Reading guide
A visit requested "out of sympathy," granted in person
Assaji's carers are instructed to bow on his behalf and specifically ask the Buddha to come “out of sympathy” (anukampa) — not a summons but a request. The Buddha consents in silence and comes himself that same afternoon, telling Assaji explicitly not to get up: “there are some seats spread out, I will sit there.”
A precise diagnostic question, separating pain from remorse
The Buddha's questioning is notably careful: first about the physical pain itself (growing, not fading), then specifically about remorse and regret, and then, separately again, whether that remorse concerns his ethical conduct. Assaji confirms he has no reason to blame himself ethically — so the Buddha asks directly: then why the remorse at all?
The real distress: losing what once came easily
Assaji's answer is unusually candid: before his illness he meditated having “completely stilled the physical process,” but now he can't get immersion, and worries, “may I not decline!” The Buddha's response gently reframes rather than dismisses this worry, naming a whole category of ascetics and brahmins “for whom samādhi is the essence,” equating immersion itself with the ascetic life — implicitly identifying this equation as the actual source of Assaji's suffering, distinct from illness itself.
Facing feeling and death directly, closing with a lamp running dry
The teaching that follows moves beyond the standard chain into something more immediately practical for someone facing death: feeling any pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling as impermanent, unattached, unrelished, “felt detached”; feeling the end of the body and of life draw close, and understanding clearly that this is happening. The discourse closes with one of the collection's gentlest images: an oil lamp, depending on oil and a wick, is extinguished simply because it is no longer fed, once its fuel runs out — and in the same way, when body and life end, everything felt, no longer relished, “becomes cool right here.”
Key terms
The text
§1“It’s all right, Assaji, don’t get up. There are some seats spread out, I will sit there.” He sat on the seat spread out and said, “I hope you’re keeping well, Assaji; I hope you’re all right. And I hope the pain is fading, not growing, that its fading is evident, not its growing.”
§2“Sir, I’m not all right, I’m not getting by. My pain is terrible and growing, not fading, its growing is evident, not its fading.” “I hope you don’t have any remorse or regret?” “Indeed, sir, I have no little remorse and regret.” “I hope you have no reason to blame yourself when it comes to ethical conduct?” “No sir, I have no reason to blame myself when it comes to ethical conduct.” “In that case, Assaji, why do you have remorse and regret?”
§3“Sir, before my time of illness I meditated having completely stilled the physical process. But now I can’t get immersion. Since I can’t get immersion, I think: ‘May I not decline!’” “There are, Assaji, ascetics and brahmins for whom samādhi is the essence, equating immersion with the ascetic life. They think: ‘May we not decline!’
§4If they feel a pleasant feeling, they understand that it’s impermanent, that they’re not attached to it, and that they don’t relish it. If they feel a painful feeling, they understand that it’s impermanent, that they’re not attached to it, and that they don’t relish it. If they feel a neutral feeling, they understand that it’s impermanent, that they’re not attached to it, and that they don’t relish it.
§5If they feel a pleasant feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a painful feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a neutral feeling, they feel it detached. Feeling the end of the body draw close, they understand: ‘I feel the end of the body draw close.’ Feeling the end of life draw close, they understand: ‘I feel the end of life draw close.’ They understand: ‘When my body breaks up and my life is over, everything that’s felt, being no longer relished, will become cool right here.’
§6Suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn. As the oil and the wick are used up, it would be extinguished due to not being fed. In the same way, feeling the end of the body draw close, they understand: ‘I feel the end of the body draw close.’ Feeling the end of life draw close, they understand: ‘I feel the end of life draw close.’ They understand: ‘When my body breaks up and my life is over, everything that’s felt, being no longer relished, will become cool right here.’”
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