Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.
At that time the Blessed One said to the monks: “I do not say that, without understanding and without abandoning one thing, one [attains] the unsurpassed transcendence of dukkha. What is the one thing of which I do not say that, without understanding and without abandoning it, one [attains] the unsurpassed transcendence of dukkha? That is, I do not say that, without understanding and without abandoning the eye, one [attains] the unsurpassed transcendence of dukkha.
“I do not say of forms, eye-consciousness, eye-contact, and feeling arisen in dependence on eye-contact and experienced within, be it painful, pleasant, or neutral, that, without understanding and without abandoning all these, one [attains] the unsurpassed transcendence of dukkha.
“The ear … the nose … the tongue … the body … the mind is also like that.”
When the Buddha had spoken this discourse, hearing what the Buddha had said the monks were delighted and received it respectfully.