The Fire Sermon (sutra)

Ven. Ñanamoli (Osbert John S. Moore), Adittapariyaya Sutra ("The Fire Sermon Discourse") from Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha; Dhr. Seven, Ven. Aloka (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Burn, baby, burn. No pain, no gain.

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One (the Buddha) was living in Gaya, at Gaya Head, together with a thousand wandering ascetics. There he addressed them:

"Meditators, all is burning! What is the 'all' that is burning?
 
"The eye is burning, visible forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neutral (neither-painful-nor-pleasant) that arises dependent on eye-contact as its indispensable condition -- that, too, is burning. Burning with what?

"It is burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I declare it is burning with rebirth, aging-and-death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with disappointment (pain), with grief, with despair.

"The ear is burning, sounds are burning...

"The nose is burning, fragrances are burning...

"The tongue is burning, flavors are burning...

"The body is burning, tangibles are burning...

"The mind is burning, cognitions are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, and whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neutral that arises dependent on mind-contact as its indispensable condition -- that, too, is burning. Burning with what?

"It is burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I declare it is burning with rebirth, aging and death, with sorrow(s), with lamentation, with disappointment (pains), with grief, with despair.

 
"Meditators, when a noble follower who has heard (the Truth/the Dharma) sees things in this way, one

• finds estrangement in the eye
• finds estrangement in forms
• finds estrangement in eye-consciousness
• finds estrangement in eye-contact, and
• whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neutral that arises dependent on eye-contact as its indispensable condition -- in that, too, one finds estrangement.

"One finds estrangement in the ear... in sounds...

"One finds estrangement in the nose... in fragrances...

"One finds estrangement in the tongue... in flavors...

"One finds estrangement in the body... in tangibles...

"One finds estrangement in the mind, finds estrangement in cognitions, finds estrangement in mind-consciousness, finds estrangement in mind-contact, and whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neutral that arises dependent on mind-contact as its indispensable condition -- in that, too, one finds estrangement.

Reaching enlightenment and freedom

There is a Deathless State: Nirvana.

"When one finds estrangement, passion fades out. With the fading of passion, one is liberated. When one is liberated, there is knowledge that one is liberated. One understands: 'Rebirth is exhausted, the supreme life is fully lived, what could be done is done, and of this there is no more in the beyond.'"

That is what the Blessed One said. The meditators were glad, and they approved of his words.

Now during the Awakened One's utterance, the hearts of those thousand wandering ascetics were liberated from the taints by letting go fully and clinging no more.

— SN 35.28