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Buddhism

SN 1:69 · Desire (Icchā Sutta)

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant
Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

“With what         is the world tied down?

With the subduing

of what         is it freed?

With the abandoning

of what

are all bonds

cut through?”

The Buddha:

“With desire         the world is tied down.

With the subduing

of desire         it’s freed.

With the abandoning

of desire

all bonds

are cut through.”


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).

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