Itivuttaka 37

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Endowed with two things, monks, a monk lives full of ease in the here-&-now and is appropriately aroused for the ending of the effluents. Which two? A sense of urgency toward things that should inspire urgency1 and, feeling urgency, appropriate exertion. Endowed with these two things, a monk lives full of ease in the here-&-now and is appropriately aroused for the ending of the effluents.”

Feeling urgency right here

toward what should inspire urgency,

the wise,

masterful,

ardent monk

should investigate

with discernment.

One who lives thus ardently,

not restlessly, at peace,

committed to awareness-tranquility,

would attain the ending

of suffering & stress.

Note

1. Urgency = saṁvega. Other meanings for this term include awe, shock, dismay, and alienation. In the Pali Canon, this emotion is often accompanied by fear and a sensed need to escape from overwhelming danger. The things that should inspire urgency are the first four of the five reflections listed in AN 5:57: “I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging. I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness. I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death. I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me.” Appropriate exertion is indicated by the fifth reflection: “I am the owner of actions, heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.”