MN50: Hell of the six bases of contact

Q & A
1

Hello all,

Reading through MN50 I came across this passage in para 22:

Now that Great Hell is known by three names: 22.2‘The Six Fields of Contact’ and also ‘The Impaling With Spikes’ and also ‘Individually Painful’.

Bhikkhu Bodhi also translates it as:

Now, Evil One, there are three names for the Great Hell: the hell of the six bases of contact, the hell of the impalement with stakes, and the hell to be felt for oneself.

It is very interesting that the six bases of contact (phassa: “chaphassāyataniko itipi”) are called hells. I don’t recall seeing this interpretation anywhere else in the suttas, from my limited reading.

Could anyone shed more light on this?

2

I think there is a certain hell which has a specific name, but it doesn’t mean that the six bases of contact are described as a hell. They are dukkha, but should not be described as hell, apart some poetic license in order to emphasize their painfulness. At least to me it seems so …

3

Hells in Buddhism aren’t some kind of righteous punishment your Fairy Godmother hands out to sort out your mind for a better rebirth, but on the other hand they are descriptions of the absolute worst places in the Saha world where an individual suffers because of their past and current misdeeds. However bad this world can get is however bad this world can get. Let’s make the world a better place by starting the change from within.

4

Hell is a synonym for suffering. So it means that the six bases of contact is suffering.
With Metta

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5

The six sense-bases are to be seen as dukkha, but they are not described as a kind of hell. It is rather another place somewhere in the world where all what appears through the senses is painful, thus the name “Hell of the six fields of contact.”

Please have a look at this sutta ( SN 5.135 )

"You’re fortunate, mendicants, so very fortunate, to have the opportunity to lead the spiritual life. I’ve seen the hell called ‘the six fields of contact’. There, whatever sight you see with your eye is unlikable, not likable; undesirable, not desirable; unpleasant, not pleasant.

Whatever sound you hear …

Whatever odor you smell …

Whatever flavor you taste …

Whatever touch you feel …

Whatever idea you know with your mind is unlikable, not likable; undesirable, not desirable; unpleasant, not pleasant. You’re fortunate, mendicants, so very fortunate, to have the opportunity to lead the spiritual life. I’ve seen the heaven called ‘the six fields of contact’. There, whatever sight you see with your eye is likable, not unlikable; desirable, not undesirable; pleasant, not unpleasant.

Whatever sound … odor … flavor … touch …

Whatever idea you know with your mind is likable, not unlikable; desirable, not undesirable; pleasant, not unpleasant. You’re fortunate, mendicants, so very fortunate, to have the opportunity to lead the spiritual life.”

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