Speculative Views
MN 63 Cūḷa Māluṅkyovāda: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya
“These speculative views are undeclared by the Tathagata -
The world is eternal / not eternal.
The world is finite / infinite.
The soul is the same as / different to the body.
What happens to the Tathagata after death?”
Malunkyaputa asks the Buddha these questions saying he will stay with him if he answers.
B: “Suppose a man were wounded with an arrow and a surgeon came to treat him. The man would say ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out the arrow until I know whether the man who shot me was a noble, a brahmin, a merchant or a worker..what is his clan? was he tall or short..(etc)’. All this would not be known to him and meanwhile he would die.”
Set aside speculative view and concentrate on what HAS been declared - ie. the 4 Noble Truths, Satipatthana.