chapter ten

The Stream to Unbinding

As we have seen, as the path develops, the various path-factors support and strengthen one another to the point where they overlap. This tendency becomes more pronounced when right concentration has been sufficiently mastered that discernment can analyze it for the purpose of going beyond it. At that point, all eight factors of the noble path are present and begin to coalesce into one: Right view is what analyzes the state of concentration in terms of fabrication; right resolve aims at using the analysis to gain higher levels of happiness; right speech, right action, and right livelihood are present in the sense that the wrong versions of these path-factors are absent; right effort abandons everything that right view sees as leading to suffering, and right mindfulness directs the activities of all the other factors.

As right view develops to its highest level—in which all fabrications are abandoned—right effort also develops to its highest level, in which even the choices of staying in place and moving are also abandoned. As the path-factors converge on their highest level, their coalescence becomes complete. This brings about a moment, called the stream (§319), in which everything is dropped—no intentions are formed, and even the act of attention falls away. This stream then flows to an opening to the unfabricated.

As AN 9:36 (§312) points out, if there is no passion or delight for the Dhamma experienced at this point, the resulting awakening will be complete. However, if the mind latches on to any passion or delight for the deathless, it will attain only a lesser level of awakening. AN 9:36 identifies that level as non-return, the third level of awakening, but other suttas indicate that even with stream-entry, the first level of awakening, there is a vision of the deathless (§§320–321).

The texts describe this vision as the arising of the Dhamma eye. What the Dhamma eye sees is described in a standard formula throughout the Canon: “Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.” At first glance, this may not seem to be that remarkable an insight. However, the texts make clear that this insight is not a matter of belief, reflection, or inference, but of direct seeing. And for this insight to arise spontaneously in the mind, there must be a glimpse not only of the causal nature of phenomena, but also of what stands in opposition to “all that is subject to origination”—i.e., something not subject to origination: the unfabricated—deathlessness.

As a result of this vision, three fetters fall away from the mind: uncertainty, self-identity views, and grasping at habits and practices.

• The glimpse of the deathless is what does away with uncertainty: You see for sure that the Buddha was right, that the noble eightfold path does lead to the end of suffering and stress, and that no other path could possibly lead there (§323).

• The fact that none of the aggregates are present in the experience of the deathless is what does away with self-identity views. From this point on, you will see no compulsion to construct a self-identity in any way around any of the aggregates. As §110 shows, this means that you won’t see yourself as any of the aggregates, as owning any of the aggregates, as being within any of the aggregates, or as having any of the aggregates within you. This last option rules out even the possibility of identifying with the idea of an infinite or interconnected self that contains or surrounds the aggregates. As §229 shows, the abandoning of self-identity views means that not only do you abandon the idea that “I have a self,” but also the idea that “I don’t have a self.” You lose interest in questions about the existence or non-existence of the self.

• The fact that you have seen the futility of engaging in questions about the existence of the self means that you will no longer construct a sense of self around your activities. In the words of §164, you will still be virtuous, but you won’t define yourself around your virtues, exalting yourself for following the precepts or disparaging others for not. This is what does away with grasping at habits and practices.

However, even though the mind is freed from these three fetters, it is not totally unfettered, for the texts identify a total of ten fetters that keep the mind bound to the processes of further becoming. In addition to the first three, these are: sensual desire, ill will, passion for form, passion for what is formless, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance (§324). Only on the fourth level of awakening, arahantship, do all ten fetters fall away. As a number of suttas say, on the lower levels of awakening you may have seen the Dhamma, but you don’t yet dwell “touching it with your body” (§323; §326). In other words, you have yet to experience it in a lasting, all-around way. This means that there is more work to be done.

The arahant’s path. Different passages from the suttas indicate the nature of this work in different ways. Some of them, such as Ven. Khemaka’s simile in §327, focus on the issue raised above, in conjunction with AN 9:36: As long as there is still a sense of passion and delight in the Dhamma, that passion creates a subtle level of becoming, with a subtle level of self. Even though this self is not identified with any of the aggregates, as “I am this,” there is still a lingering sense of “I am.” Ven. Khemaka compares this lingering sense to the scent of a cleaning agent that lingers in a cloth after it has been washed. In other words, even though you no longer define yourself around the aggregates or even around the virtues you have fully mastered, a sense of self still lingers around the activities of the path that need to be further developed. Only when they are fully developed will the scent go away.

According to §325, the factors that remain to be developed are concentration and discernment, which for a stream-enterer have been developed only to a moderate degree. This point is supported by MN 117’s description of the arahant’s tenfold path, together with SN 48:46’s description of how the extra path-factors are developed. According to MN 117 (§48), the arahant’s path contains all the factors of the noble eightfold path plus two more: right knowledge and right release. SN 48:46 (§330) indicates that these two factors are developed through a noble level of, respectively, the faculties of discernment and concentration.

Right knowledge is never explicitly defined in the suttas. However, the descriptions of full awakening scattered through the suttas show that it consists of several components: First is knowledge that the duties with regard to the four noble truths have been completed (§106). Second is the knowledge that the effluents have also been comprehended under the same fourfold rubric as the four truths about suffering: the effluents themselves, the origination of effluents, the cessation of effluents, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of effluents (§30; §333). This removes the effluents that remain in the mind after stream-entry: sensuality, becoming, and ignorance.

This knowledge leads to right release, which §307, in harmony with §329, describes as a type of concentration: “the concentration whereby—neither pressed down nor forced back, nor with fabrication kept blocked or suppressed—still as a result of release, contented as a result of standing still, and as a result of contentment one is not agitated.”

This concentration is called the unprovoked awareness-release (§7; §§338–339). “Awareness-release” is a term used throughout the Canon to indicate states of concentration, based on the fact that, in ordinary concentration, the mind is temporarily liberated from passion for sensuality. However, the unprovoked awareness-release is totally liberated from passion once and for all.

The reason why such a release is called “unprovoked” comes from the Buddhist theory of dhātu, or properties, underlying events in nature and in the mind. According to this theory, the physical properties are four: earth (solidity), liquid, heat, and wind (motion). Three of them—liquid, heat, and wind—are potentially active. When they are aggravated, agitated, or provoked—the Pāli term here, ‘pakuppati’, is used also on the psychological level, where it means angered or upset—they act as the underlying cause for natural activity. When the provocation ends, the corresponding activity subsides (see §115).

A similar theory attributes the irruption of mental states to the provocation of the properties of sensuality, form, or formlessness (SN 14:12).

Even unbinding is described as a property (§360). However, there is a crucial distinction in how unbinding is attained, in that the unbinding property is never provoked. Any events that depend on the provocation of a property are inherently unstable and inconstant, subject to change when the provocation ends. But because true release is not caused by the provocation of anything, it is not subject to change.

This is where the unprovoked awareness-release differs from other attainments that are sometimes mistaken for it. The Canon lists two examples of these wrong forms of release—wrong, that is, only when they are mistaken for total release: the attainment of a universal perception of white, in which all forms, inside and out, seem to glow with a white light; and the attainment of the non-dual totality of consciousness (§335). These attainments are high-level states of concentration but, like all the jhānas and formless attainments, they are fabricated and so subject to change. Although they are conducive to liberation, it’s necessary to develop dispassion even for them if you are to reach genuine release.

As §336 points out—and here it corroborates the lessons of §312 and §327—passion for attainments like these involves a subtle sense of “I am,” and that sense, which corresponds to the fetter of conceit, is precisely what taints the attainment with clinging and so with a subtle level of stress. The duty thus falls to discernment to ferret out and destroy the last remnant of ignorance around that clinging.

This is why the standard description of an arahant’s release calls it both an awareness-release and a discernment-release (§325; §334), in that discernment is needed to ensure that the awareness-release is unprovoked. In other words, it’s not the case that awareness-release is one thing, and discernment-release something else. As §340 points out, discernment-release is a release in which discernment thoroughly comprehends any of the levels of jhāna or the formless attainments after they have been attained. And as §312 shows, this thorough comprehension includes comprehension even of the passion that might arise with the resulting experience of the deathless. When that passion is finally comprehended—and there is no passion even for dispassion (§358)—then the last remaining sense of “I am” is uprooted. At that point, the path—even the discernment that enabled you to reach dispassion—is also abandoned. And with the total abandoning of everything, total awakening is reached.

After awakening. In the standard descriptions of the realizations that follow on awakening, the first thing noticed, after the fact of release, is that there is no more birth (§30; §123; §137; §231; §254; §§316–317). This is because there is no more craving to create a location—in any of the possible stations of consciousness or dimensions (§341)—to act as a nucleus or seed of becoming. This explains why an arahant is described as “everywhere released” (§342). Such a person is also totally undefined. As §111 and §113 note, beings are defined by their obsessions and passions. With no remaining obsessions or passions, there is no way that an arahant can be defined even as a “being.” It’s for this reason that the Buddha was so consistent in putting aside the question of whether a fully awakened person, after death, could be described as existing, not existing, both, or neither (§132; §348): When you can’t even say what a person is, there’s no way of discussing whether or not that “what” exists. Because beings are also defined by their need to feed (§112), the fact that arahants do not qualify as beings means that their attainment is hunger-free (§376). Totally freed, even from the bounds of definition, arahants are totally unbound.

In line with the fact that “unbinding” refers to the extinguishing of a fire, §360 compares a living arahant to a fire with fuel remaining, and an arahant after death to a fire with no fuel remaining. AN 6:43 (§361) expands on this image by comparing the living arahant to a fire that has gone out but whose embers are still warm. The passage doesn’t complete the image, but the implication is that an arahant after death is like a fire that has gone so totally out that its embers have grown cold.

While the embers are still warm, arahants still experience things as pleasing and displeasing, and they are still sensitive to pleasure and pain, but as §22, §317, and §359 note, they experience these things disjoined from them. They still act on intentions, but they have learned to “burn” any seed created by those intentions, so that they are no longer creating any kamma that will result in future becoming (§344). This is one of the reasons why unbinding is said to be the end of kamma.

Even though there is no more work for arahants to do in terms of the path, they still practice factors of the path, both for the sake of others—the suttas are filled with stories of the Buddha and his arahant disciples practicing concentration so as to help in the work of spreading the Dhamma—as well as for their own sake: to foster mindfulness and alertness, and a pleasant abiding in the here and now. For instance, they still engage in the perceptions conducive to dispassion for the aggregates (§347), and they continue practicing the establishings of mindfulness and jhāna (§§345–346), although the formula describing their mindfulness practice is different from the standard formula for those still on the path:

In particular, notice that, on this level, the arahant experiences the frame of reference disjoined from it. At the same time, because mindfulness and concentration are fully mastered at this level, mindfulness is not mentioned in this formula, and concentration is automatic. Also, there is no need to subdue greed and distress with reference to the world because all greed and distress are gone.

As for the experience of unbinding, the texts repeatedly emphasize that it cannot be properly defined (§§350–351). Even the attempt to ask whether there is anything remaining or not remaining in that attainment, they say, is an example of objectification (§349), i.e., the type of thinking that builds on the perception, “I am the thinker” (Sn 4:14). Because this type of thinking simply leads to more becoming, speculations of this sort can actually get in the way of reaching unbinding.

Nonetheless, the suttas do describe several aspects of unbinding, enough to show that it is a worthwhile goal. Five of these aspects stand out, corresponding to the epithets for unbinding listed in SN 43 (§380) and scattered through several other passages of the Canon.

• The first aspect is that unbinding is experienced as a type of consciousness (§370). This consciousness is said to be “without surface,” meaning that it makes contact with no object at all, not even consciousness itself. SN 22:87 terms this “unestablished consciousness.” SN 12:64 explains these designations with a simile: a beam of light that lands nowhere, causing nothing to reflect it. This is why one of the epithets for unbinding is “the surfaceless.”

Unlike the consciousness aggregate, consciousness without surface is not known through the six senses. This is why unbinding is said to be subtle and hard-to-see (§380). Yet because this consciousness is a form of knowing, §348 states that it is a mistake to say that arahants do not know or see. In fact, arahants know and see to such a heightened pitch that they are beyond uncertainty and even the need for conviction (§328; §369; SN 48:44).

Consciousness without surface is also unlike the consciousness aggregate in that it is totally outside of space and time. This is why §§373–374 state that it contains no coming nor going nor staying in place, as these activities would assume time; and that it has no here nor there nor between-the-two, as these concepts assume space. Existing outside of space and time, this consciousness is endless, which is why it’s also called “unrestricted awareness” and the “unprovoked awareness-release” (§338; §378). Although this consciousness is luminous, it should not be confused with the radiant mind of AN 1:51–52 because, unlike that mind, this consciousness can be neither developed nor defiled. And as we noted above, it should not be confused with the non-dual consciousness totality nor with the perception of whiteness, because those states are fabricated, whereas consciousness without surface is not.

• This relates to the second aspect of unbinding: its truth. Because it is unfabricated, it doesn’t change into anything else. Ever. After all, it is outside of time. This is why §376 calls it undeceptive; §374 calls it unwavering; §380 calls it permanence, ageless, undecaying, deathless, unbent (i.e., not tending in any direction), and true. Because unbinding is a state (pada) rather than a being (satta), it does not have to be defined by attachment, so the texts do not hesitate to say that it unequivocally “is” (§373). MN 140 (§317) calls it the highest noble truth.

Because unbinding is so changeless, the person who attains it is “Such,” i.e., unagitated, independent, unaffected by the arising or passing away of anything related to the six senses (§360). Unlike equanimity, which is an activity of the mind, Suchness involves no effort or activity at all. This is another reason why unbinding is said to be the ending of kamma. Because it is effortless, this Suchness lies beyond questions of control and lack of control, which is why questions of self and not-self are also irrelevant when applied to the awakened one. Such a person is simply Such.

• The third positive aspect of unbinding is that it is the ultimate sukha—a term that can be translated as pleasure, happiness, ease, or bliss. Unbinding, as experienced in this lifetime, is invariably described as pleasurable. This is why §380 calls unbinding bliss, the exquisite, and the unafflicted. Just as consciousness without surface is totally apart from the consciousness aggregate, the bliss of unbinding is totally apart from the pleasure that comes under the feeling aggregate. Given that unbinding is unfabricated, it has no need for nutriment. Thus this bliss has nothing lacking, which is another reason why the arahant is said to be hunger-free (§376). And because this bliss is unconditioned, it’s not affected even by the arahant’s death, which is why §380 calls unbinding peace, rest, the secure, security, island, shelter, harbor, and refuge.

• However, even though unbinding is pleasant, arahants do not cling to this pleasure, and so they are not limited by it. This is why they are said to be beyond both pleasure and pain (§377), and also why they are said to be free: free from the slightest disturbance, free from fabrication, free from the fires of passion, aversion, and delusion, free even from passion for dispassion (§§357–358), and—as noted above—free even from the confines of space and time. For this reason, the fourth positive aspect of unbinding—and the one most emphasized in the suttas—is that it is total freedom. This freedom is indicated in a general sense by the two most common epithets for unbinding: the term “unbinding” itself, and release. Because, in line with the underlying metaphor of the extinguishing of fire, freedom comes from letting go, the remaining epithets for this freedom focus on the fact that unbinding is free from all the clinging defilements that cause suffering and stress: It’s effluent-free, attachment-free, free from longing (§368), non-objectification, the ending of craving, dispassion. It’s purity. As §343 indicates, the freedom of the arahant whose mind is released is no different from that of the Buddha himself.

• In all the above aspects—consciousness, truth, bliss, and freedom—unbinding excels everything that there is. This is why its fifth aspect is its excellence. In MN 44’s terms, nothing lies on the other side of unbinding. There is nothing to equal it, much less to exceed or surpass it (§356). This is why §380 calls it the amazing, the astounding, the ultimate, and the beyond.

And, as everyone who has attained it can aver, it is realized in only one way: as a fruit of the noble path in both its eight-factored and ten-factored forms. As we have noted above, the path doesn’t cause unbinding—just as the road to the Grand Canyon doesn’t cause the Grand Canyon—but following it can take you there. The Buddha has done the work of providing a sufficient map to guide you in that direction. All of the path-factors are clearly laid out. If you see that they lead to a worthwhile goal, then the remaining work is up to you, to give rise to them within yourself. When they are complete, those factors will yield their fruit, taking you to the edge of the Canyon. From that point on, you are everywhere released: Like the birds in space, your path will leave no trace. You can fly.

Readings

The Stream

§ 318. “Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch; in the same way, this Dhamma & Vinaya has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual practice, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch.” — Ud 5:5

§ 319. “Sāriputta, ‘The stream, the stream’: Thus it is said. And what, Sāriputta, is the stream?”

“This noble eightfold path, lord, is the stream: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.”

“Very good, Sāriputta! Very good! This noble eightfold path—right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration—is the stream.” — SN 55:5

§ 320. To Upāli the householder, as he was sitting right there, there arose the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation. Then—having seen the Dhamma, having reached the Dhamma, known the Dhamma, gained a footing in the Dhamma, having crossed over & beyond doubt, having had no more questioning—Upāli the householder gained fearlessness and was independent of others with regard to the Teacher’s message. — MN 56

§ 321. [Immediately after attaining the stream] Sāriputta the wanderer went to Moggallāna the wanderer. Moggallāna the wanderer saw him coming from afar and, on seeing him, said, “Bright are your faculties, my friend; clean & pure your complexion. Could it be that you have attained the deathless?”

“Yes, my friend, I have.” — Mv I.23.5

§ 322. “There is the case where the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence in the Awakened One… verified confidence in the Dhamma… verified confidence in the Saṅgha.… He/she is endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration.” — AN 10:92

§ 323. “There is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is a learner [i.e., a person who has attained at least stream-entry, but has not yet reached arahantship], standing at the level of a learner, can discern that ‘I am a learner,’ and whereby a monk who is an adept, standing at the level of an adept [i.e., an arahant], can discern that ‘I am an adept.’

“And what is the manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is a learner, standing at the level of a learner, can discern that ‘I am a learner’? There is the case where a monk is a learner. He discerns, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress… This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.’ This is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is a learner, standing at the level of a learner, can discern that ‘I am a learner.’

“And further, the monk who is a learner reflects, ‘Is there outside of this (Dhamma & Vinaya) any contemplative or brahman who teaches the true, genuine, & accurate Dhamma like the Blessed One?’ And he discerns, ‘No, there is no contemplative or brahman outside of this who teaches the true, genuine, & accurate Dhamma like the Blessed One.’ This too is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is a learner, standing at the level of a learner, can discern that ‘I am a learner.’

“And further, the monk who is a learner discerns the five faculties: the faculty of conviction… persistence… mindfulness… concentration… discernment. He sees clear through with discernment their destiny, excellence, rewards, & consummation, but he does not touch them with his body. This too is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is a learner, standing at the level of a learner, can discern that ‘I am a learner.’

“And what is the manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is an adept, standing at the level of an adept, can discern that ‘I am an adept’? There is the case where a monk who is an adept discerns the five faculties: the faculty of conviction… persistence… mindfulness… concentration… discernment. He touches with his body and sees clear through with discernment what their destiny, excellence, rewards, & consummation are. This is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is an adept, standing at the level of an adept, can discern that ‘I am an adept.’

“And further, the monk who is an adept discerns the six sense faculties: the faculty of the eye… ear… nose…tongue… body… intellect. He discerns, ‘These six sense faculties will disband entirely, everywhere, & in every way without remainder, and no other set of six sense faculties will arise anywhere or in any way.’ This too is a manner of reckoning whereby a monk who is an adept, standing at the level of an adept, can discern that ‘I am an adept.’” — SN 48:53

§ 324. “There are these ten fetters. Which ten? Five lower fetters & five higher fetters. And which are the five lower fetters? Self-identity views, uncertainty, grasping at habits & practices, sensual desire, & ill will. These are the five lower fetters. And which are the five higher fetters? Passion for form, passion for what is formless, conceit, restlessness, & ignorance. These are the five higher fetters. And these are the ten fetters.” — AN 10:13

§ 325. “There is the case where a monk is wholly accomplished in virtue, moderately accomplished in concentration, and moderately accomplished in discernment. With reference to the lesser and minor training rules, he falls into offenses and rehabilitates himself. Why is that? Because I have not declared that to be a disqualification in these circumstances. But as for the training rules that are basic to the holy life and proper to the holy life, he is one of permanent virtue, one of steadfast virtue. Having undertaken them, he trains in reference to the training rules. With the wasting away of (the first) three fetters, he is a stream-winner, never again destined for states of woe, certain, headed for self-awakening.

“There is the case where a monk is wholly accomplished in virtue, moderately accomplished in concentration, and moderately accomplished in discernment. With reference to the lesser and minor training rules, he falls into offenses and rehabilitates himself. Why is that? Because I have not declared that to be a disqualification in these circumstances. But as for the training rules that are basic to the holy life and proper to the holy life, he is one of permanent virtue, one of steadfast virtue. Having undertaken them, he trains in reference to the training rules. With the wasting away of (the first) three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, he is a once-returner, who—on returning only once more to this world—will put an end to stress.

“There is the case where a monk is wholly accomplished in virtue, wholly accomplished in concentration, and moderately accomplished in discernment. With reference to the lesser and minor training rules, he falls into offenses and rehabilitates himself. Why is that? Because I have not declared that to be a disqualification in these circumstances. But as for the training rules that are basic to the holy life and proper to the holy life, he is one of permanent virtue, one of steadfast virtue. Having undertaken them, he trains in reference to the training rules. With the wasting away of the five lower fetters, he is due to arise spontaneously (in the Pure Abodes), there to be totally unbound, destined never again to return from that world.

“There is the case where a monk is wholly accomplished in virtue, wholly accomplished in concentration, wholly accomplished in discernment. With reference to the lesser and minor training rules, he falls into offenses and rehabilitates himself. Why is that? Because I have not declared that to be a disqualification in these circumstances. But as for the training rules that are basic to the holy life and proper to the holy life, he is one of permanent virtue, one of steadfast virtue. Having undertaken them, he trains in reference to the training rules. With the ending of effluents, he dwells in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known and realized them for himself right in the here-&-now.

“Those who are partially accomplished attain a part; those who are wholly accomplished, the whole. The training rules, I tell you, are not in vain.” — AN 3:87

§ 326. Ven. Paviṭṭha: “Nārada, my friend, putting aside conviction, putting aside preference, putting aside tradition, putting aside reasoning through analogies, putting aside an agreement through pondering views: Do you have truly personal knowledge that, ‘The cessation of becoming is unbinding’?”

“Yes, Paviṭṭha my friend. Putting aside conviction… preference… tradition… reasoning through analogies… an agreement through pondering views, I do have truly personal knowledge that, ‘The cessation of becoming is unbinding.’”

“Then, Ven. Nārada, you are an arahant whose effluents are ended.”

“My friend, although I have seen properly with right discernment, as it has come to be, that ‘The cessation of becoming is unbinding,’ still I am not an arahant whose effluents are ended. It’s as if there were a well along a road in a desert, with neither rope nor water bucket. A man would come along overcome by heat, oppressed by the heat, exhausted, dehydrated, & thirsty. He would look into the well and would have knowledge of ‘water,’ but he would not dwell touching it with his body. In the same way, although I have seen properly with right discernment, as it has come to be, that ‘The cessation of becoming is unbinding,’ still I am not an arahant whose effluents are ended.” — SN 12:68

§ 327. Ven. Khemaka: “Friends, it’s just like the scent of a blue, red, or white lotus: If someone were to call it the scent of a petal or the scent of the color or the scent of a filament, would he be speaking correctly?”

Some elder monks: “No, friend.”

“Then how would he describe it if he were describing it correctly?”

“As the scent of the flower: That’s how he would describe it if he were describing it correctly.”

“In the same way, friends, it’s not that I say ‘I am form,’ nor do I say ‘I am other than form.’ It’s not that I say, ‘I am feeling… perception… fabrications… consciousness,’ nor do I say, ‘I am something other than consciousness.’ With regard to these five clinging-aggregates, ‘I am’ has not been overcome, although I don’t assume that ‘I am this.’ …

“Just like a cloth, dirty & stained: Its owners give it over to a washerman, who scrubs it with salt earth or lye or cow-dung and then rinses it in clear water. Now, even though the cloth is clean & spotless, it still has a lingering residual scent of salt earth or lye or cow-dung. The washerman gives it to the owners, the owners put it away in a scent-infused wicker hamper, and its lingering residual scent of salt earth, lye, or cow-dung is fully obliterated.

“In the same way, friends, even though a noble disciple has abandoned the five lower fetters, he still has with regard to the five clinging-aggregates a lingering residual ‘I am’ conceit, an ‘I am’ desire, an ‘I am’ obsession. But at a later time he keeps focusing on arising & passing away with regard to the five clinging-aggregates: ‘Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance. Such is feeling.… Such is perception.… Such are fabrications.… Such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.’ As he keeps focusing on the arising & passing away of these five clinging-aggregates, the lingering residual ‘I am’ conceit, ‘I am’ desire, ‘I am’ obsession is fully obliterated.” — SN 22:89

§ 328. “Monks, there are these five faculties. Which five? The faculty of conviction, the faculty of persistence, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of discernment. When a disciple of the noble ones discerns, as they have come to be, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, and the escape from these five faculties, he is called a disciple of the noble ones who has attained the stream: never again destined for the lower realms, certain, headed for self-awakening.…”

“When—having discerned, as they have come to be, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, and the escape from these five faculties—a monk is released from lack of clinging/sustenance, he is called an arahant whose effluents are ended, who has reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, laid to waste the fetter of becoming, and who is released through right gnosis.” — SN 48:3–4

Right Knowledge, Right Release

§ 329. “‘All phenomena have release as their heartwood.’” — AN 10:58

§ 330. “It’s through the development & pursuit of two faculties that a monk whose effluents are ended declares gnosis: ‘Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world.’ Through which two? Through noble discernment & noble release. Whatever is his noble discernment is his faculty of discernment. Whatever is his noble release is his faculty of concentration.” — SN 48:46

§ 331. “Thus for him, having thus developed the noble eightfold path, the four establishings of mindfulness go to the culmination of their development. The four right exertions… the four bases of power… the five faculties… the five strengths… the seven factors for awakening go to the culmination of their development. (And) for him these two dhammas occur in tandem: tranquility [samatha] & insight [vipassanā].

“He comprehends through direct knowledge whatever dhammas are to be comprehended through direct knowledge, abandons through direct knowledge whatever dhammas are to be abandoned through direct knowledge, develops through direct knowledge whatever dhammas are to be developed through direct knowledge, and realizes through direct knowledge whatever dhammas are to be realized through direct knowledge.

“And what dhammas are to be comprehended through direct knowledge? ‘The five clinging-aggregates,’ should be the reply. Which five? Form as a clinging-aggregate… feeling… perception… fabrications… consciousness as a clinging-aggregate. These are the dhammas that are to be comprehended through direct knowledge.

“And what dhammas are to be abandoned through direct knowledge? Ignorance & craving for becoming: These are the dhammas that are to be abandoned through direct knowledge.

“And what dhammas are to be developed through direct knowledge? Tranquility & insight: These are the dhammas that are to be developed through direct knowledge.

“And what dhammas are to be realized through direct knowledge? Clear knowing & release: These are the dhammas that are to be realized through direct knowledge.” — MN 149

§ 332. “And how is it that when a monk develops the noble eightfold path, pursues the noble eightfold path, he comprehends through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be comprehended through direct knowledge, abandons through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be abandoned through direct knowledge, realizes through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be realized through direct knowledge, and develops through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be developed through direct knowledge?

“There is the case where a monk develops right view dependent on seclusion, dependent on dispassion, dependent on cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops right resolve… right speech… right action… right livelihood… right effort… right mindfulness… right concentration dependent on seclusion… dispassion… cessation, resulting in letting go. This is how—when a monk develops the noble eightfold path, pursues the noble eightfold path—he comprehends through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be comprehended through direct knowledge, abandons through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be abandoned through direct knowledge, realizes through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be realized through direct knowledge, and develops through direct knowledge whatever phenomena are to be developed through direct knowledge.” — SN 45:159

§ 333. “With his mind thus concentrated, purified, & bright, the monk directs it to the knowledge of the ending of effluents. Just as if there were a pool of water in a mountain glen—clear, limpid, & unsullied—where a man with good eyesight standing on the bank could see shells, gravel, & pebbles, and also shoals of fish swimming about & resting, and it would occur to him, ‘This pool of water is clear, limpid, & unsullied. Here are these shells, gravel, & pebbles, and also these shoals of fish swimming about & resting.’ In the same way, the monk discerns, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress… This is the way leading to the cessation of stress… These are effluents… This is the origination of effluents… This is the cessation of effluents… This is the way leading to the cessation of effluents.’ His heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, is released from the effluent of sensuality, released from the effluent of becoming, released from the effluent of ignorance. With release, there is the knowledge, ‘Released.’ He discerns that ‘Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.’ This, too, is a reward of the contemplative life, visible here-&-now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime. And as for another visible fruit of the contemplative life, higher & more sublime than this, there is none.” — DN 2

§ 334. “And what is mental sagacity? There is the case where a monk who—with the ending of effluents—enters & remains in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known & realized it for himself right in the here-&-now. This is called mental sagacity.” — AN 3:123

§ 335. Wrong release. “There are these ten totality-dimensions. Which ten? One perceives the earth-totality above, below, all-around: non-dual [advayaṁ], immeasurable. One perceives the water-totality… the fire-totality… the wind-totality… the blue-totality… the yellow-totality… the red-totality… the white-totality… the space-totality… the consciousness-totality above, below, all-around: non-dual, immeasurable. These are the ten totality-dimensions. Now, of these ten totality-dimensions, this is supreme: when one perceives the consciousness-totality above, below, all-around: non-dual, immeasurable. And there are beings who are percipient in this way. Yet even in the beings who are percipient in this way there is still aberration, there is change. Seeing this, the instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with that. Being disenchanted with that, he becomes dispassionate toward what is supreme, and even more so toward what is inferior.…

“One percipient of the formless internally sees forms externally as white, white in their color, white in their features, white in their glow. Just as the morning star is white, white in its color, white in its features, white in its glow, or just as Vārāṇasī muslin, smooth on both sides, is white, white in its color, white in its features, white in its glow, in the same way one percipient of the formless internally sees forms externally as white, white in their color, white in their features, white in their glow. Mastering them, he is percipient of ‘I know; I see.’ This is the eighth dimension of (mental) mastery.

“These are the eight dimensions of mental mastery. Now, of these eight dimensions of mastery, this is supreme: when one percipient of the formless internally sees forms externally as white, white in their color, white in their features, white in their glow. And there are beings who are percipient in this way. Yet even in the beings who are percipient in this way there is still aberration, there is change. Seeing this, the instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with that. Being disenchanted with that, he becomes dispassionate toward what is supreme, and even more so toward what is inferior.” — AN 10:29

§ 336. “There is the case, monks, where a certain contemplative or brahman, with the relinquishing of speculations about the past and the relinquishing of speculations about the future, from being totally not determined on the fetters of sensuality, surmounting the rapture of seclusion, surmounting pleasure not-of-the-flesh, and surmounting the feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, envisions that ‘I am at peace, I am unbound, I am without clinging/sustenance!’

“With regard to this, the Tathāgata discerns that ‘This venerable contemplative or brahman, with the relinquishing of speculations about the past and the relinquishing of speculations about the future, from being totally not determined on the fetters of sensuality, surmounting the rapture of seclusion, surmounting pleasure not-of-the-flesh, and surmounting the feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, envisions that “I am at peace, I am unbound, I am without clinging/sustenance!” Yes, he affirms a practice conducive to unbinding. But still he clings, clinging to a speculation about the past; or he clings, clinging to a speculation about the future; or he clings, clinging to a fetter of sensuality; or he clings, clinging to the rapture of seclusion; or he clings, clinging to pleasure not-of-the-flesh; or he clings, clinging to a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain. And the fact that he envisions that “I am at peace, I am unbound, I am without clinging/sustenance!”—that in itself points to his clinging. With regard to that—fabricated, gross—there is still the cessation of fabrications: There is this.’ Knowing that, seeing the escape from it, the Tathāgata has gone beyond it.

“Thus, monks, the Tathāgata has awakened to the unexcelled state of foremost peace: liberation through lack of clinging/sustenance, having known, as they have come to be, the origination, passing away, allure, drawbacks of—and escape from—the six media of contact.” — MN 102

§ 337. Ven. Ānanda: “TigerPaws, these four factors for exertion with regard to purity have been rightly expounded by the Blessed One who knows & sees—the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened One—for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding. Which four? The factor for exertion with regard to purity of virtue, the factor for exertion with regard to purity of mind, the factor for exertion with regard to purity of view, and the factor for exertion with regard to purity of release.

“And what, TigerPaws, is the factor for exertion with regard to purity of virtue? There is the case where a monk is virtuous. He dwells restrained in accordance with the Pāṭimokkha, consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He trains himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults. This is called purity of virtue. (The thought,) ‘I will make complete this sort of purity of virtue when it is not yet complete, or I will protect it here & there with discernment when it is complete’: Any desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness there is called the factor for exertion with regard to purity of virtue.

“And what, TigerPaws, is the factor for exertion with regard to purity of mind? There is the case where a monk—quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful dhammas—enters & remains in the first jhāna… the second jhāna… the third jhāna… the fourth jhāna: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This is called purity of mind. (The thought,) ‘I will make complete this sort of purity of mind when it is not yet complete, or I will protect it here & there with discernment when it is complete’: Any desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness there is called the factor for exertion with regard to purity of mind.

“And what, TigerPaws, is the factor for exertion with regard to purity of view? There is the case where a monk discerns, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress… This the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress… This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.’ This is called purity of view. (The thought,) ‘I will make complete this sort of purity of view when it is not yet complete, or I will protect it here & there with discernment when it is complete’: Any desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness there is called the factor for exertion with regard to purity of view.

“And what, TigerPaws, is the factor for exertion with regard to purity of release? That same noble disciple—endowed with this factor for exertion with regard to purity of virtue, this factor for exertion with regard to purity of mind, and this factor for exertion with regard to purity of view—makes his mind dispassionate with regard to phenomena that are conducive to passion, and liberates his mind with regard to phenomena that are conducive to liberation. He—having made his mind dispassionate with regard to phenomena that are conducive to passion, and having liberated his mind with regard to phenomena that are conducive to liberation—touches right release. This is called purity of release. (The thought,) ‘I will make complete this sort of purity of release when it is not yet complete, or I will protect it here & there with discernment when it is complete’: Any desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness there is called the factor for exertion with regard to purity of release.” — AN 4:194

§ 338. “There is the case where a certain son of good family, out of conviction, goes forth from the home life into homelessness, (thinking,) ‘I am beset by birth, by aging-&-death, by sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs, beset by stress, overcome with stress. Perhaps the end of this entire mass of stress might be discerned!’ Having thus gone forth, he encounters gain, offerings, & fame. He is not gratified with that gain, offerings, & fame, his resolve not fulfilled. He is not intoxicated with that gain, offerings, & fame, not heedless about it, and does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he achieves consummation in virtue. He is gratified with that consummation in virtue, but his resolve is not fulfilled. Because of that consummation in virtue he does not exalt himself or disparage others. He is not intoxicated with that consummation in virtue, not heedless about it, and does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he achieves consummation in concentration. He is gratified with that consummation in concentration, but his resolve is not fulfilled. Because of that consummation in concentration he does not exalt himself or disparage others. He is not intoxicated with that consummation in concentration, not heedless about it, and does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he achieves knowledge & vision. He is gratified with that knowledge & vision, but his resolve is not fulfilled. Because of that knowledge & vision he does not exalt himself or disparage others. He is not intoxicated with that knowledge & vision, not heedless about it, and does not fall into heedlessness. Being heedful, he achieves a non-occasional liberation [Commentary: all the transcendent attainments, from the fruit of stream-entry through the fruit of arahantship]. And it is impossible, monks, there is no opportunity, for that monk to fall from that non-occasional release.

“Monks, this holy life doesn’t have as its reward gain, offerings, & fame, doesn’t have as its reward consummation of virtue, doesn’t have as its reward consummation of concentration, doesn’t have as its reward knowledge & vision, but the unprovoked awareness-release: That is the purpose of this holy life, that is its heartwood, that its final end.” — MN 29

§ 339. Citta the householder: “Passion, venerable sir, is a making of measurement, aversion a making of measurement, delusion a making of measurement. For a monk whose effluents are ended these have been abandoned, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. To the extent that there are immeasurable awareness-releases, the unprovoked awareness-release is declared supreme. And that unprovoked awareness-release is empty of passion, empty of aversion, empty of delusion.” — SN 41:7

§ 340. Ven. Udāyin: “‘Discernment-released, discernment-released,’ it is said. To what extent is one described by the Blessed One as discernment-released?”

Ven. Ānanda: “There is the case, my friend, where a monk, secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful dhammas, enters & remains in the first jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. And he knows it through discernment. It’s to this extent that one is described by the Blessed One as released through discernment, though with a sequel. [Similarly with the other levels of jhāna and formless attainments through the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.]

“Then, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, he enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. And as he sees with discernment, the effluents waste totally away. And he knows it through discernment. It’s to this extent that one is described by the Blessed One as discernment-released without a sequel.”

Ven. Udāyin: “‘Released both ways, released both ways,’ it is said. To what extent is one described by the Blessed One as released both ways?”

Ven. Ānanda: “There is the case, my friend, where a monk, secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful dhammas, enters & remains in the first jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. He remains touching with his body in whatever way there is an opening there, and he knows it through discernment. It’s to this extent that one is described by the Blessed One as released both ways, though with a sequel. [Similarly with the other levels of jhāna and formless attainments through the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.]

“Then, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, he enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. And as he sees with discernment, the effluents waste totally away. He remains touching with his body in whatever way there is an opening there, and he knows it through discernment. It’s to this extent that one is described by the Blessed One as released both ways without a sequel.” — AN 9:44–45

§ 341. “Ānanda, there are these seven stations of consciousness and two dimensions. Which seven?

“There are beings with multiplicity of body and multiplicity of perception, such as human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms. This is the first station of consciousness.

“There are beings with multiplicity of body and singularity of perception, such as the devas of the Brahmā hosts generated by the first [jhāna] and [some] beings in the four realms of deprivation. This is the second station of consciousness.

“There are beings with singularity of body and multiplicity of perception, such as the Radiant Devas. This is the third station of consciousness.

“There are beings with singularity of body and singularity of perception, such as the Beautiful Black Devas. This is the fourth station of consciousness.

“There are beings who, with the complete transcending of perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of multiplicity, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite space,’ arrive at the dimension of the infinitude of space. This is the fifth station of consciousness.

“There are beings who, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite consciousness,’ arrive at the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the sixth station of consciousness.

“There are beings who, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, (perceiving,) ‘There is nothing,’ arrive at the dimension of nothingness. This is the seventh station of consciousness.

“The dimension of non-percipient beings and, second, the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. [These are the two dimensions.]

“Now, as for the first station of consciousness—beings with multiplicity of body and multiplicity of perception, such as human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms: If one discerns that [station of consciousness], discerns its origination, discerns its passing away, discerns its allure, discerns its drawbacks, discerns the escape from it, would it be proper, by means of that [discernment] to take delight there?”

“No, lord.”

[Similarly with each of the remaining stations of consciousness and two dimensions.]

“Ānanda, when knowing—as they have come to be—the origination, passing away, allure, drawbacks of—and escape from—these seven stations of consciousness and two dimensions, a monk is released through lack of clinging, he is said to be a monk discernment-released.

“Ānanda, there are these eight emancipations. Which eight?

“Possessed of form, one sees forms. This is the first emancipation.

“Not percipient of form internally, one sees forms externally. This is the second emancipation.

“One is intent only on the beautiful. This is the third emancipation.

“With the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of multiplicity, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite space,’ one enters and remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space. This is the fourth emancipation.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite consciousness,’ one enters and remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the fifth emancipation.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, (perceiving,) ‘There is nothing,’ one enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness. This is the sixth emancipation.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, one enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is the seventh emancipation.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, one enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. This is the eighth emancipation.

“Now, when a monk attains these eight emancipations in forward order, in reverse order, in forward and reverse order, when he attains them and emerges from them wherever he wants, however he wants, and for as long as he wants, when through the wasting away of effluents he enters and remains in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known & realized it for himself in the here-&-now, he is said to be a monk released in both ways. And as for another release in both ways, higher or more sublime than this, there is none.” — DN 15

§ 343. “Monks, the Tathāgata—the worthy one, the rightly self-awakened one, who from disenchantment with form, from dispassion, from cessation, from lack of clinging (for form) is released—is termed ‘rightly self-awakened.’ And a discernment-released monk—who from disenchantment with form, from dispassion, from cessation, from lack of clinging (for form) is released—is termed ‘discernment-released.’ [Similarly with the aggregates of feeling, perception, fabrications, and consciousness.]

“So what difference, what distinction, what distinguishing factor is there between one rightly self-awakened and a monk discernment-released?”

“For us, lord, the teachings have the Blessed One as their root, their guide, & their arbitrator. It would be good if the Blessed One himself would explicate the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the monks will remember it.”

“In that case, monks, listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”

“As you say, lord,” the monks responded to him.

The Blessed One said, “The Tathāgata—the worthy one, the rightly self-awakened one—is the one who gives rise to the path (previously) unarisen, who engenders the path (previously) unengendered, who points out the path (previously) not pointed out. He knows the path, is expert in the path, is adept at the path. And his disciples now keep following the path and afterwards become endowed with the path.

“This is the difference, this the distinction, this the distinguishing between one rightly self-awakened and a monk discernment-released.” — SN 22:58

§ 344. “Monks, these three are causes for the origination of actions. Which three? Greed is a cause for the origination of actions. Aversion is a cause for the origination of actions. Delusion is a cause for the origination of actions.

“Any action performed with greed—born of greed, caused by greed, originating from greed: Wherever one’s selfhood turns up, there that action will ripen. Where that action ripens, there one will experience its fruit, either in this very life that has arisen or further along in the sequence. [Similarly with actions performed with aversion or delusion.]

“Just as when seeds are not broken, not rotten, not damaged by wind & heat, capable of sprouting, well-buried, planted in well-prepared soil, and the rain-god would offer good streams of rain. Those seeds would thus come to growth, increase, & abundance. In the same way, any action performed with greed… performed with aversion… performed with delusion—born of delusion, caused by delusion, originating from delusion: Wherever one’s selfhood turns up, there that action will ripen. Where that action ripens, there one will experience its fruit, either in this very life that has arisen or further along in the sequence.

“These are three causes for the origination of actions.

“Now, these three are [further] causes for the origination of actions. Which three? Non-greed is a cause for the origination of actions. Non-aversion is a cause for the origination of actions. Non-delusion is a cause for the origination of actions.

“Any action performed with non-greed—born of non-greed, caused by non-greed, originating from non-greed: When greed is gone, that action is thus abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. [Similarly with actions performed with non-aversion and non-delusion.]

“Just as when seeds are not broken, not rotten, not damaged by wind & heat, capable of sprouting, well-buried, planted in well-prepared soil, and a man would burn them with fire and, burning them with fire, would make them into fine ashes. Having made them into fine ashes, he would winnow them before a high wind or wash them away in a swift-flowing stream. Those seeds would thus be destroyed at the root, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising.

“In the same way, any action performed with non-greed… performed with non-aversion… performed with non-delusion—born of non-delusion, caused by non-delusion, originating from non-delusion: When delusion is gone, that action is thus abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising.

“These, monks, are three causes for the origination of action.” — AN 3:34

§ 345. “Monks, even those who are arahants—whose effluents are ended, who have reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming, and who are released through right gnosis—even they remain focused on the body in & of itself—being ardent, alert, unified, clear-minded, concentrated, & gathered into one, disjoined from the body. They remain focused on feelings in & of themselves… on the mind in & of itself… on dhammas in & of themselves—being ardent, alert, unified, clear-minded, concentrated, & gathered into one, disjoined from dhammas.” — SN 47:4

§ 346. “One enters & remains in the first jhāna… the second jhāna… the third jhāna… the fourth jhāna: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. Such is my instruction, brahman, to those monks who are in training, who have not attained the heart’s goal but remain intent on the unsurpassed safety from the yoke. But as for those monks who are arahants—whose effluents are ended, who have reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming, and who are released through right gnosis—these dhammas lead both to a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now and to mindfulness & alertness.” — MN 107

§ 347. “An arahant should attend in an appropriate way to these five clinging-aggregates as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a dissolution, an emptiness, not-self. Although, for an arahant, there is nothing further to do, and nothing to add to what has been done, still these things—when developed & pursued—lead both to a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now, and to mindfulness & alertness.” — SN 22:122

§ 348. “If anyone were to say with regard to a monk whose mind is thus released that ‘The Tathāgata exists after death,’ is his view, that would be mistaken; that ‘The Tathāgata does not exist after death’… that ‘The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death’… that ‘The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ is his view, that would be mistaken. Why? Having directly known the extent of designation and the extent of the objects of designation, the extent of expression and the extent of the objects of expression, the extent of description and the extent of the objects of description, the extent of discernment and the extent of the objects of discernment, the extent to which the cycle revolves: Having directly known that, the monk is released. The view that, ‘Having directly known that, the monk released does not see, does not know’: That would be mistaken.” — DN 15

§ 349. Ven. Mahā Koṭṭhita: “With the remainderless dispassioning & cessation of the six spheres of contact [vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, & intellection] is it the case that there is anything else?”

Ven. Sāriputta: “Don’t say that, my friend.”

Ven. Mahā Koṭṭhita: “With the remainderless dispassioning & cessation of the six spheres of contact, is it the case that there is not anything else?”

Ven. Sāriputta: “Don’t say that, my friend.”

Ven. Mahā Koṭṭhita: “…is it the case that there both is & is not anything else?”

Ven. Sāriputta: “Don’t say that, my friend.”

Ven. Mahā Koṭṭhita: “…is it the case that there neither is nor is not anything else?”

Ven. Sāriputta: “Don’t say that, my friend.”

Ven. Mahā Koṭṭhita: “Being asked… if there is anything else, you say, ‘Don’t say that, my friend.’ Being asked… if there is not anything else… if there both is & is not anything else… if there neither is nor is not anything else, you say, ‘Don’t say that, my friend.’ Now, how is the meaning of this statement to be understood?”

Ven. Sāriputta: “Saying, ‘… is it the case that there is anything else?’ objectifies the non-objectified. Saying ‘… is it the case that there is not anything else… is it the case that there both is & is not anything else… is it the case that there neither is nor is not anything else?’ objectifies the non-objectified. However far the six spheres of contact go, that is how far objectification goes. However far objectification goes, that is how far the six spheres of contact go. With the remainderless dispassioning & cessation of the six spheres of contact, there comes to be the cessation of objectification, the stilling of objectification.” — AN 4:173

Fruit

§ 353. “‘All phenomena gain footing in the deathless.

“‘All phenomena have unbinding as their final end.’” — AN 10:58

§ 354. “Monks, these three are fabricated characteristics of what is fabricated. Which three? Arising is discernable, passing away is discernable, alteration [literally, other-ness] while staying is discernable.

“These are three fabricated characteristics of what is fabricated.

“Now, these three are unfabricated characteristics of what is unfabricated. Which three? No arising is discernable, no passing away is discernable, no alteration while staying is discernable.

“These are three unfabricated characteristics of what is unfabricated.” — AN 3:47

§ 355. “As for any contemplatives or brahmans who know, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress’; who know, as it has come to be, that ‘This is the origination of stress’… ‘This is the cessation of stress’… ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress’: They don’t revel in fabrications leading to birth; don’t revel in fabrications leading to aging; don’t revel in fabrications leading to death; don’t revel in fabrications leading to sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. Not reveling in fabrications leading to birth… aging… death… sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair, they don’t fabricate fabrications leading to birth… aging… death… sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. Not fabricating fabrications leading to birth… aging… death… sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair, they don’t drop into the darkness of birth. They don’t drop into the darkness of aging, don’t drop into the darkness of death, don’t drop into the darkness of sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. They are released from birth, aging, death, sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. They are released, I tell you, from suffering & stress.

“Therefore, monks, your duty is the contemplation, ‘This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress.’ Your duty is the contemplation, ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.’” — SN 56:46

§ 359. Ven. Nandaka: “Just as if a skilled butcher or butcher’s apprentice, having killed a cow, were to carve it up with a sharp carving knife so that—without damaging the substance of the inner flesh, without damaging the substance of the outer hide—he would cut, sever, & detach only the skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between. Having cut, severed, & detached the outer skin, and then covering the cow again with that very skin, if he were to say that the cow was joined to the skin just as it had been, would he be speaking rightly?”

Some nuns: “No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because if the skilled butcher or butcher’s apprentice, having killed a cow, were to… cut, sever, & detach only the skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between; and… having covered the cow again with that very skin, then no matter how much he might say that the cow was joined to the skin just as it had been, the cow would still be disjoined from the skin.”

Ven. Nandaka: “This simile, sisters, I have given to convey a message. The message is this: The substance of the inner flesh stands for the six internal media; the substance of the outer hide, for the six external media. The skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between stand for passion & delight. And the sharp knife stands for noble discernment—the noble discernment that cuts, severs, & detaches the defilements, fetters, & bonds in between.” — MN 146

§ 360. “Monks, there are these two unbinding properties. Which two? The unbinding property with fuel remaining, & the unbinding property with no fuel remaining.

“And what is the unbinding property with fuel remaining? There is the case where a monk is an arahant whose effluents have ended, who has reached fulfillment, finished the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, destroyed the fetter of becoming, and is released through right gnosis. His five sense faculties still remain and, owing to their being intact, he experiences the pleasing & the displeasing, and is sensitive to pleasure & pain. His ending of passion, aversion, & delusion is termed the unbinding property with fuel remaining.

“And what is the unbinding property with no fuel remaining? There is the case where a monk is an arahant whose effluents have ended, who has reached fulfillment, finished the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, destroyed the fetter of becoming, and is released through right gnosis. For him, all that is sensed, being unrelished, will grow cold right here. This is termed the unbinding property with no fuel remaining.”

§ 362. “If the thought should occur to you that—when defiling dhammas are abandoned and bright dhammas have grown, and one enters & remains in the culmination & abundance of discernment, having directly known & realized it for oneself in the here-&-now—one’s abiding is stressful/painful, you should not see it in that way. When defiling dhammas are abandoned and bright dhammas have grown, and one enters & remains in the culmination & abundance of discernment, having directly known & realized it for oneself in the here-&-now, there is joy, rapture, calm, mindfulness, alertness, and a pleasant/happy abiding.” — DN 9

§ 363. “And what is the pleasure more not-of-the-flesh than that not-of-the-flesh? Whatever pleasure arises in an effluent-ended monk as he is reflecting on his mind released from passion, reflecting on his mind released from aversion, reflecting on his mind released from delusion, that is called pleasure more not-of-the-flesh than that not-of-the-flesh.” — SN 36:31

§ 365. I have heard that on one occasion Ven. Sāriputta was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Forest, the Squirrels’ Feeding Sanctuary. There he said to the monks, “This unbinding is pleasant, friends. This unbinding is pleasant.”

When this was said, Ven. Udāyin said to Ven. Sāriputta, “But what is the pleasure here, my friend, where there is nothing felt?”

“Just that is the pleasure here, my friend: where there is nothing felt. There are these five strings of sensuality. Which five? Forms cognizable via the eye—agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, accompanied by sensuality, enticing; sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the nose… tastes cognizable via the tongue… tactile sensations cognizable via the body—agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, accompanied by sensuality, enticing. Whatever pleasure or joy arises in dependence on these five strings of sensuality, that is sensual pleasure.

“Now, there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the first jhāna.… If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with sensuality, that is an affliction for him. Just as pain arises as an affliction in a healthy person; in the same way, the attention to perceptions dealing with sensuality that beset the monk is an affliction for him. Now, the Blessed One has said that whatever is an affliction is stress. So by this line of reasoning it may be known how unbinding is pleasant.

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the second jhāna.… If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with directed thought, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the third jhāna.… If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with rapture, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the fourth jhāna.… If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with equanimity, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space. If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with form, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with the dimension of the infinitude of space, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the dimension of nothingness. If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, that is an affliction for him.…

“Then there is the case where a monk… enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. If, as he remains there, he is beset with attention to perceptions dealing with the dimension of nothingness, that is an affliction for him. Now, the Blessed One has said that whatever is an affliction is stress. So by this line of reasoning it may be known how unbinding is pleasant.

“Then there is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. And, having seen (that) with discernment, his effluents are completely ended. So by this line of reasoning it may be known how unbinding is pleasant.” — AN 9:34

§ 366. “Now, it’s possible, Ānanda, that some wanderers of other persuasions might say, ‘Gotama the contemplative speaks of the cessation of perception & feeling and yet describes it as pleasure. What is this? How is this?’ When they say that, they are to be told, ‘It’s not the case, friends, that the Blessed One describes only pleasant feeling as included under pleasure. Wherever pleasure is found, in whatever terms, the Blessed One describes it as pleasure.’” — SN 36:19

§ 367. Some Nigaṇṭha ascetics: “It’s not the case that pleasure is to be attained through pleasure. Pleasure is to be attained through pain. For if pleasure were to be attained through pleasure, then King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha would attain pleasure, for he lives in greater pleasure than you, friend Gotama.

The Buddha: “Surely the venerable Nigaṇṭhas said that rashly and without reflecting… for instead, I should be asked, ‘Who lives in greater pleasure: King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha or Master Gotama?’”

“Yes, friend Gotama, we said that rashly and without reflecting.… but let that be. We now ask you, Master Gotama: Who lives in greater pleasure: King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha or Master Gotama?”

“In that case, Nigaṇṭhas, I will question you in return. Answer as you see fit. What do you think? Can King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha—without moving his body, without uttering a word—dwell sensitive to unalloyed pleasure for seven days & nights?” — “No, friend.”

“… for six days & nights… for five days & nights… for a day & a night?” — “No, friend.”

“Now, I—without moving my body, without uttering a word—can dwell sensitive to unalloyed pleasure for a day and a night… for two days & nights… for three… four… five… six… seven days & nights. So what do you think? That being the case, who dwells in greater pleasure: King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha or I?”

“That being the case, Master Gotama dwells in greater pleasure than King Seniya Bimbisāra of Magadha.” — MN 14

§ 368. “And further, a sage at peace isn’t born, doesn’t age, doesn’t die, is unagitated, and is free from longing. He has nothing whereby he would be born. Not being born, will he age? Not aging, will he die? Not dying, will he be agitated? Not being agitated, for what will he long?” — MN 140

§ 369. “And further, there is the case where a monk might say, ‘Although “I am” is gone, and I do not assume that “I am this,” still the arrow of uncertainty & perplexity keeps overpowering my mind.’ He should be told, ‘Don’t say that. You shouldn’t speak in that way. Don’t misrepresent the Blessed One, for it’s not right to misrepresent the Blessed One, and the Blessed One wouldn’t say that. It’s impossible, there is no way that—when “I am” is gone, and “I am this” is not assumed—the arrow of uncertainty & perplexity would keep overpowering the mind. That possibility doesn’t exist, for this is the escape from the arrow of uncertainty & perplexity: the uprooting of the conceit, “I am”.’” — AN 6:13

§ 370. “‘Having directly known earth as earth, and having directly known the extent of what has not been experienced through the earthness of earth, I wasn’t earth, I wasn’t in earth, I wasn’t coming from earth, I wasn’t “Earth is mine.” I didn’t affirm earth.…

“‘Having directly known liquid as liquid… fire as fire… wind as wind… beings as beings… devas as devas… Pajāpati [deva rulers] as Pajāpati… Brahmā as Brahmā… the Radiant (devas) as the Radiant (devas)… the Beautiful Black (devas) as the Beautiful Black (devas)… the Sky-fruit (devas) as the Sky-fruit (devas)… the Conqueror as the Conqueror… [these last four are higher-level Brahmās on the levels of form and formlessness].

“‘Having directly known the All as the All, and having directly known the extent of what has not been experienced through the Allness of the All, I wasn’t the All, I wasn’t in the All, I wasn’t coming forth from the All, I wasn’t “The All is mine.” I didn’t affirm the All.

has not been experienced through the earthness of earth… the liquidity of liquid… the fieriness of fire… the windiness of wind… the allness of the all.’” — MN 49

§ 371. “What is the All? Simply the eye & forms, ear & sounds, nose & aromas, tongue & flavors, body & tactile sensations, intellect & ideas. This, monks, is termed the All. Anyone who would say, ‘Repudiating this All, I will describe another,’ if questioned on what exactly might be the grounds for his statement, would be unable to explain, and furthermore, would be put to grief. Why? Because it lies beyond range.” — SN 35:23

§ 372. “Monks, that dimension should be experienced where the eye [vision] ceases and the perception of form fades. That dimension should be experienced where the ear ceases and the perception of sound fades… where the nose ceases and the perception of aroma fades… where the tongue ceases and the perception of flavor fades… where the body ceases and the perception of tactile sensation fades… where the intellect ceases and the perception of idea/phenomenon fades: That dimension should be experienced.” — SN 35:117

§ 373. “There is that dimension, monks, where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor staying; neither passing away nor arising: unestablished, unevolving, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress.” — Ud 8:1

§ 374. “One who is dependent has wavering. One who is independent has no wavering. There being no wavering, there is calm. There being calm, there is no yearning. There being no yearning, there is no coming or going. There being no coming or going, there is no passing away or arising. There being no passing away or arising, there is neither a here nor a there nor a between-the-two. This, just this, is the end of stress.” — Ud 8:4

§ 378. “Freed, disjoined, & released from ten things, Bahuna, the Tathāgata dwells with unrestricted awareness. Which ten? Freed, disjoined, & released from form, the Tathāgata dwells with unrestricted awareness. Freed, disjoined, & released from feeling… Freed, disjoined, & released from perception… Freed, disjoined, & released from fabrications… Freed, disjoined, & released from consciousness… Freed, disjoined, & released from birth… Freed, disjoined, & released from aging… Freed, disjoined, & released from death… Freed, disjoined, & released from stress… Freed, disjoined, & released from defilement, the Tathāgata dwells with unrestricted awareness.

“Just as a red, blue, or white lotus born in the water and growing in the water, rises up above the water and stands with no water adhering to it, in the same way the Tathāgata—freed, disjoined, & released from these ten things—dwells with unrestricted awareness.” — AN 10:81

§ 380. “Whatever is the ending of passion, the ending of aversion, the ending of delusion: That is called—

“And what is the path going to the unfabricated… the ultimate? The noble eightfold path.

“Thus, monks, I have taught you the unfabricated and the path going to the unfabricated.… I have taught you the ultimate and the path going to the ultimate. Whatever a sympathetic teacher should do—seeking the welfare of his disciples, out of sympathy for them—that have I done for you. Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhāna, monks. Don’t be heedless. Don’t later fall into regret. This is our message to you all.” — SN 43