Siṃsapā Sutta (the handful of leaves)
“In a Rosewood Forest”
In a rosewood grove the Buddha picks up a few leaves and asks which is more, the leaves in his hand or those in the grove. What he has directly known but not explained is like the grove; what he has explained is the handful: the four noble truths, because they lead to “peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.”
Why so little?
Because the rest is “not beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life.” The same reasoning appears in the parable of the poisoned arrow (MN 63): some questions are set aside not because they are forbidden, but because answering them does not help end suffering.
About this text
In a rosewood grove near Kosambī the Buddha picks up a few leaves and asks the mendicants which is more: the leaves in his hand or those in the grove. They answer that the leaves in his hand are a tiny amount. He says that likewise what he has directly known but not taught is far more than what he has taught. He has left the rest aside because it is not beneficial or relevant to the spiritual life. What he has explained is suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path, because that is beneficial and leads to peace, insight, and awakening.
A note on this text. Names “disillusionment,” “dispassion,” and “extinguishment” as goals without explaining them.
The full text
Linked Discourses 56.31 · 4. In a Rosewood Forest · In a Rosewood Forest · translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 1 min · on SuttaCentral
At one time the Buddha was staying near Kosambī in a rosewood grove. Then the Buddha picked up a few rosewood leaves in his hand and addressed the mendicants: “What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the few leaves in my hand, or those in the grove above?” “Sir, the few leaves in your hand are a tiny amount. There are far more leaves in the grove above.” “In the same way, there is much more that I have directly known but have not explained to you. What I have explained is a tiny amount. And why haven’t I explained it? Because it’s not beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. It doesn’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. That’s why I haven’t explained it.
And what have I explained? I have explained: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.
And why have I explained this? Because it’s beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. It leads to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. That’s why I’ve explained it.
That’s why you should practice meditation …”
Questions
Are the leaves simsapa or rosewood?
Siṃsapā is the Pali name of the tree; Sujato translates it as rosewood. Other translations keep the Pali word and speak of siṃsapā leaves.