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that for someone experiencing such a painful feeling, from which unwholesome states decline, wholesome states increase, therefore I say, 'Abide having entered upon such a painful feeling.' 180. If, bhikkhus, this had been unknown to me, unseen, unperceived, unverified, uncontacted by wisdom— that for some, experiencing such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states increase, wholesome states decline— then I, not knowing this, would say, 'Abandon such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.' Would that, bhikkhus, be fitting for me? 'No, venerable sir.' But because, bhikkhus, this has been known by me, seen, perceived, verified, contacted by wisdom— that for some, experiencing such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states increase, wholesome states decline— therefore I say, 'Abandon such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.' If, bhikkhus, this had been unknown to me, unseen, unperceived, unverified, uncontacted by wisdom— that for some, experiencing such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states decline, wholesome states increase— then I, not knowing this, would say, 'Abide having entered upon such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.' Would that, bhikkhus, be fitting for me? 'No, venerable sir.' But because, bhikkhus, this has been known by me, seen, perceived, verified, contacted by wisdom— that for some, experiencing such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states decline, wholesome states increase— therefore I say, 'Abide having entered upon such a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.' 181. I do not say, bhikkhus, to all bhikkhus, 'It should be done with diligence.' Nor do I say, bhikkhus, to all bhikkhus, 'It should not be done with diligence.' Those, bhikkhus, who... Monks who are Arahants, whose taints are destroyed, who have lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, attained their own goal, whose fetters of existence are utterly destroyed, who are liberated through perfect knowledge, For such monks, bhikkhus, I say, 'There is nothing to be done with heedfulness.' And why is that? Their heedfulness has been accomplished. They are incapable of being heedless. But those monks, bhikkhus, who are still in training, who have not attained their goal, who dwell aspiring for the unexcelled security from bondage, For such monks, bhikkhus, I say, 'There is something to be done with heedfulness.' And why is that? Perhaps these venerable ones, by frequenting suitable abodes, by associating with good friends, by balancing their faculties – may realize for themselves, with direct knowledge, in this very life, that unexcelled culmination of the holy life, for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from home to homelessness, and having realized it, may dwell therein! Seeing this fruit of heedfulness for these monks, bhikkhus, I say, 'There is something to be done with heedfulness.' 182. "There are these seven persons, bhikkhus, existing and found in the world. Which seven? The one liberated in both ways, the one liberated by wisdom, the body-witness, the one attained to view, the one liberated by faith, the Dhamma-follower, the faith-follower." "And what kind of person, bhikkhus, is one liberated in both ways? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person dwells having touched with the body those peaceful liberations that transcend forms, the formless attainments, and having seen with wisdom, his taints are destroyed. This, bhikkhus, is called a person liberated in both ways. For such a monk, bhikkhus, I say, 'There is nothing to be done with heedfulness.' And why is that? His heedfulness has been accomplished. He is incapable of being heedless. "And what kind of person, bhikkhus, is one liberated by wisdom? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person does not dwell having touched with the body those peaceful liberations that transcend forms, the formless attainments, but having seen with wisdom, his d his taints are destroyed. This person, monks, is called one freed by wisdom. Yet even for this monk, monks, I say, ‘There is nothing to be done with diligence.’ Why is that? What was to be done with diligence has been done by him. He is incapable of being negligent. And what kind of person, monks, is one who is a body-witness? Here, monks, a certain person dwells having touched with his body those peaceful liberations, the formless attainments, transcending forms; and having seen with wisdom, some of his taints are destroyed. This person, monks, is called a body-witness. Yet for this monk, monks, I say, ‘There is something to be done with diligence.’ Why is that? Perhaps this venerable one, by resorting to suitable dwellings, associating with good friends, and balancing his faculties – might, for the sake of which noble sons rightly go forth from home to homelessness, that unsurpassed culmination of the holy life – realize it for himself with direct knowledge in this very life, and having attained it, dwell therein! Seeing this fruit of diligence for this monk, monks, I say, ‘There is something to be done with diligence.’ And what kind of person, monks, is one who has attained to view? Here, monks, a certain person does not dwell having touched with his body those peaceful liberations, the formless attainments, transcending forms; but having seen with wisdom, some of his taints are destroyed, and the teachings proclaimed by the Tathāgata are well-seen and well-investigated by him with wisdom. This person, monks, is called one who has attained to view. Yet even for this monk, monks, I say, ‘There is something to be done with diligence.’ Why is that? Perhaps this venerable one, by resorting to suitable dwellings, associating with good friends, and balancing his faculties – might, for the sake of which noble sons rightly go forth from home to homelessness, that unsurpassed culmination of the holy life – realize it for himself with direct knowledge in this very life, and having attained it... he might dwell! This indeed I, monks, seeing the fruit of diligence for this monk, say, 'Diligence should be practiced.' And what, monks, is the person liberated by faith? Here, monks, a certain person does not dwell having touched with the body those peaceful liberations, the formless, transcending forms, but having seen with wisdom, some of his defilements are destroyed, and his faith in the Tathagata is rooted, born of a root, established. This, monks, is called a person liberated by faith. For this monk too, monks, I say, 'Diligence should be practiced.' For what reason? Perhaps this venerable one, resorting to suitable dwellings, associating with good friends, developing his faculties – for the sake of which noble sons rightly go forth from home to homelessness, that unsurpassed – culmination of the holy life, having realized it for himself with direct knowledge in this very life, he might attain and dwell! This indeed I, monks, seeing the fruit of diligence for this monk, say, 'Diligence should be practiced.' And what, monks, is the person who follows the Dhamma? Here, monks, a certain person does not dwell having touched with the body those peaceful liberations, the formless, transcending forms, and having seen with wisdom, some of his defilements are destroyed, and the teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata are endured by his wisdom to a certain extent of contemplation, and these qualities are his, namely – the faculty of faith, the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of wisdom. This, monks, is called a person who follows the Dhamma. For this monk too, monks, I say, 'Diligence should be practiced.' For what reason? Perhaps this venerable one, resorting to suitable dwellings, associating with good friends, developing his faculties – for the sake of which noble sons rightly They go forth from home to homelessness for that unsurpassed conclusion of the holy life. In this very life, having realized it for themselves, having directly experienced it, they might dwell therein! Seeing this fruit of heedfulness for this monk, bhikkhus, I say, 'Heedfulness should be practiced.' "And what kind of person, bhikkhus, is a faith-follower? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person does not dwell having touched with the body those peaceful liberations, the formless states, which transcend forms, but having seen with wisdom, some of his taints are destroyed, and he has a measure of faith in the Tathāgata, a measure of love, and these qualities are present in him, namely – the faculty of faith, the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of wisdom. This, bhikkhus, is called a faith-follower. For this monk too, bhikkhus, I say, 'Heedfulness should be practiced.' For what reason? Perhaps this venerable one, resorting to suitable dwellings, associating with good friends, developing his faculties – for the sake of which noble sons rightly go forth from home to homelessness, that unsurpassed conclusion of the holy life, in this very life, having realized it for themselves, having directly experienced it, he might dwell therein! Seeing this fruit of heedfulness for this monk, bhikkhus, I say, 'Heedfulness should be practiced.' 183. "I do not say, bhikkhus, that the realization of gnosis is achieved all at once; but rather, bhikkhus, it is through gradual training, gradual action, gradual practice that the realization of gnosis occurs. And how, bhikkhus, is it through gradual training, gradual action, gradual practice that the realization of gnosis occurs? Here, bhikkhus, one who has faith approaches, approaching, he attends closely, attending closely, he lends an ear, lending an ear, he hears the Dhamma, having heard the Dhamma, he retains it, retaining the Dhamma, he examines the meaning of the teachings, For one examining the meaning, the teachings are agreeable to contemplation; when there is agreement to contemplation of the teachings, desire arises;