At Kāḷaka’s Park
Kāḷaka Sutta  (AN 4:24)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāketa in Kāḷaka’s park. There he addressed the monks: “Monks!”
“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “Monks, whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That do I know. Whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That I directly know. That has been realized by the Tathāgata, but in the Tathāgata1 it has not been established.
“If I were to say, ‘I don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a falsehood in me. If I were to say, ‘I both know and don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be just the same. If I were to say, ‘I neither know nor don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a fault in me.
“Thus, monks, the Tathāgata, when seeing what is to be seen, doesn’t suppose an (object as) seen. He doesn’t suppose an unseen. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-seen. He doesn’t suppose a seer.
“When hearing.…
“When sensing.…
“When cognizing what is to be cognized, he doesn’t suppose an (object as) cognized. He doesn’t suppose an uncognized. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-cognized. He doesn’t suppose a cognizer.
Thus, monks, the Tathāgata—being the same with regard to all phenomena that can be seen, heard, sensed, & cognized—is ‘Such.’2 And I tell you: There is no other ‘Such’ higher or more sublime.
“Whatever is seen or heard or sensed
and fastened onto as true by others,
One who is Such—among the self-fettered—
would not further claim to be true or even false.
“Having seen well in advance that arrow
where generations are fastened & hung
—‘I know, I see, that’s just how it is!’—
there’s nothing of the Tathāgata fastened.”
Note
1. Reading tathāgate with the Thai edition.
2. Such (tādin): An adjective applied to the mind of one who has attained the goal. It indicates that the mind “is what it is”—indescribable but not subject to change or alteration.
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2 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    Yet who can attain this?

    Simple faith will be useless.Even practice,unless one has such enormous accumulated merit and good karma through many2 lifetimes, theres no need to even think of any attainment in this present life.

    Many of modern teachers,including those nondual ones,how authentic are their realization? Unable to remember any previous lives,they simply disregard reincarnation as nothing more than dreams.It can only be dream to one who has really penetrated the breadht and depth of Ultimate Reality.But sadly,99.999999% of those cannot even properly understand the essence of detachment!

    " Letting go requires the wisdom of undergoing up and downs of life(through many2 lifetimes),even then ,with lifelong practice one may still not fully comprehend the essence of detachment (so many more lifetimes will be needed) "


  2. Soh Says:

    Most non-dual (neo-Advaita/etc) teachers are only at Thusness Stage 1-4. You need Thusness Stage 5 and 6 for genuine Buddhist enlightenment. That is quite rare. My estimate is that about 1 to 3% of all people that have some sort of awakening, actually realise anatta and/or emptiness.