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Buddhism

SN 47:37 · Desire (Chanda Sutta)

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant
Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

Near Sāvatthī. “Monks, there are these four establishings of mindfulness. Which four?

“There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. For him, remaining focused on the body in & of itself, any desire for the body is abandoned. From the abandoning of desire, the deathless is realized.

“He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. For him, remaining focused on feelings in & of themselves, any desire for feelings is abandoned. From the abandoning of desire, the deathless is realized.

“He remains focused on the mind in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. For him, remaining focused on the mind in & of itself, any desire for the mind is abandoned. From the abandoning of desire, the deathless is realized.

“He remains focused on mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. For him, remaining focused on mental qualities in & of themselves, any desire for mental qualities is abandoned. From the abandoning of desire, the deathless is realized.”

See also: SN 51:51; AN 10:58


Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).

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