IF HE SHOULD DESIRE– ÂKANKHEYYA-SUTTA
7. ‘If a Bhikkhu should desire, Brethren, that he should be victorious over discontent and lust[1], that discontent should never overpower him, that he should master and subdue any discontent that had sprung up within him, let him then fulfil all righteousness, let him be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone!’
8. ‘If a Bhikkhu should desire, Brethren, that he should be victorious over (spiritual) danger and dismay, that neither danger nor dismay should ever overcome him, that he should master and subdue every danger and dismay, let him then fulfil all righteousness, let him be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone!’
9. ‘If a Bhikkhu should desire, Brethren, to realise the hopes of those spiritual men who live in the bliss which comes, even in this present world, from the four Ghânas, should he desire not to fall into the pains and difficulties (which they avoid), let him then fulfil all righteousness, let him be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone!’
Buddhist Suttas – Âkankheyya Sutta: If He Should Desire
Translated from Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids [1881]
Âkankheyya Sutta: If He Should Desire