SN 38:14 · Stress (Dukkha Sutta)
On one occasion Ven. Sāriputta was staying in Magadha near Nāla Village. Then Jambukhādaka the wanderer went to Ven. Sāriputta and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to Ven. Sāriputta: “‘Stress, stress,’ it is said, my friend Sāriputta. Which type of stress (are they referring to)?”
“There are these three forms of stressfulness, my friend: the stressfulness of pain, the stressfulness of fabrication, the stressfulness of change. These are the three forms of stressfulness.”
“But is there a path, is there a practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness?”
“Yes, there is a path, there is a practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness.”
“Then what is the path, what is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness?”
“Precisely this noble eightfold path, my friend: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the path, this is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness.”
“It’s an auspicious path, my friend, an auspicious practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness—enough for the sake of heedfulness.”
See also: MN 149; SN 22:23; SN 56:11; SN 56:30
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).
