[290] "Having such confidence in the worthy Gotama, [I trust that] the worthy Gotama is able to teach me the Dhamma in such a way that I might see health (ārogya), Nibbāna."
"Māgaṇḍiya, suppose there were a man blind from birth. He could not see dark and light forms; he could not see blue forms; he could not see yellow forms; he could not see red forms; he could not see crimson forms; he could not see what is even and uneven; he could not see the forms of the stars; he could not see the moon and sun. He might hear a man with eyes saying: 'Excellent indeed, sir, is a white cloth—beautiful, stainless, and clean!' He would go about searching for a white cloth. Then a certain man would deceive him with a coarse garment stained with oil and soot, saying: 'Here, good man, is a white cloth for you—beautiful, stainless, and clean.' He would accept it, and having accepted it, he would put it on. Then his friends and companions, his kinsmen and blood relations, would engage a physician-surgeon to attend him. That physician-surgeon would prepare medicine for him—emetics, purgatives, ointments, counter-ointments, and nasal treatments. Relying on that medicine, his sight would arise, his eyes would be purified. Together with the arising of his sight, whatever desire and passion (chandarāga) he had for that coarse garment stained with oil and soot would be abandoned; and he would regard that man as no friend, would regard him as an enemy, and might even think that he ought to be deprived of life, [thinking]: 'For a long time indeed, sir, have I been defrauded, cheated, and beguiled by this man with this coarse garment stained with oil and soot, [when he said]: "Here, good man, is a white cloth for you—beautiful, stainless, and clean."'
"Even so, Māgaṇḍiya, if I were to teach you the Dhamma thus: 'This is that health; this is that Nibbāna,' you might know health, you might see Nibbāna. Together with the arising of your vision, whatever desire and passion you have for the five aggregates subject to clinging would be abandoned. Moreover, it might occur to you thus: 'For a long time indeed, sir, have I been defrauded, cheated, and beguiled by this mind (citta). For in clinging, it was just form (rūpa) that I was clinging to; in clinging, it was just feeling (vedanā) that I was clinging to; in clinging, it was just perception (saññā) that I was clinging to; in clinging, it was just volitional formations (saṅkhārā) that I was clinging to; in clinging, it was just consciousness (viññāṇa) that I was clinging to. For me, with clinging (upādāna) as condition, existence (bhava) [comes to be]; with existence as condition, birth (jāti); with birth as condition, aging and death (jarāmaraṇa), and sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this entire mass of suffering (dukkha).'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.