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By Root 2210 0

a magical illusion at a crossroads. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a magical illusion? So too, monks, whatever kind of consciousness there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in consciousness?37

“Seeing thus, monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with volitional formations, disenchanted with consciousness. Becoming disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

(SN 22:95; III 140–42)

(2) By Way of the Six Sense Bases

(a) Full Understanding

“Monks, without directly knowing and fully understanding the all, without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“And what, monks, is that all? Without directly knowing and fully understanding the eye, without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering. Without directly knowing and fully understanding forms … eye-consciousness ... eye-contact ... and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition … without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“Without directly knowing and fully understanding the ear ... the mind ... and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“This, monks, is the all. Without directly knowing and fully understanding this all ... one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“Monks, by directly knowing and fully understanding the all, by developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is capable of destroying suffering.

“And what, monks, is that all? By directly knowing and fully understanding the eye ... the mind ... and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … by developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is capable of destroying suffering.

“This, monks, is the all by directly knowing and fully understanding which ... one is capable of destroying suffering.”

(SN 35:26; IV 17–18)

(b) Burning

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gayā, at Gayā’s Head, together with a thousand monks. There the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:38

“Monks, all is burning. And what, monks, is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, I say.

“The ear is burning ... The mind is burning ... and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, I say.

“Seeing thus, monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with the eye, with forms, with eye-consciousness, with eye-contact, with whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant; becomes disenchanted with the