Dhamma Sarana Temple Keysborough, Melbourne, Australia.

Most Ven. U. Dhammajiva Maha Thero conducted a 5 Day non-residential retreat at Dhamma Sarana Temple, Keysborough, Melbourne, Australia during end Dec 2016. The retreat was conducted in Sinhala medium. The Maha Thero selected Chappanaka Sutta from Salayatana Sunyuktha of Sunyuktha Nikaya for that meditation retreat.

Chappanaka Sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya beautifully illustrates the struggle of the six senses with an eloquent simile. This simile illustrates the plight of six animals having different habits and diverse fields of action are tied together in one knot by a strong rope. The six animals are a crocodile who tries to run to the water, a bird who tries to fly in the air, a dog who tries to run to a village, a fox who tries to flee to a cemetery, a monkey who tries to go to the forest, and a snake who tries to creep into an anthill. These six animals are constantly struggling to reach their respective habitats. Similarly, the six senses are constantly seeking gratification in their own spheres, and the human who has no control over sense faculties becomes terribly confused.

The Pali word for sense faculty is Indriya. It is a very interesting word which reveals much about our human situation. Indra means lord or king, and the sense faculties are called indriyas because they dominate us so much. They act as our lords or masters and we slavishly obey them. The eye wishes to see pleasant forms, the ear wishes to hear pleasant sounds, the nose to smell pleasant smells, the tongue to enjoy pleasant tastes, and the body to feel pleasant tactile objects. The mental faculty which unifies all other sense faculties, gets terribly disturbed as it is dragged in different directions by the different sense stimuli, while it need to deal with its own share of agitations in the form of hopes, memories, and imaginations.

Please click to read the text of the Sutta from Thripitakaya.org, here: Chappanaka Sutta

How to Listen and Download the audio files

To listen directly: Please left click on the link to listen directly. Once the link is clicked, you will be directed to a separate page containing the talk. Usually the file starts to play in that window. If it doesn’t you could highlight the browser window and click ‘reload this page’. It will start to play.

To download: You could download the file by right clicking on the link and then selecting “save as” from the drop down menu.

Damsara

Buddhist Dhamma Portal

Chappanaka Sutta

Please click to read the text of the Sutta from Thripitakaya.org, here: Chappanaka Sutta

Please click here to reach the other Dhamma series done by Most Ven U Dhammajiva Maha Thero.