Beyond the Shore

The Buddha suggests that we often reflect on specific "facts of life" if we desire to birth the factors leading to the same awakening he experienced.

The Buddha outlines how through dividing his mental processes into the categories of skillful and unskillful he was able to give rise to a state of mental calm conducive to concentration (jhana). From this place he was able to progressively refine this concentrated state until he was able to direct his awareness to unmediated knowledge of his past lives (origination), the principles of action and reaction (kamma) and the path of practice (dhamma) leading to freedom from this inherently stressful process (nibbana). Provenance: ©1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. This Access to Insight edition is ©1997–2011. Terms of use: You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. For additional information about this license, see theFAQ. How to cite this document (one suggested style): "Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 14 June 2010,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html . Retrieved on 29 October 2011.