"Bhikkhus, suppose that this great earth had become one mass of water, and a man would throw a yoke with a single hole upon it. An easterly wind would drive it westward; a westerly wind would drive it eastward; a northerly wind would drive it southward; a southerly wind would drive it northward. There was a blind turtle which would come to the surface once every hundred years. What do you think, bhikkhus, would that blind turtle, coming to the surface once every hundred years, insert its neck into that yoke with a single hole?"
"It would be by chance, venerable sir, that blind turtle, coming to the surface once every hundred years, would insert its neck into that yoke with a single hole."
"So too, bhikkhus, it is by chance that one obtains the human state; by chance that a Tathāgata, an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One arises in the world; by chance that the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata shines in the world.
"You have obtained that human state, bhikkhns; a Tathāgata, an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One has arisen in the world; the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata shines in the world.
"Therefore, bhikkhus, an exertion should be made to understand: 'This is suffering.'
An exertion should be made to understand: 'This is the origin of suffering.'
An exertion should be made to understand: "This is the cessation of suffering.'
An exertion should be made to understand: 'This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering."
