Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Anguttara Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Anguttara Nikaya VIII.63
- Sankhitta Sutta
- In Brief (Good Will, Mindfulness, & Concentration)
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
Translator's note: This discourse is important in that it explicitly refers to
the practice of the four frames of reference (the four foundations of mindfulness) as a
form of concentration practice, mastered in terms of the levels of jhana.
Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him,
sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "It would be
good if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief so that, having heard the
Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone in seclusion: heedful, ardent, &
resolute."
"But it is in just this way that some worthless men make a request but then,
having been told the Dhamma, think they should tag along right behind me."
"May the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma in brief! May the One Well-gone teach me
the Dhamma in brief! It may well be that I will understand the Blessed One's words. It may
well be that I will become an heir to the Blessed One's words."
"Then, monk, you should train yourself thus: 'My mind will be established
inwardly, well-composed. No evil, unskillful qualities, once they have arisen, will remain
consuming the mind.' That's how you should train yourself.
"Then you should train yourself thus: 'Good-will, as my release of awareness, will
be developed, pursued, given a means of transport, given a grounding, steadied,
consolidated, & well-undertaken.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have
developed this concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with
directed thought & evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought & a
modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought & no evaluation,
you should develop it accompanied by rapture...not accompanied by rapture...endowed with a
sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should
then train yourself thus: 'Compassion, as my release of awareness...Appreciation, as my
release of awareness...Equanimity, as my release of awareness, will be developed, pursued,
given a means of transport, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, &
well-undertaken.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this
concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought
& evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of
evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought & no evaluation, you should
develop it accompanied by rapture...not accompanied by rapture...endowed with a sense of
enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should
then train yourself thus: 'I will remain focused on the body in & of itself -- ardent,
alert, & mindful -- putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.'
That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this concentration in this
way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought & evaluation, you
should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of evaluation, you should
develop it with no directed thought & no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied
by rapture...not accompanied by rapture...endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should
develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should
train yourself: 'I will remain focused on feelings in & of themselves...the mind in
& of itself...mental qualities in & of themselves -- ardent, alert, & mindful
-- putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.' That's how you should
train yourself. When you have developed this concentration in this way, you should develop
this concentration with directed thought & evaluation, you should develop it with no
directed thought & a modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed
thought & no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied by rapture...not
accompanied by rapture...endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed
with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, then
wherever you go, you will go in comfort. Wherever you stand, you will stand in comfort.
Wherever you sit, you will sit in comfort. Wherever you lie down, you will lie down in
comfort."
Then that monk, having been admonished by an admonishment from the Blessed One, got up
from his seat and bowed down to the Blessed One, circled around him, keeping the Blessed
One to his right side, and left. Then, dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, &
resolute, he in no long time reached & remained in the supreme goal of the holy life
for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing
it for himself in the here & now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the holy life
fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world." And
thus he became another one of the Arahants.