SN 22.43

CDB i 882

Attadiipaa Sutta: An Island to Oneself

translated from the Pali by

Maurice O'Connell Walshe

The Pali title of this sutta is based on the PTS (Feer) edition.

"Monks, be islands unto yourselves, [1] be your own refuge, having no other; let the Dhamma be an island and a refuge to you, having no other. Those who are islands unto themselves... should investigate to the very heart of things: [2] 'What is the source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? How do they arise?' [ What is their origin? ]

"Here, monks, the uninstructed worldling [ continued as in SN 22.7 . ] Change occurs in this man's body, and it becomes different. On account of this change and difference, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair arise. [ Similarly with 'feelings,' 'perceptions,' 'mental formations,' 'consciousness'].

"But seeing [3] the body's impermanence, its change-ability, its waning, [4] its ceasing, he says 'formerly as now, all bodies were impermanent and unsatisfactory, and subject to change.' Thus, seeing this as it really is, with perfect insight, he abandons all sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. He is not worried at their abandonment, but unworried lives at ease, and thus living at ease he is said to be 'assuredly delivered.'" [5] [ Similarly with 'feelings,' 'perceptions,' 'mental formations,' 'consciousness'].

Notes

1 .: Atta-diipaa . Diipa means both "island" (Sanskrit dviipa ) and "lamp" (Sanskrit diipa ), but the meaning "island" is well-established here. The "self" referred to is of course the unmetaphysical pronoun "oneself": cf. SN 3.8, n. 1 .
2 .: It is necessary to withdraw, to be "an island to unto oneself," at least for a time (as any meditator knows), not for any "selfish" reasons but precisely in order to make this profound introspective investigation. In another sense, Buddhists would of course agree with John Donne that "No man is an island."
3 .: As Woodward remarks in KS [ Book of the Kindred Sayings , trans. of the Sa.myutta Nikaaya, Vol. III, PTS 1924], one would expect to find here the words which he inserts in the text: "The well-taught Ariyan disciple," as in many passages. If one in fact sees these things and reflects as said in the text, one will cease to be a "worldling."
4 .: Viraaga . Elsewhere translated as "dispassion" ( SN 12.16, n. 2 ), also has this meaning.
5 .: Tadanganibbuto means rather more than Woodward's "one who is rid of all that."

See also: DN 16 .

You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge and, in the case of reprinting, only in quantities of no more than 50 copies; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. From Samyutta Nikaya: An Anthology (WH 318-321) , by M. O'C. Walshe (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1985). Transcribed from the print edition in 2007 by a volunteer, under the auspices of the Access to Insight Dhamma Transcription Project and by arrangement with the Buddhist Publication Society. Minor revisions were made in accordance with the ATI style sheet. Pali diacritics are represented using the Velthuis convention. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013.

How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Attadiipaa Sutta: An Island to Oneself" (SN 22.43), translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition) , 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.043.wlsh.html .