10.
The Discourse on the Mental Bonds
10.
"Monks, there are these four mental bonds.
Which four?
The mental bond of sensuality, the mental bond of existence, the mental bond of views, the mental bond of ignorance.
And what, monks, is the mental bond of sensuality?
Here, monks, a certain one does not understand as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding sensual pleasures.
For him not understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding sensual pleasures, whatever sensual lust, sensual delight, sensual affection, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual attachment, sensual craving towards sensual pleasures, that underlies him.
This is called, monks, the mental bond of sensuality.
Thus the mental bond of sensuality.
And how is there the mental bond of existence? Here, monks, a certain one does not understand as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding existences. For him not understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding existences, whatever lust for existence, delight in existence, affection for existence, infatuation with existence, thirst for existence, fever of existence, attachment to existence, craving for existence towards existences, that underlies him. This is called, monks, the mental bond of existence. Thus the mental bond of sensuality, the mental bond of existence.
And how is there the mental bond of views? Here, monks, a certain one does not understand as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding views. For him not understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding views, whatever lust for views, delight in views, affection for views, infatuation with views, thirst for views, fever of views, attachment to views, craving for views towards views, that underlies him. This is called, monks, the mental bond of views. Thus the mental bond of sensuality, the mental bond of existence, the mental bond of views.
And how is there the mental bond of ignorance? Here, monks, a certain one does not understand as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding the six sense bases of contact. For him not understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding the six sense bases of contact, whatever ignorance, not knowing regarding the six sense bases of contact, that underlies him. This is called, monks, the mental bond of ignorance. Thus the mental bond of sensuality, the mental bond of existence, the mental bond of views, the mental bond of ignorance, connected with evil unwholesome mental states that are subject to defilement, leading to rebirth, giving trouble, with painful results, leading to future birth, ageing, and death. Therefore he is called one without security from the bonds. These, monks, are the four mental bonds.
"Monks, there are these four releases from the bonds. Which four? Release from the mental bond of sensuality, release from the mental bond of existence, release from the mental bond of views, release from the mental bond of ignorance. And what, monks, is release from the mental bond of sensuality? Here, monks, a certain one understands as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding sensual pleasures. For him understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding sensual pleasures, whatever sensual lust, sensual delight, sensual affection, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual attachment, sensual craving towards sensual pleasures, that does not underlie him. This is called, monks, release from the mental bond of sensuality. Thus release from the mental bond of sensuality.
"And how is there release from the mental bond of existence? Here, monks, a certain one understands as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding existences. For him understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding existences, whatever lust for existence, delight in existence, affection for existence, infatuation with existence, thirst for existence, fever of existence, holding to existence, craving for existence regarding existences, that does not underlie him. This is called, monks, release from the mental bond of existence. Thus release from the mental bond of sensuality, release from the mental bond of existence.
"And how is there release from the mental bond of views? Here, monks, a certain one understands as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding views. For him understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding views, whatever lust for views, delight in views, affection for views, infatuation with views, thirst for views, fever of views, holding to views, craving for views regarding views, that does not underlie him. This is called, monks, release from the mental bond of views. Thus release from the mental bond of sensuality, release from the mental bond of existence, release from the mental bond of views.
"And how is there release from the mental bond of ignorance? Here, monks, a certain one understands as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding the six sense bases of contact. For him understanding as it really is the origin, passing away, gratification, danger, and escape regarding the six sense bases of contact, whatever ignorance, not knowing regarding the six sense bases of contact, that does not underlie him. This is called, monks, release from the mental bond of ignorance. Thus release from the mental bond of sensuality, release from the mental bond of existence, release from the mental bond of views, release from the mental bond of ignorance, unbound from evil unwholesome mental states that are subject to defilement, leading to rebirth, give anguish, with painful results, leading to future birth, ageing, and death. Therefore one is called secure from the bonds. These, monks, are the four releases."
Tied by the mental bond of views, led by ignorance.
But those who, having fully understood sensual pleasures, and the mental bond of existence altogether,
Unbound from all mental bonds, they indeed are sages who have gone beyond the bonds." The tenth.