4:10 Before the Break-up (of the Body)

- suttas - - evening talks - short morning talks - lectures - guided meditations - talk collections - other themes - chants - - - - à¹à¸à¸¢ - Franā§ais - Espaā±ol - - Portuguāªs - РÑÑÑкий - - - УкÑаÑнÑÑка Submit Search - Home - Suttas - KN - Sn - Sn 4:10 Before the Break-up (of the Body) ## Browse Suttas Go to Sutta Nipṅta index Sn index ## 4:10  Before the Break-up (of the Body) "Seeing how, behaving how, is one said to be at peace? Gotama, tell me about —when asked about— the ultimate person." The Buddha: "Free from craving before the break-up [of the body], independent of before & the end, 1 not classified in between, 2 no preference is his. Un-          angered, un-          startled, un-          boastful, un-          anxious, giving counsel unruffled, he is a sage, his speech under control. Free from attachment with regard to the future, not sorrowing over the past, he sees seclusion in the midst of sensory contacts.3 He canât be led in terms of views.4 Withdrawn, un- deceitful, not stingy, not miserly, not insolent, in- offensive, he doesnât engage in divisive speech. Not drunk on enticements, nor given to pride, heâs gentle, quick-witted, beyond conviction & dispassion.5 Not in hopes of material gain does he take on the training; when without material gain he isnât upset. Unobstructed     by craving, he doesnât               through craving6 hunger for flavors. Equanimous—always—mindful, he doesnât suppose himself equal, superior, inferior, in the world. No swellings of pride are his. Whose dependencies donât exist when, on knowing the Dhamma, heâs in- dependent; in whom no craving is found for becoming or not-: He is said to be at peace, un-intent on sensual pleasures, with nothing at all to tie him down: one whoâs crossed over attachment. He has no children cattle, fields, land. In him you canât pin down whatâs embraced or rejected.7 He has no preference for that which people run-of-the-mill or brahmans & contemplatives might blame— which is why he is unperturbed with regard to their words. His greed gone, not miserly, the sage doesnât speak of himself as among those who are higher, equal, or lower. He, theory-free, goes to no theory. For whom nothing in the world is his own, who doesnât grieve over what is not, who doesnât enter into doctrines phenomena8: He is said to be at peace." vv. 848–861 Notes 1. Nd I: "Independent of before & the end" = no craving or view with regard to past or future. 2. For discussions of how the awakened one cannot be classified even in the present, see MN 72 and SN 22:85–86. 3. Nd I: "He sees seclusion in the midst of sensory contacts" = he sees contact as empty of self. This passage may also refer to the fact that the awakened person experiences sensory contact as if disjoined from it. On this point, see MN 140 and MN 146, quoted in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapter 4. 4. See AN 10:93. 5. Beyond conviction & dispassion—The Pali here can also mean, "A person of no conviction, he does not put away passion." This is an example of the kind of pun occasionally used in Pali poetry for its shock value. Other examples are at Dhp 97 and the end of Sn 4:13. For examples of what is meant by being beyond conviction, see SN 12:68 and SN 48:44. For an explanation of what is meant by being beyond dispassion, see Sn 4:6, note 2. An alternate explanation is that, as Sn 5:6 indicates, the arahant is beyond all dhammas, dispassion included. 6. The Pali word taṃhṅya—by/through craving—functions here as a lamp. 7. This reading follows the Thai and PTS editions: attaṃ vṅ-pi nirattaṃ vṅ. The Burmese and Sri Lankan editions read, attṅ vṅ-pi nirattṅ vṅ: "self or whatâs opposed to self." The first reading seems preferable for two reasons: First, it follows the theme established in Sn 4:3 and Sn 4:4 (and also followed in Sn 4:15 and Sn 5:11) that the awakened person has gone beyond embracing or rejecting views. Second, the word nirattṅ is found nowhere else in the Canon aside from the two other verses in Sn (4:3 and 4:14) where it is offered as a possible alternative reading for niratta (released, rejected). As niratta is clearly the preferable alternative in Sn 4:3, I have adopted it here and in Sn 4:14 as well. 8. "Doctrines, phenomena"—two meanings of the Pali word, dhamma. - --> - - - -