Itivuttaka 103

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Monks, any contemplatives or brahmans who do not discern, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress,’ … that ‘This is the origination of stress,’ … that ‘This is the cessation of stress,’ who do not discern, as it has come to be, that ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress’: to me these contemplatives & brahmans do not count as contemplatives among contemplatives or as brahmans among brahmans. Furthermore, they do not enter & remain in the goal of the contemplative life or the goal of brahmanly life, having directly known & realized it for themselves right in the here-&-now.

“But any contemplatives or brahmans who discern, as it has come to be, that ‘This is stress,’ … that ‘This is the origination of stress,’ … that ‘This is the cessation of stress,’ who discern, as it has come to be, that ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress’: to me these contemplatives & brahmans count as contemplatives among contemplatives and as brahmans among brahmans. Furthermore, they enter & remain in the goal of the contemplative life & the goal of the brahmanly life, having directly known & realized it for themselves right in the here-&-now.”

Those who don’t discern stress,

stress’s coming into play,

& where it totally stops,

without trace,

who don’t know the path,

the way to the stilling of stress:

lowly

in their awareness-release

& discernment-release,

incapable

of making an end,

they’re headed

to birth & aging.

But those who discern stress,

stress’s coming into play,

& where it totally stops,

without trace,

who discern the path,

the way to the stilling of stress:

consummate

in their awareness-release

& discernment-release,

capable

of making an end,

they are not headed

to birth & aging.

See also: SN 56:22; Sn 3:12