an.5.98 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Wilderness

“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 lives in the wilderness, in an isolated dwelling place.

“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

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In the Wilderness

They are rarely drowsy, and are dedicated to wakefulness.
“Mendicants, a mendicant practicing 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 live in the wilderness, in remote lodgings.
They review the extent of their mind’s freedom.
A mendicant practicing mindfulness of breathing who has these five things will soon penetrate the unshakable.”