Mittakali
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1998–2012
Going forth through conviction
from home into homelessness,
I wandered this place & that,
greedy for gain & offerings.
Missing out on the foremost goal,
I pursued a lowly one.
Under the sway of defilements
I surrendered the goal
of the contemplative life.
Then, sitting in my dwelling,
I suddenly came to my senses:
I'm following a miserable path.
I'm under the sway of
craving.
Next to nothing, my life —
crushed
by aging & illness.
Before the body breaks apart,
I have no time
for heedlessness.
After watching, as it actually was,
the rising & falling of aggregates,
I stood up with mind released,
the Awakened One's bidding
done.
Provenance: ©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
This Access to Insight edition is ©1998–2012.
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How to cite this document (one suggested style): "Mittakali" (Thig 5.6), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 8 August 2010,
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thig/thig.05.06.than.html . Retrieved on 3 March 2012.
[Udaya:]
To the one in jhana seated dustless, passionless, his task done, effluent-free, gone to the beyond of all phenomena, I've come with a question. Tell me the gnosis of emancipation, the breaking open of ignorance.[The Buddha:]
The abandoning both of sensual desires, & of unhappiness, the dispelling of sloth, the warding off of anxieties, equanimity-&-mindfulness purified, with inspection of mental qualities swift in the forefront: That I call the gnosis of emancipation, [1] the breaking open of ignorance. [2][Udaya:]
With what is the world fettered? With what is it examined? Through the abandoning of what is there said to be Unbinding?[The Buddha:]
With delight the world's fettered. With directed thought it's examined. Through the abandoning of craving is there said to be Unbinding.[Udaya:]
Living mindful in what way does one bring consciousness to a halt? We've come questioning to the Blessed One. Let us hear your words.[The Buddha:]
Not relishing feeling, inside or out: One living mindful in this way brings consciousness to a halt. [3]i must make my dream come true - the escaping from the perishing of building (the cyclical birth, ageing, sickness and death of the aggregates)
Just read something from Bhikkhu Bodhi:
"The Buddha's statement that the five aggregates are dukkha thus reveals that the very things we identify with and hold to as the basis for happiness, rightly seen, are the basis for the suffering that we dread. Even when we feel ourselves comfortable and secure, the instability of the aggregates is itself a source of oppression and keeps us perpetually exposed to suffering in its more blatant forms. The whole situation becomes multiplied further to dimensions beyond calculation when we take into account the Buddha's disclosure of the fact of rebirth. All beings in whom ignorance and craving remain present wander on in the cycle of repeated existence, samsara, in which each turn brings them the suffering of new birth, ageing, illness, and death. All states of existence within samsara, being necessarily transitory and subject to change, are incapable of providing lasting security. Life in any world is unstable, it is swept away, it has no shelter and protector, nothing of its own (MN 82.36).