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- Anguttara Nikaya XI.2
- Cetana Sutta
- An Act of Will
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"For a person endowed with virtue, consummate in virtue, there is no need for an
act of will, 'May freedom from remorse arise in me.' It is in the nature of things that
freedom from remorse arises in a person endowed with virtue, consummate in virtue.
"For a person free from remorse, there is no need for an act of will, 'May joy
arise in me.' It is in the nature of things that joy arises in a person free from remorse.
"For a joyful person, there is no need for an act of will, 'May rapture arise in
me.' It is in the nature of things that rapture arises in a joyful person.
"For a rapturous person, there is no need for an act of will, 'May my body be
serene.' It is in the nature of things that a rapturous person grows serene in body.
"For a person serene in body, there is no need for an act of will, 'May I
experience pleasure.' It is in the nature of things that a person serene in body
experiences pleasure.
"For a person experiencing pleasure, there is no need for an act of will, 'May my
mind grow concentrated.' It is in the nature of things that the mind of a person
experiencing pleasure grows concentrated.
"For a person whose mind is concentrated, there is no need for an act of will,
'May I know & see things as they actually are.' It is in the nature of things that a
person whose mind is concentrated knows & sees things as they actually are.
"For a person who knows & sees things as they actually are, there is no need
for an act of will, 'May I feel disenchantment.' It is in the nature of things that a
person who knows & sees things as they actually are feels disenchantment.
"For a person who feels disenchantment, there is no need for an act of will, 'May
I grow dispassionate.' It is in the nature of things that a person who feels
disenchantment grows dispassionate.
"For a dispassionate person, there is no need for an act of will, 'May I realize
the knowledge & vision of release.' It is in the nature of things that a dispassionate
person realizes the knowledge & vision of release.
"In this way, dispassion has knowledge & vision of release as its purpose,
knowledge & vision of release as its reward. Disenchantment has dispassion as its
purpose, dispassion as its reward. Knowledge & vision of things as they actually are
has disenchantment as its purpose, disenchantment as its reward. Concentration has
knowledge & vision of things as they actually are as its purpose, knowledge &
vision of things as they actually are as its reward. Pleasure has concentration as its
purpose, concentration as its reward. Serenity has pleasure as its purpose, pleasure as
its reward. Rapture has serenity as its purpose, serenity as its reward. Joy has rapture
as its purpose, rapture as its reward. Freedom from remorse has joy as its purpose, joy as
its reward. Skillful virtues have freedom from remorse as their purpose, freedom from
remorse as their reward.
"In this way, mental qualities lead on to mental qualities, mental qualities bring
mental qualities to their consummation, for the sake of going from the near to the Further
Shore."