Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Navaka Nipāta
IV. Mahā Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
VIII. The Book of the Nines
Chapter IV: The Great Chapter
Sutta 34
Nibbāna-Sukha Suttaṃ
The Cool[1]
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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Once the venerable Sāriputta dwelt near Rājagaha at the Squirrels' Feeding Ground in the Bamboo Grove;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:
"This cool, reverend sirs, is happiness;
this cool, reverend sirs, is happiness."
§
Now when he had thus spoken,
the venerable Udāyin[2] said to him:
Bhk. Bodhi's translation makes much better sense of this:
"...what happiness could there be here when nothing is felt here?" and below:
"Just this ... that nothing is felt here."
Kim pan'ettha āvuso Sāriputta sukham, yad ettha natthi vedayitan ti? and
Etad eva khy'ettha āavuso sukham, yad ettha natthi vedayitam.
I would say: "What pleasure could be experienced in the case where there is no sensation." and
"Just this is that pleasure, that there is no sensation."
— p.p.
"But what herein, reverend sir, is the happiness
which herein is not sensed?"
■
[280] "It is, verily, just that happiness which herein is not sensed.
§
There are, reverend sir,
these five strands of sense desire.
What five?
There are forms, cognized by the eye,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire.[3]
■
There are sounds cognized by the ear,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire.
■
There are smells cognized by the nose,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire.
■
There are tastes cognized by the tongue,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire.
■
There are contacts, cognized by the touch,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire.
■
These, reverend sir, are the five strands of sense desire;
and the happiness,
the well-being arising therefrom
is called sensuous happiness.
§
Consider, reverend sir, the monk who,
aloof from sense desires,
aloof from evil ideas,
enters and abides in the first musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of zest and ease.
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts[4] accompanied by sense desire beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by sense desire beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.[5]
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
suppressing applied and sustained thought,
he enters and abides in the second musing,
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of zest and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
wherein the mind becomes calm and one-pointed.
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by applied and sustained thought beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by applied and sustained thought beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
free from the fervour of zest,
mindful and self-possessed,
he enters and abides in the third musing,
and experiences in his being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:
'He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease.'
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the fervour of zest beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the fervour of zest beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
by putting away ease and by putting away ill,
by the passing away of happiness and misery he was wont to feel,
he enters and abides in the fourth musing,
which is utter purity of mindfulness and poise
and is free of ease and ill.
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by poise beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by poise beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
by passing wholly beyond perceptions of form,
by the passing away of the perceptions of sense-reactions,
unattentive to the perceptions of the manifold,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite space, thinking:
'Space is infinite.'
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by form beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by form beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite space,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness, thinking:
'Consciousness is infinite.'
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of infinite space beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of infinite space beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite consciousness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of nothingness, thinking:
'There is nothing.'
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of infinite consciousness beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of infinite consciousness beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
passing wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception.
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of nothingness beset [281] him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of nothingness beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
■
Again, consider, reverend sir, the monk who
passing wholly beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
he enters and abides in the ending of perception and feeling.
If, while he abides in that abiding,
perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception beset him,
it is indeed for him a disease.
Just, sir, as some ill,
amounting to a disease,
might arise in a happy person;
even so those perceptions and thoughts accompanied by the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception beset him;
and indeed it is for him a disease.
Now disease is called ill by the Exalted One.
Verily, reverend sir, it is just in this way that the cool ought to be understood as happiness.
[1] Nibbāna.
[2] Comy. Lāḷ'Udayin, foolish Udāyin; see Vin. i, 115; J. ii, 164 (for his former life); Dial. iii, 109; F. Dial. ii, 273; K.S. v. 72.
[3] Dial. iii, 225; F. Dial. i, 323; below, pp. 289 and 296.
[4] Saññāmanasikārā.The text prints yathāsukhaṃ for, no doubt, yathā sukhaṃ.
[5] The text repeats nearly all in full. [Ed.: Fully expanded here]
