Before

Copyright Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)
This selection from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saɱyutta Nikāya by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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[1][pts] "Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, it occurred to me:

"What now is feeling?

What is the origin of feeling?

What is the way leading to the origination of feeling?

What is the cessation of feeling?

What is the way leading to the cessation of feeling?

What is the gratification in feeling?

What is the danger?

What is the escape?"

"Then, bhikkhus, it occurred to me:

There are, bhikkhu, these three feelings: pleasant feeling, painful feeling, neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.

This is called feeling.

With the arising of contact there is the arising of feeling.

Craving is the way leading to the origination of feeling.

With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of feeling.

This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of feeling; that is, right view ... right concentration.

The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on feeling: this is the gratification in feeling.

That feeling is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in feeling.

The removal and abandonment of desire and lust for feeling: this is the escape from feeling."

Knowledge

"'These are feelings':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, true knowledge, and light.

"'This is the origin of feeling':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision ... and light.

'This is the way leading to the origination of feeling':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision ... and light.

'This is the cessation of feeling':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision ... and light.

'This is the way leading to the cessation of feeling':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision ... and light.

"'This is the gratification in feeling' ...

'This is the danger in feeling' ...

'This is the escape from feeling':

thus, bhikkhus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, true knowledge, and light."