The Buddha teaches on the six sense bases regarding endowed with faculties, guiding disciples toward discernment of sense experience and release from clinging.

SN 35.154 Endowed With Faculties

Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami …pe… ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “‘indriyasampanno, indriyasampanno’ti, bhante, vuccati. Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, indriyasampanno hotī”ti?

“Cakkhundriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto cakkhundriye nibbindati …pe…

jivhindriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto jivhindriye nibbindati …pe… manindriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto manindriye nibbindati.

Nibbindaṁ virajjati …pe… vimuttasmiṁ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṁ hoti.

‘Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyā’ti pajānāti.

Ettāvatā kho, bhikkhu, indriyasampanno hotī”ti.

Navamaṁ.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami …pe… ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him,

“‘indriyasampanno, indriyasampanno’ti, bhante, vuccati.

“Sir, they speak of someone who is ‘accomplished in the faculties’.

Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, indriyasampanno hotī”ti?

How is someone accomplished in the faculties defined?”

“Cakkhundriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto cakkhundriye nibbindati …pe…

“Mendicant, if someone meditates observing rise and fall in the eye faculty, they grow disillusioned with the eye faculty.

jivhindriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto jivhindriye nibbindati …pe…

If they meditate observing rise and fall in the ear faculty … nose faculty … tongue faculty … body faculty …

manindriye ce, bhikkhu, udayabbayānupassī viharanto manindriye nibbindati.

mind faculty, they grow disillusioned with the mind faculty.

Nibbindaṁ virajjati …pe… vimuttasmiṁ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṁ hoti.

Being disillusioned, desire fades away. … When they’re freed, they know they’re freed.

‘Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyā’ti pajānāti.

They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’

Ettāvatā kho, bhikkhu, indriyasampanno hotī”ti.

This is how someone who is accomplished in the faculties is defined.”

Navamaṁ.

Topics & Qualities:

Desire

Desire

A wholesome motivation, interest, or objective that acts as the starting point for effort and application of will.

Also known as: aspiration, interest, wish, having an objective, intention, impulse
Pāli: chanda
View all discourses →
Wisdom

Wisdom

Lived understanding and sound judgment that steers the mind away from suffering, distinct from mere accumulation of facts.

Also known as: (of a person) wise, astute, intelligent, learned, skilled, firm, stable, steadfast, an experiential understanding of the four noble truths
Pāli: paññā, medhā, dhīra, paṇḍita, asammūḷha
View all discourses →

Last updated on July 27, 2026