"Assutavā, bhikkhave, puthujjano yam vācam bhāsati: 'atthi mahāsamudde pätālo'ti. Tam kho panetam, bhikkhave, assutavă puthujjano asantam aviijamānam evam vācam bhāsati: 'atthi mahäsamudde pätalo'ti."
"Meditators, when an uninstructed, ordinary person makes the statement, 'In the great ocean there is a bottomless abyss,' he makes such a statement about something that is nonexistent and unreal."
Pātālo means a place that is bottomless, endless, its bottom cannot be reached. Someone says 'I am drowning in a bottomless ocean where there is no ground to rest my feet upon.' Who says this? A person who is an assutavā, one who has never heard the Dhamma.
When a person hears the Dhamma, he takes the first step on the path of liberation. But if one has never heard this Dhamma, and remains trapped in sectarian rites, rituals and philosophies believing these to be the Dhamma; how indeed can he come out of misery? He has not even heard of Dhamma.
He who has never heard Dhamma is an ignorant one, assutavā, bhikkhave, puthuijano. He is not walking on the path of Dhamma. He who is untouched by, unaware of Dhamma was called a puthujjano. How will a puthujjano respond to the vicissitudes of the world? "Oh, this ocean is bottomless!” he will exclaim in his ignorance, evam vācam bhāsati: 'atthi mahāsamudde pātālo'. He is overwhelmed and unable to perceive reality for what it is and so he speaks untruthfully, asantam avijjamānam, that this ocean is bottomless, that one cannot touch the bottom.
The Buddha continues: "Säririkānam kho etam, bhikkhave, dukkhānam vedanānam adhivacanam yadidam 'pātālo'ti."
"This, meditators, is rather a designation for painful bodily sensations, that is, 'bottomless abyss."
The term 'pātālo' is used to describe gross, unpleasant bodily sensations which make one think it is difficult to go beyond these unpleasant sensations, that this reality is endless.
When unfortunate events strike a person from all sides agitating him, he feels as if he is drowning in a bottomless ocean of misery and there are no stepping stones to use to rise above this endless un happiness.
When unwholesome actions (kammas) bring unpleasant consequences, an uninstructed, ordinary person, assutavā gets agitated as he experiences unpleasant bodily sensations and he wallows in this misery. He has not learned to observe the sensations so in this boundless ocean of misery he finds nowhere to seek relief, no way out. He feels there is no escaping this suffering, it is endless, pātālo.
"Assutavā, bhikkhave, puthujjano sārīrikāya dukkhāya vedanāya phu tho samāno socati kilamati paridevati urattālim kandati sammoham āpaijati."
When he comes in contact with unpleasant bodily sensation, he gets immersed in sorrow, socati, gets distressed, kilamati, laments, paridevati, beats his chest, urattālim, and weeps, kandati, thus, lost in blind ignorance and not realising what he is doing he continues to multiply his misery, sammoham āpajjati.
"Ayam vuccati, bhikkhave,'assutavā puthujjano pātāle na paccusthāsi, gādhañca nājjhagā."
Hence being ignorant, assutavā, such a person gains no footing to come out of misery.
The Enlightened One continues:
"Sutavā ca kho, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako sārīrikāya dukkhāya vedanāya phu tho samãno neva socati, na kilamati, na paridevati, na urattālim kandati, na sammoham āpajjati."
He who has heard and understood Dhamma, sutavā ca kho, bhikkhave, is a true son of the Buddha, sutavā. A noble one walking on the path, ariyas āvako. When unpleasant bodily sensations arise on such a person, then understanding Dhamma well, sārīrikāya dukkhāya vedanāya phutho samāno, he does not get immersed in sorrow, neva socati, nor get distressed, na kilamati, nor lament, na paridevati, nor beat his chest, na urattālim, nor weep, na kandati. Such a person does not drown in the sea of blind ignorance, na sammoham āpaijati.
"Ayam vuccati, bhikkhave, 'sutavā ariyasāvako pätāle paccutthāsi, gādhanca ajjhagā'ti."
And so I say, meditators, ayam vuccati, bhikkhave, when someone who has heard and understood Dhamma well does fall in an immeasurable ocean of misery, 'sutavā ariyasāvako pātāle paccutthāsi 'even so he finds a place to rest his feet, gādhañca ajjhagā'. He does not feel the suffering to be bottomless. His feet are resting on the reality of sensations. He has gained a footing.
When a meditator who is drowning in an ocean of misfortune begins to observe sensations, he begins to come out of that ocean of misery. This is vital for a meditator. He has learnt Vipassana; he is a sutava, he is walking on the path, he needs to keep observing sensations.
"Yo etā nādhivāseti, uppannā vedanā dukha;
Säririkā pāņaharā, yāhi phuttho paved hati." "One who cannot endure the arisen painful sensations,
Bodily sensations that sap one's life, who trembles when they touch him."
When piercing misfortunes strike one from all sides and unpleasant bodily sensations arise sārīrikā pānaharā, and pain hits one as if one is in the throes of death, if one begins rolling in this and crying, he will be unable to free himself, nādhivāseti. Instead, if he watches the sensations objectively, he will learn to live with acceptance of them. If he does not learn to live with his unpleasant reality, does not accept it uppannā vedanā dukhā, then: "Akkandati parodati, dubbalo appathāmako; Na so pātāle paccutthāsi, atho gādhampi nājjhagā."
"A weakling of little strength, who weeps out loud and wails,
He has not risen up in the bottomless abyss, nor has he even gained a foothold."
He cries, weeps, grows weaker, appathāmako loses his balance and finds no place to stand in this ocean of misery. This ocean is bottomless, he finds no place to stand, atho gādhampi nājjhagā. The Buddha continues: "Yo cetā adhivāseti, uppannā vedanā dukhā; Sārīrikā pāņaharā, pāhi phutho na vedhati; Sa ve pātāle paccutthāsi, atho gādhampi ajjhagā'ti.
"But one who is able to endure them, the arisen painful sensations,
Bodily sensations that sap one's life, who trembles not when they touch him:
He has risen up in the bottomless abyss, and has also gained a foothold."
A person who is a sutavā and is walking on the path of Dhamma which is well understood, has learnt to accept unhappy situations and unpleasant sensations as they arise, yo cetā adhivāseti, uppannā vedanā dukhā. This person's misery seems as if it is killing him, yāhi phutho na vedhati and the sensations are piercing him, yet he is unshaken. Sa ve pātāle paccutthāsi, this is an ocean of pain that he feels, yet in this depth of misery, pātāle, he knows what he needs to do, to be aware, to observe the sensations as they arise and pass away; this way he finds support. He has gained a foothold, atho gādhampi ajjhagā.
The Enlightened One has laid emphasis on the importance of bodily sensations time and again. When misery comes one forgets all about the practice of Vipassana, the practice of Dhamma, and therefore one can not come out of it. Vipassana is taught with the base of body sensations, and if these sensations are observed, then you get a very good foundation to come out of your misery. If you forget, if you miss the observation of body sensations, you can never come out of your misery. Therefore, in the teaching of the Buddha, observing the sensations on the body plays a very important role. It is with the base of these body sensations that one can come out of misery and get liberated. Keep working and come out of misery. Whatever misery you have, large or small, awareness
of sensations will help you to come out of it.
Bhavatu sabba Mangalaṃ! (3)
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