Aṅguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
VII. Bhūmi-Cāla Vagga
Sutta 66
Vimokkha Suttaṃ
The Releases
Translated from the Pali
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time The Lucky Man, Sāvatthi Town revisiting.
There, to the Beggars gathered round he said:
"Beggars!"
And, "Bhante!" they responded.
"There are, beggars, these eight releases.[1]
What eight?
Seeing the materiality of material.
This is the first release.
■
Perceiving personal immaterialiality
one sees external forms.
This is the second release.
■
Thinking 'How pure!'
he is intent on that.
This is the third release.
■
Elevating himself above all perceptions of materiality,
allowing perceptions of resistance to subside,
not scrutinizing perceptions of diversity,
thinking:
'Un-ending is space.'
he enters into and makes a habitat of the Dimension of Space.
This is the fourth release.
■
Elevating himself completely above the Dimension of Unending Space,
thinking:
'Unending is consciousness.'
he enters into and makes a habitat of the Dimension of Unending Consciousness.
This is the fifth release.
■
Elevating himself completely above the Dimension of Unending Consciousness,
thinking:
'There is nothing there.'
he enters into and makes a habitat of the Dimension of Nothing's Had There.
This is the sixth release.
■
Elevating himself completely above the Dimension of Nothing's Had There
he enters into and makes a habitat of the Dimension of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
This is the seventh release.
■
Elevating himself completely above the Dimension of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception,
he enters into and makes a habitat of
the ending of sense-perception.
This is the eighth release."
[1] Vimokkha (& Vimokha) deliverance, release, emancipation, dissociation from the things of the world.
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