Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
38. Jambukhādaka Saṃyutta
Roseapple-Eater's Questions
Sutta 13
Bhava Suttaṃ
Becoming
(Existence, Being, Living)
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time, Old Man Sāriputta,
was living amungst the Magadhese,
in Nālagā town.
There then Roseapple-Eater, the wanderer,
went to where Old Man Sāriputta was located,
where he drew near and
having drawn near Old Man Sāriputta,
having given salutation,
took a seat to one side.
Having taken a seat to one side then,
Roseapple-Eater, the wanderer, said this
to Old Man Sāriputta:
"'Becommng, becomming,'
they say, friend Sāriputta.
What then, friend,
is becomming?
"There are these three becommings:
sense-pleasure becomming,
form becomming,
formless becomming.[1]
These, friend,
are what is called becommings."
"Is there, friend, a Way,
is there a path
to thoroughly understand
these bindups?"
"There is, friend, a Way,
there is a path
to thoroughly understand
these bindups.'
"What, friend, is that Way,
what is that path
to thoroughly understand
these bindups?"
"This, friend:
The Aristocratic Multi-dimensional Way,[2]
that is:
Consummate view,
consummate principles,
consummate talk,
consummate works,
consummate lifestyle,
consummate self-control,
consummate mind,
consummate serenity.
"This is, friend, that Way,
that path
to thoroughly understand
these bindups.'
"A lucky Way, friend,
a lucky path,
to thoroughly understand
these bindups and
moreover, friend Sāriputta,
there is enough there
to bring about non-carelessness."
[1] "Sphere" (Bhikkhu Bodhi) is not in the Pāḷi. What the Pāḷi says is "kāma-bhavo, rūpa-bhavo, arūpa-bhavo;" "Sense pleasure-becoming, form-becoming, formless becoming". The idea is not that one is born amongst them or with these attributes. The meaning is that this is a description of 'things' that are bound to sense pleasures, forms or the formless by way of thirst. The use of 'existence," or "living", or "being" is a way to reach the understanding of people today [Friday, December 20, 2024 6:15 AM] that there is no distinction being made beween existence and becoming when consciousness arises in connection with named forms. But there is a distinction: "bhava" describes an on-going process, not a static state of being within a sphere. So there is the experience of a knowing of things becoming, but no longer a seeing them as existing, or living beings, or being alive, except, of course, as a matter of conventional speech.
[2] For details, see Footnote 1 of SN 4.38.01.
