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an.4.38 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Drawn Back

“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who has dispelled personal truths, totally renounced seeking, and tranquilized bodily activity is said to have drawn back.

(1) “And how, bhikkhus, has a bhikkhu dispelled personal truths? Here, whatever ordinary personal truths may be held by ordinary ascetics and brahmins—that is, ‘The world is eternal’ or ‘The world is not eternal’; ‘The world is finite’ or ‘The world is infinite’; ‘The soul and the body are the same’ or ‘The soul is one thing, the body another’; ‘The Tathāgata exists after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata does not exist after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death,’ or ‘The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death’—a bhikkhu has discarded and dispelled them all, given them up, rejected them, let go of them, abandoned and relinquished them. It is in this way that a bhikkhu has dispelled personal truths.

(2) “And how has a bhikkhu totally renounced seeking? Here, a bhikkhu has abandoned the search for sensual pleasures and the search for existence and has allayed the search for a spiritual life. It is in this way that a bhikkhu has totally renounced seeking.

(3) “And how has a bhikkhu tranquilized bodily activity? Here, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and dejection, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, neither painful nor pleasant, which has purification of mindfulness by equanimity. It is in this way that a bhikkhu has tranquilized bodily activity.

(4) “And how has a bhikkhu drawn back? Here, a bhikkhu has abandoned the conceit ‘I am,’ cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, obliterated it so that it is no longer subject to future arising. It is in this way that a bhikkhu has drawn back.

“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who has dispelled personal truths, totally renounced seeking, and tranquilized bodily activity is said to have drawn back.”

Seeking for sense pleasures,
seeking for existence,
seeking for a spiritual life;
the tight grasp “Such is the truth,”
viewpoints that are swellings:

for one entirely detached from lust,
liberated by the destruction of craving,
such seeking has been relinquished,
and viewpoints are uprooted.

That peaceful, mindful bhikkhu,
tranquil, undefeated, enlightened
by breaking through conceit,
is called “one who has drawn back.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

Withdrawn

“Mendicants, a mendicant has eliminated 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 eliminated 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 the same thing, or they are different things; after death, a Realized One exists, or doesn’t exist, or both exists and doesn’t exist, or neither exists nor doesn’t exist.
A mendicant has dispelled, eliminated, thrown out, rejected, let go of, given up, and relinquished all these.
That’s how a mendicant has eliminated idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth.
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.
And how has a mendicant stilled the physical process?
It’s when, giving up pleasure and pain, and ending 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.
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 eliminated idiosyncratic interpretations of the truth, has totally given up searching, has stilled the physical process, and is said to be ‘withdrawn’.
The search for sensual pleasures, for a good rebirth,
and the search for a spiritual path;
the holding tight to the notion ‘this is the truth’,
and the mass of grounds for views—
for one detached from all lusts,
freed by the ending of craving,
that searching has been relinquished,
and those viewpoints eradicated.
That mendicant is peaceful and mindful,
a tranquil champion.
And when they’re awakened by comprehending conceit,
they’re called ‘withdrawn’.”