What is the name of this sutta, please...?

[manas]

hi all,

I think it is no exaggeration to say that to turn the mind away from sensuality, and other things which do not conduce to awakening, requires effort, and can be 'uncomfortable' in that the mind is, for many of us, in the habit of following many of the defilements. It appears to me that we have to resist this, and over and over again, redirect our attention to more wholesome thoughts / volitions / and actions.

I can recall a sutta in which it was said, that if (hypothetically) one was made an offer, that one would be pierced with a hundred spears per day, but that if at the end of a hundred years of this treatment, one would attain stream-entry, that one should accept such a (hypothetical) offer. This sounds very extreme, but it seems to point to stream-entry as being an extremely valuable thing. As so much of what I have read in the suttas has been borne out by experience thus far, I am inclined to give this serious reflection. If the Buddha did say this, he would have meant it. I assume it is because, the suffering of the lower realms can be so intense, that anything that can guarantee that we will never have to reappear there again, would be worth even that much endurance of severe pain. If that is the case, then the discomfort of just abstaining from sensual pleasures a bit more, and meditating even when one 'doesn't feel like it', seems utterly trivial by comparison, and we ought to see ourselves as very fortunate indeed to have the opportunity to, if all goes well, possibly attain stream-entry without the gruelling pain given in the Buddha's analogy of the hundred spears.

What is the name of that sutta, can someone please remind me?

kind regards,
manas.

[Babadhari]

hi manas

Sattisata Sutta: One Hundred Spears


http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

[manas]

hi manas

Sattisata Sutta: One Hundred Spears


http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

Thank you, kitztack. I searched for it using keywords but other things came up instead.

"Monks, suppose there was a man whose life span was 100 years, who would live to 100. Someone would say to him, 'Look here, fellow. They will stab you at dawn with 100 spears, at noon with 100 spears, & again at evening with 100 spears. You, thus stabbed day after day with 300 spears, will have a lifespan of 100 years, will live to be 100, and at the end of 100 years you will realize the four noble truths that you have never realized before.'

"Monks, a person who desired his own true benefit would do well to take up (the offer). Why is that? From an inconceivable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident for the (pain of) blows from spears, swords, & axes. Even if this (offer) were to occur, I tell you that the realization of the four noble truths would not be accompanied by pain & distress. Instead, I tell you, the realization of the four noble truths would be accompanied by pleasure & happiness.

"Which four? The noble truth of stress, the noble truth of the origination of stress, the noble truth of the cessation of stress, and the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.

"Therefore your duty is the contemplation, 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'"

So it's actually three hundred spears a day. If only we could remember all the pain and suffering we have endured in previous lives, we would probably strive with all our might, every day we are alive, to realize the Dhamma.

metta,
manas.

[binocular]

If only we could remember all the pain and suffering we have endured in previous lives,

There's probably enough suffering in this one already ...

[Mkoll]

Keep in mind he was talking to monks here. It just goes to show that to truly be "worthy of the yellow robes" you should be an outstanding person at the get-go.