{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an9.26/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an9.26","id":"suttacentral_an9.26","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an9.26/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near R\u0101jagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels\u2019 feeding ground. There Venerable Candik\u0101putta addressed the mendicants, \u201cReverends, Devadatta teaches the mendicants like this: \u2018When a mendicant\u2019s mind is solidified by heart, it\u2019s appropriate for them to say: \u201cI understand: \u2018Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.\u2019\u201d\u2019\u201d When he said this, Venerable S\u0101riputta said to him, \u201cReverend Candik\u0101putta, Devadatta does not teach the mendicants like that. He teaches like this: \u2018When a mendicant\u2019s mind is well consolidated by heart, it\u2019s appropriate for them to say: \u201cI understand: \u2018Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.\u2019\u201d\u2019\u201d For a second time \u2026 And for a third time Venerable Candik\u0101putta addressed the mendicants \u2026 And for a third time, S\u0101riputta said to him, \u201cReverend Candik\u0101putta, Devadatta does not teach the mendicants like that. He teaches like this: \u2018When a mendicant\u2019s mind is well consolidated by heart, it\u2019s appropriate for them to say: \u201cI understand: \u2018Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.\u2019\u201d\u2019 And how is a mendicant\u2019s mind well consolidated by heart? The mind is well consolidated by heart when they know: \u2018My mind is without greed.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is without hate.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is without delusion.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to become greedy.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to become hateful.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to become deluded.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to return to rebirth in the sensual realm.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to return to rebirth in the realm of luminous form.\u2019 \u2026 \u2018My mind is not liable to return to rebirth in the formless realm.\u2019 When a mendicant\u2019s mind is rightly freed like this, even if compelling sights come into the range of vision they don\u2019t occupy their mind. Their mind is quite untainted. It is steady, imperturbable, observing disappearance. Suppose there was a stone post, sixteen feet long. Eight feet were buried underground, and eight above ground. And violent storms were to blow up out of the east, the west, the north, and the south. They couldn\u2019t make it tremor and tremble and quake. Why is that? It\u2019s because that stone post is firmly embedded, with deep foundations. In the same way, when a mendicant\u2019s mind is rightly freed like this, even if compelling sights come into the range of vision they don\u2019t occupy their mind. Their mind is quite untainted. It is steady, imperturbable, observing disappearance. If even compelling sounds \u2026 smells \u2026 tastes \u2026 touches \u2026 and ideas come into the range of the mind they don\u2019t occupy the mind. Their mind is quite untainted. It is steady, imperturbable, observing disappearance.\u201d","title":"The Simile of the Stone Post","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":495}