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SN 56.8PTS SN 5.4181 min read

Thought

Cintasutta

Don’t think in useless ways. Instead, reflect on the four noble truths.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.8Linked Discourses 56.8
  • 0.21. Samādhivagga1. Immersion

0.3CintasuttaThought

1.1“Mā, bhikkhave, pāpakaṁ akusalaṁ cittaṁ cinteyyātha:“Mendicants, don’t think up a bad, unskillful idea.11.2‘sassato loko’ti vā ‘asassato loko’ti vā, ‘antavā loko’ti vā ‘anantavā loko’ti vā, ‘taṁ jīvaṁ taṁ sarīran’ti vā ‘aññaṁ jīvaṁ aññaṁ sarīran’ti vā, ‘hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā ‘na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā, ‘hoti ca na ca hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā, ‘neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇā’ti vā.For example: the cosmos is eternal, or not eternal, or finite, or infinite; the soul and the body are one and the same, or the soul is one thing, the body another; after death, a realized one still exists, or no longer exists, or both still exists and no longer exists, or neither still exists nor no longer exists.1.3Taṁ kissa hetu?Why is that?1.4Nesā, bhikkhave, cintā atthasaṁhitā nādibrahmacariyakā na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṁvattati.Because those thoughts aren’t beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They don’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.

2.1PTS 5.419Cintentā ca kho tumhe, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti cinteyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhasamudayo’ti cinteyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodho’ti cinteyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti cinteyyātha.When you think something up, you should think: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.2.2Taṁ kissa hetu?Why is that?2.3Esā, bhikkhave, cintā atthasaṁhitā, esā ādibrahmacariyakā, esā nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati.Because those thoughts are beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.

3.1Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo”ti.That’s why you should practice meditation …”

3.2Aṭṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. While this phrase is on the whole clearly a synonym for the previous sutta, the phrasing is interestingly different. The use of singular shows that citta here means “mind state”, not “thought”; but since we are concerned with theories, we use “idea”. Cinteti straddles the meaning of vitakketi and ceteti “intends”, which is quite nicely represented by the English idiom “(to) think (something) up”.

    ↩ sn56.8:1.1