Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Anguttara Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Anguttara Nikaya V.121
- Gilana Sutta
- To a Sick Man
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Vesali,
in the Great Forest, at the Gabled Pavilion. Then, in the late afternoon, he left his
seclusion and went to the sick ward, where he saw a monk who was weak & sickly. Seeing
him, he sat down on a prepared seat. As he was sitting there, he addressed the monks:
"When these five things don't leave a monk who is weak & sickly, it can be
expected of him that, before long -- with the ending of the fermentations -- he will enter
& remain in the fermentation-free release of awareness & release of discernment,
having realized & directly known them for himself in the here & now. Which five?
"There is the case where a monk [1] remains focused on unattractiveness with
regard to the body, [2] is percipient of foulness with regard to food, [3] is percipient
of distaste with regard to every world, [4] is percipient of the undesirability of all
fabrications, and [5] has the perception of death well established within himself.
"When these five things don't leave a monk who is weak & sickly, it can be
expected of him that, before long -- with the ending of the fermentations -- he will enter
& remain in the fermentation-free release of awareness & release of discernment,
having realized & directly known them for himself in the here & now."