Sattatthana Sutta

SN 22:57 The Seven Points

Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Nanananda

At Savatthi… Then the Exalted One said:

“A monk who is skilled in the seven points, monks, who is an investigator in three ways, is called ’accomplished’in this Dhamma and Discipline, one who has reached mastership, superman.

“And how, monks, is a monk skilled in the seven points?

“Herein, monks, a monk fully understands form, the arising of form, the ceasing of form, and the path leading to the ceasing of form. He fully understands the satisfaction there is in form, the misery that is in form, the escape from form.

“He fully understands feeling…

“He fully understands perception…

“He fully understands formations…

“He fully understands consciousness, the arising of consciousness, the ceasing of consciousness, and the path leading to the ceasing of consciousness. He fully understands the satisfaction there is in consciousness, the misery that is in consciousness, the escape from consciousness.

“And what, monks, is form? It is the four great elements, and that form which is dependent on the four great elements. From the arising of nutriment comes the arising of form; from the ceasing of nutriment is the ceasing of form; and the path leading to the ceasing of form is this Noble Eightfold Path, to wit: Right View, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.

“That pleasure, that happiness, which arises because of form, that is the satisfaction that is in form. In so far as form is impermanent, is fraught with suffering and is liable to change, that is the misery that is in form. That restraint, of desire and lust, that putting away of desire and lust which are in form, that is the escape from form.

“Whatsoever recluses and brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding form, its arising, its ceasing and the path leading to its ceasing, by thus fully understanding the satisfaction that is in form, the misery that is in form, and escape from form, are treading towards the disgust for, the detachment from, and the cessation of, form, they are rightly treading. They that are rightly treading are firm grounded in this Dhamma and Discipline.

“And whatever recluses or brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding form, its arising, its ceasing, and the path leading to its ceasing, by thus fully understanding the satisfaction, the misery and the escape from form, are liberated without grasping, due to their disgust for, detachment from and cessation of form—they are truly liberated. They that are truly liberated, are ’accomplished,’ and to them that are ’accomplished’ there is no whirling round for purposes of designation.

“And what, monks, is feeling?

“Monks, there are these six classes of feeling, to wit: feeling that is born of contact with eye, feeling that is born of contact with ear… nose… tongue… body… mind. This, monks, is called feeling. From the arising of contact comes the arising of feeling; from the ceasing of contact is the ceasing of feeling; and the path leading to the ceasing of feeling is this Noble Eightfold Path, to wit: Right View, … Right Concentration.

“That pleasure, that happiness, which arises because of feeling—that is the satisfaction that is in feeling. In so far as feeling is impermanent, fraught with suffering, and liable to change, this is the misery that is in feeling. That restraint of desire and lust, that putting away of desire and lust which are in feeling, that is the escape from feeling.

“Now, whatsoever recluses or brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding feeling, its arising, its ceasing, and the path leading to its ceasing; by thus fully understanding the satisfaction, the misery, that is in feeling and the escape from feeling, are treading towards the disgust for, the detachment from, and the cessation of, feeling, they are rightly treading. They that are rightly treading are firm grounded in this Dhamma and Discipline.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And whatsoever recluses and brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding feeling… are liberated without grasping, due to their disgust for, detachment from, and cessation of, feeling—they are truly liberated. They that are truly liberated, are ’accomplished,’ and for them that are ’accomplished,’ there is no whirling round for purposes of designation.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And what, monks, is perception?

<p style="text-align:justify">“Monks, there are these six classes of perception: perception of form, perception of sound, of smell, taste, tangibles and ideas; that, monks, is called perception. From the arising of contact, comes the arising of perception; from the ceasing of contact, is the ceasing of perception; and the path leading to the ceasing of perception is this Noble Eightfold Path, to wit: Right View… Right Concentration… [as above]… there is no whirling round for purposes of designation.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And what, monks, are the formations?

<p style="text-align:justify">“Monks, there are these six classes of intentions: the intention of forms, the intention of sounds, of smells, of tastes, of tangibles and of ideas. These, monks, are called formations. From the arising of contact, comes the arising of formations; from the ceasing of contact, is the ceasing of formations; and the path leading to the ceasing of formations is this Noble Eightfold Path, to wit: Right View… Right Concentration… [as above]… there is no whirling round for purposes of designation.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And what, monks, is consciousness?

<p style="text-align:justify">“Monks, there are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. From the arising of ’name-and-form’ comes the arising of consciousness; from the ceasing of name-and-form, is the ceasing of consciousness; and the path leading to the ceasing of consciousness is this Noble Eightfold Path, to wit: Right View, … Right Concentration.

<p style="text-align:justify">“That pleasure, that happiness which arises because of consciousness—that is the satisfaction which is in consciousness. In so far as consciousness is impermanent, fraught with suffering, and liable to change, this is the misery that is in consciousness. That restraint of desire and lust, that putting away of desire and lust which are in consciousness, that is the escape from consciousness.

<p style="text-align:justify">“Now, whatsoever recluses or brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding consciousness, its arising, its ceasing, and the path leading to its ceasing; by thus fully understanding the satisfaction, the misery, that is in consciousness and the escape from consciousness, are treading towards the disgust for, the detachment from and the cessation of consciousness, they are rightly treading. They that are rightly treading are firm grounded in this Dhamma and Discipline.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And whatsoever recluses and brahmans, monks, by thus fully understanding consciousness, its arising, its ceasing, and the path leading to its ceasing, by thus fully understanding the satisfaction, the misery and the escape from consciousness are liberated without grasping, due to their disgust for, detachment from, and cessation of, consciousness—they are truly liberated. They that are truly liberated, are ’accomplished,’ and to them that are ’accomplished,’ there is no whirling round for purposes of designation.

<p style="text-align:justify">“In this way, monks, is a monk skilled in the seven points.

<p style="text-align:justify">“And how, monks, is a monk an investigator of the three ways?

<p style="text-align:justify">“As to that, monks, a monk investigates things by way of the elements, by way of sense-spheres, by way of Dependent Arising.

<p style="text-align:justify">“That is how, monks, a monk becomes an investigator of the three ways.

<p style="text-align:justify">“A monk who is skilled in the seven points, monks, who is an investigator of the three ways—he is called ’accomplished’ in this Dhamma and Discipline, one who has reached mastership, superman.”