Observing the Mind — Cittānupassanā

And how does a mendicant meditate observing an aspect of the mind? It’s when a mendicant understands mind with greed as ‘mind with greed,’ and mind without greed as ‘mind without greed.’ They understand mind with hate as ‘mind with hate,’ and mind without hate as ‘mind without hate.’ They understand mind with delusion as ‘mind with delusion,’ and mind without delusion as ‘mind without delusion.’ They know constricted mind as ‘constricted mind,’ and scattered mind as ‘scattered mind.’ They know expansive mind as ‘expansive mind,’ and unexpansive mind as ‘unexpansive mind.’ They know mind that is not supreme as ‘mind that is not supreme,’ and mind that is supreme as ‘mind that is supreme.’ They know mind immersed in samādhi as ‘mind immersed in samādhi,’ and mind not immersed in samādhi as ‘mind not immersed in samādhi.’ They know freed mind as ‘freed mind,’ and unfreed mind as ‘unfreed mind.’

Kathañca pana, bhikkhave, bhikkhu citte cittānupassī viharati? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sarāgaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘sarāgaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Vītarāgaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘vītarāgaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Sadosaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘sadosaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Vītadosaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘vītadosaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Samohaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘samohaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Vītamohaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘vītamohaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Saṅkhittaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘saṅkhittaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Vikkhittaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘vikkhittaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Mahaggataṁ vā cittaṁ ‘mahaggataṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Amahaggataṁ vā cittaṁ ‘amahaggataṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Sauttaraṁ vā cittaṁ ‘sauttaraṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Anuttaraṁ vā cittaṁ ‘anuttaraṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Samāhitaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘samāhitaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Asamāhitaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘asamāhitaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Vimuttaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘vimuttaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti. Avimuttaṁ vā cittaṁ ‘avimuttaṁ cittan’ti pajānāti.

And so they meditate observing an aspect of the mind internally, externally, and both internally and externally. With respect to the mind, they meditate observing the liability to originate, to vanish, and to originate and vanish. Or mindfulness is established that the mind exists, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness. They meditate independent, not grasping at anything in the world. That’s how a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the mind.

Iti ajjhattaṁ vā citte cittānupassī viharati, bahiddhā vā citte cittānupassī viharati, ajjhattabahiddhā vā citte cittānupassī viharati. Samudayadhammānupassī vā cittasmiṁ viharati, vayadhammānupassī vā cittasmiṁ viharati, samudayavayadhammānupassī vā cittasmiṁ viharati. ‘Atthi cittan’ti vā panassa sati paccupaṭṭhitā hoti yāvadeva ñāṇamattāya paṭissatimattāya anissito ca viharati, na ca kiñci loke upādiyati. Evampi kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu citte cittānupassī viharati.

Source

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and dedicated to the public domain under CC0. The Pali is the Mahāsaṅgīti edition, also CC0. Source: SuttaCentral.