The Ocean (1)
Samudda Sutta (SN 35:187)
“‘The ocean, the ocean,’ says the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person. But that’s not the ocean in the discipline of the noble ones. It’s a great mass of water, a great body of water.
“The eye is a person’s ocean, and its current consists of forms. Whoever resists that current consisting of forms is said to have crossed over the ocean of the eye with its waves, whirlpools, sharks, & demons. Crossed over, gone beyond, one stands on high ground, a brahman.
“The ear is a person’s ocean…
“The nose is a person’s ocean…
“The tongue is a person’s ocean…
“The body is a person’s ocean…
“The intellect is a person’s ocean, and its current consists of ideas. Whoever resists that current consisting of ideas is said to have crossed over the ocean of the intellect with its waves, whirlpools, sharks, & demons. Crossed over, gone beyond, one stands on firm ground, a brahman.”
That is what the Blessed One said. When the One Well-gone had said that, he—the Teacher—said further:
Whoever crosses over this ocean,
with its danger of sharks, demons, waves,
so very hard to cross
is called:
an attainer of wisdom
who has lived the holy life,
one who’s attained the end of the cosmos,
one gone beyond.
