1.2. Emancipation (SN1.2)

At Savatthi. Then, when the night had advanced, a certain devatā of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire Jeta’s Grove, approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One, stood to one side, and said to him:

“Do you know, dear sir, emancipation, release, seclusion for beings?”

“I know, friend, emancipation, release, seclusion for beings.”

“But in what way, dear sir, do you know emancipation, release, seclusion for beings?”

The Blessed One:

“By the utter destruction of delight in existence,
By the extinction of perception and consciousness,
By the cessation and appeasement of feelings:
It is thus, friend, that I know for beings—
Emancipation, release, seclusion.”

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

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