Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.
It was then that the Buddha addressed the monks, “Sentient beings don’t know the extent of suffering who circulate through beginningless births and deaths while shrouded by ignorance and tied up by the bond of craving. Monks, take the example of a dog that’s tied to a post with a rope. Because it hasn’t broken that bond that ties it, the dog turns around the post. Whether it stands or lies down, it doesn’t leave the post. In this way, ordinary, foolish sentient beings circle form and turn around form while they aren’t free of greed, craving, thought, and thirst for form. Whether they stand or lie down, they don’t leave form. In this way, they turn around feeling … conception … volition … awareness. Whether they stand or lie down, they don’t leave awareness.
“Monks, one should contemplate and observe the mind well. Why is that? Because the mind has been affected by greed … hatred … affected by delusion for a long night. Monks, sentient beings are troubled because their minds are troubled, and sentient beings are purified because their minds are purified. Monks, I don’t see a single form as varied as that of a multi-colored bird, but its mind goes beyond that. Why is that? That animal’s form is diverse because its mind is diverse.
“Therefore, monks, you should contemplate and observe the mind well. Monks, the mind has been affected by greed … hatred … affected by delusion for a long night. Sentient beings are troubled because their minds are troubled, and sentient beings are purified because their minds are purified. Monks, have you seen the diverse and varied colors of the cāraṇa bird?”
They answered, “We’ve seen it, Bhagavān.”
The Buddha told the monks, “I say that cāraṇa bird has diverse and varied colors because its mind is diverse and varied, too. Why is that? Because its mind is diverse, that cāraṇa bird’s color is diverse. Therefore, you should examine and contemplate the mind well, for it has been affected by diverse greeds, hatreds, and delusions for a long night. Sentient beings are troubled because their minds are troubled, and sentient beings are purified because their minds are purified.
They’re like an artist or an artist’s apprentice who skillfully arranges a white cloth on the ground, prepares a variety of pigments, and paints a variety of images as he likes.
“In this way, monks, ordinary sentient beings don’t truly know form, the formation of form, cessation of form, trouble of form, or escape from form. Because they don’t truly know form, they delight in form. Because they delight in form, they are reborn with future forms. In this way, ordinary, foolish sentient beings don’t truly know feeling … conception … volition … awareness, the formation of awareness, cessation of awareness, trouble of awareness, and escape from awareness. Because they don’t truly know awareness, they delight in awareness. Because they delight in awareness, they are reborn with future instances of awareness. Because they will be born with future form … feeling … conception … volition … awareness, they aren’t freed from form … feeling … conception … volition … aren’t freed from awareness. I say that they aren’t freed from birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain.
“There are well-versed noble disciples who truly know form, the formation of form, cessation of form, trouble of form, and escape from form. Because they truly know form, they don’t delight in form. Because they don’t delight in form, they aren’t reborn with future forms. In this way, they truly know feeling … conception … volition … awareness, the formation of awareness, cessation of awareness, trouble of awareness, and escape from awareness. Because they truly know awareness, they don’t delight in awareness. Because they don’t delight in awareness, they aren’t reborn with future instances of awareness. Because they won’t be born with future form … feeling … conception … volition … awareness, they are freed from form … feeling … conception … volition … freed from awareness. I say that they are freed from birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain.”
After he taught this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.