SN 36.4 - Patala Sutta: The Bottomless Chasm
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.004.than.html
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright: ©1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Patala Sutta: The Bottomless Chasm", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Patala Sutta: The Bottomless Chasm", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 10 January 2013. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Patala Sutta: The Bottomless Chasm" (SN 36.4), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 10 January 2013, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.004.than.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

"Monks, when an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person makes the statement, 'There is a bottomless chasm in the ocean,' he is talking about something that doesn't exist, that can't be found. The word 'bottomless chasm' is actually a designation for painful bodily feeling.

"When an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is touched by a painful bodily feeling, he sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. This is called an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person who has not risen up out of the bottomless chasm, who has not gained a foothold.

"When a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones is touched by a painful bodily feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. This is called a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones who has risen up out of the bottomless chasm, whose foothold is gained."

 Whoever can't endure them once they've arisen — painful bodily feelings that could kill living beings — who trembles at their touch, who cries & wails, a weakling with no resilience: he hasn't risen up out of the bottomless chasm or even gained a foothold. Whoever endures them once they've arisen — painful bodily feelings that could kill living beings — who doesn't tremble at their touch: he's risen up out of the bottomless chasm, his foothold is gained.