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The following excerpt is from Sunakkhatta Sutta (To Sunakkhatta) from Majjhima Nikaya 105. The translation from Pali to English is by Thanissaro Bhikkhu and the sutta in its entirety can be accessed here
"Suppose that a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon. The surgeon would cut around the opening of the wound with a knife and then would probe for the arrow with a probe. He then would pull out the arrow and extract the poison, leaving on residue behind. Knowing that no residue was left behind, he would say, 'My good man, your arrow has been pulled out. The poison has been extracted, with no residue left behind, so it is not enough to do you harm. Eat suitable food. Don't eat unsuitable food, or else the wound fill fester. Wash the wound frequently, smear it with an ointment frequently, so that blood & pus don't fill the opening of the wound. Don't walk in the wind & sun, or else dust & dirt may contaminate the opening of the wound. Keep looking after the wound, my good man, and work for its healing.'
"The thought would occur to the man: 'My arrow has been pulled out. The poison has been extracted with no residue left behind, so it is not enough to do me harm.' He would eat suitable food, so the wound wouldn't fester. He would wash the wound and smear it with an ointment frequently, so pus & blood wouldn't fill the opening of the wound. He would not walk around in the wind & sun, so dust & dirt wouldn't contaminate the opening of the wound. He would keep looking after the wound and would work for its healing. Now, both because of these suitable actions of his and because of there being no residue of the poison left behind, the wound would heal. With the healing of the wound and it being covered with skin, he wouldn't incur death or death-like suffering.
"In the same way, there's the possible case where a certain monk thinks, 'Craving is said by the Contemplative to be an arrow. The poison of ignorance spreads its toxin through desire, passion, & ill will. I have abandoned the arrow. I have expelled the poison of ignorance. I am rightly bent on Unbinding.' Because he is rightly bent on Unbinding, he wouldn't pursue those things that are unsuitable for a person rightly bent on Unbinding. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable forms & sights with the eye. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable sounds with the ear...unsuitable aromas with the nose...unsuitable flavours with the tongue...unsuitable tactile sensations with the body. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable ideas with the intellect. When he doesn't pursue unsuitable forms & sights with the eye...doesn't pursue unsuitable ideas with the intellect, lust doesn't invade tind. With his mind not invaded by lust, he doesn't incur death or death-like suffering.
"I [the Buddha] has given this simile to convey a meaning. The meaning is this: the wound stands for the six internal sense media; the poison, for ignorance; the arrow, for craving; the probe, for mindfulness; the knife, for noble discernment; the surgeon, for the Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened.
"Now, when a monk --- maintaining restraint over the six spheres of contact, knowing that 'Acquisition is the root of stress' --- is free from acquisition, released in the total ending of acquisition, it's not possible that, with regard to acquisition, he would stir his body or arouse his mind.
"Suppose there were a beverage in a bronze cup---consummate in its color, smell, & flavour---but mixed with poison. And suppose tha a man were to come along, wanting to live, not wanting to die, desiring pleasure & abhorring pain. What do you think, Sunakkhatta --- would he drink the beverage in the bronze cup knowing that 'Having drunk this, I will incur death or death-like suffering'?"
"No, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk --- maintaining restraint over the six spheres of contact, knowing that 'Acquisition is the root of stress' --- is free from acquisition, released in the total ending of acquisition, it's not possible that, with regard to acquisition, he would stir his body or arouse his mind.
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