Phāsuvihārasutta — Kakudhavagga — the tenth chapter of the Fives
Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 5.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
a single bare five-item list, naming the four absorptions plus liberation
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — familiar formula, briefly stated
Why this discourse
After AN 5.93's diagnostic taxonomy of enlightenment-claims, this discourse names the four absorptions plus final liberation as five ‘ways of living comfortably’ (phāsuvihāra) — reframing what might sound like arduous religious achievement as, instead, a genuinely comfortable way to live.
Reading guide
A calmer list, after a diagnostic one
Where AN 5.93 sorted true and false claims to enlightenment, this discourse simply names the path itself: the four jhānas, then release from defilements through direct insight, counted together as five comfortable dwellings.
Why call jhāna and liberation 'comfortable'
Phāsu, comfortable or at ease, is a striking word choice for deep meditative absorption and full liberation — reframing what could sound like arduous achievement as instead a genuinely restful way to live, in contrast to the ordinary discomforts named elsewhere in this nipāta.
The five items, briefly named
Four progressively deepening absorptions are named in sequence, then release from the defilements of sensuality, desire to be reborn, and ignorance, realized ‘with their own insight’ in this very life — the collection's standard formula, given here in its most condensed form.
Five items from what is usually one continuous path
The four jhānas and the final liberation are usually described as sequential stages within a single unfolding path; here they are instead counted as five discrete ‘comfortable dwellings’, worth noticing as a slightly different way of counting the same material.
Where this formula has appeared before
This exact four-jhāna-plus-liberation sequence recurs throughout this nipāta, most recently unpacked at length within AN 5.75–76's warrior similes.
What comes next
AN 5.95 turns to a different unshakable-attainment formula, built instead from textual analysis and self-review.
Key terms
phāsuvihāra — “a way of living comfortably” — this discourse's title term.
jhāna — absorption — the four progressively deepening levels of meditative immersion named here.
vivicceva kāmehi — “secluded from sensual pleasures” — the opening phrase of the first absorption's formula.
āsavakkhaya — “ending of defilements” — the outcome underlying the fifth comfortable dwelling.
cetovimutti / paññāvimutti — freedom of heart, freedom by wisdom — the culminating fifth item, named in its condensed form here.
The text
The discourse in full: the four absorptions and full liberation, named as five comfortable dwellings. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five ways of living comfortably
§1“Mendicants, there are these five ways of living comfortably. What five? It’s when a mendicant, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected. As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, they enter and remain in the second absorption … third absorption … fourth absorption … They realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements. These are the five ways of living comfortably.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What are the first four 'ways of living comfortably' named in this discourse?
Correct: B. Jhāna one through four.
Question 2 of 10
What is the fifth?
Correct: B. Cetovimutti and paññāvimutti, via āsavakkhaya.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'phāsu' mean, and why is it a striking word choice here?
Correct: B. A notable reframing of what might sound like difficult achievement.
Question 4 of 10
How many 'comfortable dwellings' total are named?
Correct: C. Four absorptions plus liberation.
Question 5 of 10
Is this five-item count built from stages within one continuous path, or five separate topics?
Correct: B. A sequential path, counted here as five discrete 'dwellings'.
Question 6 of 10
Where has this exact four-jhāna-plus-liberation sequence appeared at length before in this nipāta?
Correct: B. Unpacked in full within the graded warrior similes.
Question 7 of 10
What does the first absorption's formula begin with?
Correct: B. Vivicceva kāmehi — the standard opening phrase.
Question 8 of 10
What comes right before this discourse in the chapter's sequence?
Correct: B. This discourse follows immediately after AN 5.93.
Question 9 of 10
What formula names the culminating fifth item?
Correct: B. Freedom of heart and by wisdom, through the ending of defilements.
Question 10 of 10
What does AN 5.95 turn to next?
Correct: A. Recombining two earlier discourses' material.
