“Monks, suppose that a man were to cut down all the grass, sticks, branches, & leaves in India and to gather them into a heap. Having gathered them into a heap, he would make stakes from them, and having made stakes(1) he would impale all the large animals in the sea on large stakes, all the medium-sized animals in the sea on medium-sized stakes, & all the minute animals in the sea on minute stakes. Before he had come to the end of all the sizable animals in the sea, all the grass, sticks, branches, & leaves here in India would have been used up and exhausted. It wouldn't be feasible for him to impale on stakes the even-more-numerous minute animals in the sea. Why is that? Because of the minuteness of their bodies. So great is the plane of deprivation.

“Freed from this great plane of deprivation is the individual consummate in view, who discerns, as it has come to be, that 'This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress… This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'

“Therefore your duty is the contemplation, 'This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress… This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'”

Note