Udāna
7 8: Kaccāyana Suttaɱ
Awakening (1)
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
[VII-8.1] I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī at Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery. Now at that time Ven. Mahā Kaccāyana was sitting not far from the Blessed One, his legs crossed, his body held erect, having mindfulness immersed in the body well-established to the fore within. The Blessed One saw Ven. Mahā Kaccāyana sitting not far away, his legs crossed, his body held erect, having mindfulness immersed in the body well-established to the fore within.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
If one were to have
mindfulness always
established, continually
immersed in the body,
(thinking,)
"It should not be,
it should not be mine;
it will not be,
it will not be mine"[1] —
there,
in that step-by-step dwelling,
one in no long time
would cross over
attachment.
[1] This passage can also be translated as:
It should not be,
it should not occur to me;
it will not be,
it will not occur to me.
In AN 10.29, the Buddha recommends this view as conducive to developing dispassion for becoming. However, in MN 106 he warns that it can lead to the refined equanimity of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, which can become an object of clinging. Only if that subtle clinging is detected can all clinging be abandoned.
The Canon's most extended discussion of this theme of meditation is in SN 22.55. See Appendix Two [of the print edition of this book].
For more on this topic, see The Paradox of Becoming, chapter 5.
