Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
48. Indriya Saṃyutta
4. Sukh'Indriya (or Uppaṭi) Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
48. Kindred Sayings on the Faculties
4. The Faculty of Ease
Sutta 40
Uppatika Suttaṃ
Consequent[1]
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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Once the Exalted One was staying near Sāvatthī.
Then the Exalted One addressed the monks,
saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," replied those monks to the Exalted One.
The Exalted One said:
"Monks, there are these five controlling faculties.
What five?
The controlling faculty of discomfort,
the the controlling faculty of unhappiness,
controlling faculty of ease,
the controlling faculty of happiness,
the controlling faculty of indifference.
These are the five controlling faculties.
§
Now herein, monks, suppose a monk dwells earnest,
ardent,
and aspiring,
and there arises in him the controlling faculty [188] of discomfort.
He is aware of it thus:
'There has arisen in me
this controlling faculty of discomfort.
Now this is conditioned,
has its cause,
its constituent parts,
its reasons.[2]
That the controlling faculty of discomfort
should arise without these conditions,
causes,
constituent parts
and reasons,
is quite impossible.'
Thus he comes to know fully
both the controlling faculty of discomfort,
its arising
and its ceasing:
and, whence arising,
how this controlling faculty of discomfort
comes to cease without remainder,[3] -
that also he fully knows.
■
Now, monks, whence does it arise
and how does it come to cease without remainder?
Herein a monk,
aloof from sense-desires,
aloof from evil conditions,
enters upon the first trance,
which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained,
born of seclusion,
zestful
and easeful,
and abides therein.
Here the controlling faculty of discomfort,
which has arisen,
ceases without remainder.
This monk is called
'A monk who has understood the ceasing
of the controlling faculty of discomfort,
one who has collected his mind[4]
for the attaining such a condition.'
§
Now herein again, monks,
suppose a monk dwells earnest,
ardent
and aspiring,
and there arises in him
the controlling faculty of unhappiness.
He is aware of it thus:
'There has arisen in me
this controlling faculty of unhappiness.
Now this is conditioned,
has its cause,
its constituent parts
and reasons.
That the controlling faculty of unhappiness
should arise without these conditions,
causes,
constituent parts
and reasons
is quite impossible.'
Thus he comes to know fully
both the controlling faculty of unhappiness,
and its arising
and its ceasing.
Also he fully knows,
whence arising,
how this controlling faculty of unhappiness
comes to cease without remainder.
■
[189] Now whence does it arise,
and how does it come to cease without remainder?
Herein a monk,
by the calming down of thought directed and sustained,
attains and abides in the second trance,
that inward calming,
that single-mindedness of will,
apart from thought directed and sustained,
that is born of mental balance,
zestful and easeful.
It is here that the controlling faculty of unhappiness,
which has arisen,
comes to cease without remainder.
Such an one, monks, is called
'A monk who has come to know
the ceasing of the controlling faculty of unhappiness,
one who has collected his mind
for attaining such a condition.'
§
Now herein again, monks,
suppose a monk dwells earnest,
ardent
and aspiring,
and there arises in him
the controlling faculty of ease.
He is aware of it thus:
'There has arisen in me
this controlling faculty of ease.
Now this is conditioned,
has its cause,
its constituent parts
and its reasons.
That the controlling faculty of ease
should arise without these conditions,
causes,
constituent parts
and reasons,
is quite impossible.'
Thus he comes to know
both the controlling faculty of ease
and its arising
and its ceasing.
Also he fully knows,
whence arising,
how this controlling faculty of ease
comes to cease without remainder.
■
Now whence does it arise
and how does it come to cease without remainder?
Herein a monk,
by the fading out of zest,
disinterested,
mindful and composed,
experiences with body
that ease of which the Ariyans declare:
'He who is disinterested and alert
dwells at ease,'[5]
and he so attains and abides
in the third trance.
It is here that the controlling faculty of ease,
which has arisen,
comes to cease [190] without remainder.
Such an one, monks, is called
'A monk who has understood
the ceasing of the controlling faculty of ease,
one who has collected his mind
for attaining such a condition.'
§
Now herein again, monks,
suppose a monk dwells earnest,
ardent
and aspiring,
and there arises in him
the controlling faculty of happiness.
He is aware of it thus:
'There has arisen in me
this controlling faculty of happiness.
Now this is conditioned,
has its cause,
its constituent parts,
its reasons.
That the controlling faculty of happiness
should arise without these conditions,
causes,
constituent parts
and reasons
is quite impossible.'
Thus he comes to know
the controlling faculty of happiness
and its arising
and its ceasing.
Also he fully knows,
whence arising,
how this controlling faculty of happiness
comes to cease without remainder.
■
Now whence does it arise
and how does it come to cease without remainder?
Herein, monks,
by abandoning both ease and discomfort,
by the ending of both happiness and unhappiness felt before,
he attains and abides in the fourth trance,
a state of neither ease nor discomfort,
an equanimity of utter purity.
Herein the controlling faculty of happiness,
which had arisen,
comes to cease without remainder.
Such an one, monks, is called
'A monk who has understood the ceasing
of the controlling faculty of happiness,
one who has collected his mind
for attaining such a condition.'
§
Now herein again, monks,
suppose a monk dwells earnest,
ardent
and aspiring.
Then there arises in him
the controlling faculty of indifference.
He is aware of it thus:
'There has arisen in me
this controlling faculty of indifference.
Now this is conditioned,
has its cause,
its constituent parts
and its reasons.
That the controlling faculty of indifference
should arise without its conditions,
causes,
its constituent parts
and its reasons,
is a thing quite impossible.'
Thus he comes to know
both the controlling faculty of indifference,
its arising
and its ceasing.
Also he fully knows,
whence arising,
how this controlling faculty of indifference
comes to cease without remainder.
■
[191] Now whence does it arise,
and bow does it come to cease without remainder?
Herein, monks, passing utterly beyond the feeling of neither perception nor non-perception,
he attains and abides in
the state of cessation of perception and feeling.
Herein the controlling faculty of indifference,
which had arisen,
comes to cease without remainder.
Such an one, monks, is called
'A monk who has understood
the ceasing of the controlling faculty of indifference,
one who has collected his mind
for attaining such a condition.'"
[1] Title in text Uppatika (? = uppatita, 'arisen,' with reference to uppajjati in this §). But Comy. refers it to Chapter-title: uppaṭi-pātikaṇ suttaṇ nāmā ti veditabbaṇ, i.e., 'with reference to what has gone before' (yathādhamm'ārammana-vasena paṭipātiyā vuttaṇ). Cf. supra, text 207 n. [?]: supra, 183 n.
[2] Sanimittaṇ, sanidānaṇ, sasañkhāraṇ, sappaccayaṇ.
[3] Cf. Expos. 1, 235; V.M. 166; SnA. ii, 120; D. iii, 222.
[4] Text upasaṇhāsi, but Burmese MSS. and Comy. upasaṇharati ('he pulls himself together'). Comy. remarks: tattha-lābhī samāne uppādan'atthāya cittaṇ upasaṇharati, lābhī samāno samapajjan'atthāya. For tathattāya, 'the state of bemg such,' cf. M. i, 465 ff; supra, text 90; K.S. iv, 202 n. (a synonym in Sanskrit Buddhism for Nibbāna).
[5] Cf. Expos. 238. (It is to be noticed that the third feeling is neither pain nor pleasure, is opposed to pain and pleasure, is not merely the absence of pain and pleasure: it is called 'hedonic indifference.' The Fourth Jhāna which follows is the purity of mindfulness born of (this) indifference. The Fourth Jhāna, then, is mental emancipation, which is neutral feeling.)
