MN121 — Cūḷasuññatasutta
Thus have I heard: At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in the Eastern Park, in Migāra's mother's mansion.
Then, venerable Ānanda, having emerged from seclusion in the evening, approached the Blessed One; having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One and sat down to one side. Seated to one side, venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One:
There was this one time, venerable sir, when the Blessed One was dwelling among the Sakyans in a town called Nagaraka.
There, in the presence of the Blessed One, I heard this, I received it face to face: I, Ānanda, now often dwell in emptiness.
Is it, venerable sir, that I have heard this well, received it well, attended to it well, and remembered it well? Indeed, Ānanda, you have heard this well, received it well, attended to it well, and remembered it well.
Previously, Ānanda, and even now, I often dwell in emptiness.
Just as, Ānanda, this Migāra's mother's mansion is empty of elephants, cows, horses, and mares, empty of gold and silver, empty of the assembly of men and women, and there is present only this unity dependent on the community of disciples; even so, Ānanda, a disciple, not attending to the perception of village, not attending to the perception of people, attends to the perception of forest as unity.
His mind leaps forward, settles, becomes unified, and is composed. Thus he understands:
Whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of village, they are not present here; whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of people, they are not present here. There is present only this amount of disturbance, namely the perception of forest as unity.
He understands: This field of perception is empty of the perception of village; this field of perception is empty of the perception of people. There is present only this non-emptiness, namely the perception of forest as unity.
Thus, whatever there is in that which is not there, he sees that as empty; whatever there is in that which remains, he sees that as present.
Even for him, Ānanda, this is his genuine, undistorted, pure descent into emptiness.
Furthermore, Ānanda, a disciple, not attending to the perception of people, not attending to the perception of forest, attends to the perception of earth as unity.
His mind leaps forward, settles, becomes unified, and is composed.
Just as, Ānanda, a bull's hide is spread out, well stretched, without creases; even so, Ānanda, a disciple, not attending to all the unevenness and uneven places of this earth, the rivers and pits, thorns and sticks, mountains and rough places, attends to the perception of earth as unity dependent on that.
His mind leaps forward, settles, becomes unified, and is composed. Thus he understands:
Whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of people, they are not present here; whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of forest, they are not present here. There is present only this amount of disturbance, namely the perception of earth as unity.
He understands: This field of perception is empty of the perception of people; this field of perception is empty of the perception of forest. There is present only this non-emptiness, namely the perception of earth as unity.
Thus, whatever there is in that which is not there, he sees that as empty; whatever there is in that which remains, he sees that as present.
Even for him, Ānanda, this is his genuine, undistorted, pure descent into emptiness.
Furthermore, Ānanda, a disciple, not attending to the perception of forest, not attending to the perception of earth, attends to the perception of the base of infinite space as unity.
His mind leaps forward, settles, becomes unified, and is composed. Thus he understands:
Whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of forest, they are not present here; whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of earth, they are not present here. There is present only this amount of disturbance, namely the perception of the base of infinite space as unity.
He understands: This field of perception is empty of the perception of forest; this field of perception is empty of the perception of earth. There is present only this non-emptiness, namely the perception of the base of infinite space as unity.
Thus, whatever there is in that which is not there, he sees that as empty; whatever there is in that which remains, he sees that as present.
Even for him, Ānanda, this is his genuine, undistorted, pure descent into emptiness.
Furthermore, Ānanda, a disciple, not attending to the perception of earth, not attending to the perception of the base of infinite space, attends to the perception of the base of infinite consciousness as unity.
His mind leaps forward, settles, becomes unified, and is composed. Thus he understands:
Whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the perception of earth, they are not present here; whatever disturbances there might be dependent
Based on the perception of the base of infinite space, there are no distresses here, but there is just this much distress, that is: based on the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, unity.
He understands, This perception of the earth is empty, This perception of the base of infinite space is empty, There is this non-emptiness, that is: based on the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, unity. Thus, what is not there, he sees as empty, and what remains, he understands as This is present. Thus, for him, this becomes the pure, undistorted, and true entry into emptiness.
Again, Ananda, without giving attention to the perception of the base of infinite space, without giving attention to the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, focusing on the perception of the base of nothingness as unity. His mind inclines, settles, becomes unified, and is determined on the perception of the base of nothingness.
He understands, There are no distresses based on the perception of the base of infinite space, there are no distresses based on the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, but there is just this much distress, that is: based on the perception of the base of nothingness, unity.
He understands, This perception of the base of infinite space is empty, This perception of the base of infinite consciousness is empty, There is this non-emptiness, that is: based on the perception of the base of nothingness, unity. Thus, what is not there, he sees as empty, and what remains, he understands as This is present. Thus, for him, this becomes the pure, undistorted, and true entry into emptiness.
Again, Ananda, without giving attention to the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, without giving attention to the perception of the base of nothingness, focusing on the perception of neither perception nor non-perception as unity. His mind inclines, settles, becomes unified, and is determined on the perception of neither perception nor non-perception.
He understands, There are no distresses based on the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, there are no distresses based on the perception of the base of nothingness, but there is just this much distress, that is: based on the perception of neither perception nor non-perception, unity.
He understands, This perception of the base of infinite consciousness is empty, This perception of the base of nothingness is empty, There is this non-emptiness, that is: based on the perception of neither perception nor non-perception, unity. Thus, what is not there, he sees as empty, and what remains, he understands as This is present. Thus, for him, this becomes the pure, undistorted, and true entry into emptiness.
Again, Ananda, without giving attention to the perception of the base of nothingness, without giving attention to the perception of neither perception nor non-perception, focusing on the signless concentration of mind as unity. His mind inclines, settles, becomes unified, and is determined on the signless concentration of mind.
He understands, There are no distresses based on the perception of the base of nothingness, there are no distresses based on the perception of neither perception nor non-perception, but there is just this much distress, that is: dependent on this very body with its six sense bases, conditioned by life.
He understands, This perception of the base of nothingness is empty, This perception of neither perception nor non-perception is empty, There is this non-emptiness, that is: dependent on this very body with its six sense bases, conditioned by life. Thus, what is not there, he sees as empty, and what remains, he understands as This is present. Thus, for him, this becomes the pure, undistorted, and true entry into emptiness.
Again, Ananda, without giving attention to the perception of the base of nothingness, without giving attention to the perception of neither perception nor non-perception, focusing on the signless concentration of mind as unity. His mind inclines, settles, becomes unified, and is determined on the signless concentration of mind. He understands, This signless concentration of mind is fabricated and volitionally formed. Whatever is fabricated and volitionally formed is impermanent and subject to cessation.
Knowing and seeing in this way, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance. In the liberated one, there arises the knowing of liberation. Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being, he understands.
He understands, There are no distresses based on the taint of sensual desire, there are no distresses based on the taint of being, there are no distresses based on the taint of ignorance, but there is just this much distress, that is: dependent on this very body with its six sense bases, conditioned by life.
Based on the condition of the existence of suffering, they are not, those who would be based on the condition of the ignorance of suffering, they are not, there is just this much to suffering, that is: dependent on this very body, conditioned by the six sense bases, for the sake of life.
He understands, This is empty of the defilement of sensual desire, he understands, This is empty of the defilement of existence, he understands, This is empty of the defilement of ignorance, he understands, There is this non-emptiness, that is: dependent on this very body, conditioned by the six sense bases, for the sake of life.
Thus, what is not there, he sees as empty, what remains, he understands as This is present.
Thus, for him, Ananda, this becomes the pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness.
Indeed, Ananda, whatever ascetics or brahmins in the past attained and dwelled in the pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness, all of them attained and dwelled in this very pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness.
Indeed, Ananda, whatever ascetics or brahmins in the future will attain and dwell in the pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness, all of them will attain and dwell in this very pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness.
Indeed, Ananda, whatever ascetics or brahmins at present attain and dwell in the pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness, all of them attain and dwell in this very pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness.
Therefore, Ananda, We will attain and dwell in the pure, ultimate, unsurpassed emptiness: thus, Ananda, should you train.
The Blessed One said this.
Venerable Ananda was pleased and rejoiced in the Blessed One's words.