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- SN 22

SN 22.89
PTS: S iii 126
CDB i 942
Khemo Sutta: Khemaka
(excerpt)
translated from the Pali by
Maurice O'Connell Walshe
© 2007
Alternate translation: Thanissaro
The Pali title of this sutta is based on the PTS (Feer) edition.

[The other monks hear that the Ven. Khemaka has said:] "In these five groups of clinging I perceive no self, nor any thing pertaining to a self." [They therefore wrongly conclude that he is an Arahant. Finally, though sick, he comes in person to explain. They ask:] "As for this 'I am' you mention, friend Khemaka, what is it? Do you say this 'I am' is the body or not the body,... feelings,... perceptions,... mental formations,... consciousness or not consciousness?"

"No, friends, I do not say this 'I am' is the body,... consciousness, nor that it is other than the body,... consciousness. Yet with regard to the five groups of clinging,[1] 'I am' comes to me,[2] but I do not consider it (by way of wrong views) as 'This I am.' It is just like the scent of a blue, red or white lotus.[3] If someone were to say, 'The scent belongs to the petals, or the color, or the fibers,'[4] would he be describing it correctly?"

"Surely not, friend."

"Then how would he describe it correctly?"

"As the scent of the flower, would be the correct explanation."

"In the same way, friends, I do not say this 'I am' is the body,... consciousness, nor that it is other than the body,... consciousness. Yet with regard to the five groups of clinging, 'I am' comes to me, but I do not consider it as 'This I am.' Though, friends, an Ariyan disciple has abandoned the five lower fetters,[5] there still remains in him a subtle remnant[6] from among the five groups of clinging, a subtle remnant of the 'I'-conceit, of the 'I'-desire, an unextirpated lurking tendency[7] to think: 'I am.' Later on he dwells contemplating the rise and fall of the five groups of clinging,[8] and he sees: 'This is the body, this is its arising, this is its passing away. These are feelings,... perceptions,... mental formations,... this is consciousness, this is its arising, this is its passing away.'

"So, as he dwells thus in contemplation of the rise and fall of the five groups of clinging, this subtle remnant from among the five groups of clinging, this subtle remnant of the 'I'-conceit, of the 'I'-desire, this unextirpated lurking tendency to think: 'I am' is brought to an end.[9]

"Friends, it is like a cloth, soiled and stained, whose owners give it to the washerman. He rubs it smooth with salt-earth, lye or cow-dung then rinses it in clean water. Now though the cloth has been cleaned and thoroughly purified, there still hangs about it, unremoved, the subtle smell of salt-earth, lye or cow-dung. The washerman returns it to the owners, who put it away carefully in a sweet-smelling box. Then the smell of salt-earth, lye or cow-dung that still clung to it disappears completely.

"In just the same way, friends, though an Ariyan disciple has abandoned the five lower fetters... [as above]... this unextirpated lurking tendency to think: 'I am' is brought to an end."

Now when this teaching was thus expounded, the hearts of some sixty elders[10] were completely freed from the cankers as too was that of Venerable Khemaka.[11]

# Notes

1.
  "As a whole" (DA).
2.
  Subcommentary says: "By way of clinging and conceit (ta.nha-maana)," that is, not by wrong views (di.t.thi). At this stage, wrong views would have been eliminated, but the other factors would still be residually present. Attention is drawn to this significant passage by the Ven. Dr W. Rahula in his excellent little book What the Buddha Taught (Bedford 1956, p. 65)
3.
  Uppala, paduma, pu.n.dariika are different varieties of lotus usually of the colors mentioned.
4.
  Or "stamens."
5.
  The Ven. Khemaka is indirectly claiming to be a "non-returner" (anaagaamii). To lay claim, even truthfully, to higher attainments is an offense. To do so, knowing the claim would be false, would be a paaraajika offense involving irrevocable expulsion from the Sangha.
6.
  Anu- (a.nu-) sahagato: "accompanied by a minimum."
7.
  Anusaya: "proclivity."
8.
  This represents a definite stage in the vipassanaa ("insight") meditation practice: see BD [Buddhist Dictionary (2nd ed.), by Ven. Nyaa.natiloka, Ven. Nyaa.naponika (ed.), Colombo 1972] s.v. vipassanaa.
9.
  Enlightenment (Arahantship) is gained.
10.
  "Elders" = theraa, probably meaning then as now monks of at least ten years' standing.
11.
  This illustrates the principle that by doing good to others one does good to oneself (as far as, in this context, it is permissible to speak of "oneself").