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Sn 5.13
PTS: Sn 1105-1111
Udaya-manava-puccha: Udaya's Questions
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1994

[Udaya:]

To the one in jhana seated dustless, passionless, his task done, effluent-free, gone to the beyond of all phenomena, I've come with a question. Tell me the gnosis of emancipation, the breaking open of ignorance.

[The Buddha:]

The abandoning both of sensual desires, & of unhappiness, the dispelling of sloth, the warding off of anxieties, equanimity-&-mindfulness purified, with inspection of mental qualities swift in the forefront: That I call the gnosis of emancipation, [1] the breaking open of ignorance. [2]

[Udaya:]

With what is the world fettered? With what is it examined? Through the abandoning of what is there said to be Unbinding?

[The Buddha:]

With delight the world's fettered. With directed thought it's examined. Through the abandoning of craving is there said to be Unbinding.

[Udaya:]

Living mindful in what way does one bring consciousness to a halt? We've come questioning to the Blessed One. Let us hear your words.

[The Buddha:]

Not relishing feeling, inside or out: One living mindful in this way brings consciousness to a halt. [3]

# Notes

1.
  For a discussion of the "gnosis of emancipation" — the state of knowledge consisting of mental absorption coupled with an analysis of mental states, see AN 9.36 and Section III.F in The Wings to Awakening.
2.
  AN 3.32 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sariputta that one should train oneself such that "with regard to this conscious body, there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that we will enter & remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit." When one has trained in this way, he says, one is called a person who has cut through craving, unraveled the fetter, who has, through the right penetration of conceit, put an end to suffering & stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that he uttered this verse.
3.
  For a discussion of "bringing consciousness to a halt" — showing that it is not an annihilation of consciousness, but rather the ending of its proliferating activity — see SN 22.53.