{"id":"an9.36","title":"Depending on Absorption","languageCodes":["en","pi"],"languageNotes":{"en":"Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0","pi":"Mahāsaṅgīti edition · SuttaCentral"},"chapters":[{"id":"an9.36","title":"Depending on Absorption","units":[{"id":"an9.36:0","sourceIds":["an9.36:0.1","an9.36:0.2","an9.36:0.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Aṅguttara Nikāya 9.36\n4. Mahāvagga\nJhānasutta","en":"Numbered Discourses 9.36\n4. The Great Chapter\nDepending on Absorption"}},{"id":"an9.36:1","sourceIds":["an9.36:1.1","an9.36:1.2","an9.36:1.3","an9.36:1.4","an9.36:1.5","an9.36:1.6","an9.36:1.7","an9.36:1.8","an9.36:1.9"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Paṭhamampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\ndutiyampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\ntatiyampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\ncatutthampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\nākāsānañcāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\nviññāṇañcāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\nākiñcaññāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\nnevasaññānāsaññāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi;\nsaññāvedayitanirodhampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi.","en":"“Mendicants, I say that the first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe second absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe third absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe fourth absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe dimension of infinite space is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe dimension of infinite consciousness is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe dimension of nothingness is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe dimension of neither perception nor non-perception is also a basis for ending the defilements.\nThe cessation of perception and feeling is also a basis for ending the defilements."}},{"id":"an9.36:2","sourceIds":["an9.36:2.1","an9.36:2.2","an9.36:2.3","an9.36:2.4","an9.36:2.5","an9.36:2.6","an9.36:2.7","an9.36:2.8","an9.36:2.9"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"‘Paṭhamampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ.\nKiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ?\nIdha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi …pe… paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti rūpagataṁ vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.","en":"‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, but why did I say it?\nTake a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption.\nThey contemplate the phenomena there—included in form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness—as impermanent, as suffering, as diseased, as a boil, as a dart, as gloom, as an affliction, as alien, as breaking apart, as empty, as not-self.\nThey turn their mind away from those things,\nand apply it to freedom from death:\n‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’\nAbiding in that they attain the ending of defilements.\nIf they don’t attain the ending of defilements, with the ending of the five lower fetters they’re reborn spontaneously, because of their passion and love for that meditation. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world."}},{"id":"an9.36:3","sourceIds":["an9.36:3.1","an9.36:3.2","an9.36:3.3","an9.36:3.4","an9.36:3.5","an9.36:3.6","an9.36:3.7","an9.36:3.8","an9.36:3.9","an9.36:3.10"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, issāso vā issāsantevāsī vā tiṇapurisarūpake vā mattikāpuñje vā yoggaṁ karitvā, so aparena samayena dūrepātī ca hoti akkhaṇavedhī ca mahato ca kāyassa padāletā;\nevamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi …pe… paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti rūpagataṁ vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.\n‘Paṭhamampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti,\niti yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ, idametaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ.","en":"It’s like an archer or their apprentice who first practices on a straw man or a clay model. At a later time they become a long-distance shooter, a marksman, who shatters large objects.\nIn the same way a noble disciple, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, enters and remains in the first absorption.\nThey contemplate the phenomena there—included in form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness—as impermanent, as suffering, as diseased, as a boil, as a dart, as gloom, as an affliction, as alien, as breaking apart, as empty, as not-self.\nThey turn their mind away from those things,\nand apply it to freedom from death:\n‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’\nAbiding in that they attain the ending of defilements.\nIf they don’t attain the ending of defilements, with the ending of the five lower fetters they’re reborn spontaneously, because of their passion and love for that meditation. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world.\n‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, and this is why I said it."}},{"id":"an9.36:4","sourceIds":["an9.36:4.1","an9.36:4.2","an9.36:4.3","an9.36:4.4","an9.36:4.5","an9.36:4.6","an9.36:4.7","an9.36:4.8","an9.36:4.9","an9.36:4.10","an9.36:4.11"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Dutiyampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya …pe…\ntatiyampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya …pe…\n‘catutthampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ.\nKiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ?\nIdha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti rūpagataṁ vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.","en":"‘The second absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.’ …\n‘The third absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.’ …\n‘The fourth absorption is also a basis for ending the defilements.’ …"}},{"id":"an9.36:5","sourceIds":["an9.36:5.1","an9.36:5.2","an9.36:5.3","an9.36:5.4","an9.36:5.5"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, issāso vā issāsantevāsī vā tiṇapurisarūpake vā mattikāpuñje vā yoggaṁ karitvā, so aparena samayena dūrepātī ca hoti akkhaṇavedhī ca mahato ca kāyassa padāletā;\nevamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā …pe… catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti rūpagataṁ vedanāgataṁ …pe…\nanāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.\n‘Catutthampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ, idametaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ."}},{"id":"an9.36:6","sourceIds":["an9.36:6.1","an9.36:6.2","an9.36:6.3","an9.36:6.4","an9.36:6.5","an9.36:6.6","an9.36:6.7","an9.36:6.8","an9.36:6.9"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"‘Ākāsānañcāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ.\nKiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ?\nIdha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbaso rūpasaññānaṁ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṁ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṁ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.","en":"‘The dimension of infinite space is also a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, but why did I say it?\nTake a mendicant who, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space.\nThey contemplate the phenomena there—included in feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness—as impermanent, as suffering, as diseased, as a boil, as a dart, as gloom, as an affliction, as alien, as breaking apart, as empty, as not-self.\nThey turn their mind away from those things,\nand apply it to freedom from death:\n‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’\nAbiding in that they attain the ending of defilements.\nIf they don’t attain the ending of defilements, with the ending of the five lower fetters they’re reborn spontaneously, because of their passion and love for that meditation. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world."}},{"id":"an9.36:7","sourceIds":["an9.36:7.1","an9.36:7.2","an9.36:7.3","an9.36:7.4","an9.36:7.5","an9.36:7.6"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, issāso vā issāsantevāsī vā tiṇapurisarūpake vā mattikāpuñje vā yoggaṁ karitvā, so aparena samayena dūrepātī ca hoti akkhaṇavedhī ca mahato ca kāyassa padāletā;\nevamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbaso rūpasaññānaṁ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṁ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṁ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ …pe…\nanāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.\n‘Ākāsānañcāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti,\niti yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ, idametaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ.","en":"It’s like an archer or their apprentice who first practices on a straw man or a clay model. At a later time they become a long-distance shooter, a marksman, who shatters large objects.\nIn the same way, take a mendicant who enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space. …\n‘The dimension of infinite space is a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, and this is why I said it."}},{"id":"an9.36:8","sourceIds":["an9.36:8.1","an9.36:8.2","an9.36:8.3","an9.36:8.4","an9.36:8.5","an9.36:8.6","an9.36:8.7","an9.36:8.8","an9.36:8.9","an9.36:8.10"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"‘Viññāṇañcāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya …pe…\nākiñcaññāyatanampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ.\nKiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ?\nIdha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘natthi kiñcī’ti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.","en":"‘The dimension of infinite consciousness is a basis for ending the defilements.’ …\n‘The dimension of nothingness is a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, but why did I say it?\nTake a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness.\nThey contemplate the phenomena there—included in feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness—as impermanent, as suffering, as diseased, as a boil, as a dart, as gloom, as an affliction, as alien, as breaking apart, as empty, as not-self.\nThey turn their mind away from those things,\nand apply it to freedom from death:\n‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’\nAbiding in that they attain the ending of defilements.\nIf they don’t attain the ending of defilements, with the ending of the five lower fetters they’re reborn spontaneously, because of their passion and love for that meditation. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world."}},{"id":"an9.36:9","sourceIds":["an9.36:9.1","an9.36:9.2","an9.36:9.3","an9.36:9.4","an9.36:9.5","an9.36:9.6","an9.36:9.7","an9.36:9.8","an9.36:9.9","an9.36:9.10"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, issāso vā issāsantevāsī vā tiṇapurisarūpake vā mattikāpuñje vā yoggaṁ karitvā, so aparena samayena dūrepātī ca hoti akkhaṇavedhī ca mahato ca kāyassa padāletā;\nevamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘natthi kiñcī’ti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati.\nSo yadeva tattha hoti vedanāgataṁ saññāgataṁ saṅkhāragataṁ viññāṇagataṁ, te dhamme aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato suññato anattato samanupassati.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpeti.\nSo tehi dhammehi cittaṁ paṭivāpetvā amatāya dhātuyā cittaṁ upasaṁharati:\n‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.\nSo tattha ṭhito āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti.\nNo ce āsavānaṁ khayaṁ pāpuṇāti, teneva dhammarāgena tāya dhammanandiyā pañcannaṁ orambhāgiyānaṁ saṁyojanānaṁ parikkhayā opapātiko hoti tattha parinibbāyī anāvattidhammo tasmā lokā.\n‘Ākiñcaññāyatanampāhaṁ, nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti,\niti yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ, idametaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ.","en":"It’s like an archer or their apprentice who first practices on a straw man or a clay model. At a later time they become a long-distance shooter, a marksman, who shatters large objects.\nIn the same way, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness.\nThey contemplate the phenomena there—included in feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness—as impermanent, as suffering, as diseased, as a boil, as a dart, as gloom, as an affliction, as alien, as breaking apart, as empty, as not-self.\nThey turn their mind away from those things,\nand apply it to freedom from death:\n‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’\nAbiding in that they attain the ending of defilements.\nIf they don’t attain the ending of defilements, with the ending of the five lower fetters they’re reborn spontaneously, because of their passion and love for that meditation. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world.\n‘The dimension of nothingness is a basis for ending the defilements.’\nThat’s what I said, and this is why I said it."}},{"id":"an9.36:10","sourceIds":["an9.36:10.1","an9.36:10.2","an9.36:10.3","an9.36:10.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Iti kho, bhikkhave, yāvatā saññāsamāpatti tāvatā aññāpaṭivedho.\nYāni ca kho imāni, bhikkhave, nissāya dve āyatanāni—\nnevasaññānāsaññāyatanasamāpatti ca saññāvedayitanirodho ca, jhāyīhete, bhikkhave, samāpattikusalehi samāpattivuṭṭhānakusalehi samāpajjitvā vuṭṭhahitvā sammā akkhātabbānīti vadāmī”ti.\nPañcamaṁ.","en":"And so, mendicants, penetration to enlightenment extends as far as attainments with perception.\nBut the two dimensions that depend on these—\nthe dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, and the cessation of perception and feeling—are properly explained by meditators who are skilled in these attainments and skilled in emerging from them, after they’ve entered them and emerged from them.”"}}]}],"sourceRevision":"afdafa92450cfe7573b280da50382888323666d2","sourceUrl":"https://suttacentral.net/an9.36/en/sujato","licence":"CC0 1.0","licenceUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","editionNote":"Full supplied source file; inherited abbreviations are preserved. Not a reconstructed expansion of every repetition. No Malay or Mandarin translation is implied."}