“Mendicants, there are these six faculties. What six? The faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. As long as I didn’t truly understand these six faculties’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, I didn’t announce my supreme perfect awakening in this world with its gods, Māras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans. But when I did truly understand these six faculties’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, I announced my supreme perfect awakening in this world with its gods, Māras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans. Knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘My freedom is unshakable; this is my last rebirth; now there’ll be no more future lives.’”

Linked Discourses 48.29 3. The Six Faculties Ascetics and Brahmins (1st)

“Mendicants, there are these six faculties. What six? The faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand the origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape when it comes to these six faculties. I don’t deem them as true ascetics and brahmins. Those venerables don’t realize the goal of life as an ascetic or brahmin, and don’t live having realized it with their own insight in this very life. There are ascetics and brahmins who do truly understand the origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape when it comes to these six faculties. I deem them as true ascetics and brahmins. Those venerables realize the goal of life as an ascetic or brahmin, and live having realized it with their own insight.”

Linked Discourses 48.30 3. The Six Faculties Ascetics and Brahmins (2nd)