Aṅguttara Nikāya
X. Dasaka-Nipāta
I. Ānisaṃsa Vagga
Sutta 7
Dutiya Samādhi Suttaṃ
Serenity, by Sāriputta
Translated from the Pali
by
Michael M. Olds
[1][pts][than][bodh] I Hear Tell:
Once upon a time, The Lucky man, Savatthi-town revisiting,
Jeta Grove,
Anathapiṇḍika's Park.
Then there Old Man Ananda came to Old Man Sariputta.
Having come to Old Man Sariputta
and exchanging greetings and salutations,
he took a seat to one side.
Seated to one side then,
Old Man Ananda said this
to Old Man Sāriputta:
"Is it, then, friend,
that a bhikkhu's serenity
can result in sucha state as,
neither is there 'of earth', earth-perception,
nor is there 'of water', water-perception,
nor is there 'of fire', fire-perception,
nor is there 'of wind', wind-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-space' sphere-of-space-perception,
nor is there, 'of the sphere-of-consciousness' sphere-of-consciousness-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-no-thing-there' sphere-of-no-thing-there-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception' sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception-perception,
nor is there 'of this-world' this-world-perception,
nor is there 'of the afterworld' afterworld-perception,
and yet there is perception?"
"Indeed, Ānanda, it is the case
that a bhikkhu's serenity
can result in sucha state as,
neither is there 'of earth', earth-perception,
nor is there 'of water', water-perception,
nor is there 'of fire', fire-perception,
nor is there 'of wind', wind-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-space' sphere-of-space-perception,
nor is there, 'of the sphere-of-consciousness' sphere-of-consciousness-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-no-thing-there' sphere-of-no-thing-there-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception' sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception-perception,
nor is there 'of this-world' this-world-perception,
nor is there 'of the afterworld' afterworld-perception,
and yet there is perception."
"But how is it so, friend,
that a bhikkhu's serenity
can result in sucha state as,
neither is there 'of earth', earth-perception,
nor is there 'of water', water-perception,
nor is there 'of fire', fire-perception,
nor is there 'of wind', wind-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-space' sphere-of-space-perception,
nor is there, 'of the sphere-of-consciousness' sphere-of-consciousness-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-no-thing-there' sphere-of-no-thing-there-perception,
nor is there 'of the sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception' sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception-perception,
nor is there 'of this-world' this-world-perception,
nor is there 'of the afterworld' afterworld-perception,
and yet there is perception?"
Once upon a time, friend Ānanda, I was living here in Sāvaṭṭhi, Blind-man's Woods
and at that time such was my serenity that
neither was there 'of earth', earth-perception,
nor was there 'of water', water-perception,
nor was there 'of fire', fire-perception,
nor was there 'of wind', wind-perception,
nor was there 'of the sphere-of-space' sphere-of-space-perception,
nor was there, 'of the sphere-of-consciousness' sphere-of-consciousness-perception,
nor was there 'of the sphere-of-no-thing-there' sphere-of-no-thing-there-perception,
nor was there 'of the sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception' sphere-of-neither-perception-nor-non-perception-perception,
nor was there 'of this-world' this-world-perception,
nor was there 'of the afterworld' afterworld-perception,
but still I had perception."
"What, friend Sāriputta, was that perception that remained?"
"'The end of becoming[1] is Nibbāna,
the end of becoming is Nibbāna,'
As one such perception arose,
another such perception faded away.
In the same way, friend,
as with sparks from a burning fire,
as one such spark arises,
another such spark fades away
even so, friend:
'The end of becoming is Nibbāna,
the end of becoming is Nibbāna,'
As one such perception arose,
another such perception faded away.
The end of becoming is Nibbāna
but still I had perception."
[1] Bhava: becoming, living, being, existing.
