SN 1:10 · The Wilderness (Arañña Sutta)
Standing to one side, a devatā addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
“Living in the wilderness,
staying peaceful, remaining chaste,
eating just one meal a day:
why are their faces
so bright & serene?”
The Buddha:
“They don’t sorrow over the past,
don’t long for the future.
They survive on the present.
That’s why their faces
are bright & serene.
From longing for the future,
from sorrowing over the past,
fools wither away
like a green reed cut down.”
See also: AN 3:35; Ud 2:10; Thag 1:14; Thag 1:41; Thag 1:49; Thag 18
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
