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At Sāvatthī.
Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.
“Once upon a time, mendicants, the Dasārahas had a clay drum called the Commander.
“Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, dasārahānaṁ ānako nāma mudiṅgo ahosi.
Each time the Commander split they repaired it by inserting another peg.
Tassa dasārahā ānake ghaṭite aññaṁ āṇiṁ odahiṁsu.
But there came a time when the clay drum Commander’s original wooden rim disappeared
Ahu kho so, bhikkhave, samayo yaṁ ānakassa mudiṅgassa porāṇaṁ pokkharaphalakaṁ antaradhāyi.
and only a mass of pegs remained.
Āṇisaṅghāṭova avasissi.
In the same way, in a future time there will be mendicants who won’t want to listen when discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—are being recited. They won’t actively listen or try to understand, nor will they think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing.
Evameva kho, bhikkhave, bhavissanti bhikkhū anāgatamaddhānaṁ, ye te suttantā tathāgatabhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīratthā lokuttarā suññatappaṭisaṁyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu na sussūsissanti na sotaṁ odahissanti na aññā cittaṁ upaṭṭhāpessanti na ca te dhamme uggahetabbaṁ pariyāpuṇitabbaṁ maññissanti.
But when discourses composed by poets—poetry, with fancy words and phrases, composed by outsiders or spoken by disciples—are being recited they will want to listen. They’ll actively listen and try to understand, and they’ll think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing.
Ye pana te suttantā kavikatā kāveyyā cittakkharā cittabyañjanā bāhirakā sāvakabhāsitā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissanti, sotaṁ odahissanti, aññā cittaṁ upaṭṭhāpessanti, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṁ pariyāpuṇitabbaṁ maññissanti.
And that is how the discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—will disappear.
Evametesaṁ, bhikkhave, suttantānaṁ tathāgatabhāsitānaṁ gambhīrānaṁ gambhīratthānaṁ lokuttarānaṁ suññatappaṭisaṁyuttānaṁ antaradhānaṁ bhavissati.
So you should train like this:
Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ:
‘When discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—are being recited we will want to listen. We will actively listen and trying to understand, and we will think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing.’
‘ye te suttantā tathāgatabhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīratthā lokuttarā suññatappaṭisaṁyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissāma, sotaṁ odahissāma, aññā cittaṁ upaṭṭhāpessāma, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṁ pariyāpuṇitabbaṁ maññissāmā’ti.
That’s how you should train.”
Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.
- This is an insightful sutta that highlights the current state of Buddha Dhamma. Many people tend to follow specific poets or monks rather than the teachings of Lord Buddha himself. A contemporary example is the Dalai Lama, who is frequently referenced instead of Lord Buddha. Some non-Buddhists even believe that he is the leader of Buddhism.
- I have a question: What does “sunatta” (emptiness) mean in Theravada Buddhism? This is one of the few suttas where I see this term used. Initially, I thought it was a Mahayana term, but it actually appears in Theravada teachings as well.
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There is an old post on the subject: “What is Suñyāta or Suññāta (Emptiness)?“
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Dhamma is empty of error always.
- Suññatā means the world is empty of anything useful.
- We attach to “pleasurable things” that we create by our own minds. All our cravings are based on “distorted saññā.” See “Mind-Pleasing Things” in the World Arise via Paṭicca Samuppāda”
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Thank you! There was an error in the link, and I just fixed it. It is the current post on the website.
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