{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn54.9/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn54.9","id":"suttacentral_sn54.9","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn54.9/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Ves\u0101l\u012b, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Now at that time the Buddha spoke in many ways to the mendicants about the meditation on ugliness. He praised the meditation on ugliness and its development. Then the Buddha said to the mendicants, \u201cMendicants, I wish to go on retreat for a fortnight. No-one should approach me, except the one who brings my almsfood.\u201d \u201cYes, sir,\u201d replied those mendicants. And no-one approached him, except the one who brought the almsfood. Then those mendicants thought, \u201cThe Buddha spoke in many ways about the meditation on ugliness. He praised the meditation on ugliness and its development.\u201d They committed themselves to developing the many different facets of the meditation on ugliness. Becoming horrified, repelled, and disgusted with this body, they looked for a suicide weapon. Each day ten, twenty, or thirty mendicants committed suicide. Then after a fortnight had passed, the Buddha came out of retreat and addressed \u0100nanda, \u201c\u0100nanda, why does the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha seem so diminished?\u201d \u0100nanda told the Buddha all that had happened, and said, \u201cSir, please explain another way the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha might be settled in enlightenment.\u201d \u201cWell then, \u0100nanda, gather all the mendicants staying in the vicinity of Ves\u0101l\u012b together in the assembly hall.\u201d \u201cYes, sir,\u201d replied \u0100nanda. He did what the Buddha asked, went up to him, and said, \u201cSir, the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha has assembled. Please, sir, come at your convenience.\u201d Then the Buddha went to the assembly hall, sat down on the seat spread out, and addressed the mendicants: \u201cMendicants, when this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it\u2019s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise. In the last month of summer, when the dust and dirt is stirred up, a large storm out of season disperses and settles it on the spot. In the same way, when this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it\u2019s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise. And how is it so developed and cultivated? It\u2019s when a mendicant\u2014gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut\u2014sits down cross-legged, sets their body straight, and brings mindfulness to the present. Just mindful, they breathe in. Mindful, they breathe out. \u2026 They practice like this: \u2018I\u2019ll breathe in observing letting go.\u2019 They practice like this: \u2018I\u2019ll breathe out observing letting go.\u2019 That\u2019s how this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated so that it\u2019s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful  meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise.\u201d","title":"At Ves\u0101l\u012b","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":474}