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sn.35.154 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Equipped with Faculties

Then a certain bhikkhu approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘equipped with faculties, equipped with faculties.’ In what way, venerable sir, is one equipped with faculties?”

“If, bhikkhu, while one dwells contemplating rise and fall in the eye faculty, one experiences revulsion towards the eye faculty; if, while one dwells contemplating rise and fall in the ear faculty, one experiences revulsion towards the ear faculty; … if, while one dwells contemplating rise and fall in the mind faculty, one experiences revulsion towards the mind faculty, then, experiencing revulsion, one becomes dispassionate…. When the mind is liberated, there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ One understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.’ It is in this way, bhikkhu, that one is equipped with faculties.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh


Endowed With Faculties

Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him,
“Sir, they speak of someone who is ‘accomplished regarding the faculties’.
How is someone accomplished regarding the faculties defined?”
“Mendicant, if someone meditates observing rise and fall in the eye faculty, they grow disillusioned with the eye faculty.
If they meditate observing rise and fall in the ear faculty … nose faculty … tongue faculty … body faculty …
mind faculty, they grow disillusioned with the mind faculty.
Being disillusioned, desire fades away. … When they’re freed, they know they’re freed.
They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is no return to any state of existence.’
This is how someone who is accomplished regarding the faculties is defined.”