Reading guide
A physical setting becomes a doctrinal image
This project's own reading: the discourse's own structure grounds an abstract teaching in an immediate, shared physical experience — the mendicant's own awe at a real cliff (at a place literally named “Inspiration Peak”) becomes the occasion for naming a metaphorical cliff, one this discourse claims is genuinely bigger and more terrifying.
A vagga named for its own second discourse
This project's own observation: unlike Vagga 4 (Sīsapāvanavagga), named for its own opening discourse (the pre-existing SN 56.31), this vagga takes its own name from SN 56.42 specifically, its second discourse — a naming convention this project notes without further explanation, since the root text itself gives none.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. Then the Buddha said to the mendicants, “Come, mendicants, let’s go to Inspiration Peak for the day’s meditation.” “Yes, sir,” they replied. Then the Buddha together with several mendicants went to Inspiration Peak. A certain mendicant saw the big cliff there and said to the Buddha, “Sir, that big cliff is really huge and scary. Is there any other cliff bigger and scarier than this one?” “There is, mendicant.”
§2“But sir, what is it?” “Mendicant, there are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. They take pleasure in choices that lead to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. Since they take pleasure in such choices, they continue to make them. Having made choices that lead to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress, they fall down the cliff of rebirth, old age, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from suffering, I say.
§3There are ascetics and brahmins who truly understand about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. They don’t take pleasure in choices that lead to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. Since they don’t take pleasure in such choices, they stop making them. Having stopped making choices that lead to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress, they don’t fall down the cliff of rebirth, old age, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re freed from suffering, I say.
§4That’s why you should practice meditation …”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.