Guhaṭṭhaka Sutta | Sn IV-2
2. Guhaṭṭhaka Sutta
Discourse on the Den
778. Dwelling in the den of the body (the 5 aggregates), thickly covered with heaps of defilements drowned in the delusion of sensuality, man finds it extremely hard to abandon life's allurements, so he is actually very far from peace and seclusion. (1)
779. Bound by a longing for life founded in desire, those who hanker after the future and the past sensuous lives, lust for those aforesaid lives as well as the present one, that's why release (form the consequences of their lust) is difficult for them nor can they cause release of others. (2)
780. The lustful ones, addicted to and infatuated with sensual pleasures, careless for the Buddha's Teaching and deep rooted in vice, bewail at the approach of death, assailed by the uncertainty of future existence. (3)
781. Hence one should definitely study the Buddha's Teaching, take upon himself the (3-fold) Noble Training.
If something in life is known to be unjust, being guided by that knowledge, the unjust action should be averted. For, as the wise point out, this life is short. (4)
782. I see in this world persons possessed by craving for (the 3 forms of) existences, who tremble (with fear and anxiety).
The wretched ones who are not free from craving for existence; be it high or low; whine when they enter Death's mouth. (5)
783. Look at those poor things, palpitating in sensuous joys of their choosing, mere wretches; their fates no better than the fishes that frolic in a drying stream.
Seeing this unpleasant future, one should not become attached to any form of existence and strive to overcome the false sense of mine. (6)
784. The wise one understands the dual-process of contact and its cause and therefore has no passionate desire for contact, never doing anything that his sense of righteousness won't permit; he is not tainted by what he sees or hears. (7)
785. With self-enlightened Super-Knowledge, he is able to cross the (4 great) floods (Saṁsāra).
Unsmeared with the taints of craving and false views he is treating his person as a mere mind-matter composite.
Having taken out the darts of defilement, having trained himself in vigilance, he wishes not for this life or for hereafter. (8)
End of the Second Guhaṭṭhaka Sutta