The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [186]
30. “Friend, the immeasurable deliverance of mind, the deliverance of mind through nothingness, the deliverance of mind through voidness, and the signless deliverance of mind: are these states different in meaning and different in name, or are they one in meaning and different only in name?”
“Friend, the immeasurable deliverance of mind, the deliverance of mind through nothingness, the deliverance of mind through voidness, and the signless deliverance of mind: there is a way in which these states are different in meaning and different in name, and there is a way in which they are one in meaning and different only in name.
31. “What, friend, is the way in which these states are different in meaning and different in name? Here a bhikkhu abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will. He abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with compassion…He abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with altruistic joy…He abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with equanimity, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with equanimity, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will. This is called the immeasurable deliverance of mind.
32. “And what, friend, is the deliverance of mind through nothingness? Here, with the complete surmounting of the base of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing,’ a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the base of nothingness. This is called the deliverance of mind through nothingness.
33. “And what, friend, is the deliverance of mind through voidness? Here a bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty hut, reflects thus: ‘This is void of a self or of what belongs to a self.’ [298] This is called the deliverance of mind through voidness.450
34. “And what, friend, is the signless deliverance of mind? Here, with non-attention to all signs, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the signless concentration of mind. This is called the signless deliverance of mind.451 This is the way in which these states are different in meaning and different in name.
35. “And what, friend, is the way in which these states are one in meaning and different only in name? Lust is a maker of measurement, hate is a maker of measurement, delusion is a maker of measurement.452 In a bhikkhu whose taints are destroyed, these are abandoned, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with so that they are no longer subject to future arising. Of all the kinds of immeasurable deliverance of mind, the unshakeable deliverance of mind is pronounced the best. Now that unshakeable deliverance of mind is void of lust, void of hate, void of delusion.453
36. “Lust is a something, hate is a something, delusion is a something.454 In a bhikkhu whose taints are destroyed, these are abandoned, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with so that they are no longer subject to future arising. Of all the kinds of deliverance of mind through nothingness, the unshakeable deliverance of mind is pronounced the best.455 Now that unshakeable deliverance of mind is void of lust, void of hate, void of delusion.
37. “Lust is a maker of signs, hate is a maker of signs, delusion is a maker of signs.456 In a bhikkhu whose taints are destroyed, these are abandoned, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with so that they are no longer subject to future arising. Of all the kinds of signless deliverance of mind, the unshakeable deliverance of mind is pronounced the best.457