Chachakkasuttaṃ – The Discourse Of Six Sixes

MAJJHIMA NIKĀYA III
5. 6. Chachakkasuttaṃ
(148) The Discourse of Six Sixes

I heard thus.

At one time the Blessed One lived in the monastery offered by Anāthapiṇḍika in Jeta’s grove in Sāvatthi and the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: ‘Bhikkhus, I will give you the Teaching, good at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, full of meanings in letters and words. It describes the complete and pure holy life, in six sixes. Listen to it attentively and carefully. ‘Bhikkhus, you should know the six internal spheres, the six external spheres, the six bodies of consciousness, the six bodies of contact, the six bodies of feeling and the six bodies of craving.

It was said the six internal spheres should be known. Why was it said? Sphere of the eye, sphere of the ear, sphere of the nose, sphere of the tongue, sphere of the body, and sphere of the mind. If it was said the six internal spheres should be known, it was said on account of this. This is the first six.

It was said the six external spheres should be known. Why was it said? Sphere of forms, sphere of sounds, sphere of scents, sphere of tastes, sphere of touches, and sphere of thoughts. If it was said the six external spheres should be known, it was said on account of this. This is the second six.

It was said the six conscious bodies should be known. Why was it said? Eye and forms come together, arise eye consciousness Ear and sounds come together, arise ear-consciousness. Nose and scents come together arise nose-consciousness. Tongue and tastes come together, arise tongue consciousness. Body and touches come together, arise body consciousness. Mind and thoughts come together arise mind consciousness. If it was said the six bodies of consciousness should be known, it was said, on account of this. This is the third six.

It was said the six bodies of contact should be known. Why was it said? Eye and forms coming together arises eye consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact. Ear and sounds coming together arises ear-consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact. Nose and scents coming together arises nose-consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact Tongue and tastes coming together arises tongue consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact Body and touches coming together arises body consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact Mind and thoughts coming together arises mind consciousness. Inter action of the three is contact. If it was said the six bodies of contact should be known, it was said, on account of this. This is the fourth six.

It was said the six bodies of feeling should be known. Why was it said? Eye and forms coming together arises eye consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. Ear and sounds coming together arises ear-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. Nose and scents coming together arises nose-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact On account of a contact there is feeling. Tongue and tastes coming together arises tongue consciousness, inter action of the three is contact On account of a contact there is feeling. Body and touches coming together arises body consciousness, inter action of the three is contact Mind and thoughts coming together arises mind consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. If it was said the six bodies of feeling should be known, it was said, on account of this. This is the fifth six.

It was said the six bodies of craving should be known. Why was it said? Eye and forms coming together arises eye consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving. Ear and sounds coming together arises ear-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving. Nose and scents coming together arises nose-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving. Tongue and tastes coming together arises tongue consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving Body and touches coming together arises body consciousness, inter action of the three is contact On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving. Mind and thoughts coming together arises mind consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact there is feeling. On account of a feeling there is craving. If it was said the six bodies of craving should be known, it was said, on account of this. This is the sixth six .

If someone said eye is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of the eye is evident. When the arising and fading of the eye is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say eye is self. Eye lacks self. If someone said forms are self; they could not be born. The arising and fading of forms are evident. When arising and fading of forms are evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say forms are self. Thus eye lacks self and forms lack self. If someone said eye-consciousness is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of eye consciousness is evident. When arising and fading of eye-consciousness is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say eye-consciousness is self. Thus eye lacks self, forms lack self and eye-consciousness lacks self. If someone said eye contact is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of eye contact is evident. When arising and fading of eye contact is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say eye contact is self. Thus eye lacks self, forms lack self, eye-consciousness lacks self and eye contact lacks self. If someone said feelings are self; they could not be born. The arising and fading of feelings are evident. When arising and fading of feelings are evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say feelings are self. Thus eye lacks self, forms lack self, eye-consciousness lacks self, eye contact lacks self and feelings lack self. If someone said craving is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of craving is evident. When arising and fading of craving is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say craving is self. Thus eye lacks self, forms lack self, eye-consciousness lacks self, eye contact lacks self, feelings lack self, and craving lacks self.

If someone said ear is self; … re … If someone said nose is self; … re … If someone said tongue is self;. re … If someone said body is self; … re … If someone said mind is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of the mind is evident. When the arising and fading of the mind is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say mind is self. Mind lacks self. If someone said thoughts are self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of thoughts are evident. When arising and fading of thoughts are evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say thoughts are self. Thus the mind lacks self and thoughts lack self. If someone said mind-consciousness is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of mind-consciousness is evident. When arising and fading of mind-consciousness is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say mind-consciousness is self. Thus mind lacks self, thoughts lack self and mind-consciousness lacks self. If someone said mind contact is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of mind contact is evident. When arising and fading of mind contact is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say mind contact is self. Thus mind lacks self, thoughts lack self, mind-consciousness lacks self and mind contact lacks self. If someone said feelings are self; they could not be born. The arising and fading of feelings are evident. When arising and fading of feelings are evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say feelings are self. Thus mind lacks self, thoughts lack self, mind-consciousness lacks self, mind contact lacks self and feelings lack self. If someone said craving is self; it could not be born. The arising and fading of craving is evident. When arising and fading of craving is evident, it should go home to him my self is arising and fading. Therefore it is not suitable to say craving is self. Thus mind lacks self, thoughts lack self, mind-consciousness lacks self, mind contact lacks self, feeling lacks self, and craving lacks self.

Bhikkhus, this is the method for the growth of the self. Reflecting, eye is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Forms are me. I’m in them. They’re self. Eye-consciousness is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Eye contact is me. I’m in it. It’s self. Feelings are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it. It’s self Reflecting, ear is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Sounds are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Ear-consciousness is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Ear contact is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Feelings are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Reflecting, nose is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Scents are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Nose-consciousness is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Nose contact is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Feelings are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Reflecting, tongue is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Tastes are me, I’m in them, they’re self. Tongue-consciousness is me, I’m in it, it’s self. Tongue contact is me, I’m in it, it’s self. Feelings are me, I’m in them, they’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it, it’s self

Reflecingt, body is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Touches are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Body-consciousness is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Body contact is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Feelings are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Reflecting, mind is me. I’m in it. It’s self. Thoughts are me, I’m in them. They’re self. Mind-consciousness is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Mind contact is me, I’m in it. It’s self. Feelings are mine. I’m in them. They’re self. Craving is me, I’m in it. It’s self

Bhikkhus, this is the path and method for the cessation of self. Reflecting, eye is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Forms are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Eye-consciousness is not me. I’m not in it. It’s not self. Eye contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Craving is not me. I’m not in it. It’s not self. Reflecting, ear is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Sounds are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Ear-consciousness is not me. I’m not in it. It’s not self. Ear contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Craving is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Reflecting, nose is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Scents are not mine. I’m not in them. They’re not self. Nose-consciousness is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Nose contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in it. They’re not self. Craving is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Reflecting, tongue is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Tastes are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Tongue-consciousness is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Tongue contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Craving is not me I’m not in it. It’s not self. Reflecting, body is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Touches are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Body-consciousness is not me I’m not in it, it’s not self. Body contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in them, they’re not self. Craving is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Reflecting, mind is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Thoughts are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Mind-consciousness is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Mind contact is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self. Feelings are not me, I’m not in them. They’re not self. Craving is not me, I’m not in it. It’s not self

Bhikkhus, on account of eye and forms arises eye-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact arises feelings, pleasant, unpleasant or neither unpleasant nor pleasant. Someone touched by a pleasant feeling, delights, welcomes and gets bound by it and the latent tendency to greed streams down to him. Touched by an unpleasant feeling, grieves, worries, wails, beats the breast and comes to bewilderment and the latent tendency to anger streams down to him. Touched by neither an unpleasant nor pleasant feeling, does not know the arising, fading, satisfaction, danger and giving up of that feeling, as it really is, and the latent tendency to ignore streams down to him. Bhikkhus, it is not possible that he should end unpleasantness, here and now without dispelling ignorance and arousing science by dispelling the latent tendency to greed for pleasant feelings, the latent tendency to be angry for unpleasant feelings and the latent tendency to ignore neither unpleasant nor pleasant feelings.

Bhikkhus, on account of eye and forms arises eye-consciousness, inter action of the three is contact. On account of a contact arises feelings, pleasant, unpleasant or neither unpleasant nor pleasant. Someone touched by a pleasant feeling, does not delight, welcome and get bound by it and the latent tendency to greed does not stream down to him. Touched by an unpleasant feeling, does not grieve, worry, wail, beat the breast and come to bewilderment and the latent tendency to be angry does not stream down to him. Touched by neither an unpleasant nor pleasant feeling, knows the arising, fading, satisfaction, danger and giving up of that feeling, as it really is, and the latent tendency to ignore does not stream down to him. Bhikkhus, it is possible that he should end unpleasantness, here and now, by dispelling ignorance and arousing science by dispelling the latent tendency to greed for pleasant feelings, the latent tendency to be angry for unpleasant feelings and the latent tendency to ignore neither unpleasant nor pleasant feelings.

Bhikkhus, the noble disciple reflecting thus turns away from eye, forms, eye-consciousness, eye contact, feelings and craving. Turns away from ear, sounds, ear-consciousness, ear contact, feelings and craving. Turns away from nose, scents, nose-consciousness, nose contact, feelings and craving. Turns away from tongue, tastes, tongue-consciousness, tongue contact, feelings and craving. Turns away from body, touches, body-consciousness, body contact, feelings and craving. Turns away from mind, thoughts, mind-consciousness, mind contact, feelings and craving. Turning the mind away detaches it and releases it. Then knowledge arises, I’m released, birth is destroyed, the holy life is lived, what should be done is done there is nothing more to wish.

The Blessed One said thus. Those bhikkhus delighted in the words of the Blessed One. When this Teaching was given the minds of about sixty bhikkhus were released.