1At one time Venerable Ānanda was staying near Kosambi, in Ghosita’s Monastery. There Ānanda addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, mendicants!”

“Reverend,” they replied. Ānanda said this:

2“It’s incredible, reverends, it’s amazing! How this Blessed One who knows and sees, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, has found an opening in a confined space. It’s in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to end the cycle of suffering, and to realize extinguishment.

The eye itself is actually present, and so are those sights. Yet one will not experience that sense-field. The ear itself is actually present, and so are those sounds. Yet one will not experience that sense-field. The nose itself is actually present, and so are those smells. Yet one will not experience that sense-field. The tongue itself is actually present, and so are those tastes. Yet one will not experience that sense-field. The body itself is actually present, and so are those touches. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.”

---

3When he said this, Venerable Udāyī said to Venerable Ānanda:

“Reverend Ānanda, is one who doesn’t experience that sense-field actually percipient or not?”

“Reverend, one who doesn’t experience that sense-field is actually percipient, not non-percipient.”

4“But what does one who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceive?”

“It’s when a mendicant, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the ending of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.

5Furthermore, a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite space, aware that ‘consciousness is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.

6Furthermore, a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.

7Reverend, one time I was staying near Sāketa in the deer park in Añjana Wood. Then the nun Jaṭilagāhikā came up to me, bowed, stood to one side, and said to me: ‘Sir, Ānanda, regarding the immersion that does not lean forward or pull back, and is not held in place by forceful suppression. Being free, it’s stable. Being stable, it’s content. Being content, one is not anxious. What did the Buddha say was the fruit of this immersion?’

---

8When she said this, I said to her: ‘Sister, regarding the immersion that does not lean forward or pull back, and is not held in place by forceful suppression. Being free, it’s stable. Being stable, it’s content. Being content, one is not anxious. The Buddha said that the fruit of this immersion is enlightenment.’ One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way, too.”

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ āyasmā ānando kosambiyaṁ viharati ghositārāme. Tatra kho āyasmā ānando bhikkhū āmantesi:  "āvuso bhikkhave"ti.

"Āvuso"ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato ānandassa paccassosuṁ. Āyasmā ānando etadavoca: 

2"Acchariyaṁ, āvuso, abbhutaṁ, āvuso. Yāvañcidaṁ tena bhagavatā jānatā passatā arahatā sammāsambuddhena sambādhe okāsādhigamo anubuddho sattānaṁ visuddhiyā sokaparidevānaṁ samatikkamāya dukkhadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamāya ñāyassa adhigamāya nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya.

Tadeva nāma cakkhuṁ bhavissati te rūpā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. Tadeva nāma sotaṁ bhavissati te saddā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. Tadeva nāma ghānaṁ bhavissati te gandhā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. Sāva nāma jivhā bhavissati te rasā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. Sova nāma kāyo bhavissati te phoṭṭhabbā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissatī"ti.

---

3Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā udāyī āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ etadavoca: 

"saññīmeva nu kho, āvuso ānanda, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti udāhu asaññī"ti?

"Saññīmeva kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti, no asaññī"ti.

4"Kiṁsaññī panāvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetī"ti?

"Idhāvuso, bhikkhu, sabbaso rūpasaññānaṁ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṁ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṁ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti.

5Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘anantaṁ viññāṇan’ti viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti.

6Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘Natthi kiñcī’ti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetīti.

7Ekamidāhaṁ, āvuso, samayaṁ sākete viharāmi añjanavane migadāye. Atha kho, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikā bhikkhunī yenāhaṁ tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā maṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikā bhikkhunī maṁ etadavoca:  ‘yāyaṁ, bhante ānanda, samādhi na cābhinato na cāpanato na ca sasaṅkhāraniggayhavāritagato, vimuttattā ṭhito, ṭhitattā santusito, santusitattā no paritassati. Ayaṁ, bhante ānanda, samādhi kiṁphalo vutto bhagavatā’ti?

---

8Evaṁ vutte, sohaṁ, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikaṁ bhikkhuniṁ etadavocaṁ:  ‘yāyaṁ, bhagini, samādhi na cābhinato na cāpanato na ca sasaṅkhāraniggayhavāritagato, vimuttattā ṭhito, ṭhitattā santusito, santusitattā no paritassati. Ayaṁ, bhagini, samādhi aññāphalo vutto bhagavatā’ti. Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetī"ti.

Chaṭṭhaṁ.