AN 4.38

Patilīnasutta

“Panuṇṇapaccekasacco, bhikkhave, bhikkhu ‘samavayasaṭṭhesano passaddhakāyasaṅkhāro patilīno’ti vuccati. Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu panuṇṇapaccekasacco hoti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno yāni tāni puthusamaṇabrāhmaṇānaṁ puthupaccekasaccāni, seyyathidaṁ— sassato lokoti vā, asassato lokoti vā, antavā lokoti vā, anantavā lokoti vā, taṁ jīvaṁ taṁ sarīranti vā, aññaṁ jīvaṁ aññaṁ sarīranti vā, hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā, na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā, hoti ca na ca hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā, neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā; sabbāni tāni nuṇṇāni honti panuṇṇāni cattāni vantāni muttāni pahīnāni paṭinissaṭṭhāni. Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu panuṇṇapaccekasacco hoti.

Withdrawn

“Mendicants, a mendicant has cast aside idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth, has totally given up searching, has stilled the physical process, and is said to be ‘withdrawn’. And how has a mendicant cast aside idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth? Different ascetics and brahmins have different idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth. For example: the cosmos is eternal, or not eternal, or finite, or infinite; the soul and the body are one and the same, or the soul is one thing, the body another; after death, a realized one still exists, or no longer exists, or both still exists and no longer exists, or neither still exists nor no longer exists. A mendicant has cast out, cast aside, thrown out, discarded, let go of, given up, and relinquished all these. That’s how a mendicant has cast aside idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth.

Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu samavayasaṭṭhesano hoti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno kāmesanā pahīnā hoti, bhavesanā pahīnā hoti, brahmacariyesanā paṭippassaddhā. Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu samavayasaṭṭhesano hoti.

And how has a mendicant totally given up searching? It’s when they’ve given up searching for sensual pleasures, for continued existence, and for a spiritual path. That’s how a mendicant has totally given up searching.

Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu passaddhakāyasaṅkhāro hoti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu passaddhakāyasaṅkhāro hoti.

And how has a mendicant stilled the physical process? It’s when, with the giving up of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of former happiness and sadness, they enter and remain in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness. That’s how a mendicant has stilled the physical process.

Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu patilīno hoti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno asmimāno pahīno hoti ucchinnamūlo tālāvatthukato anabhāvaṅkato āyatiṁ anuppādadhammo. Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu patilīno hoti. Panuṇṇapaccekasacco, bhikkhave, bhikkhu ‘samavayasaṭṭhesano passaddhakāyasaṅkhāro patilīno’ti vuccatīti.

And how is a mendicant withdrawn? It’s when they’ve given up the conceit ‘I am’, cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, obliterated it, so it’s unable to arise in the future. That’s how a mendicant is withdrawn. A mendicant has cast aside idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth, has totally given up searching, has stilled the physical process, and is said to be ‘withdrawn’.

Kāmesanā bhavesanā, brahmacariyesanā saha; Iti saccaparāmāso, diṭṭhiṭṭhānā samussayā.

The search for sensual pleasures, for continued existence, and the search for a spiritual path; the holding tight to the thought, ‘this is the truth’, and the mass of grounds for views—

Sabbarāgavirattassa, taṇhakkhayavimuttino; Esanā paṭinissaṭṭhā, diṭṭhiṭṭhānā samūhatā.

for one detached from all lusts, freed by the ending of craving, that searching has been relinquished, and those grounds for views eradicated.

Sa ve santo sato bhikkhu, passaddho aparājito; Mānābhisamayā buddho, patilīnoti vuccatī”ti.

That mendicant is peaceful and mindful, tranquil and undefeated. And when they’re awakened by comprehending conceit, they’re called ‘withdrawn’.”