HeartDhamma

AN 3.32 To Ānanda on Nibbāna

Ānanda Sutta

 

Then, the Elder Ānanda went to see the Awakened One,

Having approached and paid loving respects,

he sat down beside him and asked:

 

 

[Ānanda]

“Bhante, could a monk reach such a state of meditation where:

 

(1) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride in regards to this body 

animated by consciousness; [1]

 

(2) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or 

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride

In regards to all external things; [2]

 

(3) And that he could understand and abide in 

The Unbinding of the mind, 

the Unbinding by Discernment, [3]

Freed from the conception: 

“I am this” or 

“this is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride;

 

And he would thus live Unbinded in mind 

and unbinded by discernment?

 

[The Buddha]

“A monk could, Ānanda,

reach such a state of meditation that:

 

(1) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride in regards to this body 

animated by consciousness; [4]

 

(2) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or 

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride

In regards to all external things; [5]

 

(3) And that he could understand and abide in 

The Unbinding of the mind, 

the Unbinding by Discernment, [6]

Freed from the conception: 

“I am this” or 

“this is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride;

 

And he would thus live unbinded in mind 

and unbinded by discernment.”

 

[Ānanda]

“Pray Bhante, how could a monk 

reach such a state of meditation as this?”

 

[The Buddha]

Here Ānanda, a monk knows:

 

“This is peaceful, this is sublime, [7]

That is, the appeasement of all mental activities [8]

The giving up of all mental limitations, [9]

The complete calming of tension,

unclenching, release,

Nibbāna.”[10]

 

“It is in this way Ānanda, 

That a monk could reach such a state of meditation that:

 

 

(1) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride in regards to this body 

animated by consciousness; [11]

 

(2) There would not be any conception of 

“I am this” or 

“This is mine” or 

Any inclination to pride in regards to all external things; [12]

 

(3) And that he could understand and abide in 

The Unbinding of the mind, 

the Unbinding by Discernment, [13]

Freed from the conception: 

“I am this” or 

“this is mine” or 

any inclination to pride

 

and he would thus live unbinded in mind 

and unbinded by discernment.

 

[Pārāyana]

 

“It is in this regard that I have said Ānanda, 

In the Pārāyana, the Question to Puṇṇaka:

 

Knowing this world’s low and beyond, [14]

Unstirred by worldly things,

Serene and clear, untroubled and desireless, [15]

He has transcended aging and death I say. [16]

 

 


[1] Yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[2] Bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[3] Yañca cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ upasampajja viharato.

[4] Yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[5] Bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[6] Yañca cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ upasampajja viharato.

[7] ‘Etaṃ santaṃ etaṃ paṇītaṃ 

[8] Yadidaṃ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho 

[9] Sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo: Upadhi: Skt: “Imposition” Indian phil.: concept of adventitious limiting conditions.

[10] Taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti. Nibbāna: Salvation, quenching out, the blowing out, the putting out.

[11] Yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[12] Bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu.

[13] Yañca cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ upasampajja viharato.

[14] Saṅkhāya lokasmiṃ paroparāni.

[15] Santo vidhūmo anīgho nirāso.

[16] Atāri so jātijaranti brūmī’”ti.

 

This is a gift of Dhamma

All Sutta Translations by Ānanda are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.