“I’m not keeping well, Honorable Sāriputta, I’m not getting by. My pain is terrible and growing, not fading; its growing is evident, not its fading. The winds piercing my head are so severe, it feels like a strong man drilling into my head with a sharp point. The pain in my head is so severe, it feels like a strong man tightening a strong leather strap around my head. The winds slicing my belly are so severe, like a deft butcher or their apprentice were slicing open a cow’s belly with a sharp meat cleaver. The burning in my body is so severe, it feels like two strong men grabbing a weaker man by the arms to burn and scorch him on a pit of glowing coals. That’s how severe the burning is in my body. I’m not keeping well, Honorable Sāriputta, I’m not getting by. My pain is terrible and growing, not fading; its growing is evident, not its fading.”

“That’s why, householder, you should train like this: ‘I shall not grasp the eye, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the eye.’ That’s how you should train. You should train like this: ‘I shall not grasp the ear, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the ear.’ … ‘I shall not grasp the nose, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the nose.’ … ‘I shall not grasp the tongue, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the tongue.’ … ‘I shall not grasp the body, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the body.’ … ‘I shall not grasp the mind, and there shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on the mind.’ That’s how you should train.