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SN 55.12

The Brahmins

Brāhmaṇasutta

from: 2. The Royal Monastery

The Brahmins

At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, the brahmins advocate a practice called ‘get up and go’. They encourage their disciples: ‘Please, good people, rising early you should face east and walk. Do not avoid a pit, a cliff, a stump, thorny ground, a swamp, or a sewer. You should await death in the place that you fall. And when your body breaks up, after death, you’ll be reborn in a good place, a heaven realm.’

But this practice of the brahmins is a foolish procedure, a stupid procedure. It doesn’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, or extinguishment. But in the training of the Noble One I advocate a ‘get up and go’ practice which does lead solely to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.

And what is that ‘get up and go’ practice? It’s when a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … And they have the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones … leading to immersion. This is that ‘get up and go’ practice which does lead solely to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.”

Translation: German (Ayyā Sabbamittā), English (Bhikkhu Sujato). Source: SuttaCentral / Bilara (public domain, CC0).

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