Saɱyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
47. Sati-Paṭṭhāna Saɱyutta
5. Amata Vagga
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
The Great Book,
47: Connected Discourses on the Establisments of Mindfulness
V. The Deathless
Sutta 43
Magga Suttaɱ
The Path
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
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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"There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:
"Bhikkhus, on one occasion I was dwelling at Uruvelā on the bank of the river Nerañjarā nder the Goatherd's Banyan Tree just after I became fully enlightened.
Then, while I was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in my mind thus:
'This is the one-way path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation ... (/as in §18/) ... that is, the four establishments of mindfulness.'
"Then, bhikkhus, BrahmāSahampati, having known with his own mind the reflection in my mind, just as quickly as a strong man might extend his drawn-in arm or draw in his extended arm, disappeared from the Brahmā world and reappeared before me.
He arranged his upper robe over one shoulder, extended his joined hands towards me in reverential salutation, and said to me:
'So it is, Blessed One!
So it is, Fortunate One!
Venerable sir, this is the one-way path for the purification of beings ... that is, the four establishments of mindfulness.'
"This, bhikkhus, is what Brahmā Sahampati said.
Having said this, he further said this:
"'The seer of the destruction of birth,
Compassionate, knows the one-way path
By which in the past they crossed the flood,
By which they will cross and cross over now.'"
