an.5.97 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Talk

“Endowed with five qualities, a monk pursuing mindfulness of breathing will in no long time penetrate the Unprovoked [release]. Which five?

“He is a person who imposes only a little [on others]: one of few duties & projects, easy to support, easily contented with the requisites of life.

“He is a person who eats only a little food, committed to not indulging his stomach.

“He is a person of only a little sloth, committed to wakefulness.

“He gets to hear at will, easily & without difficulty, talk that is truly sobering & conducive to the opening of awareness: talk on modesty, contentment, seclusion, non-entanglement, arousing persistence, virtue, concentration, discernment, release, and the knowledge & vision of release.

“He reflects on the mind as it is released.

“Endowed with these five qualities, a monk pursuing mindfulness of breathing will in no long time penetrate the Unprovoked.”

- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

- Editor: Gabriel Laera

Talk

“Mendicants, a mendicant developing mindfulness of breathing who has five things will soon penetrate the unshakable.
What five?
It’s when a mendicant has few requirements and duties, and is unburdensome and contented with life’s necessities.
They eat little, not devoted to filling their stomach.
They are rarely drowsy, and are dedicated to wakefulness.
They get to take part in talk about self-effacement that helps open the heart, when they want, without trouble or difficulty. That is,
talk about fewness of wishes, contentment, seclusion, keeping your distance, arousing energy, ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom.
They review the extent of their mind’s freedom.
A mendicant developing mindfulness of breathing who has these five things will soon penetrate the unshakable.”