5.
The Second Discourse on Fruit
981.
"Mindfulness of breathing, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit.
And how, monks, is mindfulness of breathing developed, how is it cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and great benefit?
Here, monks, a monk, having gone to the forest, or having gone to the root of a tree, or having gone to an empty house, sits down, folding his legs crosswise, directing his body upright, having established mindfulness in front of him.
He, mindful, breathes in; mindful, he breathes out, etc.
he trains: 'Observing relinquishment, I shall breathe in'; he trains: 'Observing relinquishment, I shall breathe out.'
Thus developed, monks, mindfulness of breathing, thus cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit.
"When mindfulness of breathing is thus developed, monks, thus cultivated, seven fruits and seven benefits are to be expected. What are the seven fruits and seven benefits? He attains final liberating knowledge early in this very life. If he does not attain final liberating knowledge early in this very life, then he attains final liberating knowledge at the time of death. If he does not attain final liberating knowledge early in this very life, if he does not attain final liberating knowledge at the time of death, then with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters he becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval. He becomes an attainer of final nibbāna after the interval. He becomes an attainer of final nibbāna without exertion. He becomes an attainer of final nibbāna through exertion. He becomes an upstream-goer heading toward the Akaniṭṭha realm. When mindfulness of breathing is thus developed, monks, thus cultivated, these seven fruits and seven benefits are to be expected." The fifth.