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- Anguttara Nikaya V.28
- Samadhanga Sutta
- The Factors of Concentration
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi,
in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the
monks, "Monks, I will teach you the five-factored noble right concentration. Listen,
and pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said: "Now what, monks, is five-factored noble right
concentration? There is the case where a monk -- quite withdrawn from sensuality,
withdrawn from unskillful qualities -- enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and
pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He
permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure
born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and
pleasure born from withdrawal.
"Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would
pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again
with water, so that his ball of bath powder -- saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within
and without -- would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates, suffuses and
fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of
his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. This is the first
development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, he enters and
remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of
awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance. He permeates
and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of
composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of
composure.
"Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within,
having no inflow from east, west, north, or south, and with the skies periodically
supplying abundant showers, so that the cool fount of water welling up from within the
lake would permeate and pervade, suffuse and fill it with cool waters, there being no part
of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters; even so, the monk permeates and pervades,
suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There
is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure. This
is the second development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful
and alert, and physically sensitive to pleasure. He enters and remains in the third jhana,
of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.'
He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of
rapture, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of
rapture.
"Just as in a blue-, white-, or red-lotus pond, there may be
some of the blue, white, or red lotuses which, born and growing in the water, stay
immersed in the water and flourish without standing up out of the water, so that they are
permeated and pervaded, suffused and filled with cool water from their roots to their
tips, and nothing of those blue, white, or red lotuses would be unpervaded with cool
water; even so, the monk permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with
the pleasure divested of rapture. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with
pleasure divested of rapture. This is the third development of the five-factored noble
right concentration.
"And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress -- as with the
earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- he enters and remains in the fourth
jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits,
permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so that there is nothing of his entire
body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.
"Just as if a man were sitting wrapped from head to foot with
a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not
extend; even so, the monk sits, permeating his body with a pure, bright awareness. There
is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness. This is the fourth
development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"And furthermore, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended
to, well-considered, well-tuned (well-penetrated) by means of discernment.
"Just as if one person were to reflect on another, or a
standing person were to reflect on a sitting person, or a sitting person were to reflect
on a person lying down; even so, monks, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand,
well attended to, well-pondered, well-tuned (well-penetrated) by means of discernment.
This is the fifth development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration
in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and
realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose that there were a water jar, set on a stand, brimful of
water so that a crow could drink from it. If a strong man were to tip it in any way at
all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble
right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his
mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose there were a rectangular water tank -- set on level
ground, bounded by dikes -- brimful of water so that a crow could drink from it. If a
strong man were to loosen the dikes anywhere at all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble
right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his
mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose there were a chariot on level ground at four
crossroads, harnessed to thoroughbreds, waiting with whips lying ready, so that a skilled
driver, a trainer of tamable horses, might mount and -- taking the reins with his left
hand and the whip with his right -- drive out and back, to whatever place and by whichever
road he liked; in the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored
noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he
turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an
opening.
"If he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers.
Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes.
He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives in
and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were
dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird. With his hand
he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful. He exercises
influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself
whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, purified and
surpassing the human -- both kinds of sounds: divine and human, whether near or far. He
can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having
encompassed it with his own awareness. He discerns a mind with passion as a mind with
passion, and a mind without passion as a mind without passion. He discerns a mind with
aversion as a mind with aversion, and a mind without aversion as a mind without aversion.
He discerns a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a
mind without delusion. He discerns a restricted mind as a restricted mind, and a scattered
mind as a scattered mind. He discerns an enlarged mind as an enlarged mind, and an
unenlarged mind as an unenlarged mind. He discerns an excelled mind [one that is not at
the most excellent level] as an excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind as an unexcelled
mind. He discerns a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind, and an unconcentrated mind
as an unconcentrated mind. He discerns a released mind as a released mind, and an
unreleased mind as an unreleased mind. He can witness this for himself whenever there is
an opening.
"If he wants, he recollects his manifold past lives (lit: previous homes), i.e.,
one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one
hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons
of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting],
'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my
food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from
that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had
such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the
end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he remembers his
manifold past lives in their modes and details. He can witness this for himself whenever
there is an opening.
"If he wants, he sees -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the
human -- beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and
superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma:
'These beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled
the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views
-- with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of
deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings -- who were
endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones,
who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views -- with the
break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the
heavenly world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human --
he sees beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and
superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma. He
can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, then through the ending of the mental effluents, he remains in the
effluent-free release of awareness and release of discernment, having known and made them
manifest for himself right in the here and now. He can witness this for himself whenever
there is an opening."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's
words.