2.
The Discourse on a Person's Destination
55.
"And, monks, I will teach the seven destinations of a person and final nibbāna without grasping.
Listen to that, pay close attention;
I will speak."
"Yes, venerable sir," those monks assented to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said this:
"And what, monks, are the seven destinations of a person?
"Here, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine; it will not be, it will not be mine; whatever there is, what has come to be - that I abandon' - thus he obtains equanimity. He does not find pleasure in existence, he does not find pleasure in origination, he sees with right wisdom the peaceful state that is beyond. But that state has not been completely realised by him in every way; his underlying tendency to conceit has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to lust for existence has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to ignorance has not been completely abandoned. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a flake having arisen would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine; it will not be, it will not be mine; whatever there is, what has come to be - that I abandon' - thus he obtains equanimity. He does not find pleasure in existence, he does not find pleasure in origination, he sees with right wisdom the peaceful state that is beyond. But that state has not been completely realised by him in every way; his underlying tendency to conceit has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to lust for existence has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to ignorance has not been completely abandoned. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine; it will not be, it will not be mine; whatever there is, what has come to be - that I abandon' - thus he obtains equanimity. He does not find pleasure in existence, he does not find pleasure in origination, he sees with right wisdom the peaceful state that is beyond. But that state has not been completely realised by him in every way; his underlying tendency to conceit has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to lust for existence has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to ignorance has not been completely abandoned. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a flake having arisen and having flown up would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. he, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. he, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a flake having arisen and having flown up, without reaching the ground, would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. he, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna after the interval. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a scale having arisen and flown up, having touched the ground, would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna after the interval.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna without exertion. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a scale having arisen and flown up might fall upon a small heap of grass or a small heap of sticks. It might produce fire there, might produce smoke there, and having produced fire and having produced smoke, having consumed that very small heap of grass or heap of sticks, being without fuel, would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna without exertion.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna through exertion. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a scale having arisen and flown up might fall upon an extensive heap of grass or an extensive heap of sticks. It might produce fire there, might produce smoke there, and having produced fire and having produced smoke, having consumed that very extensive heap of grass or heap of sticks, being without fuel, would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an attainer of final nibbāna through exertion.
"Here again, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine; it will not be, it will not be mine; whatever there is, what has come to be - that I abandon' - thus he obtains equanimity. He does not find pleasure in existence, he does not find pleasure in origination, he sees with right wisdom the peaceful state that is beyond. But that state has not been completely realised by him in every way; his underlying tendency to conceit has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to lust for existence has not been completely abandoned, his underlying tendency to ignorance has not been completely abandoned. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an upstream-goer heading toward the Akaniṭṭha realm. Just as, monks, when an iron pan heated all day is being struck, a scale having arisen and flown up might fall upon a great heap of grass or a great heap of sticks. It might produce fire there, might produce smoke there, and having produced fire and having produced smoke, having consumed that very great heap of grass or heap of sticks, it might burn the shrubs, might burn the grove, and having burnt the shrubs and having burnt the grove, having come to the edge of green vegetation, or the edge of a path, or the edge of a rock, or the edge of water, or a delightful piece of land, being without fuel, would be extinguished. So too, monks, a monk is practicing thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine, etc. He, with the utter elimination of the five lower mental fetters, becomes an upstream-goer heading toward the Akaniṭṭha realm. These, monks, are the seven destinations of persons.
"And what, monks, is final nibbāna without clinging? Here, monks, a monk is practising thus - 'It would not be, and it would not be mine; it will not be, it will not be mine; whatever there is, what has come to be - that I abandon' - thus he obtains equanimity. He does not find pleasure in existence, he does not find pleasure in origination, he sees with right wisdom the peaceful state that is beyond. And that state has been entirely realised by him, his underlying tendency to conceit has been entirely abandoned, his underlying tendency to lust for existence has been entirely abandoned, his underlying tendency to ignorance has been entirely abandoned. He, with the elimination of the mental corruptions, etc. having realised, having attained, dwells. This is called, monks, final nibbāna without clinging. These, monks, are the seven destinations of a person and final nibbāna without clinging." The second.