The Young Man Posāla’s Questions (SNP5.15)

“To the one who points out the past,” said venerable Posāla,
“the unmoved one, who has cut off doubt,
who is perfect in everything, I have come in need with a question:

“For the one in whom perception of form has ended,
who, on the inside and outside is seeing ‘there is nothing whatsoever’,
I ask about his knowledge, Sakyan, how is such a one led further?”

“All the stations of consciousness, Posāla,” said the Gracious One,
“the Realised One knows,
he knows where that one stands, what he is intent on, what he is going towards.

“Having known the origin of nothingness, and that enjoyment is called a fetter,
knowing deeply that it is so, and then having insight into this:
this is real knowedge for him, for the brahmin who is accomplished.”

The Young Man Posāla’s Questions are Finished

Translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu.

Original translation 1999, revised, May 2007.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.