Aṅguttara Nikāya
Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
Bhūmi-Cāla Vagga
Sutta 63 [DTO 70]
Sankhitta Sutta
In Brief
Good Will, Mindfulness, and Concentration
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Proofed against and modified in accordance with the revised edition at dhammatalks.org
Provenance, terms and conditons
Translator's note
This discourse is important in that it explicitly refers to the practice of the four frames of reference (the four foundations of mindfulness) as a form of concentration practice, mastered in terms of the levels of jhāna.
[1][pts][olds] Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side.
As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One:
"It would be good if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief so that, having heard the Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone in seclusion: heedful, ardent, and resolute."
"But it is in just this way that some worthless men make a request but then, having been told the Dhamma, think they should tag along right behind me."
"May the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma in brief!
May the One Well-gone teach me the Dhamma in brief!
It may well be that I will understand the Blessed One's words.
It may well be that I will become an heir to the Blessed One's words."
"Then, monk, you should train yourself thus:
'My mind will be established inwardly, well-composed.
No evil, unskillful qualities, once they have arisen, will remain consuming the mind.'
That's how you should train yourself.
"Then you should train yourself thus:
'Good-will, as my awareness-release, will be developed, pursued, given a means of transport, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken.'
That's how you should train yourself.
When you have developed this concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought and evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and a modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should then train yourself thus:
'Compassion, as my awareness-release...
Empathetic joy, as my awareness-release...
Equanimity, as my awareness-release, will be developed, pursued, given a means of transport, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken.'
That's how you should train yourself.
When you have developed this concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought and evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and a modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should then train yourself thus:
'I will remain focused on the body in and of itself — ardent, alert, and mindful — putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world.'
That's how you should train yourself.
When you have developed this concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought and evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and a modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, you should train yourself:
'I will remain focused on feelings in and of themselves...
the mind in and of itself...
mental qualities in and of themselves — ardent, alert, and mindful — putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world.'
That's how you should train yourself.
When you have developed this concentration in this way, you should develop this concentration with directed thought and evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and a modicum of evaluation, you should develop it with no directed thought and no evaluation, you should develop it accompanied by rapture... not accompanied by rapture... endowed with a sense of enjoyment; you should develop it endowed with equanimity.
"When this concentration is thus developed, thus well-developed by you, then wherever you go, you will go in comfort.
Wherever you stand, you will stand in comfort.
Wherever you sit, you will sit in comfort.
Wherever you lie down, you will lie down in comfort."
Then that monk, having been admonished by an admonishment from the Blessed One, got up from his seat and bowed down to the Blessed One, circled around him, keeping the Blessed One to his right side, and left.
Then, dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, and resolute, he in no long time reached and remained in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now.
He knew:
"Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done.
There is nothing further for the sake of this world."
And thus he became another one of the Arahants.
Of Related Interest:
MN 44;
MN 119;
SN 47:8;
AN 4:41;
AN 5:27—28;
AN 9:35;
AN 10:71
