The Shorter Discourse on Taking on Practices Cūḍa Dhammasamṅdṅna Sutta (MN 45)

- suttas - - evening talks - short morning talks - lectures - guided meditations - talk collections - other themes - chants - - - - à¹à¸à¸¢ - Franā§ais - Espaā±ol - - Portuguāªs - Ð ÑÑÑÐºÐ¸Ð¹ - - - Ð£ÐºÑÐ°ÑÐ½ÑÑÐºÐ° Submit Search - Home - Suttas - MN - MN 45 The Shorter Discourse on Taking on Practices ## Browse Suttas Go to Majjhima Nikṅya index MN index ## The Shorter Discourse on Taking on Practices Cūḍa Dhammasamṅdṅna SuttaÂ Â (MNÂ 45) I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sṅvatthī in Jetaâs Grove, Anṅthapiṃṇikaâs monastery. There he addressed the monks: "Monks!" "Yes, lord," the monks responded to him. "Monks, there are these four ways of taking on practices. Which four? There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future. There is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present and yields pain in the future. There is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present but yields pleasure in the future. There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields pleasure in the future. "Now, what is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future? There are some contemplatives & brahmans who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: ), # Right single quote ('â', There is no harm in sensual pleasures.â Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with women wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot. "The thought occurs to them: ), # Right single quote ('â', Now what future danger concerning sensual pleasures do those (other) contemplatives & brahmans foresee that they have spoken of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and describe the full comprehension of sensual pleasures? Itâs pleasant, the touch of this woman wandererâs soft, tender, downy arm.â "Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the break-up of the body, after death, they go to a plane of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say: ), # Right single quote ('â', This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those contemplatives & brahmans foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures. Itâs because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that weâre now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.â "Just as if a mṅluvṅ creeper pod were to burst open in the last month of the hot season, and a mṅluvṅ creeper seed were to fall at the foot of a Sal tree. The deva living in the tree would become frightened, apprehensive, & anxious. Her friends & companions, relatives & kin—garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, & forest monarchs—would gather together to console her: ), # Right single quote ('â', Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this mṅluvṅ creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isnât really a seed.â "And then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush fire burned it up, no woodsmen picked it up, no termites carried it off, and it really was a seed. Watered by a rain-laden cloud, it sprouted properly and curled its soft, tender, downy tendril around the Sal tree. "The thought occurred to the deva living in the Sal tree: ), # Right single quote ('â', Now what future danger did my friends & companions, relatives & kin—garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, & forest monarchs—foresee in that mṅluvṅ creeper seed that they gathered together to console me: "Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this mṅluvṅ creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isnât really a seed." Itâs pleasant, the touch of this mṅluvṅ creeperâs soft, tender, downy tendril.â "Then the creeper, having enwrapped the Sal tree, having made a canopy over it, & cascading down around it, caused the massive limbs of the Sal tree to come crashing down. The thought occurred to the deva living in the tree: ), # Right single quote ('â', This was the future danger my friendsâ¦ foresaw in that mṅluvṅ creeper seed, that they gathered together to console me.â¦ Itâs because of that mṅluvṅ creeper seed that Iâm now experiencing sharp, burning pains.â "In the same way, monks, there are some contemplatives & brahmans who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: ), # Right single quote ('â', There is no harm in sensual pleasures.â Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with women wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot. "The thought occurs to them: ), # Right