Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.154

A Spike

Sūkasutta — Balakaraṇīyavagga

Setting
Continuing directly from SN 45.153
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
One simile with its own explicit cause-and-effect reasoning, repeated for both the spike and the mendicant
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — short, but with an unusually explicit cause-and-effect structure

Why this discourse

A spike of rice or barley, pointing the right way, can break the skin and draw blood if trodden on — because it points the right way. Likewise, a mendicant whose view is pointing the right way can break ignorance, produce knowledge, and realize extinguishment — because their view points the right way. This is this vagga's own most explicit statement of why right view matters causally, not merely descriptively.

Reading guide

An explicit "why" repeated twice

Unusually for this vagga, the discourse itself asks “why is that?” twice — once for the spike, once for the mendicant — and answers both times with the same underlying reason: rightness of direction. This makes explicit what earlier similes (the tree at SN 45.152, for instance) left as pure comparison.

Key terms

sūko sammā paṇihito — “a spike... pointing the right way” — the discourse's own opening image, capable of breaking skin and drawing blood
sammāpaṇihitāya diṭṭhiyā sammāpaṇihitāya maggabhāvanāya — “whose view and development of the path is pointing the right way” — the mendicant's own counterpart to the rightly-pointed spike
avijjaṁ bhindeyya vijjaṁ uppādeyya nibbānaṁ sacchikareyya — “may well break ignorance, produce knowledge, and realize extinguishment” — the causal outcome this discourse's own reasoning leads to
taṁ kissa hetu — “why is that?” — asked twice in this discourse, an unusually explicit cause-and-effect device for this vagga
vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ — the base formula, the only one of the four written out in full here

The text

The complete discourse, including its own repeated "why is that?" reasoning. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, suppose a spike of rice or barley was pointing the right way. If you trod on it with hand or foot, it’s possible it may break the skin and produce blood. Why is that? Because the spike is pointing the right way. In the same way, a mendicant whose view and development of the path is pointing the right way may well break ignorance, produce knowledge, and realize extinguishment. Why is that? Because their view is pointing the right way. And how does a mendicant whose view and development of the path is pointing the right way break ignorance, give rise to knowledge, and realize extinguishment? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go. That’s how a mendicant whose view and development of the path is pointing the right way breaks ignorance, gives rise to knowledge, and realizes extinguishment.”

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Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
What makes this discourse's own reasoning structure unusual for this vagga?
Correct: A. Making causal reasoning explicit where earlier similes (like the felled tree) left it as pure comparison.
Question 2 of 3
Why can a rightly-pointed spike break skin and draw blood, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. The discourse's own explicit answer, mirrored exactly for the mendicant's own right view.
Question 3 of 3
What three outcomes does a mendicant with rightly-pointed view and path-development achieve?
Correct: A. The causal payoff of "pointing the right way," mirrored from the spike simile.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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