3.32. A Discourse to Ānanda (AN3.32)

Then Venerable Ānanda went to the Fortunate One, paid respects to him, sat to one side, and said to him,

“Bhante, is it possible for a monk to enter a kind of samādhi in which there would be no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit regarding this body with its consciousness and towards all external objects, and one might reach and remain in that mental liberation, that wisdom liberation, in which there are no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit?”

“Ānanda, it is possible for a monk to enter a kind of samādhi in which there would be no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit regarding this body with its consciousness and towards all external objects, and one might reach and remain in that mental liberation, that wisdom liberation, in which there are no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit.”

“Bhante, how could a monk enter a kind of samādhi in which there would be no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit regarding this body with its consciousness and towards all external objects, and one might reach and remain in that mental liberation, that wisdom liberation, in which there are no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit?”

“Ānanda, if it occurs to a monk: ‘This is peaceful, this is sublime – the stilling of all activities, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the elimination of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna,’ in this way a monk can enter a kind of samādhi in which there would be no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit regarding this body with its consciousness and towards all external objects, and one might reach and remain in that mental liberation, that wisdom liberation, in which there are no tendencies of self-identity, possessiveness, or conceit.

“Ānanda, this is what I was referring to in response to Puṇṇaka‘s questions in the Pārāyana, when I said:

“‘Having evaluated the entire world,
They are not disturbed by anything in it.
Peaceful, serene, untroubled, unwanting,
They have transcended birth and decay.’”

Translated by: Suddhāso Bhikkhu, (2020)

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Aminah Borg-Luck.