"The immeasurable awareness-release, the nothingness awareness-release, the emptiness
awareness-release, the theme-less-awareness-release: There is a way of
explanation by which these qualities are different in meaning &
different in name, and there is a way of explanation by which these
qualities are one in meaning and different only in name.
"And what is the way of explanation by which these qualities are
different in meaning & different in name? There is the case where a
monk keeps pervading the first direction[4] — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with
good will. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around,
everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing world with an
awareness imbued with good will: abundant, expansive, immeasurable,
free from hostility, free from ill will.
"He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with
compassion ... an awareness imbued with appreciation...
"He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with
equanimity. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around,
everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing world with an
awareness imbued with equanimity: abundant, expansive, immeasurable,
free from hostility, free from ill will.
"This is called the immeasurable awareness-release.
"And what is the nothingness awareness-release? There is the case
where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the
infinitude of consciousness, [perceiving,] 'There is nothing,' enters
& remains in the dimension of nothingness. This is called the
nothingness awareness-release.
"And what is the emptiness awareness-release? There is the case where
a monk, having gone into the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or
into an empty dwelling, considers this: 'This is empty of self or of
anything pertaining to self.'[5] This is called the emptiness
awareness-release.
"And what is the theme-less awareness-release? There is the case where
a monk, through not attending to all themes, enters & remains in the
theme-less concentration of awareness.[6] This is called the
theme-less awareness-release.
"This is the way of explaining by which these qualities are different
in meaning & different in name.
"And what is the way of explaining whereby these qualities are one in
meaning and different only in name?
"Passion, friend, is a making of limits. Aversion is a making of
limits. Delusion is a making of limits. In a monk whose fermentations
are ended, these have been abandoned, their root destroyed, made like
a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not
destined for future arising. Now, to the extent that there is
immeasurable awareness-release, the unprovoked awareness-release is
declared the foremost. And this unprovoked awareness-release is empty
of passion, empty of aversion, empty of delusion.
*"Passion is a something. Aversion is a something. Delusion is a something. In a
monk whose fermentations are ended, these have been abandoned, their
root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions
of development, not destined for future arising. Now, to the extent
that there is nothingness awareness-release, the unprovoked
awareness-release is declared the foremost. And this unprovoked
awareness-release is empty of passion, empty of aversion, empty of
delusion.
"Passion is a making of themes. Aversion is a making of themes.
Delusion is a making of themes. In a monk whose fermentations are
ended, these have been abandoned, their root destroyed, made like a
palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined
for future arising. Now, to the extent that there is theme-less
awareness-release, the unprovoked awareness-release is declared the
foremost. And this unprovoked awareness-release is empty of passion,
empty of aversion, empty of delusion.
"This, friend, is the way of explaining whereby these qualities are
one in meaning and different only in name."*
