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SN 35.80PTS SN 4.501 min read

Giving Up Ignorance (2nd)

Dutiyaavijjāpahānasutta

Through giving up ignorance, knowledge arises. To do this, contemplate the six senses as impermanent. Then a mendicant truly understands, and sees everything differently.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 35.80Linked Discourses 35.80
  • 0.28. Gilānavagga8. Sick

0.3DutiyaavijjāpahānasuttaGiving Up Ignorance (2nd)

1.1Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu …pe… etadavoca:Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him,1.2“atthi nu kho, bhante, eko dhammo yassa pahānā bhikkhuno avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti?“Sir, is there one thing such that by giving it up a mendicant gives up ignorance and gives rise to knowledge?”

2.1“Atthi kho, bhikkhu, eko dhammo yassa pahānā bhikkhuno avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti.“There is, mendicant.”

3.1“Katamo pana, bhante, eko dhammo yassa pahānā bhikkhuno avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti?“But what is that one thing?”

4.1“Avijjā kho, bhikkhu, eko dhammo yassa pahānā bhikkhuno avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti.“Ignorance is one thing such that by giving it up a mendicant gives up ignorance and gives rise to knowledge.”

5.1“Kathaṁ pana, bhante, jānato, kathaṁ passato avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti?“But how does a mendicant know and see so as to give up ignorance and give rise to knowledge?”

6.1“Idha, bhikkhu, bhikkhuno sutaṁ hoti:“Take a mendicant who has heard:6.2‘sabbe dhammā nālaṁ abhinivesāyā’ti.‘Nothing is worth insisting on.’16.3Evañcetaṁ, bhikkhu, bhikkhuno sutaṁ hoti:When a mendicant has heard that6.4‘sabbe dhammā nālaṁ abhinivesāyā’ti.nothing is worth insisting on,6.5So sabbaṁ dhammaṁ abhijānāti, sabbaṁ dhammaṁ abhiññāya sabbaṁ dhammaṁ parijānāti, sabbaṁ dhammaṁ pariññāya sabbanimittāni aññato passati, cakkhuṁ aññato passati, rūpe …they directly know all things. Directly knowing all things, they completely understand all things. Completely understanding all things, they see all signs as other. They see the eye, sights,26.6cakkhuviññāṇaṁ …eye consciousness,6.7cakkhusamphassaṁ …and eye contact as other.6.8yampidaṁ cakkhusamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tampi aññato passati …pe…And they also see the pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact as other. …

6.9manaṁ aññato passati, dhamme …They see the mind, ideas,6.10manoviññāṇaṁ …mind consciousness,6.11manosamphassaṁ …and mind contact as other.6.12yampidaṁ manosamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tampi aññato passati.And they also see the pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact as other.6.13Evaṁ kho, bhikkhu, jānato evaṁ passato bhikkhuno avijjā pahīyati, vijjā uppajjatī”ti.That’s how a mendicant knows and sees so as to give up ignorance and give rise to knowledge.”

6.14Sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. “‘Nothing is worth insisting on” (sabbe dhammā nālaṁ abhinivesāyā) occurs several times (see especially MN 37:3.2 and note). “Insistence” (abinivesa) is a name for defilements that have become rigidly stuck, particularly the dogmatic insistence that one is correct and everyone else is wrong.

    ↩ sn35.80:6.2
  2. Aññato means “as other”. Like parato (“as alien”), it is a term for not-self.

    “All signs” are the features of experience that the mind hooks on to as desirable, as permanent, or as Self.

    ↩ sn35.80:6.5