Khajjanīya Sutta
In Sāvatthi.
“Monks,
Should there be any monk or Brahmin
who remembers and reconstitutes
their countless previous existences;
All of them remember only
either of the five fabrics of the ego. [1]
What five?
When recalling:
‘In the past, this was my physical appearance.’
One remembers only physical appearance.[2]
When recalling:
‘In the past, this was my experience [of reality]’
One remembers only felt experience.
When recalling:
‘In the past, this was my understanding
One remembers only understanding.
When recalling:
‘In the past, this was my thoughts’
One only remembers thoughts.
When recalling:
‘In the past, this was my conscious experience.’
One only remembers consciousness.
[Defining the Five Fabrics]
[Physical Matter]
Why is it called physical matter?
It is coarse monks;
that is why it is called physicality. [3]
What is afflictive?
Cold is coarse,
heat is coarse,
hunger is coarse,
thirst is coarse
being exposed to flies and mosquitos,
the wind, the sun, and crawling insects is coarse.[4]
It is coarse monks,
that is why it is called physicality.
[Felt Experience]
What is felt experience?
It experiences monks;
that is why it is called felt experience.[5]
What does it experience?
It experiences pleasure
It experiences pain,
It experiences everything in between.[6]
It experiences monks,
that is why it is called felt experience.
[Conceptual Thinking]
What is conceptual thinking?
It conceptualizes monks,
that is why it is called conceptual thinking.[7]
What does it conceptualize?
It conceptualizes blue,
It conceptualizes yellow,
It conceptualizes red,
It conceptualizes white. [8]
It conceptualizes monks,
that is why it is called conceptual thinking.
[Mental Constructs]
What are mental constructs?
They produce and generate all mental constructs monks,
that is why they are called mental constructs.[9]
How do they generate all activities?
It mentally creates and fabricates
physical matter the way it is.
It mentally creates and fabricates
Felt experience the way it is.
It mentally creates and fabricates
Concepts the way they are
It mentally creates and fabricates
mental constructs the way they are.
It mentally creates and fabricates
awareness the way it is.[10]
They generate all activities monks,
that is why they are called constructs.
[Awareness]
What is awareness?
It is aware monks;
that is why it is called awareness.[11]
How is it aware?
It is aware of what is sour
It is aware of what is bitter
It is aware of what is spicy,
It is aware of what is sweet,
It is aware of what is pungent,
It is aware of what is not pungent,
It is aware of what is alkaline,
It is aware of what is not alkaline. [12]
It is aware monks,
that is why it is called awareness.
[The Ariya’s Reflection]
Therefore monks,
the instructed, wise meditator reflects:
[Physical Perception]
‘Right now,
physical perception is devouring me,
In the past also,
physical perception devoured me,
And in the future too,
physical perception will devour me
just as it is now devouring me.’ [13]
‘If I were to seek happiness in future physical perception,
this physical perception would then devour me,
Just as I am here and now being devoured by it.’ [14]
֎
Understanding like this,
One lets go of previous physical perceptions
and does not long for future physical perceptions.[15]
One practices for disinterest towards physical perceptions,
towards its appeasement,
and its complete release. [16]
[Sensations]
‘Right now,
sensations are devouring me,
In the past also,
sensations devoured me,
And in the future too,
sensations will devour me
just as it is now devouring me.’
‘If I were to seek happiness in future sensations,
these sensations would then devour me,
Just as I am here and now being devoured by it.’
֎
Understanding like this,
One lets go of previous sensations
and does not long for future sensations.[17]
One practices for disinterest towards sensations,
towards its appeasement,
and its complete release.
[Congnition]
‘Right now,
cognition is devouring me,
In the past also,
cognition devoured me,
And in the future too,
cognition will devour me
just as it is now devouring me.’
‘If I were to seek happiness in future cognition,
this cognition would then devour me,
Just as I am here and now being devoured by it.’
֎
Understanding like this,
One lets go of previous cognition
and does not long for future material perceptions.
One practices for disinterest towards cognition,
towards its appeasement,
and its complete release.
[Mental Activities]
‘Right now,
mental activities are devouring me,
In the past also,
mental activities devoured me,
And in the future too,
mental activities will devour me
just as it is now devouring me.’
‘If I were to seek happiness in future mental activities,
these mental activities would then devour me,
Just as I am here and now being devoured by them.’
֎
Understanding like this,
One lets go of previous mental activities,
and does not long for future mental activities.
One practices for disinterest towards mental activities,
towards their appeasement,
and complete release.
[Awareness]
‘Right now,
awareness is devouring me,
In the past also,
awareness devoured me,
And in the future too,
awareness will devour me
just as it is now devouring me.’
‘If I were to seek happiness in future awareness,
this awareness would then devour me,
Just as I am here and now being devoured by it.’
֎
Understanding like this,
One lets go of previous awareness,
and does not long for future awareness.
One practices for disinterest towards awareness,
towards its appeasement,
and its complete release.
[Features of Selflessness]
[Physical Perception]
What do you think monks?
Is physical perception changing or unchanging? [18]
‘It is changing Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
is that pleasant
or unpleasant? [19]
‘Unpleasant Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
unpleasant
and completely ephemeral
is it sound to regard it as:
This is me,
I am this,
This is myself. [20]
‘It is not Bhante.’
[Sensations]
What do you think monks?
Are sensations changing or unchanging?
‘They are changing Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
is that pleasant or unpleasant?
‘Unpleasant Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
unpleasant
and completely ephemeral
is it sound to regard it as:
‘This is me,
I am this,
This is myself.’
‘It is not Bhante.’
[Cognition]
What do you think monks?
Is cognition changing or unchanging?
‘It is changing Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing;
is that pleasant
or unpleasant?
‘Unpleasant Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
unpleasant
and completely ephemeral
is it sound to regard it as:
This is me,
I am this,
This is myself.
‘It is not Bhante.’
[Mental Activities]
What do you think monks?
Are mental activities changing or unchanging?
‘It is changing Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing;
is it pleasant
or unpleasant?
‘Unpleasant Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
unpleasant
and completely ephemeral
is it sound to regard it as:
This is me,
I am this,
This is myself.
‘It is no Bhante.’
[Awareness]
What do you think monks,
Is awareness changing or unchanging?
‘It is changing Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing;
is that pleasant
or unpleasant?
‘Unpleasant Bhante.’
And that which is continually changing,
unpleasant
and completely ephemeral
is it sound to regard it as:
This is me,
I am this,
This is myself.
‘It is not Bhante.’
[Not Self]
[Physical Perception]
Therefore, monks,
Any kind of physical perception
[whether it is]
Past, present or future
Within or without,
Gross or subtle,
Low or high
Far or near,
One should see all material perception
with wise discernment, as
‘This is not me,
This is not who I am,
This is not my-self.’
This is how one should understand it,
As it actually is,
by practical reasoning.[21]
[Sensations]
Therefore, monks,
Any kind of sensation
[whether it is]
Past, present or future
Within or without,
Gross or subtle,
Low or high
Far or near,
One should see all sensory experience
with wise discernment, as
“This is not me,
This is not who I am,
This is not my-self.”
This is how one should understand it,
As it actually is,
by practical reasoning.
[Cognition]
Therefore, monks,
Any kind of cognition
[whether it is]
Past, present or future
Within or without,
Gross or subtle,
Low or high
Far or near,
One should see all congnition
with wise discernment, as
“This is not me,
This is not who I am,
This is not my-self.”
This is how one should understand it,
As it actually is,
by practical reasoning.
[Mental Activities]
Therefore, monks,
Any kind of mental activities,
[whether it is]
Past, present or future
Within or without,
Gross or subtle,
Low or high
Far or near,
One should see all material perception
with wise discernment, as
“This is not me,
This is not who I am,
This is not my-self.”
This is how one should understand it,
As it actually is,
by practical reasoning
[Awareness]
Therefore, monks,
Any kind of awareness
[whether it is]
Past, present or future
Within or without,
Gross or subtle,
Low or high
Far or near,
One should see all material perception
with wise discernment, as
“This is not me,
This is not who I am,
This is not my-self.”
This is how one should understand it,
As it actually is,
by practical reasoning.
֎
[Undoing]
Monks,
that wise meditator is
One who undoes
and does not accumulate;
One who lets go,
and does not hold on;
One who disperses
and does not pile up;
One who extinguishes,
And does not kindle.[22]
How does one undo
and not accumulate?
(1) One does away with physical perception
one does not accumulate it.
(2) One does away with sensations
one does not accumulate them.
(3) One does away with cognition
one does not accumulate it.
(4) One does away with mental activities
one does not accumulate it.
(5) One does away with awareness
one does not accumulate it.
How does one let go
and not hold on?
(1) One lets go of material perception
one does not hold on to it.
(2) One lets go of sensations
one does not hold on to them.
(3) One lets go of cognition
one does not hold on to it.
(4) One lets go of mental activities
one does not hold on to it.
(5) One lets go of awareness
one does not hold on to it.
How does one disperse
and not amass?
(1) One disperses material perception
One does not amass it.
(2) One disperses sensations
One does not amass it.
(3) One disperses cognition
One does not amass it.
(4) One disperses mental activities
One does not amass it.
(5) One disperses awareness
One does not amass it.
How does one extinguish
and not kindle?
(1) One extinguishes physical perception
One does not kindle it.
(2) One extinguishes sensations
One does not kindle them.
(3) One extinguishes cognition
One does not kindle it.
(4) One extinguishes mental activities
One does not kindle it.
(5) One extinguishes awareness
One does not kindle it.
[Release]
Seeing in this way monks,
a wise meditator
Completely lets go of physical perception,
Completely lets go of sensations,
Completely lets go of cognition,
Completely lets go of mental activities,
Completely lets go of awareness. [23]
Disinterested, one is unagitated,
Free from agitation, one is unbound.
Thus unbound, one knows:
this is freedom. [24]
“The birth of [hurtful states] is finished,
Lived is the spiritual life,
Done is what had to be done,
There is no more conceit here.”
֎
[Post Release]
Then, a monk is one
who neither undoes nor accumulates
but remains undone,[25]
who neither lets go nor hold on
but remains not holding;
who neither disperses nor pile on
but remains dispersed;
Who neither extinguishes nor kindle
but remains extinguished.
How does one neither undo nor accumulate
but remains undone?
(1) One neither undoes nor accumulates physical perception
but remains undone from it;
(2) One neither undoes nor accumulates sensations
but remains undone from it;
(3) One neither undoes nor accumulates cognition
but remains undone from it;
(4) One neither undoes nor accumulates mental activities
but remains undone from it;
(5) One neither undoes nor accumulates awareness
but remains undone from it.
How does one neither lets go nor hold on
but remains not holding?
(1)One neither lets go nor hold on to physical perception
but remains not holding;
(2) One neither lets go nor hold on to sensations
but remains not holding;
(3) One neither lets go nor hold on to cognition
but remains not holding;
(4) One neither lets go nor holds on to mental activities
but remains not holding;
(5) One neither lets go nor hold on to awareness
but remains not holding;
How does one neither disperses nor pile on
but remains dispersed?
(1) One neither disperses nor pile on physical perception
but remains dispersed from it;
(2) One neither disperses nor pile on sensations
but remains dispersed from it;
(3) One neither disperses nor pile on cognition
but remains dispersed from it;
(4) One neither disperses nor pile on mental activities
but remains dispersed from it;
(5) One neither disperses nor pile on awareness
but remains dispersed from it.
How does one neither extinguishes nor kindle
but remains extinguished?
(1) One neither extinguishes nor kindle physical perception
but remains extinguished from it;
(2) One neither extinguishes nor kindle sensations
but remains extinguished from it;
(3) One neither extinguishes nor kindle cognition
but remains extinguished from it;
(4) One neither extinguishes nor kindle mental activities
but remains extinguished from it;
(5) One neither extinguishes nor kindle awareness
but remains extinguished from it.
With such an emancipated mind monks,
even Indra and its Devas
Brahma and Pajāpati
pay their respects from afar saying: [26]
“Our respects to the highest being,
Homage to the one gone beyond, [27]
Those for who no one can comprehend,
What they meditate upon.” [28]
[1] anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussaramānā anussaranti sabbete pañcupādānakkhandhe anussaranti etesaṃ vā aññataraṃ.
[2] ‘Evaṃrūpo ahosiṃ atītamaddhānan’ti— iti vā hi, bhikkhave, anussaramāno rūpaṃyeva anussarati.
[3] Kiñca rūpaṃ vadetha? Ruppatīti kho tasmā ‘rūpan’ti vuccati. The Pāḷi for ‘ruppati’ has two meanings which the Buddha is cleverly playing with here. It can be either from the root ‘rup’ which means painful, breaking off afflictive, confusing or from the root ‘rūp’ which means to shape, form, act or demonstrate. This semantic connection does not exist in English which makes rendering the original message and intention here impossible. Latin: ‘Rumpere.’
[4] Kena ruppati? Sītenapi ruppati, uṇhenapi ruppati, jighacchāyapi ruppati, pipāsāyapi ruppati, ḍaṃsa-makasa-vātā-tapa-sarīsapa-samphassenapi ruppati.
[5] Vedayatīti kho, bhikkhave, tasmā ‘vedanā’ti vuccati.
[6] Kiñca vedayati? Sukhampi vedayati, dukkhampi vedayati, adukkhamasukhampi vedayati.
[7] Sañjānātīti kho, bhikkhave, tasmā ‘saññā’ti vuccati.
[8] Kiñca sañjānāti? Nīlampi sañjānāti, pītakampi sañjānāti, lohitakampi sañjānāti, odātampi sañjānāti.
[9] Saṅkhatamabhisaṅkharontīti kho tasmā ‘saṅkhārā’ti vuccati.
[10] Kiñca saṅkhatamabhisaṅkharonti? Rūpaṃ rūpattāya saṅkhatam-abhisaṅkharonti, vedanaṃ vedanattāya saṅkhatam-abhisaṅkharonti, saññaṃ saññattāya saṅkhatam-abhisaṅkharonti, saṅkhāre saṅkhārattāya saṅkhatam-abhisaṅkharonti, viññāṇaṃ viññāṇattāya saṅkhatam-abhisaṅkharonti.
[11] Vijānātīti kho, bhikkhave, tasmā ‘viññāṇan’ti vuccati.
[12] Kiñca vijānāti? Ambilampi vijānāti, tittakampi vijānāti, kaṭukampi vijānāti, madhurampi vijānāti, khārikampi vijānāti, akhārikampi vijānāti, loṇikampi vijānāti, aloṇikampi vijānāti.
[13] ‘ahaṃ kho etarahi rūpena khajjāmi. Atītampāhaṃ addhānaṃ evameva rūpena khajjiṃ, seyyathāpi etarahi paccuppannena rūpena khajjāmi.
[14] Ahañceva kho pana anāgataṃ rūpaṃ abhinandeyyaṃ, anāgatampāhaṃ addhānaṃ evameva rūpena khajjeyyaṃ, seyyathāpi etarahi paccuppannena rūpena khajjāmī’ti.
[15] So iti paṭisaṅkhāya atītasmiṃ rūpasmiṃ anapekkho hoti; anāgataṃ rūpaṃ nābhinandati;
[16] paccuppannassa rūpassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.
[17] So iti paṭisaṅkhāya atītasmiṃ rūpasmiṃ anapekkho hoti; anāgataṃ rūpaṃ nābhinandati;
[18] Taṃ kiṃ maññatha, bhikkhave, rūpaṃ niccaṃ vā aniccaṃ vā”ti?
[19] “Yaṃ panāniccaṃ dukkhaṃ vā taṃ sukhaṃ vā”ti?
[20] “Yaṃ panāniccaṃ dukkhaṃ vipariṇāmadhammaṃ, kallaṃ nu taṃ samanupassituṃ: ‘etaṃ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’”ti?
[21] “Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, yaṃ kiñci rūpaṃ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṃ
ajjhattaṃ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikaṃ vā sukhumaṃ vā hīnaṃ vā paṇītaṃ vā yaṃ dūre santike vā, sabbaṃ rūpaṃ: ‘netaṃ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā’ti evametaṃ yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya daṭṭhabbaṃ.
[22] Ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako apacināti, no ācināti; pajahati, na upādiyati; visineti, na ussineti; vidhūpeti, na sandhūpeti.
[23] Evaṃ passaṃ sutavā ariyasāvako rūpasmimpi nibbindati, vedanāyapi … saññāyapi … saṅkhāresupi … viññāṇasmimpi nibbindati.
[24] Nibbindaṃ virajjati; virāgā vimuccati. Vimuttasmiṃ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṃ hoti.
[25] Ayaṃ vuccati bhikkhu nevācināti na apacināti, apacinitvā ṭhito;
[26] Evaṃvimuttacittaṃ kho bhikkhuṃ saindā devā sabrahmakā sapajāpatikā ārakāva namassanti:
[27] ‘Namo te purisājañña, namo te purisuttama;
[28] Yassa te nābhijānāma, yampi nissāya jhāyasī’”ti.
