The Full Understanding of All Clinging

Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland

“I will teach you the Dhamma, Bhikkhus, for the full understanding of all grasping …

“Dependent upon the eye and visible-objects, visual consciousness arises. Contact is the coming together these three. Conditioned by contact is feeling. So seeing, Bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple is dispassionate towards the eye, is dispassionate towards visible-objects … towards visual-consciousness … visual-contact … towards feeling. Being dispassionate he is detached, being detached he is liberated, being liberated he knows, ’Grasping has been fully understood by me.’

“Dependent upon the ear and sounds … the nose and odors … the tongue and tastes … the body and tangible objects …

“Dependent upon the mind and objects of mind, mind consciousness arises. Contact is the coming together of these three. Conditioned by contact is feeling. So seeing, Bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple is dispassionate towards the mind … towards mind-objects … mind-consciousness … mind-contact … towards feeling. Being dispassionate he is detached, being detached he is liberated, being liberated he knows, ’Grasping has been fully understood by me.’

“This, Bhikkhus, is the Dhamma for the full understanding of all grasping.”