicants, suppose the earth was entirely covered with water. And a person threw a yoke with a single hole into it. The east wind wafts it west; the west wind wafts it east; the north wind wafts it south; and the south wind wafts it north. And there was a one-eyed turtle who popped up once every hundred years.

What do you think, mendicants? Would that one-eyed turtle, popping up once every hundred years, still poke its neck through the hole in that yoke?”

“It’s unlikely, sir.”

2“That’s how unlikely it is to get reborn as a human being. And that’s how unlikely it is for a Realized One to arise in the world, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha.

And that’s how unlikely it is for the teaching and training proclaimed by a Realized One to shine in the world.

And now, mendicants, you have been reborn as a human being. A Realized One has arisen in the world, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha. And the teaching and training proclaimed by a Realized One shines in the world.

3That’s why you should practice meditation …”

1"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, ayaṁ mahāpathavī ekodakā assa. Tatra puriso ekacchiggaḷaṁ yugaṁ pakkhipeyya. Tamenaṁ puratthimo vāto pacchimena saṁhareyya, pacchimo vāto puratthimena saṁhareyya, uttaro vāto dakkhiṇena saṁhareyya, dakkhiṇo vāto uttarena saṁhareyya. Tatrassa kāṇo kacchapo. So vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṁ sakiṁ ummujjeyya.

Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave, api nu kho kāṇo kacchapo vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṁ sakiṁ ummujjanto amusmiṁ ekacchiggaḷe yuge gīvaṁ paveseyyā"ti?

"Adhiccamidaṁ, bhante, yaṁ so kāṇo kacchapo vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṁ sakiṁ ummujjanto amusmiṁ ekacchiggaḷe yuge gīvaṁ paveseyyā"ti.

2"Evaṁ adhiccamidaṁ, bhikkhave, yaṁ manussattaṁ labhati. Evaṁ adhiccamidaṁ, bhikkhave, yaṁ tathāgato loke uppajjati arahaṁ sammāsambuddho.

Evaṁ adhiccamidaṁ, bhikkhave, yaṁ tathāgatappavedito dhammavinayo loke dibbati.

Tassidaṁ, bhikkhave, manussattaṁ laddhaṁ, tathāgato loke uppanno arahaṁ sammāsambuddho, tathāgatappavedito ca dhammavinayo loke dibbati.

3Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo … pe … ‘Ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo"ti.

Aṭṭhamaṁ.