Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Majjhima Nikāya · Discourse 106

Conducive to the Imperturbable

Āneñjasappāyasutta

Setting
The Kuru land, near the town of Kammāsadamma, addressed to the mendicants
Speakers
The Buddha and Venerable Ānanda
Form
A graded set of practices toward the deep formless states — and the turn that goes beyond them all.
Length
~15 minutes to read
Northern parallel
A counterpart is preserved in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama (MĀ 75)
Difficulty
★★★★☆ — the deep absorptions as stepping-stones, and the danger of resting in them.

Why this discourse, one-hundred-and-sixth

Beyond the realm of the senses lie states of vast, still consciousness — the “imperturbable” and the formless attainments — so peaceful they can feel like the goal itself. The Buddha shows the way to reach each of them, and then turns the whole teaching on its edge: even the highest, subtlest of these states can be clung to, and one who grasps it — however serene — is not freed. Only the meditator who will not even hold on to his own equanimity crosses the flood.

The discourse begins where the path begins: sensual pleasures are “impermanent, hollow, false, and deceptive… Māra’s domain.” To step out of Māra’s range, the noble disciple turns the mind toward the imperturbable (āneñja) — the deep, unshakeable composure of the higher absorptions, lifted above the agitation of the senses. From there the Buddha maps a series of reflections, each “conducive” (sappāya) to a further, more refined attainment: the imperturbable, then the dimension of nothingness, then the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — the summit of conditioned experience.

But the heart of the discourse is Ānanda’s question and the answer it draws out. A meditator can ride these states like rafts across a river — “crossing the flood by relying on one support or another.” Yet two monks may reach the same exalted equanimity and one be liberated, the other not. The difference is nothing in the state itself: it is whether they cling to it. To grasp even the most sublime attainment is to keep the fuel that feeds further becoming. True freedom — “noble liberation” — is the “liberation of the mind through not grasping,” which lets go of every state, however high, as still belonging to “substantial reality.” The discourse closes with the Buddha’s plainest exhortation: “Here are the roots of trees, here are empty huts. Practise absorption, Ānanda! Do not be negligent!”

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

There are ways of practice that lead the mind out of the senses’ reach to the imperturbable and the formless attainments — states one may ride like rafts across the flood — but even the highest and subtlest of them can be clung to, and only the meditator who does not grasp even his own equanimity reaches noble liberation, “the freedom of the mind through not grasping.”

Leaving Māra’s range

The discourse opens with a verdict on the senses: sensual pleasures and sensual perceptions, “in this life and in lives to come,” are “Māra’s dominion, Māra’s domain, Māra’s lair.” To live among them is to live where the Tempter has power — they breed “desire, ill will, and aggression” and obstruct the disciple in training. The whole movement of the discourse is an ascent out of this range, into a composure too deep for Māra to reach. The first turn is to a “boundless, expansive heart, having mastered the world” — a mind so unlimited that the small unskillful notions can no longer take hold.

Reaching the imperturbable

The Buddha gives several reflections, each a doorway to the imperturbable (āneñja) — the unshakeable composure above the senses. One develops the limitless heart; or contemplates that all form is just “the four principal elements, or what derives from them”; or sees that all sensual and form-based experience is “impermanent, and what is impermanent is not worth approving, welcoming, or clinging to.” Practising thus, “the mind becomes confident in this dimension,” and one either attains the imperturbable now or, at death, that “conducive consciousness” may be reborn there. These are framed as ways of practice “suitable” (sappāya) to the goal — reflections that orient and ripen the mind toward it.

Higher still: nothingness, and beyond

The same pattern climbs. To reach the dimension of nothingness, one sees that all perceptions — even the perception of the imperturbable — are still perceptions, and “where they cease without remainder, that is peaceful, that is sublime.” Two further doorways to nothingness are among the canon’s great contemplations of not-self:

“This is empty of a self or what belongs to a self.” And: “I don’t belong to anyone anywhere, and nothing belongs to me anywhere.” By thinning out the sense of mine and me until almost nothing remains to claim or be claimed, the mind inclines toward the dimension where there is “nothing at all.”

Higher again, seeing that even the perception of nothingness is a perception to be transcended, one reaches the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — the most refined state in all of conditioned existence, where perception is so attenuated it can scarcely be said to be present at all.

The hinge: the same state, two destinies

Now Ānanda asks the decisive question. Suppose a monk practises the formula of release — “It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine; I am giving up what exists” — and thereby gains equanimity. Is he liberated? The Buddha’s answer is startling: one such monk might be, and another might not. The difference lies nowhere in the attainment:

The fuel of grasping. If he “approves, welcomes, and keeps clinging to that equanimity, his consciousness has that as support and fuel for grasping — and a mendicant with fuel for grasping does not become extinguished.” But if he does not cling to the equanimity, his consciousness has no such fuel — and “a mendicant free of grasping becomes extinguished.”

What is he grasping, Ānanda asks? The dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — and, the Buddha agrees with quiet irony, “the best thing to grasp.” That is exactly the trap: the more sublime the state, the more worthy it seems of being held — and so the harder the final grasping is to see and release. Liberation does not come from attaining a higher state but from letting go of the impulse to keep any state at all.

Crossing the flood, and noble liberation

Ānanda sees it: “The Buddha has explained how to cross over the flood by relying on one support or another.” The formless attainments are rafts — genuine and useful for crossing — but a raft is for crossing, not for carrying. So what is noble liberation? The Buddha’s answer gathers the whole discourse:

All of it is “substantial reality.” Every perception — of sensuality, of form, of the imperturbable, of nothingness, of neither-perception-nor-non-perception — “is substantial reality as far as substantial reality extends. But this is freedom from death: the liberation of the mind through not grasping.”

Even the loftiest meditative attainment is still sakkāya — a constructed identity, part of the round of existence. To take any of it as a final resting place is to remain within death’s reach. Real freedom (amata, the deathless) is not a higher rung but the release of the gripping hand: anupādā cittassa vimokkho, “the liberation of the mind through not grasping” — the same liberation that crowned MN 102. The states are the path; the letting-go is the goal.

“Practise absorption, Ānanda”

The discourse ends not in theory but in a push toward the cushion. “Out of sympathy, I have done what a teacher should do who wants what is best for his disciples. Here are these roots of trees, here are these empty huts. Practise absorption, Ānanda! Do not be negligent! Do not regret it later!” The subtle warning against grasping does not deny the value of the deep states — it places them. Develop them fully, ride them across; but hold them with an open hand, knowing that the crossing is finished only when even the raft is set down.

Key terms

āneñja — “the imperturbable”: the deep, unshakeable composure of the higher absorptions, lifted above the agitation of the senses — out of “Māra’s range.”
sappāya — “conducive, suitable”: a way of practice or reflection that orients and ripens the mind toward a particular attainment.
“empty of self or what belongs to self” — and “I belong to no one anywhere, nothing is mine anywhere”: contemplations that thin out me and mine, inclining the mind toward the dimension of nothingness.
fuel for grasping (upādāna) — if one “approves, welcomes, and clings to” the equanimity of a high state, consciousness keeps that as fuel, and one is not extinguished. The same state, clung to or released, decides two destinies.
“the best thing to grasp” — the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. The trap: the more sublime the state, the harder its final grasping is to see and let go.
crossing the flood by a support — the formless attainments are rafts for crossing the flood of existence — genuine and useful, but to be set down, not carried.
anupādā cittassa vimokkho — “the liberation of the mind through not grasping”: noble liberation, the deathless. Not a higher state but the release of the gripping hand — for all states are still “substantial reality.”

The text

The full discourse, abridged where the source repeats the “ways of practice” formula. The verdict on the senses, the doorways to each attainment, Ānanda’s question on grasping, and noble liberation are given closely. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Sensuality is Māra’s range

§1–3So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Kuru land near Kammāsadamma, and addressed the mendicants. “Sensual pleasures are impermanent, hollow, false, and deceptive. Sensual pleasures and sensual perceptions, in this life and in lives to come, are Māra’s dominion, Māra’s domain. They breed bad, unskillful notions — desire, ill will, aggression — and obstruct a disciple in training. So a noble disciple reflects: ‘Why don’t I meditate with an abundant, expansive heart, having mastered the world? Then those notions will be no more, and my mind, no longer limited, will become limitless and well developed.’ Practising thus, the mind grows confident, and one attains the imperturbable now, or is freed by wisdom.”

Ways to the imperturbable and to nothingness

§4–8“Or a disciple reflects that all form is ‘the four principal elements, or what derives from them’; or that all sensual and form-based experience is impermanent, ‘not worth approving, welcoming, or clinging to’ — further ways to the imperturbable. To reach the dimension of nothingness, a disciple sees that all perceptions, even of the imperturbable, ‘where they cease without remainder, that is peaceful, that is sublime — the dimension of nothingness.’ Or reflects: ‘This is empty of a self or what belongs to a self.’ Or: ‘I don’t belong to anyone anywhere, and nothing belongs to me anywhere.’”

To neither perception nor non-perception

§9“And a disciple reflects that all perceptions — even of nothingness — are perceptions; ‘where they cease without remainder, that is peaceful, that is sublime — the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’ Practising thus, the mind grows confident, and one attains that dimension now, or is freed by wisdom.”

The same state, two destinies

§10–12Ānanda asked: “Sir, suppose a mendicant practises: ‘It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine; I am giving up what exists,’ and so gains equanimity. Is that mendicant extinguished?” “One might be, Ānanda, and another might not.” “What is the reason?” “If they approve, welcome, and cling to that equanimity, their consciousness has it as fuel for grasping — and one with fuel for grasping is not extinguished.” “What are they grasping?” “The dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.” “Then they grasp the best thing to grasp!” “Indeed, Ānanda — that is the best thing to grasp. But one who does not cling to that equanimity has no such fuel, and is extinguished.”

Crossing the flood, and noble liberation

§13–15“It’s amazing, sir! The Buddha has explained how to cross the flood by relying on one support or another. But what is noble liberation?” “Ānanda, a noble disciple reflects that all those perceptions — of sensuality, form, the imperturbable, nothingness, and neither-perception-nor-non-perception — ‘are substantial reality as far as substantial reality extends. But this is freedom from death: the liberation of the mind through not grasping.’ So I have taught the ways to the imperturbable, to nothingness, to neither-perception-nor-non-perception; how to cross the flood by a support; and noble liberation. Out of sympathy, I have done what a teacher should do. Here are roots of trees, here are empty huts. Practise absorption, Ānanda! Do not be negligent! Do not regret it later! This is my instruction to you.” Satisfied, Ānanda approved what the Buddha said.

· · ·

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
How does the Buddha describe sensual pleasures and sensual perceptions at the outset?
Correct: C. To live among them is to live where the Tempter has power; the whole discourse is an ascent out of that range.
Question 2 of 10
What does “the imperturbable” (āneñja) refer to?
Correct: B. A composure too deep for Māra to reach — the first refuge above the senses.
Question 3 of 10
What does “sappāya” mean as used here?
Correct: D. Each contemplation is “conducive” to the imperturbable, to nothingness, or to neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
Question 4 of 10
Which contemplations are offered as doorways to the dimension of nothingness?
Correct: A. By thinning out me and mine until almost nothing remains to claim or be claimed, the mind inclines toward “nothing at all.”
Question 5 of 10
What is the dimension of “neither perception nor non-perception”?
Correct: C. The summit of conditioned experience — and, as it turns out, “the best thing to grasp.”
Question 6 of 10
In Ānanda’s question, two monks reach the same exalted equanimity, yet one is liberated and the other not. What makes the difference?
Correct: B. The difference lies nowhere in the attainment itself, only in grasping or not grasping it.
Question 7 of 10
Why does the Buddha call the dimension of neither-perception-nor-non-perception “the best thing to grasp”?
Correct: D. Liberation comes not from a higher state but from letting go of the impulse to keep any state at all.
Question 8 of 10
What does “crossing the flood by relying on one support or another” mean?
Correct: A. A raft is for crossing, not for carrying — the crossing is finished only when even the raft is laid down.
Question 9 of 10
What does the Buddha say all those perceptions — even of the highest formless states — really are?
Correct: C. Even the loftiest attainment is still sakkāya; to rest in it is to stay within death’s reach.
Question 10 of 10
What, then, is “noble liberation,” and how does the discourse end?
Correct: B. Anupādā cittassa vimokkho — not a higher rung but the release of the gripping hand; and the discourse pushes straight toward practice, holding the deep states with an open hand.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousMN 105 · With Sunakkhatta