English
There are these four attainments of vision, venerable sir. Here, venerable sir, some recluse or brahmin, having pursued ardour, having pursued exertion, having pursued application, having pursued diligence, having pursued right attention, touches such a mental concentration that, with his mind thus concentrated, he reviews this very body, from the soles of the feet upwards, from the top of the hair downwards, enclosed by skin, full of various kinds of impurity: 'In this body there are hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-fat, saliva, snot, joint-fluid, urine. This is the first attainment of vision. “Again, venerable sir, some ascetic or brahmin here, having pursued ardour… (as before) …touches such a concentration of mind, that with the mind thus concentrated, he reviews this very body, from the soles of the feet upwards, from the top of the hair downwards, enclosed by skin, full of various kinds of impurity – ‘in this body there are hairs, nails… (as before) …joint-fluid, urine.’ And he discerns beyond the skin, flesh, blood, and bones of a person. This is the second attainment of vision. “Again, venerable sir, some ascetic or brahmin here, having pursued ardour… (as before) …touches such a concentration of mind, that with the mind thus concentrated, he reviews this very body, from the soles of the feet upwards, from the top of the hair downwards, enclosed by skin, full of various kinds of impurity – ‘in this body there are hairs, nails… (as before) …joint-fluid, urine.’ And he discerns beyond the skin, flesh, blood, and bones of a person. And he discerns the stream of consciousness of a person, unbroken on both sides, established in this world and established in the next world. This is the third attainment of vision. “Again, venerable sir, some ascetic or brahmin here, having pursued ardour… (as before) …touches such a concentration of mind, that with the mind thus concentrated, he reviews this very body, from the soles of the feet upwards, from the top of the hair downwards, enclosed by skin, full of various kinds of impurity – ‘in this body there are hairs, nails… (as before) …joint-fluid, urine.’ And he discerns beyond the skin, flesh, blood, and bones of a person. And he discerns the stream of consciousness of a person, unbroken on both sides, unestablished in this world and unestablished in the next world. This is the fourth attainment of vision. This is the unsurpassed, Venerable sir, in the attainments of vision. Teaching on Persons 150. “Furthermore, Venerable sir, this is a supreme teaching, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma regarding the designations of persons. There are these seven persons, Venerable sir: one liberated in both ways, one liberated by wisdom, a body-witness, one attained to view, one liberated by faith, a Dhamma-follower, a faith-follower. This is a supreme teaching, Venerable sir, regarding the designations of persons. Teaching on Endeavors 151. “Furthermore, Venerable sir, this is a supreme teaching, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma regarding endeavors. There are these seven factors of enlightenment, Venerable sir: the mindfulness factor of enlightenment, the investigation of states factor of enlightenment, the energy factor of enlightenment, the rapture factor of enlightenment, the tranquility factor of enlightenment, the concentration factor of enlightenment, the equanimity factor of enlightenment. This is a supreme teaching, Venerable sir, regarding endeavors. Teaching on Practices 152. “Furthermore, Venerable sir, this is a supreme teaching, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma regarding practices. There are these four practices, Venerable sir: a painful practice with slow direct knowledge, a painful practice with swift direct knowledge, a pleasant practice with slow direct knowledge, a pleasant practice with swift direct knowledge. Among these, Venerable sir, that practice which is painful with slow direct knowledge, this practice, Venerable sir, is declared inferior in both ways, due to its painfulness and its slowness. Among these, Venerable sir, that practice which is painful with swift direct knowledge, this practice, Venerable sir, is declared inferior due to its painfulness. Among these, Venerable sir, that practice which is pleasant with slow direct knowledge, this practice, Venerable sir, is declared inferior due to its slowness. Among these, Venerable sir, that practice which is pleasant with swift direct knowledge, this practice, Venerable sir, is declared excellent in both ways, due to its pleasantness and its swiftness. This is a supreme teaching, Venerable sir, regarding practices. Teaching on Speech and Conduct, etc. 153. “Furthermore, Venerable sir, this is a supreme teaching, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma regarding speech and conduct. Here, Venerable sir, some person speaks no speech connected with falsehood, nor slander, nor backbiting, nor harsh speech. desiring victory, speaks words of counsel, meaningful, in due time. This, venerable sir, is the unsurpassed in the conduct of speech. "Further, venerable sir, this is the unsurpassed, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma in the conduct of a person's character. Here, venerable sir, someone is truthful and faithful, not a deceiver, not a flatterer, not a diviner, not a slanderer, not one who seeks gain by gain, with guarded doors of the senses, moderate in food, diligent, devoted to wakefulness, not lazy, with aroused energy, a meditator, mindful, with good discernment, with good progress, with firm resolve, with wisdom, not greedy for sensual pleasures, mindful and astute. This, venerable sir, is the unsurpassed in the conduct of a person's character. Instruction and Teaching 154. "Further, venerable sir, this is the unsurpassed, as the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma in the methods of instruction. These, venerable sir, are the four methods of instruction – The Blessed One knows, venerable sir, another person by personal wise attention: 'This person, practicing as instructed, through the destruction of three fetters, will become a stream-enterer, not subject to falling, certain, bound for full enlightenment.' The Blessed One knows, venerable sir, another person by personal wise attention: 'This person, practicing as instructed, through the destruction of three fetters, and the attenuation of lust, hatred, and delusion, will become a once-returner, returning to this world just once, and will make an end of suffering.' The Blessed One knows, venerable sir, another person by personal wise attention: 'This person, practicing as instructed, through the destruction of the five lower fetters, will become an anāgāmī, one who reappears spontaneously, there to attain final Nibbāna, not returning from that world.' The Blessed One knows, venerable sir, another person by personal wise attention: 'This person, practicing as instructed, through the destruction of the taints..." by the destruction of the taints, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having realized it for himself by direct knowledge and actualized it in this very life, he will abide having attained it. This, venerable sir, is the unsurpassed in methods of instruction. Teaching on the knowledge of others' liberation 155. Furthermore, venerable sir, this is the unsurpassed, how the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma concerning the knowledge of others' liberation. The Blessed One, venerable sir, knows another person individually, by proper attention: 'This person, by the destruction of the three fetters, will be a stream-enterer, not subject to falling, certain, bound for enlightenment.' The Blessed One, venerable sir, knows another person individually, by proper attention: 'This person, by the destruction of the three fetters, and by the attenuation of lust, hatred, and delusion, will be a once-returner, having come to this world just once more, he will make an end of suffering.' The Blessed One, venerable sir, knows another person individually, by proper attention: 'This person, by the destruction of the five lower fetters, will be an apparitional rebirth, there attaining final Nibbāna, not returning from that world.' The Blessed One, venerable sir, knows another person individually, by proper attention: 'This person, by the destruction of the taints, having realized for himself by direct knowledge and actualized the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, in this very life, will abide having attained it.' This, venerable sir, is the unsurpassed in the knowledge of others' liberation. Teaching on the eternalist views 156. Furthermore, venerable sir, this is the unsurpassed, how the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma concerning eternalist views. There are these three eternalist views, venerable sir. Here, venerable sir, some ascetic or brahmin, by means of ardent effort... ...touches such a concentration of mind, and with his mind thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past existences. That is to say, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, births... one hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand births, many hundreds of births, many thousands of births, many hundreds of thousands of births, 'There I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a complexion, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was, of such a name, of such a clan, of such a complexion, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I have arisen here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past existences, with their aspects and details. He says this: 'I know the past course of time,