Aṅguttara Nikāya
Navaka Nipāta
Sutta 44
Pañña-Vimutti Sutta
Wisdom-Freed
Translated from the Pali
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time The Ancient Ānanda, Kosambī revisiting, Ghosita park.
There then the venerable Udāyin visited the Ancient Ānanda, and, after exchanging greetings, sat down at one side.
Seated at one side, then, the venerable Udāyin said this to the Ancient Ānanda:
"'Wisdom-freed, wisdom-freed'[1] it is said, friend,
to what extent then, friend, does the Lucky Man speak of being 'wisdom-freed'?"
"Here, friend, in a bhikkhu
separating himself from sense pleasures,
separating himself from unskillful things,
with thought and with consideration,
with the appreciation[2] of the pleasure of solitude,
there arises and abides the first knowledge,[3]
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
resolving thought and consideration,
internally pacified,
whole-heartedly single-minded,
without thought,
without consideration,
with the appreciation of the pleasure of knowledge,
there arises and abides the second knowledge
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
living detached and indifferent to enthusiasms
recollected and self-aware,
experiencing that bodily ease
spoken of by the Aristocrat as:
'Detached, recollected, taking it easy.'
there arises and abides the third knowledge
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
letting go of pleasure,
letting go of pain,
antecedent mental ease and mental pain settling down,
without pain but without pleasure,
detached,
recollected,
all-around perfectly pure,
there arises and abides the fourth knowledge
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
raising himself entirely above form-perception,
settling down sensory reaction,
not bringing to mind perceptions of diversity,
thinking:
'Endless space'
there arises and abides the realm of space
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
raising himself entirely above the realm of space,
thinking:
'Endless consciousness'
there arises and abides the realm of consciousness
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
raising himself entirely above the realm of consciousness,
thinking:
'There is nothing real.'
there arises and abides the realm of unreality
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
rising himself entirely above the realm of unreality,
there arises and abides the realm of neither-perception-nor-non-perception
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'encompassed.'
■
And again, deeper than that, friend, in a bhikkhu
rising himself entirely above the realm of neither-perception-nor-non-perception,
there arises and abides perception of sense-experience ending and its range
and this is understood wisely.
To just this extent,
being wisdom-freed is spoken of by the Lucky Man as
'without compass.'
To this extent, friend, does the Lucky Man speak of being 'wisdom-freed'."
[1] Paññā-vimutto.
[2] pīti- A change from my usual 'enthusiasm'. Pīti is a concept which encompasses a spectrum of items (from a mild approval to an extatic rapture) which could all be classed under the heading 'appreciation.' Some may recall that this term was my original choice for Pīti. The first jhāna being described in brief by me as being "the appreciation of the peace and calm of solitude." The statement here "the appreciation of the pleasure of solitude", has the advantage of putting 'pleasure' at a distance — rather than having it be a bodily sensation it becomes a mental appreciation.
[3] jhāna.
