These are the suttas I read in class on Wednesday, in the course of our discussion of Enlightenment and Nibbana:

• In the Cetanakaranaya Sutta, the Buddha outlines the chain of conditions that lead to Enlightenment.
• In the Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta, the Buddha helps the wanderer Vacchagotta understand how his pre-conceived understanding of how things must be prevents him from seeing things as they are; the sutta gives a wonderful simile for the process of Enlightenment and helps us toward an understanding of the term nibbana .

I’m working on a longer exposition of the ideas we spoke about in class, but it might be a while before those are ready for publication here.

The Discourse on How Things Progress

For one who is dwells in virtue, bhikkhus, for one who has made a habit of virtue, there is no need to make a deliberate decision, “May the absence of remorse arise in me!”; it is according to the Dhamma, bhikkhus, that absence of remorse arises in one who lives virtuously.

For one free of remorse, bhikkhus there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May gladness arise in me!”; it is according to the Dhamma, bhikkhus, that one who is free from remorse is glad to be where he is.

For one who is glad to be where she is, bhikkhus, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May joy arise in me!”; it is according to the Dhamma that one who is glad at heart is full of joy.

For one filled with joy, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May serenity arise within me!”; it is according to the Dhamma that who is joyful will abide in serenity.

For one who is serene, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May happiness arise within me!”; it is according to the Dhamma that one who experiences serenity will also be happy.

For one who is happy, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May my mind be concentrated!”; it is according to the Dhamma, bhikkhus, that the mind of a happy person will be concentrated.

For one whose mind is concentrated, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May I know the world and see it with fresh vision!”; it is according to the Dhamma that a concentrated mind will know and see the world with fresh vision.

For one who knows and sees the world with fresh vision, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May disenchantment and dispassion arise within me!”; it is according to the Dhamma that one who knows and sees the world with fresh vision will become disenchanted with this world and lose all passion for the pleasures it offers.

For one who is disenchanted and dispassionate, bhikkhus, there is no need to make a deliberate decision: “May I be free; may I experience enlightenment!”; it is according to the Dhamma, bhikkhus, that one who is no longer enchanted or consumed with passion for worldly pleasures will be liberated and experience enlightenment.

Thus, bhikkhus, disenchantment and dispassion have freedom and enlightenment as their benefit and reward; fresh vision of the world as it really is has disenchantment and dispassion as its benefit and reward; concentration of mind has a fresh vision of the world as its benefit and reward; happiness has a concentrated mind as its benefit and reward; serenity has happiness as its benefit and reward; joy has serenity as its benefit and reward; gladness has joy as its benefit and reward; absence of remorse has gladness as its benefit and reward; and the habit of virtue has the absence of remorse as benefit and reward.

In that way, bhikkhus, each of those qualities is integrated with all the others, and each quality brings the next to perfection, so that one progresses from this daily round to the unconditioned realm beyond appearances.