AN 8.63 Sankhitta Sutta

Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Anguttara Nikaya >> Sankhitta Sutta

AN 8.63 Sankhitta Sutta : in brief(Good Will, Mindfulness, & Concentration/trance)
Translator's note: This discourse is important in that it explicitly refers to the practice of the four frames of reference (the four foundations of mindfulness) as a form of concentration practice, mastered in terms of the levels of jhana/trance state.

Then a certain monk went to the Lord Buddha and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Lord Buddha: "It would be good if the Lord Buddha would teach me the Dhamma in brief so that, having heard the Dhamma from the Lord Buddha, I might dwell alone in seclusion: heedful, ardent, & resolute."

"But it is in just this way that some worthless men make a request but then, having been told the Dhamma, think they should tag along right behind me."

"May the Lord Buddha teach me the Dhamma in brief! May the One Well-gone(Tathagata/Buddha) teach me the Dhamma in brief! It may well be that I will understand the Lord Buddha's words. It may well be that I will become an heir to the Lord Buddha's words."

"Then, monk, you should train yourself thus: 'My mind will be established inwardly, well-composed. No evil, unskillful qualities, once they have arisen, will remain consuming the mind.' That's how you should train yourself.

"Then you should train yourself thus: 'Good-will, as my awareness-release, will be developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, & well-undertaken.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this concentration(trance) in this way, you should develop this concentration(trance) with directed thought & discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & no discernment, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.

"When this concentration(trance) is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should then train yourself thus: 'Compassion, as my awareness-release... Appreciation, as my awareness-release... Equanimity, as my awareness-release, will be developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, & well-undertaken.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this concentration(trance) in this way, you should develop this concentration(trance) with directed thought & discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & no discernment, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.

"When this concentration(trance) is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should then train yourself thus: 'I will remain focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this concentration(trance) in this way, you should develop this concentration(trance) with directed thought & discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & no discernment, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.

"When this concentration(trance) is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should train yourself: 'I will remain focused on feelings/sensations in & of themselves... the mind in & of itself... mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.' That's how you should train yourself. When you have developed this concentration(trance) in this way, you should develop this concentration(trance) with directed thought & discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & a modicum of discernment, you should develop it with no directed thought & no discernment, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.

"When this concentration(trance) is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, then wherever you go, you will go in comfort. Wherever you stand, you will stand in comfort. Wherever you sit, you will sit in comfort. Wherever you lie down, you will lie down in comfort."

Then that monk, having been admonished by an admonishment from the Lord Buddha, got up from his seat and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, circled around him, keeping the Lord Buddha to his right side, and left. Then, dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute, he in no long time reached & remained in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in the here & now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world." And thus he became another one of the arahants.