Aṅguttara Nikāya
VIII. Navaka Nipāta
IV. Mahā Vagga
Sutta 37
Ānanda Suttaṃ
Ānanda
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Translator's Introduction
Another in a growing collection of suttas which describes an impersonal consciousness. Not 'Bodhi Mind'! Not something that is always there and simply needs to be realized, not something which when attained is the same as that which was left behind, but a stable, happy, fear-free mind-made freedom-sustained serenity where eye is such that of the realm of shapes there is no resultant personal experience.
[1][pts][than][upal] I Hear Tell:
Once upon a time The Ancient Ānanda, Kosambī revisiting, Ghosita park.
There then, The Ancient Ānanda said this to the beggars:
"Friends, Beggars!"
Then, "Friend!" said the beggars to The Ancient Ānanda in response.
The Ancient Ānanda said this:
"How snappy,[1] friends!
How striking, friends!
That is, in so far as that The Lucky Man,
knower, seer, arahant, highest-self-awakened one,
awoke to this excellent opportunity for beings
to get away from their ensnarement,
overcome grief and lamentation,
dissolve pain and misery,
master the method for
seeing Nibbāna for one's self,
where eye will be such that
of the realm of shapes
there will be no resultant personal experience,[2]
where ear will be such that
of the realm of sounds
there will be no resultant personal experience,
where nose will be such that
of the realm of scents
there will be no resultant personal experience,
where tongue will be such that
of the realm of tastes
there will be no resultant personal experience,
where body will be such that
of the realm of touches
there will be no resultant personal experience."
This said, The Ancient Udayi said this to the Ancient Ānanda:
"Is there perceiving, then, friend Ānanda,
in a realm where there is no resultant personal experience,
or is there no perceiving?"
"There is perceiving, friend,
in a realm where there is no resultant personal experience,
not no perceiving."
"What perceiving is there then, friend,
in a realm where there is no resultant personal experience?"[3]
"Here, friend, a beggar
rising above all perception of shapes,
putting away perception of reaction,
not attending in mind to perception of diversity,
thinking, 'Endless space'
arises in and inhabits the realm of space.
Thus then, friend, there is perceiving
but of that realm there is no resultant personal experience.
Again, deeper than that, friend, a beggar,
rising above the whole realm of space,
thinking, 'Endless consciousness'
arises in and inhabits the realm of consciousness.
Thus then, friend, there is perceiving
but of that realm there is no resultant personal experience.
Again, deeper than that, friend, a beggar,
rising above the whole realm of consciousness,
thinking, 'There is no what-have-you'
arises in and inhabits the realm where nothing's had.[4]
Thus then, friend, there is perceiving
but of that realm there is no resultant personal experience.
Once upon a time, friends, I was Sakate-land residing,
Deer Park, Anjana Forest.
There then, friends, Jatilagahiya bhikkhuni approached and drew near.
Having drawn near she gave greeting and stood to one side:
Standing to one side, then, friends, the bhikkhuni Jatilagahiya said this to me:
'That serenity, bhante Ānanda,
which is not bent on nor bent away,
not with own-made-restraint held in restraint,
on its freedom standing,
on its stand content,
on its contentment unafraid,
of this serenity, bhante Ānanda, what is the fruit spoken of by The Lucky Man?'
When, friends, the bhikkhuni Jatilagahiya had thus spoken, I said this:
'That serenity, sister,
which is not bent on nor bent away,
not with own-made-restraint held in restraint,
on its freedom standing,
on its stand content,
on its contentment unafraid,
of this serenity, sister, answer-knowledge[5] is the fruit spoken of by The Lucky Man.'[6]
Thus then, friends, there is perceiving
but of that realm there is no resultant personal experience."
[1] Acchariya. Think of the magician snapping his fingers and something appears or disappears. In India, the snap of the fingers is used in place of applause to signify approval in the sense of 'heavenly'. Celestial nymphs snap their fingers in unison to create the rhythm to which they dance. There are groups here today that make enchanting music with the finger snap. Hare: 'Wonderful'; Bhk. Thanissaro: 'amazing'.
[2] Paṭisaṅvedi. paṭi = 'resultant', 'rebounding', 'consequential'; saṅ = 'con', 'com', 'co', 'with', 'own', 'one's own', 'self-'; vedi = experience.
Hare: 'sensing'; Bhk. Thanissaro: 'being sensitive to'; Str. Upalavana: 'feelings for'.
The point is that what is being described is the state which when perceived as freedom, is freedom: that is free from being identified with and the subsequent experience of change and pain as happening to one's self. No identification with the eye, no thinking of the sphere of shapes as 'what I see', no resultant experience of seeing as 'I see.' You see?
[3] "Kiṃ saññī" Bhk. Thanissaro has "one is percipient of what?" But if it were a matter of 'one' perceiving, then it would require the 'resultant personal experience' which is what is being shown to be missing in this state. The question to be expected would be 'What is perceiving' in the case where there is no 'resultant personal experience,' but Ānanda's responses to that question do not fit. The answer would need to take the form: There is perceiving, but there is no resultant personal experience of perception.
See MN 43; PTS, Horner, Middle Length Sayings, #43 n.9 sites the commentators as saying this indicates the Fourth Jhāna. I believe this is actually the non-state above the nirodha-saññā-vedanā, 'the ending of perception and sensation,' where it has been seen that that jhāna too is own-made. A state of 'temporary' arahantship.
[4] Kiñcī 'A little something what-have-you' and ākiñcañña 'having nothing'. This is a radically new translation for me. I have usually followed the others as one time I nearly got there. Where? To the sphere that wasn't there. But I think this sutta carries the implication that there is no ownership there, no possessing of anything. Nothing to possess or possible to possess. That should be reflected in the translation.
Hare: 'nothing' and 'sphere of nothingness'; Bhk. Thanissaro: 'nothing' and 'dimension of nothingness.'
So now I guess its: I nearly had it today! What? The sphere that's not to be had.
I would really find it amusing to wake up to find out that this state was invented in order to trap those who would claim to have attained it! I just emerged from the Akincanna, the sphere of Nothingness. Oh you did, did you! I think it was you that was had.
[5] Añña. Answer-knowledge. omniscience in the Buddhist sense of knowing whatever one wishes whenever one wishes to know it. Not being aware of all things at all times. A synonym for Arahantship.
[6] Bhk. Thanissaro has the sense of this reversed, making the serenity described by Sister Jatilagahiya as the fruit of Añña [his 'gnosis'] rather than Añña as the fruit of this serenity. But at this point Sister Jatilagahiya has not given any indication that she perceives this serenity as not having 'resultant personal experience' or that it is Añña. And if the bare state itself were Añña she would not have asked the question. In AN 11.7 the sequence appears to be as put by Bhk. Thanissaro or is ambiguous. This possible paradox can be resolved understanding the sequence as: attaining this impersonal serenity, recognizing it to be freedom, subsequently abiding in that serenity. The person having the perception:
'This is it!
This is the culmination!
That is, the calming of all own-making,
the resolution of all involvements,
the withering away of thirst,
dispassion,
extinction,
Nibbāna.'
would need to have attained the state before having this perception and would need to have this perception before having the state could be called Nibbāna or having Añña.
References:
See especially AN 11.7
MN 38 The Greater Discourse at Assapura, bhk. Thanissaro, trans.
Forum: What is 2?
