To Timbarukkha
Timbarukkha Sutta (SN 12:18)
Staying near Sāvatthī … Then Timbarukkha the wanderer went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side.
As he was sitting there, Timbarukkha the wanderer said to the Blessed One, “Now, then, Master Gotama, are pleasure & pain self-made?”
“Don’t say that, Timbarukkha,” the Blessed One said.
“Then are pleasure & pain other-made?”
“Don’t say that, Timbarukkha,” the Blessed One said.
“Then are pleasure & pain self-made & other-made?”
“Don’t say that, Timbarukkha,” the Blessed One said.
“Then are pleasure & pain, without self-making or other-making, spontaneously arisen?”
“Don’t say that, Timbarukkha,” the Blessed One said.
“Then is there no pleasure & pain?”
“It’s not the case that there is no pleasure & pain, Timbarukkha. There is pleasure & pain.”
“Then in that case, does Master Gotama not know or see pleasure & pain?”
“It’s not the case that I don’t know, don’t see, pleasure & pain, Timbarukkha. I do know pleasure & pain. I do see pleasure & pain.”
“Now, Master Gotama, when asked, ‘Are pleasure & pain self-made,’ you say, ‘Don’t say that, Timbarukkha.’ When asked, ‘Then are pleasure & pain other-made,’ you say, ‘Don’t say that, Timbarukkha.’ When asked, ‘Then are pleasure & pain, without self-making or other-making, spontaneously arisen?’ you say, ‘Don’t say that, Timbarukkha.’ When asked, ‘Then is there no pleasure & pain?’ you say, ‘It’s not the case that there is no pleasure & pain, Timbarukkha. There is pleasure & pain.’ When asked, ‘Then in that case, does Master Gotama not know or see pleasure & pain?’ you say, ‘It’s not the case that I don’t know, don’t see, pleasure & pain, Timbarukkha. I do know pleasure & pain. I do see pleasure & pain.’ Then tell me about pleasure & pain, Master Gotama. Teach me about pleasure & pain.”
“Timbarukkha, I don’t say that—with the feeling being the same as the one who feels, existing from the beginning—pleasure & pain are self-made.1 And I don’t say that—with feeling being one thing and the one who feels another, existing as the one struck by the feeling—pleasure & pain are other-made. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma via the middle:
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form.
From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.
“Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering.”
When this was said, Timbarukkha the wanderer said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama—through many lines of reasoning—made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṅgha of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life.”
Note
1. Notice that the meaning of “self-made” here differs from that in the preceding sutta. There it means, “made by the person who experiences it.” Here it means, “made by itself.”
