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- SN 36

SN 36.4
PTS: S iv 206
CDB ii 1262
Patala Sutta: The Bottomless Chasm
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1997
Alternate translation: Nyanaponika

"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.