by Tang Huyen

"When it is liberated, with regard to the world it has nothing to grasp. Not grasping, he is unperturbed; unperturbed, internally he fully blows out."

Liberation is purely subjective, strictly sentimental, without nothing objective to pin it down to. Liberation is perpendicular to the world.

The Buddha says:

"There are four stations for consciousness. What are the four? Approaching form, consciousness, standing, stands, takes-as-its-object form, with form as platform, delights in it, waters it and grows it; approaching feeling, consciousness, standing, stands, takes-as-its-object feeling, with feeling as platform; with notion, compositions as platform, delights in them, waters them, and grows them. Monks! In them consciousness comes, goes, dies, gets born and grows. If one was to declare consciousness' coming, going, dying, getting born, and growing apart from them, that would only be speech (Skt. vāg-vastu-mātraṃ), and if asked one would be unable to answer, it would increase one's stupidity (Skt. sammoham āpadyeta), for it would be beyond one's sense-field (Skt. aviṣayatvāt).

When passion with regard to the modality of form is done away with, the contact occasioned by mind getting entangled with form is cut, and when the contact occasioned by mind getting entangled with form is cut, the taking-as-object ends; when the taking-as-object ends, consciousness has no place to stand on, and will no longer grow. When passion with regard to the modalities of feeling, notion, and compositions is done away with, the contact occasioned by mind getting entangled with them is cut, and when the contact occasioned by mind getting entangled with them is cut, the taking-as-object ends; when the taking-as-object ends, consciousness has no place to stand on, and, unestablished (apaṭitthita), will no longer grow.

As it no longer grows, it no longer composes (na abhisaṅkharoti); when it no longer composes, it is stable (ṭhita); when it is stable, it knows that it has enough (ṭhitattā santuṭito); when it knows that it has enough, it is liberated (santuṭitattā vimutto); when it is liberated, with regard to the world it has nothing to grasp (vimuttaṃ na kiñci loke upādiyati, Skt. na kiñcil loka upādatte), not grasping he is unperturbed; unperturbed, internally he fully blows out (aparitassaṃ paccattaññeva parinibbāyati, Skt. aparitasya ātmaiva parinirvāti). Birth is ended, the chaste life has been lived, what has to be done is done, one knows for oneself that there is no further becoming.

I say that that consciousness will not go east, west, south, north, the zenith or nadir, the intermediaries, or any other direction (nānyatra), in the present things it is shadowless (niśchaya), blown-out (parinirvvati or parinirvṛta), cooled, become pure (brahmi-bhūta)." — SA 39, 9a; SN III.54–55 (22.54), 58 (22.55); Vyākhyā, 271–272.

Colophon

Posted to talk.religion.buddhism on 31 May 2008, in the "fire and water hell" thread, as a rejoinder to a debate about the scope of Buddhist teaching. Author: Tang Huyen. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

The four stations for consciousness passage (SN 22.54–55, with Chinese SA parallel and Sanskrit Vyākhyā cross-references) is one of the most precise canonical accounts of how liberation proceeds: consciousness loses its platforms one by one, becomes unestablished (apaṭitthita), ceases to grow, ceases to compose, stabilises, and finally "knows it has enough" — a phrase TH's translation preserves with unusual care. The terminal image is notable: the liberated consciousness goes in no direction, is shadowless (niśchaya), blown-out, cooled, brahmi-bhūta (become-brahmic, or become pure). TH's translation draws on the Saṃyukta-āgama, the Pāli Saṃyutta, and the Sanskrit Vyākhyā commentary. For the "perpendicular" framing see also "Perpendicularity" (June 2008) and "Strictly Subjective" (April 2008). For the complementary account of "unestablished consciousness" in the context of karmic action see "Toys for Use" (June 2008).

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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