{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an9.33/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an9.33","id":"suttacentral_an9.33","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an9.33/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"\u201cMendicants, I will teach you the nine progressive meditative attainments \u2026 And what are the nine progressive meditative attainments? Where sensual pleasures cease, and those who have thoroughly ended sensual pleasures meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where sensual pleasures cease\u2019, they should be told: \u2018Reverend, it\u2019s when a mendicant, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected. That\u2019s where sensual pleasures cease.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where the placing of the mind and keeping it connected cease, and those who have thoroughly ended the placing of the mind and keeping it connected meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where the placing of the mind and keeping it connected cease\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, enters and remains in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without placing the mind and keeping it connected. That\u2019s where the placing of the mind and keeping it connected cease.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where rapture ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended rapture meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where rapture ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, with the fading away of rapture, enters and remains in the third absorption, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, experiencing for themselves the bliss of which the noble ones declare, \u201cEquanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss\u201d. That\u2019s where rapture ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where bliss with equanimity ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended bliss with equanimity meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where bliss with equanimity ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, with the giving up of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of former happiness and sadness, enters and remains in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness. That\u2019s where bliss with equanimity ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where perceptions of form ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended perceptions of form meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where perceptions of form ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that \u201cspace is infinite\u201d, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space. That\u2019s where perceptions of form cease.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where the perception of the dimension of infinite space ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended the perception of the dimension of infinite space meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where the perception of the dimension of infinite space ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite space, aware that \u201cconsciousness is infinite\u201d, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness. That\u2019s where the perception of the dimension of infinite space ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where the perception of the dimension of infinite consciousness ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended the perception of the dimension of infinite consciousness meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where the perception of the dimension of infinite consciousness ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that \u201cthere is nothing at all\u201d, enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness. That\u2019s where the perception of the dimension of infinite consciousness ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where the perception of the dimension of nothingness ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended the perception of the dimension of nothingness meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where the perception of the dimension of nothingness ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. That\u2019s where the perception of the dimension of nothingness ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. Where the perception of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception ceases, and those who have thoroughly ended the perception of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception meditate, I say: \u2018Clearly those venerables are desireless, quenched, crossed over, and gone beyond in that respect.\u2019 If someone should say, \u2018I do not know or see where the perception of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception ceases\u2019, they should be told: \u2018It\u2019s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. That\u2019s where the perception of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception ceases.\u2019 Clearly someone who is not devious or deceitful would approve and agree with that statement. They\u2019d say \u2018Good!\u2019 and bowing down, they\u2019d pay homage with cupped palms. These are the nine progressive meditative attainments.\u201d","title":"The Nine Progressive Meditative Attainments","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1169}