The Bottomless Chasm
Pātāla Sutta (SN 36:4)
“Monks, when an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person makes the statement, ‘There is a bottomless chasm in the ocean,’ he is talking about something that doesn’t exist, that can’t be found. The word ‘bottomless chasm’ is actually a designation for painful bodily feeling.
“When an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is touched by a painful bodily feeling, he sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. This is called an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person who has not risen up out of the bottomless chasm, who has not gained a foothold.
“When a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones is touched by a painful bodily feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. This is called a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones who has risen up out of the bottomless chasm, whose foothold is gained.”
Whoever can’t endure them
once they’ve arisen—
painful bodily feelings
that could kill living beings—
who trembles at their touch,
who cries & wails,
a weakling with no resilience:
He hasn’t risen up
out of the bottomless chasm
or even gained
a foothold.
Whoever endures them
once they’ve arisen—
painful bodily feelings
that could kill living beings—
who doesn’t tremble at their touch:
He’s risen up
out of the bottomless chasm;
his foothold is gained.
