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The cessation of mental formations, The attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, Is sagely wisdom of mind. This is sagely wisdom of mind. The sage of body, The sage of speech, The sage of mind, One without taints; The sage endowed with sagely wisdom, They call one who has abandoned all. The sage of body, The sage of speech, The sage of mind, One without taints; The sage endowed with sagely wisdom, They call one who has washed away evil. Endowed with these three sagely practices. Six sages... [The meaning of] muni: Householder munis, Homeless munis, Learner munis, Perfected munis, Solitary Buddha munis, And the muni of munis. Who are householder munis? Those householders who have seen the path, who have understood the teaching— these are householder munis. Who are homeless munis? Those renunciants who have seen the path, who have understood the teaching— these are homeless munis. The seven learners are learner munis. Arahants are perfected munis. Solitary Buddhas are solitary Buddha munis. Tathāgatas, arahants, fully self-awakened ones are the muni of munis. Not by silence is one a muni, if one is foolish, unknowing. But one who, like a scale, takes up the excellent, is wise. He avoids evils, he is a muni, therefore he is a muni. He who understands both worlds, is called a muni for that reason. Having known the dhamma of the unreal and the real, within and without, in all the world; Worthy of veneration by devas and humans, he, having overcome the net of attachment, is a muni. "Please explain it well"— that is, "Please teach it well, declare it, make it known, establish it, reveal it, analyze it, make it clear, make it manifest"— "Please, muni, explain that to me well. For indeed, this dhamma is known to you"— that is, "For indeed, this dhamma is known to you, weighed, judged, made manifest, made clear"— "For indeed, this dhamma is known to you." Therefore, that brahmin said: "What we asked you, you declared to us. Now we ask you something else, please tell us that: How do the wise cross the flood, birth, old age, sorrow and lamentation? Please, muni, explain that to me well, for indeed, this dhamma is known to you." 22. "I will declare to you the dhamma, [said the Blessed One to Mettagū] In this visible dhamma, without hearsay; Having known which, mindful, one fares, and crosses attachment in the world." "I will declare to you the dhamma"— Dhamma means: Beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, beautiful in the end, with meaning, with letter, entirely complete, pure holy life, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four... The four right exertions, The four bases of psychic power, The five faculties, The five powers, The seven factors of enlightenment, The Noble Eightfold Path, And Nibbana, And the path leading to Nibbana— I will recount, I will explain, I will teach, I will declare, I will establish, I will reveal, I will analyze, I will make clear, I will make manifest. I will recount the Dhamma to you. "Mettagu," the Blessed One addresses that brahmin by name. In this very life, not by hearsay. "In this very life" means: In this very life, Known, Weighed, Discerned, Understood, Made clear, Made manifest— "All conditioned things are impermanent"... ... "Whatever is of the nature to arise, all that is of the nature to cease"— In this very life, Known, Weighed, Discerned, Understood, Made clear, Made manifest— Thus will I speak of it in this very life. Or, having seen suffering, I will speak of suffering; Having seen the origin, I will speak of the origin; Having seen the path, I will speak of the path; Having seen cessation, I will speak of cessation— Thus will I speak of it in this very life. Or, in this very life, It is directly visible, Timeless, Inviting one to come and see, Leading inwards, To be personally experienced by the wise— Thus will I speak of it in this very life. "Not by hearsay" means: Not by "thus it has been said," Not by tradition, Not by lineage, Not by scriptural transmission, Not by logic, Not by inference, Not by pondering over reasons, Not by approval of a view, But a Dhamma personally known, Directly experienced by oneself— That I will speak of— In this very life, not by hearsay. Having known which, They live mindfully. Having made it known, Having weighed it, Having discerned it, Having made it clear, Having made it manifest— Having made known, Weighed, Discerned, Made clear, Made manifest that "All conditioned things are impermanent." "All conditioned things are suffering"... "All phenomena are not-self"... ... "Whatever is of the nature to arise, all that is of the nature to cease"— Having made known, Weighed, Discerned, Made clear, Made manifest, Having made manifest... having made it manifest, having made it clear. "Mindful" means mindful for four reasons— mindful, developing the contemplation of the body in the body…pe… that one is called mindful. "Moves about" means moving about, abiding, acting, behaving, maintaining, living, passing time— "knowing which, mindful, one moves about." "Crosses over attachment in the world"— "attachment" is called craving. That passion, that strong passion…pe… covetousness, greed, a root of unwholesomeness. "Attachment"—in what sense is it attachment? It clings, thus it is attachment; it is widespread, thus it is attachment; it is diffused, thus it is attachment; it is uneven, thus it is attachment; it is poisonous, thus it is attachment; it destroys, thus it is attachment; it is deceptive, thus it is attachment; it has a poisonous root, thus it is attachment; it has poisonous fruit, thus it is attachment; it has poisonous enjoyment, thus it is attachment; or that craving is widespread, diffused in forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, in families, groups, dwellings, gains, fame, praise, happiness, in robes, almsfood, lodgings, medicinal requisites for the sick, in the sense-sphere, the form-sphere, the formless-sphere, in the sense-sphere existence, the form-sphere existence, the formless-sphere existence, in the existence of perception, the existence of non-perception, the existence of neither perception nor non-perception, in one-constituent existence, four-constituent existence, five-constituent existence, in the past, the future, the present, in things seen, heard, sensed, cognized— thus it is attachment. "In the world" means in the world of suffering, the human world, the divine world, the world of aggregates, the world of elements, the world of sense-bases. "Crosses over attachment in the world"— that attachment which is in the world, that attachment in the world, mindful, one should cross over, pass beyond, overcome, transcend, go beyond— "crosses over attachment in the world." Therefore the Blessed One said: "I will proclaim to you the Dhamma, In this very life, without uncertainty; Knowing which, mindful, one moves about, Crosses over attachment in the world." 23. And that I delight in, O Great Seer, the supreme Dhamma; Knowing which, mindful, one moves about, Crosses over attachment in the world. "And that I delight in"— "That" means your word, your declaration, your teaching. This instruction, this teaching, this guidance. I rejoice, I delight, I am glad, I approve, I wish, I accept with pleasure, I ask for, I long for, I yearn for, I intensely wish for – and that I delight in. "The supreme Dhamma of the Great Seeker." What is Mahesi? The Blessed One is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great aggregate of virtue, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great aggregate of concentration, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great aggregate of wisdom, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great aggregate of liberation, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great aggregate of knowledge and vision of liberation, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the breaking up of the great mass of darkness, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the piercing of great perversion, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the extraction of the great dart of craving, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the untangling of the great tangle of views, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the felling of the great banner of conceit, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the calming of great volitional formations, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the crossing over of the great flood, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the laying down of the great burden, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the cutting off of the great cycle of rebirth, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the extinguishing of great suffering, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the calming of great distress, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the raising of the great banner of Dhamma, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great foundations of mindfulness, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great right exertions, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great bases of psychic power, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great faculties, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great powers, therefore he is Mahesi. Because he sought, searched for, and investigated the great factors of awakening,