an.7.51 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Bondage

“I will teach you a Dhamma discourse on bondage & lack of bondage. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”

“Yes, lord,” the monks responded.

The Blessed One said: “A woman attends inwardly to her feminine faculties, her feminine gestures, her feminine manners, feminine poise, feminine desires, feminine voice, feminine charms. She is excited by that, delighted by that. Being excited & delighted by that, she attends outwardly to masculine faculties, masculine gestures, masculine manners, masculine poise, masculine desires, masculine voices, masculine charms. She is excited by that, delighted by that. Being excited & delighted by that, she wants to be bonded to what is outside her, wants whatever pleasure & happiness that arise based on that bond. Delighting, caught up in her femininity, a woman goes into bondage with reference to men. This is how a woman does not transcend her femininity.

“A man attends inwardly to his masculine faculties, masculine gestures, masculine manners, masculine poise, masculine desires, masculine voice, masculine charms. He is excited by that, delighted by that. Being excited & delighted by that, he attends outwardly to feminine faculties, feminine gestures, feminine manners, feminine poise, feminine desires, feminine voices, feminine charms. He is excited by that, delighted by that. Being excited & delighted by that, he wants to be bonded to what is outside him, wants whatever pleasure & happiness that arise based on that bond. Delighting, caught up in his masculinity, a man goes into bondage with reference to women. This is how a man does not transcend his masculinity.

“And how is there lack of bondage? A woman does not attend inwardly to her feminine faculties… feminine charms. She is not excited by that, not delighted by that… does not attend outwardly to masculine faculties… masculine charms. She is not excited by that, not delighted by that… does not want to be bonded to what is outside her, does not want whatever pleasure & happiness that arise based on that bond. Not delighting, not caught up in her femininity, a woman does not go into bondage with reference to men. This is how a woman transcends her femininity.

“A man does not attend inwardly to his masculine faculties… masculine charms. He is not excited by that, not delighted by that… does not attend outwardly to feminine faculties… feminine charms. He is not excited by that, not delighted by that… does not want to be bonded to what is outside him, does not want whatever pleasure & happiness that arise based on that bond. Not delighting, not caught up in his masculinity, a man does not go into bondage with reference to women. This is how a man transcends his masculinity.

“This is how there is lack of bondage. And this is the Dhamma discourse on bondage & lack of bondage.”

- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

- Editor: Gabriel Laera

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Bound and Unbound

“Mendicants, I will teach you an exposition of the teaching on the bound and the unbound.
Listen and pay close attention, I will speak. …
And what is the exposition of the teaching on the bound and the unbound?
A woman focuses on her own femininity:
her feminine moves, feminine appearance, feminine ways, feminine desires, feminine voice, and feminine adornment.
She’s stimulated by this and takes pleasure in it.
So she focuses on the masculinity of others:
masculine moves, masculine appearance, masculine ways, masculine desires, masculine voice, and masculine adornment.
She’s stimulated by this and takes pleasure in it.
So she desires to bond with another.
And she desires the pleasure and happiness that comes from such a bond.
Sentient beings who are attached to their femininity are bound to men.
This is how a woman does not transcend her femininity.
A man focuses on his own masculinity:
his masculine moves, masculine appearance, masculine ways, masculine desires, masculine voice, and masculine adornment.
He’s stimulated by this and takes pleasure in it.
So he focuses on the femininity of others:
feminine moves, feminine appearance, feminine ways, feminine desires, feminine voice, and feminine adornment.
He’s stimulated by this and takes pleasure in it.
So he desires to bond with another.
And he desires the pleasure and happiness that comes from such a bond.
Sentient beings who are attached to their masculinity are bound to women.
This is how a man does not transcend his masculinity.
This is how one is bound.
And how does one become unbound?
A woman doesn’t focus on her own femininity:
her feminine moves, feminine appearance, feminine ways, feminine desires, feminine voice, and feminine adornment.
She isn’t stimulated by this and takes no pleasure in it.
So she doesn’t focus on the masculinity of others:
masculine moves, masculine appearance, masculine ways, masculine desires, masculine voice, and masculine adornment.
She isn’t stimulated by this and takes no pleasure in it.
So she doesn’t desire to bond with another.
Nor does she desire the pleasure and happiness that comes from such a bond.
Sentient beings who are not attached to their femininity are not bound to men.
This is how a woman transcends her femininity.
A man doesn’t focus on his own masculinity:
masculine moves, masculine appearance, masculine ways, masculine desires, masculine voice, and masculine adornment.
He isn’t stimulated by this and takes no pleasure in it.
So he doesn’t focus on the femininity of others:
feminine moves, feminine appearance, feminine ways, feminine desires, feminine voice, and feminine adornment.
He isn’t stimulated by this and takes no pleasure in it.
So he doesn’t desire to bond with another.
Nor does he desire the pleasure and happiness that comes from such a bond.
Sentient beings who are not attached to their masculinity are not bound to women.
This is how a man transcends his masculinity.
This is how one is unbound.
This is the exposition of the teaching on the bound and the unbound.”