8.
The Discourse on the Dirty Pool
178.
"Monks, there are these four persons existing and found in the world.
Which four?
Here, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it.
He attends to the cessation of identity.
As he attends to the cessation of identity, his mind does not spring forward towards the cessation of identity, does not become clear, does not become settled, does not become resolved.
For such a monk, monks, the cessation of identity is not to be expected.
Just as, monks, a man might grasp a branch with a hand smeared with resin, his hand would stick, would be caught, would be bound;
so too, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it.
He attends to the cessation of identity.
As he attends to the cessation of identity, his mind does not spring forward towards the cessation of identity, does not become clear, does not become settled, does not become resolved.
For such a monk, monks, the cessation of identity is not to be expected.
Here again, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the cessation of identity. As he attends to the cessation of identity, his mind springs forward towards the cessation of identity, becomes clear, becomes settled, becomes resolved. For such a monk, monks, the cessation of identity is to be expected. Just as, monks, a man might grasp a branch with a clean hand, his hand would indeed not stick, would not be caught, would not be bound; so too, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the cessation of identity. As he attends to the cessation of identity, his mind springs forward towards the cessation of identity, becomes clear, becomes settled, becomes resolved. For such a monk, monks, the cessation of identity is to be expected.
Here again, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the breaking through of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking through of ignorance, his mind does not spring forward towards the breaking through of ignorance, does not become clear, does not become settled, does not become resolved. For such a monk, monks, the breaking through of ignorance is not to be expected. Just as, monks, there is a dirty pool many years old. If a man were to close off its inlets and open its outlets, and the rain god were not to send down proper showers. Thus indeed, monks, for that dirty pool, the breaking of the embankment is not to be expected. So too, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the breaking through of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking through of ignorance, his mind does not spring forward towards the breaking through of ignorance, does not become clear, does not become settled, does not become resolved. For such a monk, monks, the breaking through of ignorance is not to be expected.
Here again, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the breaking through of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking through of ignorance, his mind springs forward towards the breaking through of ignorance, becomes clear, becomes settled, becomes resolved. Thus indeed, monks, for that monk the breaking through of ignorance is to be expected. Just as, monks, there is a dirty pool many years old. If a man were to open its inlets and close its outlets, and the rain god were to send down proper showers. Thus indeed, monks, for that dirty pool the breaking through of the embankment is to be expected. So too, monks, a monk, having attained a certain peaceful liberation of mind, dwells in it. He attends to the breaking through of ignorance. As he attends to the breaking through of ignorance, his mind springs forward towards the breaking through of ignorance, becomes clear, becomes settled, becomes resolved. Thus indeed, monks, for that monk the breaking through of ignorance is to be expected. These, monks, are the four persons existing and found in the world." The eighth.