Trainings (2)

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Provenance, terms and conditons

[1][pts] "There are these three trainings.
Which three?
The training in heightened virtue,
the training in heightened mind,
the training in heightened discernment.

"And what is the training in heightened virtue?

There is the case where a monk is virtuous.
He dwells restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha,
consummate in his behavior and sphere of activity.
He trains himself,
having undertaken the training rules,
seeing danger in the slightest fault.

This is called the training in heightened virtue.

"And what is the training in heightened mind?

There is the case where a monk
— quite withdrawn from sensuality,
withdrawn from unskillful [mental] qualities —
enters and remains in the first jhana:
rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal,
accompanied by directed thought and evaluation.

With the stilling of directed thought and evaluation,
he enters and remains in the second jhana:
rapture and pleasure born of composure,
unification of awareness
free from directed thought and evaluation
— internal assurance.

With the fading of rapture
he remains in equanimity,
mindful and alert,
and physically sensitive of pleasure.
He enters and remains in the third jhana,
of which the Noble Ones declare,
'Equanimous and mindful,
he has a pleasurable abiding.'

With the abandoning of pleasure and pain
— as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress —
he enters and remains in the fourth jhana:
purity of equanimity and mindfulness,
neither pleasure nor pain.

This is called the training in heightened mind.

"And what is the training in heightened discernment?

There is the case where a monk,
through the ending of the mental fermentations,
enters and remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release and discernment-release,
having known and made them manifest for himself
right in the here and now.

This is called the training in heightened discernment.

"These are the three trainings."

Heightened virtue,
heightened mind,
heightened discernment:
        persistent,
        firm,
        steadfast,
        absorbed in jhana,
        mindful,
        with guarded faculties
you should practice them —

    as in front,
        so behind;
    as behind,
        so in front;
    as below,
        so above;
    as above,
        so below;
    as by day,
        so by night;
    as by night,
        so by day;
conquering all the directions
with limitless concentration.

This is called
the practice of training,
as well as the pure way of life.
[Following it,] you're called
self-awakened in the world,
enlightened,
one who's taken the path
to its end.

With the cessation of sensory consciousness
of one released in the stopping of craving,
the liberation of awareness
of one released in the stopping of craving,
is like the unbinding
of a flame.^[1]

^[1]For a discussion of this image, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound.

References:

Aŋguttara-Nikāya III. Tikanipāta IX. Samaṇa Vagga

Sutta 89

Sikkha Sutta

Trainings (2)

Aŋguttara-Nikāya
III. Tikanipāta
IX. Samaṇa Vagga