The Buddha teaches on feelings regarding before, analyzing their origin, cessation, gratification, drawback, and escape for insight and release from clinging.

SN 36.24 Before

“Pubbeva me, bhikkhave, sambodhā anabhisambuddhassa bodhisattasseva sato etadahosi: ‘katamā nu kho vedanā, katamo vedanāsamudayo, katamā vedanāsamudayagāminī paṭipadā, katamo vedanānirodho, katamā vedanānirodhagāminī paṭipadā? Ko vedanāya assādo, ko ādīnavo, kiṁ nissaraṇan’ti?

Tassa mayhaṁ, bhikkhave, etadahosi: ‘tisso imā vedanā sukhā vedanā, dukkhā vedanā, adukkhamasukhā vedanā. Imā vuccanti vedanā. Phassasamudayā vedanāsamudayo. Taṇhā vedanāsamudayagāminī paṭipadā …pe… yo vedanāya chandarāgavinayo chandarāgappahānaṁ. Idaṁ vedanāya nissaraṇan’”ti.

Catutthaṁ.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

“Pubbeva me, bhikkhave, sambodhā anabhisambuddhassa bodhisattasseva sato etadahosi:

“Mendicants, before my awakening—when I was still unawakened but intent on awakening—I thought:

‘katamā nu kho vedanā, katamo vedanāsamudayo, katamā vedanāsamudayagāminī paṭipadā, katamo vedanānirodho, katamā vedanānirodhagāminī paṭipadā?

‘What is feeling? What’s the origin of feeling? What’s the practice that leads to the origin of feeling? What’s the cessation of feeling? What’s the practice that leads to the cessation of feeling?

Ko vedanāya assādo, ko ādīnavo, kiṁ nissaraṇan’ti?

And what is feeling’s gratification, drawback, and escape?’

Tassa mayhaṁ, bhikkhave, etadahosi:

Then it occurred to me:

‘tisso imā vedanā

‘There are these three feelings:

sukhā vedanā, dukkhā vedanā, adukkhamasukhā vedanā.

pleasant, painful, and neutral.

Imā vuccanti vedanā.

These are called feelings.

Phassasamudayā vedanāsamudayo.

Feeling originates from contact.

Taṇhā vedanāsamudayagāminī paṭipadā …pe…

Craving is the practice that leads to the origin of feeling …

yo vedanāya chandarāgavinayo chandarāgappahānaṁ. Idaṁ vedanāya nissaraṇan’”ti.

Removing and giving up desire and greed for feeling: this is its escape.’”

Catutthaṁ.

Topics & Qualities:

Craving

Craving

A driving ‘thirst’ that reaches out toward experiences, identities, or outcomes as the place to find satisfaction—“if only I had that.” It spins stories of lack, binds the mind to becoming, and invariably leads to suffering.

Also known as: wanting, yearning, longing, lit. thirst
Pāli: taṇha, abhijjhā
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Desire

Desire

A wholesome motivation, interest, or objective that acts as the starting point for effort and application of will.

Also known as: aspiration, interest, wish, having an objective, intention, impulse
Pāli: chanda
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Ending

Ending

The complete exhaustion and ending of craving, aversion, and delusion—the three roots of suffering. It refers to both the gradual wearing away of defilements through practice and the final cessation that constitutes Nibbāna.

Also known as: cessation, exhaustion, gradual ending, wearing away
Pāli: khaya, khīṇa, nirodha
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Giving

Giving

The act of generosity, sharing, or offering to others without expecting anything in return. Giving is considered a foundational virtue in Buddhist practice, fostering selflessness and compassion.

Also known as: generosity, charity, donation, almsgiving, donating, philanthropy, providing with, gift with
Pāli: dāna
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Giving up

Giving up

The mental quality of renunciation and release from attachment. It delights in simplicity and freedom rather than in sensual pleasure. Giving up is not loss but the joyful abandoning of burden, opening the way to peace and insight.

Also known as: renunciation, relinquishment, letting go, abandonment
Pāli: nekkhamma
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Greed

Greed

A grasping mental quality of craving, possessiveness, or lustful wanting that clings to objects or experiences; it fuels attachment and obstructs renunciation and contentment

Also known as: acquisitiveness, avarice, covetousness, rapacity, money grabbing, grabbiness
Pāli: lobha, gedha
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Last updated on July 27, 2026