Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
43. Asaṅkhata Saṃyutta
1. Paṭhama Vagga

Sutta 10

Bojjhaṅga Suttaṃ

Dimensions of Awakening

Translated from the Pāḷi by Michael M. Olds

 

---

[1][pts][bodh] I hear tell:

Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Savatthi-town revisiting.

There then, The Lucky Man, said this to the beggars gathered round:

"Beggars!".

"Elder!"
said the beggars in response to The Lucky Man.

The Lucky Man said this to them:

"I will explain
the not own-made^[1] to you, beggars, and the Way to go to the not own-made.

Listen carefully!'

And what, beggars,
is the not own-made?

Whatever, beggars, is
lust's destruction,^[2]
anger's destruction,^[3]
confusion's destruction.^[4]

This, beggars,
is what is called
"the not own-made".

And what, beggars,
is the way to go
to the not own-made?

The Dimensions of Awakening^[5]

This is what is called
'the way to go
to the not own-made'.

This, then, beggars,
is my explanation to you of
the not own-made, and
the way to go to the not own-made.

Whatever, beggars,
ought to be done
for his students
by a kindly master,
out of compassion,
with compassion,
that I have done.

These, beggars,
are the roots of trees,
these are empty huts.

Meditate, beggars,
do not be careless,
do not provide grounds for later regret.

This then is my advice."

 

---

^[1] Asaṅkhata. PED: "past participle of saṅkharoti;... (but see saṅkhāra] 1. put together, compound; conditioned, produced ..." But the PED definition neglects to point out that the making is the making of that which is later termed "Me" or "Mine". What saṅkhara is is the identification with that which is created by the individual through acts of thought, word and deed with the intent of creating sense experience for himself. Mistranslation of this term (and it is so mistranslated at this time (Thursday, April 16, 2026 8:09 AM) by virtually all the other translators) becomes of vital concern when it is given as "conditioned" because the Buddha tells us that Nibbāna is asaṅkhāra (not own-made, not unconditioned (paccaya)). Nibbāna is conditioned by following the Magga, but it is not own-made. Following the Magga is not-doing or letting go of that which prevents one from attaining it. Not-doing a wrong thing does not create anything. For more on this see "Is Nibbāna Conditioned?" in the Forum.

^[2] Rāga. Excitement, passion.

^[3] Dosa. Anger, ill-will, evil intention, wickedness, corruption, malice, hatred.

^[4] Moha. Stupidity, dullness of mind and soul, delusion, bewilderment, infatuation.

^[5] Bojjhaṅga.

Sati- Sati has all the meanings we give to "mind", but two are dominant: The ability to remember what was done and said long ago, and paying attention to what one is about at all times and in all ways and in that paying attention seeing how things originate, how they pass away, how they are not self and rising above them, being detached and without the ordinary worldly lust and depression. sambojjh'aṅgaṃ. what you want to do is to set this up in your mind like this:

Sati rules which of the two columns you make the focus of your meditation. Both are progressions and the whole is a progression. First you investigate Dhamma, then you generate the energy needed to put what you have learned into practice. The result is some degree of appreciation. Switching to the other side you learn first not to react, but, if needed, to respond and that what you need to do that is impassivity. Being impassive and not reacting but only responding you are on top of the situation. Not content with being on top of things which change and because of that require constant monitoring and is dependent on having something to be on top of; you go to the final step: detachment. Sati guides the process. If you get bogged down by any of the three in the left-hand column, sati tells you to move to the right-hand column; if you get too worked up by any of the three in the right-hand column sati tells you to move your attention to the left.

For a sutta dealing with the organization of The Seven Dimensions of Self Awakening this way see the Vīṇ'opama Suttaṃ

This is how to set up The Seven Dimensions of Self-awakening. What you need to do in your Dhamma-Vicaya is to investigate the details of each of the dimensions.

Hint: you use the forces of The Seven Dimensions of Self-awakening to get rid of the Diversions and the result is knowing and seeing.

Viveka- Whether secluded or not it means not being disturbed (not having one's meditation interrupted) by the activities of others. nissitaṃ depending on, attained by way of, supported by.

Virāga-nissitaṃ. Un-lust. un-passion.

Nirodha-nissitaṃ. Not just the fact that things do come to an end, but the being ready in the heart for the ending of everything.

Vossagga- Giving up, letting go, not-doing. pariṇāmiṃ. The end game.

Dhamma-Vicaya. Researching the Dhamma. For a group of suttas relating to The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening, see the Bojjhanga Saṃyutta.

Viriya. Vigour, energy, effort, exertion. It the having of these states, but initially requires the knowledge of how to arrive at them. The basic method suggested in the suttas is to expend energy to build energy.

Pīti. This is a spectrum of terms that covers mild appreciation to extatic joy. Which you observe depends on the degree of freedom you have reached.

Passaddhi. PED has calmness, tranquillity, repose, serenity, but it is the thing that gives rise to these states: not reacting to events that occur to one but responding as required. It could be both the required impassivity and the calm response.

Samādhi. A wide-ranging term understood in several differing ways by the translators. It is officially defined as the possession of the four Jḥānas, being concentrated, being empty of, without signs or aims indicating lust, hate, and stupidity. The word itself means sama = even (level), adhi = over, which I hear as being above it all, or on top of things, and transloate as "serenity."

Upekkhā. Usually translated "equanimity" I prefer "detachment" with the idea "Which would you rather have if you were trapped in a huge pile of dukkha: equanimity in it or detachment from it? But here is the dictionary definition and you can make up your own mind.