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The Arising and Defilements Collections: Whatever Arises, Suffering Arises
Training the mind

The Arising and Defilements Collections: Whatever Arises, Suffering Arises

Uppādasaṃyuttaṃ

The arising of the eye, ear and nose is the arising of suffering and the continuance of disease. In the next collection, desire-and-lust in six places is called a defilement of the mind; abandon it and the mind becomes workable.

7 points

In the Uppāda Saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, Khandhavagga, ten short discourses follow one pattern. The arising, continuance, production and manifestation of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind is the arising of suffering, the continuance of disease, the manifestation of ageing and death. The remainderless cessation and stilling of those same things is the cessation of suffering, the stilling of disease, the ending of ageing and death.

Next comes the Kilesa Saṃyutta, also ten discourses. Desire-and-lust for the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind is a defilement of the mind; the same is then said of external objects, consciousness, contact, feeling, perception, volition, craving, the elements and the aggregates.

When a monk has abandoned the mind's defilement in these six places, his mind inclines to renunciation; matured by renunciation, the mind appears workable for those things to be realised by direct knowledge.

  1. 1

    Whatever arises, suffering arises with it Dukkhasseso uppādo

    The arising, continuance, production and manifestation of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind is called the arising of suffering. He is not saying the senses are evil, but that where there is something able to experience, there is something able to hurt.

    Applying it in daily life

    When starting something new — a job, a relationship — recognise that you are taking on both its joys and its burdens.

  2. 2

    The continuance of disease, the manifestation of ageing and death Rogānaṃ ṭhiti jarāmaraṇassa pātubhāvo

    He adds that what arises is the continuance of disease and the manifestation of ageing and death. Whatever has come into being always offers decay a place to settle.

    Applying it in daily life

    When the body starts showing its age, accept it as the nature of what has come into being, while still caring for it sensibly.

  3. 3

    Cessation is the cessation of suffering Nirodho vūpasamo atthaṅgamo

    The other half of each discourse: the remainderless cessation, stilling and ending of the eye, ear and nose is the remainderless cessation of suffering, the stilling of disease, the ending of ageing and death.

    Applying it in daily life

    When something comes to an end, notice the relief that follows; that is a small picture of what the discourse describes.

  4. 4

    Repeated through every category Uppādasaṃyuttaṃ

    The collection has ten discourses running through the internal faculties, external objects, consciousness, contact, feeling, perception, volition, craving, the elements and the five aggregates, showing that one principle applies to every category. This point is for overall understanding.

    Applying it in daily life

    You needn't memorise every category; hold the principle that whatever can arise can cease, and apply it to what is in front of you.

  5. 5

    Desire-and-lust is a defilement of the mind Cittasseso upakkileso

    In the Kilesa Saṃyutta he says that desire-and-lust for the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind is a defilement of the mind. What defiles the mind is therefore not the object, but our attachment to it.

    Applying it in daily life

    Instead of blaming your surroundings, look first at your own wanting, since that is the part you can change.

  6. 6

    Abandon it in six places and the mind inclines to renunciation Nekkhammaninnaṃ cassa cittaṃ hoti

    When a monk has abandoned the mind's defilement in these six places, his mind inclines to renunciation and is matured by renunciation. Renunciation here means going out from sensual desire, which begins with a mind no longer dragged along by liking.

    Applying it in daily life

    Try going without one thing you are attached to for a day, and notice whether the mind feels freer or more irritable.

  7. 7

    A workable mind Cittaṃ kammaniyaṃ khāyati

    The result he gives is that the mind appears workable for those things to be realised by direct knowledge. A workable mind is one that can be directed: put it somewhere and it stays there, rather than being led about all day by wanting.

    Applying it in daily life

    Judge the quality of your mind by how long it can stay with the task in front of you, not by a passing good feeling.

Try it in daily life

Both collections are short enough to read in minutes, yet they offer an unfamiliar angle: everything that comes into being has a lifespan, a decay and an end. Not to make us gloomy, but to stop us being surprised when things change.

The Kilesa Saṃyutta gives a tool you can use at once — looking at what your mind is currently lusting after with desire. It may be the taste of food, a compliment, an image on a screen, or a thought that is pleasant to keep thinking. What he calls a defilement is not those things but our attachment to them.

The phrase workable mind gives a vivid image: clay kneaded to the right consistency can be shaped into anything, unlike dry clay that cracks under pressure. A mind not constantly pulled about by wanting is genuinely usable, both in meditation and in ordinary work.

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