Aṅguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
IV. Deva-Dūta Vagga
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha
III. The Book of the Threes
IV. Divine Messengers
Sutta 32
Ānanda Suttaɱ
Ānanda
Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
© 2012 Bhikkhu Bodhi
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[1][pts][olds][upal][than] Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him:
"Bhante, could a bhikkhu obtain such a state of concentration that
(1) he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to this conscious body;
(2) he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to all external objects; and
(3) he would enter and dwell in that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, through which there is no more I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit for one who enters and dwells in it?"
"He could, Ānanda."
"But how, bhante, could he obtain such a state of concentration?"
"Here, Ānanda, a bhikkhu thinks thus:
'This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbāna.'
In this way, Ānanda, a bhikkhu could obtain such a state of concentration that he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to this conscious body; he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to all external objects; and he would enter and dwell in that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, through which there is no more I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit for one who enters and dwells in it.
And it was with reference to this that I said in the Pārāyana, in 'The Questions of Puṇṇaka:
"Having comprehended the highs and lows in the world,
he is not perturbed by anything in the world.
Peaceful, fumeless, untroubled, wishless,
he has, I say, crossed over birth and old age."
