[At Saavatthii the Blessed One said:] "Monks, I will explain to you grasping and worrying, and also not grasping and not worrying... Here, monks, the uninstructed worldling, with no regard for Noble Ones,[1] unskilled and untrained in the Dhamma of the Noble Ones,... of those who are worthy[2]... regards body as the self, the self as having body, body as being in the self, or the self as being in the body. Change occurs to this man's body, and it becomes different. Because of this change and alteration in his body, his consciousness is preoccupied with bodily change. Due to this preoccupation with bodily change, worried thoughts arise and persist, laying a firm hold on his mind. Through this mental obsession he becomes fearful and distressed, and being full of desire[3] and attachment he is worried. He regards feeling as the self,... change occurs to his feeling... he is worried. [Similarly with 'perception,' 'the mental formations' and 'consciousness']. In this way, monks, grasping and worrying arise. And how, monks, do not grasping and not worrying arise?

"Here, monks, the well-instructed Ariyan disciple, who has regard for the Noble Ones, is skilled and trained in the Dhamma of the Noble Ones,... of those who are worthy, does not regard body as the self, the self as having body, body as being in the self, or the self as being in the body. Change occurs to this man's body, and it becomes different, but despite this change and alteration in his body, his consciousness is not preoccupied with bodily change... Not being full of desire and attachment, he is not worried. [Similarly with 'feeling,' 'perception,' 'the mental formations' and 'consciousness']. In this way, monks, grasping and worrying do not arise."

Notes

1.: According to MA [Majjhima Nikaaya commentary] on MN 1 the "Noble Ones" (ariyaa) are Buddhas. Pacceka Buddhas (cf. SN 12.22, n. 1) and disciples (saavakaa). "With no regard..." means "not seeing with knowledge" (ñaa.nena adassaavii), i.e., seeing them with physical eye but not knowing them for what they are. See The Discourse on the Root of Existence [= MN 1], translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS 1980), p. 42.
2.: Sappurisaa: MA (as in n. 1) says these are Pacceka Buddhas and disciples. Alternatively it is stated that the "Noble Ones" may refer to Buddhas alone, or that both terms may refer to all three classes.
3.: Apekhavaa ca upaadaaya ca: KS ["Book of the Kindred Sayings," trans. of the Sa.myutta Nikaaya, Vol. III, by F.L. Woodward, 1924, PTS] has "owing to vexation and clinging," but apekhavaa = "full of longing or desire" (PED ["Pali-English Dictionary," by T.W. Rhys Davids & William Stede, 1921-25, PTS] s.v. apekhavant).

Copyright © 1985 Buddhist Publication Society. The text of this page (“Upaadaaparitassanaa Sutta: Grasping and Worry”, by Maurice O'Connell Walshe) is licensed under a Buddhist Publication Society free-distribution licence. From Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013. You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge and, in the case of reprinting, only in quantities of no more than 50 copies; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. This presentation is a derivative of that source document: it has been restyled and its links rewritten. The translation itself is unaltered.