6.
The Second Discourse on Perception
49.
"Monks, these seven perceptions, when developed and cultivated, are of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as their final goal.
Which are the seven?
Perception of foulness, perception of death, perception of repulsiveness in food, perception of discontent with the whole world, perception of impermanence, perception of suffering in what is impermanent, perception of non-self in what is suffering.
These, monks, are the seven perceptions which, when developed and cultivated, are of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as their final goal.
"'Perception of foulness, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal.' Thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk, monks, dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of foulness, the mind draws back from engaging in sexual intercourse, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established. Just as, monks, a cock's feather or a strip of sinew thrown into a fire draws back, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend. So too, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of foulness, the mind draws back from engaging in sexual intercourse, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established.
If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of foulness, the mind flows towards engaging in sexual intercourse and non-loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of foulness has not been developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of foulness, the mind draws back from engaging in sexual intercourse, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of foulness has been well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'Perception of foulness, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'Perception of death, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal.' Thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk, monks, dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of death, the mind draws back from attachment to life, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established. Just as, monks, a cock's feather or a strip of sinew thrown into a fire draws back, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend. So too, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of death, the mind draws back from attachment to life, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established.
If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of death, the mind flows towards attachment to life and non-loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of death has not been developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of death, the mind draws back from attachment to life, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend towards it; either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of death has been well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'Perception of death, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'Perception of repulsiveness in food, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal.' Thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk, monks, dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of repulsiveness in food, the mind draws back from craving for flavour, etc. either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established. Just as, monks, a cock's feather or a strip of sinew thrown into a fire draws back, shrinks back, turns away, does not extend. So too, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of repulsiveness in food, the mind draws back from craving for flavour, etc. either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established.
"If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of repulsiveness in food, the mind flows towards craving for flavour and non-loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of repulsiveness in food is not developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of repulsiveness in food, the mind draws back from craving for flavour, etc. equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of repulsiveness in food is well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'The perception of repulsiveness in food, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'The perception of discontent with the whole world, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of discontent with the whole world, monks, the mind draws back from the world's manifold attractions, etc. Just as, monks, etc. it draws back, shrinks away, turns away, does not extend. So too, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of discontent with the whole world, the mind draws back from the world's manifold attractions, shrinks away, turns away, does not extend; equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established.
"If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of discontent with the whole world, the mind flows towards the world's manifold attractions and non-loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of discontent with the whole world is not developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of discontent with the whole world, the mind draws back from the world's manifold attractions, etc. equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of discontent with the whole world is well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'The perception of discontent with the whole world, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'The perception of impermanence, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of impermanence, monks, the mind draws back from material gain, honour, and fame, etc. either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established. Just as, monks, a cock's feather or a strip of sinew thrown into a fire draws back, shrinks away, turns away, does not extend. So too, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of impermanence, the mind draws back from material gain, honour, and fame, etc. either equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established.
"If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of impermanence, the mind flows towards material gain, honour, and fame and non-loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of impermanence is not developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of impermanence, the mind draws back from material gain, honour, and fame, shrinks away, turns away, does not extend; equanimity or loathsomeness becomes established; this should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of impermanence is well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'The perception of impermanence, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'Perception of suffering in what is impermanent, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of suffering in what is impermanent, a sharp perception of fear is present regarding sloth, idleness, laxity, heedlessness, non-pursuit, and non-reviewing, just as, monks, towards a murderer with drawn sword.
"If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of suffering in what is impermanent, a sharp perception of fear is not present regarding sloth, idleness, laxity, heedlessness, non-pursuit, and non-reviewing, just as, monks, towards a murderer with drawn sword. This should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of suffering in what is impermanent is not developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of suffering in what is impermanent, a sharp perception of fear is present regarding sloth, idleness, laxity, heedlessness, non-pursuit, and non-reviewing, just as, monks, towards a murderer with drawn sword. This should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of suffering in what is impermanent is well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'Perception of suffering in what is impermanent, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"'Perception of non-self in what is suffering, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus indeed this was said. Dependent on what was this said? For a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of non-self in what is suffering, the mind becomes free from I-making, mine-making, and conceit in regard to this conscious body and externally in regard to all signs, having transcended discrimination, peaceful, well liberated.
"If, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of non-self in what is suffering, the mind does not become free from I-making, mine-making, and conceit in regard to this conscious body and externally in regard to all signs, having transcended discrimination, peaceful, well liberated. This should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of non-self in what is suffering is not developed by me; there is no distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have not attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there.
"But if, monks, for a monk dwelling frequently with a mind accustomed to the perception of non-self in what is suffering, the mind becomes free from I-making, mine-making, and conceit in regard to this conscious body and externally in regard to all signs, having transcended discrimination, peaceful, well liberated. This should be known by that monk, monks: 'The perception of non-self in what is suffering is well developed by me; there is a distinction between my earlier condition and my present one. I have attained the power of meditative development.' Thus he is fully aware there. 'Perception of non-self in what is suffering, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as its final goal' - thus what was said, this was said dependent on that.
"These, monks, are the seven perceptions which, when developed and cultivated, are of great fruit and great benefit, grounded upon the Deathless, having the Deathless as their final goal." The sixth.