SN 35:190 · The Milk Sap Tree (Khīrarukkha Sutta)

“Monks, for any monk or nun who, with regard to forms cognizable via the eye, if there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; in whom passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned, even if trifling forms cognizable via the eye come into the range of the eye—to say nothing of impressive ones—the mind is consumed. Why is that? Because there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned.

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the nose… flavors cognizable via the tongue… tactile sensations cognizable via the body…

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to ideas cognizable via the intellect, if there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; in whom passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned, even if trifling ideas cognizable via the intellect come into the range of the intellect—to say nothing of impressive ones—the mind is consumed. Why is that? Because there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned.

“Suppose, monks, that there was a milk sap tree—an assattha, a banyan, a milakkhu, or an udambara [fig trees with milky sap]—fresh, young, tender. Wherever a man with a sharp ax would split it, would milk sap come out?”

“Yes, lord. Why is that? Because there is milk sap.”

“In the same way, monks, for any monk or nun who, with regard to forms cognizable via the eye… sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the nose… flavors cognizable via the tongue… tactile sensations cognizable via the body…

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to ideas cognizable via the intellect, if there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; in whom passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned, even if trifling ideas cognizable via the intellect come into the range of the intellect—to say nothing of impressive ones—the mind is consumed. Why is that? Because there is passion, there is aversion, there is delusion; passion has not been abandoned, aversion has not been abandoned, delusion has not been abandoned.

“But, monks, for any monk or nun who, with regard to forms cognizable via the eye, if there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; in whom passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned, even if impressive forms cognizable via the eye come into the range of the eye—to say nothing of trifling ones—the mind isn’t consumed. Why is that? Because there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned.

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the nose… flavors cognizable via the tongue… tactile sensations cognizable via the body…

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to ideas cognizable via the intellect, if there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; in whom passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned, even if impressive ideas cognizable via the intellect come into the range of the intellect—to say nothing of trifling ones—the mind isn’t consumed. Why is that? Because there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned.

“Suppose, monks, that there was a milk sap tree—an assattha, a banyan, a milakkhu, or an udambara—dry, hollow, old. Wherever a man with a sharp ax would split it, would milk sap come out?”

“No, lord. Why is that? Because there is no milk sap.”

“In the same way, monks, for any monk or nun who, with regard to forms cognizable via the eye… sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the nose… flavors cognizable via the tongue… tactile sensations cognizable via the body…

“For any monk or nun who, with regard to ideas cognizable via the intellect, if there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; in whom passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned, even if impressive ideas cognizable via the intellect come into the range of the intellect—to say nothing of trifling ones—the mind isn’t consumed. Why is that? Because there is no passion, there is no aversion, there is no delusion; passion has been abandoned, aversion has been abandoned, delusion has been abandoned.”

See also: SN 12:64; SN 22:2; SN 22:3; SN 35:28; SN 35:74; SN 35:191

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).