The Cardinal Suttas
The Fire Sermon
With his skill in training the trainable, the All-transcendent Buddha, lucid speaker, teacher of the highest knowledge,
He who expounds to the people the Dhamma and Vinaya that is fitting and worthy, teaching with this wonderful parable about fire, meditators of the highest skill;
He has liberated those who listen with the liberation that is utterly complete, through true investigation, with wisdom
and attention.
Let us now recite this Sutta which describes the characteristics
of dukkha.
Thus have I heard.
At one time the Blessed One was staying near Gayā at Gayā Head together with a thousand bhikkhus. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:
‘Bhikkhus, everything is burning. And what, bhikkhus, is everything that is burning?
‘The eye, bhikkhus, is burning, forms are burning, eye consciousness is burning, eye contact is burning, the feeling that arises from eye contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘The ear is burning, sounds are burning, ear consciousness is burning, ear contact is burning, the feeling that arises from ear contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘The nose is burning, odours are burning, nose consciousness is burning, nose contact is burning, the feeling that arises from nose contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘The tongue is burning, tastes are burning, tongue consciousness is burning, tongue contact is burning, the feeling that arises from tongue contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘The body is burning, tangible objects are burning, body consciousness is burning, body contact is burning, the feeling that arises from body contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘The mind is burning, mental states are burning, mind consciousness is burning, mind contact is burning, the feeling that arises through mind contact, whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral, that too is burning. With what is it burning? I declare that it is burning with the fires of passion, hatred, and delusion; it is burning with birth, ageing, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
‘Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the wise noble disciple becomes disenchanted with the eye, disenchanted with forms, disenchanted with eye consciousness, disenchanted with eye contact, and the feeling that arises from eye contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘They become disenchanted with the ear, disenchanted with sounds, disenchanted with ear consciousness, disenchanted with ear contact, and the feeling that arises from ear contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘They become disenchanted with the nose, disenchanted with odours, disenchanted with nose consciousness, disenchanted with nose contact, and the feeling that arises from nose contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘They become disenchanted with the tongue, disenchanted with tastes, disenchanted with tongue consciousness, disenchanted with tongue contact, and the feeling that arises from tongue contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘They become disenchanted with the body, disenchanted with tangible objects, disenchanted with body consciousness, disenchanted with body contact, and the feeling that arises from body contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘They become disenchanted with the mind, disenchanted with mental states, disenchanted with mind consciousness, disenchanted with mind contact, and the feeling that arises from mind contact — whether it is pleasant, painful, or neutral — that too they become disenchanted with.
‘Becoming disenchanted, their passions fade away; with the fading of passion the heart is liberated; with liberation there comes the knowledge: “It is liberated,” and they know: “Destroyed is birth, the Holy Life has been lived out, done is what had to be done, there is no more coming into any state of being.”’
Thus spoke the Blessed One; delighted, the bhikkhus rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said. Moreover, while this discourse was being uttered, the minds of those thousand bhikkhus were freed from the defilements, without any further attachment.
Thus ends The Fire Sermon.