Pali Canon Search

Numbered Discourses · AN 9.43

  • Numbered Discourses 9.43Aṅguttara Nikāya 9.43
  • 5. Similarity5. Sāmaññavagga

A Direct WitnessKāyasakkhīsutta

“Reverend, they speak of the ‘direct witness’.“‘Kāyasakkhī, kāyasakkhī’ti, āvuso, vuccati. What is the direct witness that the Buddha spoke of?”Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā”ti?

“First, take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and remains in the first absorption.Idhāvuso, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi …pe… paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṁ tathā tathā naṁ kāyena phusitvā viharati. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the direct witness in a qualified sense.Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena.

Furthermore, take a mendicant who, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, enters and remains in the second absorption …Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu vitakkavicārānaṁ vūpasamā …pe… dutiyaṁ jhānaṁ … third absorption …tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ … fourth absorption.catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṁ tathā tathā naṁ kāyena phusitvā viharati. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the direct witness in a qualified sense.Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena.

Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space.Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso rūpasaññānaṁ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṁ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṁ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṁ tathā tathā naṁ kāyena phusitvā viharati. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the direct witness in a qualified sense. Furthermore, take a mendicant who enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness … the dimension of nothingness … the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception …Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena …pe….

Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, their defilements come to an end.Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ upasampajja viharati, paññāya cassa disvā āsavā parikkhīṇā honti. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṁ tathā tathā naṁ kāyena phusitvā viharati. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the direct witness in a definitive sense.”Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā nippariyāyenā”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. AN 9.45 Freed Both Ways 0.56near 0.1Numbered Discourses 9.45 5. Similarity Freed Both Ways “Reverend, they speak of one ‘freed both ways’. What is the one freed both ways that the Buddha spoke of?” “First, take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual…
  2. AN 9.42 Cramped 0.55near 5.1But it is still confined. Confined by what? Whatever perception of neither perception nor non-perception has not ceased is the confinement there. Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of n…
  3. AN 11.19 Immersion (2nd) 0.53near 0.1Numbered Discourses 11.19 2. Recollection Immersion (2nd) There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Could it be, mendicants, that a mendicant might gai…
  4. DN 9 With Poṭṭhapāda 0.51near 5.1The subtle and true perception of the dimension of infinite space that they had previously ceases. At that time they have a subtle and true perception of the dimension of infinite consciousness. That’s how, with training…
  5. AN 9.46 In the Present Life 0.51near 0.1Numbered Discourses 9.46 5. Similarity In the Present Life “Reverend, they speak of ‘a teaching apparent in the present life’. In what way did the Buddha speak of a teaching apparent in the present life?” “First, take a…
  6. AN 11.18 Immersion (1st) 0.50near 0.1Numbered Discourses 11.18 2. Recollection Immersion (1st) And then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Could it be, sir, that a mendicant might gain a state of immersi…