Samiddhi Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu
A deity tries to persuade a monk to first enjoy sensual pleasures and then go forth.
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rājagaha at Tapodā monastery. Then Ven. Samiddhi, as night was ending, got up & went to the Tapodā Hot Springs to bathe his limbs. Having bathed his limbs and gotten out of the springs, he stood wearing only his lower robe, letting his limbs dry.
Then a certain devatā, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entire Tapodā Hot Springs, went to Ven. Samiddhi. On arrival, while standing in the air, she addressed him with this verse:
“Without having enjoyed (sensual pleasures), you go for alms, monk. You don’t go for alms after having enjoyed. Having enjoyed, monk, then go for alms. Don’t let time pass you by.”
Ven. Samiddhi:
“I don’t know my time. My time is hidden. It can’t be seen. That’s why, not having enjoyed, I go for alms: Don’t let my time pass me by.”
Then the devatā, coming down to earth, said to Ven. Samiddhi, “You have gone forth while young, monk—black-haired, endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of life—without having played with sensuality. Enjoy human sensuality, monk. Don’t drop what is visible here & now in pursuit of what’s subject to time.”
“My friend, I’m not dropping what’s visible here & now in pursuit of what’s subject to time. I’m dropping what’s subject to time in pursuit of what’s visible here & now. For the Blessed One has said that sensuality is subject to time, of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks; whereas this Dhamma is well taught by the Blessed One, visible here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be experienced by the observant for themselves.”
“But, monk, in what way has the Blessed One said that sensuality is subject to time, of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks? And how is this Dhamma visible here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be experienced by the observant for themselves?”
“I’m new, my friend, not long gone forth, only recently come to this Dhamma & discipline. I can’t explain it in detail. But the Blessed One, worthy & rightly self-awakened, is staying here near Rājagaha at Tapodā monastery. Having gone to him, ask him this matter. As he explains it, that’s how you should remember it.”
“Monk, it’s not easy for us to go to the Blessed One, as he is surrounded by other devas of great influence. But if you go to the Blessed One and ask him this matter, I will come along to hear the Dhamma.”
Responding to the devatā, “As you say, my friend,” Ven. Samiddhi went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there [he told the Blessed One his entire conversation with the devatā]. “Now, lord, if that devatā was telling the truth, she is not far from here.”
When this was said, the devatā said to Ven. Samiddhi, “Ask, monk! Ask! I’ve gotten through.”
Then the Blessed One recited this verse to the devatā:
“Perceiving in terms of signs, beings take a stand on signs. Not fully comprehending signs, they come into the bonds of death.
But fully comprehending signs, one doesn’t suppose a signifier.
Yet nothing exists for him by which one would say, ‘To him no thought occurs.’
If you know this, spirit, then say so.”
“I don’t understand, lord, the detailed meaning of the Blessed One’s brief statement. It would be good if the Blessed One would speak in such a way that I would understand the detailed meaning of the Blessed One’s brief statement.”
The Buddha:
“Whoever supposes ‘equal,’ ‘superior,’ or ‘inferior,’ by that he’d dispute. Whereas to one unaffected by these three, ‘equal’ ‘superior’ do not occur.
If you know this, spirit, then say so.”
“I don’t understand, lord, the detailed meaning of the Blessed One’s brief statement. It would be good if the Blessed One would speak in such a way that I would understand the detailed meaning of the Blessed One’s brief statement.”
The Buddha:
“Having shed classifications, gone beyond conceit, he has here cut through craving for name & form: This one—his bonds cut through, free from trouble, from longing— though they search, they can’t find him, human beings & devas, here & beyond, in heaven or any abode.
If you know this, spirit, then say so.”
“Lord, here’s how I understand the detailed meaning of the Blessed One’s brief statement:
In all the world, every world, you should do no evil with speech, body, or mind.
Having abandoned sensuality —mindful, alert— don’t consort with suffering & stress, with what doesn’t pertain to the goal.”
Mindfulness is a quality of the mind, that when cultivated, results in the cultivation of the awakening factors of investigation, energy, rapture (joy), tranquility, concentration and equanimity gradually: to peace and contentment that is visible in the here and now.
Sensual pleasures in contrast are subject to time, leading to a pursuit that is rooted in suffering and stress, that don’t lead to cessation of stress.
An alternative translation for this teaching can be read here: https://suttacentral.net/sn1.20/en/sujato ↗️.
Related Teachings:
The Fever of Sensual Pleasures (from MN 75) - Accused by a hedonist of being too negative, the Buddha recounts the luxury of his upbringing, and his realization of how little value there was in such things. Through renunciation he found a far greater pleasure.
Gradual training, gradual practice and gradual progress (MN 107) - The gradual training guidelines when trained in gradually, leads to gradual progress in the cultivation of the mind.