Aṇguttara Nikāya
Atthaka Nipāta
Rāgādi Peyyālaṃ

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Eights
Chapter X: Passion

Sutta 93

The Understanding of Passion (c)

Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.

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[230]

[1][olds][bodh] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī.

There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:

"Monks, for the complete understanding of passion, eight states must be made become.

What eight?

Conscious of body, he sees forms.

Personally unconscious of body,
he sees forms exterior to himself.

He applies himself to the thought:

'It is fair.'

Passing wholly beyond all perception of form,
by the disappearance of the perception of the sensory reactions,
unattentive to the perception of the manifold,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite space,
thinking:

'Space is infinite.'

By passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite space,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness,
thinking:

'Consciousness is infinite.'

By passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite consciousness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of nothingness,
thinking:

'There is nothing.'

By passing wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception.

By passing wholly beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
he enters and abides in the ending of perception and feeling.

Monks, for the complete understanding of passion, these eight states must be made become."