If There Were No (1)

“Bhikkhus, if there were no gratification in the eye, beings would not become enamoured with it; but because there is gratification in the eye, beings become enamoured with it. If there were no danger in the eye, beings would not experience revulsion towards it; but because there is danger in the eye, beings experience revulsion towards it. If there were no escape from the eye, beings would not escape from it; but because there is an escape from the eye, beings escape from it.

“Bhikkhus, if there were no gratification in the ear … … in the nose … in the tongue … in the body … in the mind, beings would not become enamoured with it … but because there is an escape from the mind, beings escape from it.

“So long, bhikkhus, as beings have not directly known as they really are the gratification as gratification, the danger as danger, and the escape as escape in the case of these six internal sense bases, they have not escaped from this world with its devas, Mara, and Brahma, from this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans; they have not become detached from it, released from it, nor do they dwell with a mind rid of barriers. But when beings have directly known all this as it really is, then they have escaped from this world with its devas and humans … they have become detached from it, released from it, and they dwell with a mind rid of barriers.”