Scribd
Upload
18 views1 page

Pāsarāsisutta Summary

The Pāsarāsisutta recounts the Buddha's teachings on the ignoble and noble searches, contrasting the pursuit of worldly attachments with the quest for Nibbāna. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha initially hesitated to teach but was encouraged by Brahmā Sahampati and ultimately chose to instruct the group of five bhikkhus. The Sutta concludes by illustrating the difference between those bound by sensual pleasures and those who achieve liberation through understanding and meditative practice.

Uploaded by

Ven Visuddha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
18 views1 page

Pāsarāsisutta Summary

The Pāsarāsisutta recounts the Buddha's teachings on the ignoble and noble searches, contrasting the pursuit of worldly attachments with the quest for Nibbāna. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha initially hesitated to teach but was encouraged by Brahmā Sahampati and ultimately chose to instruct the group of five bhikkhus. The Sutta concludes by illustrating the difference between those bound by sensual pleasures and those who achieve liberation through understanding and meditative practice.

Uploaded by

Ven Visuddha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Pāsarāsisutta summary

The Sutta begins with the Buddha in Sāvatthī, where a group of bhikkhus express their
desire to hear a Dhamma talk from him. The Buddha then describes two kinds of search: the
ignoble search and the noble search. The ignoble search is the pursuit of things subject to birth,
aging, sickness, death, sorrow, and defilement, such as family, possessions, and wealth. The
noble search, in contrast, is the pursuit of the unborn, unaging, unailing, deathless, sorrowless,
and undefiled supreme security from bondage, which is Nibbāna.

The Buddha then shares his own experience of the noble search. Before his
enlightenment, he too sought what was subject to suffering. However, he realized the danger in
these pursuits and resolved to seek Nibbāna. He describes his training with two teachers, Āḷāra
Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, both of whom taught him advanced meditative states. However,
the Buddha found that their teachings did not lead to complete disenchantment, dispassion,
cessation, or Nibbāna, and so he left them.

He then found a suitable place for striving and, through his own efforts, attained full
enlightenment, realizing Nibbāna and the unshakeable deliverance from all suffering. Initially, he
hesitated to teach the profound Dhamma, believing it would be too difficult for others to
understand. However, the Brahmā Sahampati appeared and urged him to teach, explaining that
there were beings with "little dust in their eyes" who would be able to comprehend the Dhamma.
The Buddha, out of compassion, surveyed the world and saw that indeed there were those
receptive to his teaching.

He then considered to whom he should first teach, thinking of his former teachers, but
learned they had both passed away. Finally, he decided to teach the group of five bhikkhus who
had attended him during his ascetic practices. On his way to Benares, he encountered an Ājīvaka
ascetic named Upaka, to whom he declared his attainment of full enlightenment.

Upon reaching the bhikkhus of the group of five, they initially treated him as someone
who had abandoned his striving. However, the Buddha asserted his status as a Fully Enlightened
One and convinced them to listen to his teaching. He then instructed them, and they too, by
understanding the dangers of conditioned existence and seeking Nibbāna, attained the supreme
security from bondage.

The Sutta concludes by contrasting those who are tied to sensual pleasures (likened to a
deer caught in a snare) and those who are not (likened to a free deer). It then describes the
progressive stages of jhāna (meditative absorption) and the ultimate attainment of the cessation
of perception and feeling, where all taints are destroyed, signifying complete liberation from
Māra's (the Evil One's) influence and attachment to the world.

You might also like