It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing, how well said this was by the Buddha. ‘Reverend, I say it’s not possible to know or see or reach the end of the world by traveling to a place where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn.’”
“But Reverend, I also say there’s no making an end of suffering without reaching the end of the world. For it is in this fathom-long carcass with its perception and mind that I describe the world, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation.
The end of the world can never be reached by traveling. But without reaching the end of the world, there’s no release from suffering.
So an intelligent person, understanding the world, has completed the spiritual journey <j>and gone to the end of the world. Assuaged, knowing the end of the world, they do not hope for this world or the next.”
Linked Discourses 2.27 3. Various Sectarians With Nanda
Standing to one side, the godling Nanda spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence: