Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Samyutta Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Samyutta Nikaya XXXV.63
- Chiggala Sutta
- The Hole
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"Monks, suppose that this great earth were totally covered with water, and a man
were to toss a yoke with a single hole there. A wind from the east would push it west, a
wind from the west would push it east. A wind from the north would push it south, a wind
from the south would push it north. And suppose a blind sea-turtle were there. It would
come to the surface once every one hundred years. Now what do you think: would that blind
sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, stick his neck into the
yoke with a single hole?"
"It would be a sheer coincidence, lord, that the blind sea-turtle, coming to the
surface once every one hundred years, would stick his neck into the yoke with a single
hole."
"It's likewise a sheer coincidence that one obtains the human state. It's likewise
a sheer coincidence that a Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, arises in the
world. It's likewise a sheer coincidence that a doctrine & discipline expounded by a
Tathagata appears in the world. Now, this human state has been obtained. A Tathagata,
worthy & rightly self-awakened, has arisen in the world. A doctrine & discipline
expounded by a Tathagata appears in the world.
"Therefore your duty is the contemplation: 'This is stress...This is the
origination of stress...This is the cessation of stress...This is the path of practice
leading to the cessation of stress.'"