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Linked Discourses · SN 56.7

  • Linked Discourses 56.7Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.7
  • 1. Immersion1. Samādhivagga

ThoughtsVitakkasutta

“Mendicants, don’t think bad, unskillful thoughts, such as“Mā, bhikkhave, pāpake akusale vitakke vitakkeyyātha, seyyathidaṁ— sensual, malicious, and cruel thoughts.kāmavitakkaṁ, byāpādavitakkaṁ, vihiṁsāvitakkaṁ. Why is that?Taṁ kissa hetu? 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.Nete, bhikkhave, vitakkā atthasaṁhitā nādibrahmacariyakā na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṁvattanti.

When you think, 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’.Vitakkentā ca kho tumhe, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhasamudayo’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodho’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti vitakkeyyātha. Why is that?Taṁ kissa hetu? 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.Ete, bhikkhave, vitakkā atthasaṁhitā ete ādibrahmacariyakā ete nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattanti.

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

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. SN 56.8 Thought 0.89near 0.1Linked Discourses 56.8 1. Immersion Thought “Mendicants, don’t think up a bad, unskillful idea. For example: the cosmos is eternal, or not eternal, or finite, or infinite; the soul and the body are one and the same, or t…
  2. SN 56.9 Arguments 0.62near 0.1Linked Discourses 56.9 1. Immersion Arguments “Mendicants, don’t get into arguments, such as: ‘You don’t understand this teaching and training. I understand this teaching and training. What, you understand this teaching…
  3. SN 56.10 Low Talk 0.55near 0.1Linked Discourses 56.10 1. Immersion Low Talk “Mendicants, don’t engage in all kinds of low talk, such as talk about kings, bandits, and chief ministers; talk about armies, threats, and wars; talk about food, drink, clot…