Aṅguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
VII. Bhūmi-Cāla Vagga
The Book of Eights
Sutta 66
Vimokkha Suttaṁ
The Releases
Translated from the Pāḷi
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 immateriality
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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