By ĀnandaĀnandasutta

At one time Venerable Ānanda was staying near Kosambī in Ghosita’s monastery.Ekaṁ samayaṁ āyasmā ānando kosambiyaṁ viharati ghositārāme. There Ānanda addressed the mendicants:Tatra kho āyasmā ānando bhikkhū āmantesi: “Reverends, mendicants!”“āvuso bhikkhave”ti.

“Reverend,” they replied.“Āvuso”ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato ānandassa paccassosuṁ. Ānanda said this:Āyasmā ānando etadavoca:

“It’s incredible, reverends, it’s amazing!“Acchariyaṁ, āvuso, abbhutaṁ, āvuso. How this Blessed One who knows and sees, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, has found an opening amid confinement. It’s in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to discover the system, and to realize extinguishment.Yāvañcidaṁ tena bhagavatā jānatā passatā arahatā sammāsambuddhena sambādhe okāsādhigamo anubuddho sattānaṁ visuddhiyā sokaparidevānaṁ samatikkamāya dukkhadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamāya ñāyassa adhigamāya nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya.

The eye itself is actually present, and so are those sights. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.Tadeva nāma cakkhuṁ bhavissati te rūpā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. The ear itself is actually present, and so are those sounds. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.Tadeva nāma sotaṁ bhavissati te saddā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. The nose itself is actually present, and so are those smells. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.Tadeva nāma ghānaṁ bhavissati te gandhā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. The tongue itself is actually present, and so are those tastes. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.Sāva nāma jivhā bhavissati te rasā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissati. The body itself is actually present, and so are those touches. Yet one will not experience that sense-field.”Sova nāma kāyo bhavissati te phoṭṭhabbā tañcāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedissatī”ti.

When he said this, Venerable Udāyī said to Venerable Ānanda:Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā udāyī āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ etadavoca:

“Reverend Ānanda, is one who doesn’t experience that sense-field actually percipient or not?”“saññīmeva nu kho, āvuso ānanda, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti udāhu asaññī”ti?

“Reverend, one who doesn’t experience that sense-field is actually percipient, not non-percipient.”“Saññīmeva kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti, no asaññī”ti.

“But what does one who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceive?”“Kiṁsaññī panāvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetī”ti?

“It’s when a mendicant, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space.“Idhāvuso, bhikkhu, sabbaso rūpasaññānaṁ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṁ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṁ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti.

Furthermore, a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite space, aware that ‘consciousness is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness.Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘anantaṁ viññāṇan’ti viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedeti.

Furthermore, 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.Puna caparaṁ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma ‘natthi kiñcī’ti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetīti.

Reverend, this one time I was staying near Sāketa in the deer park in Añjana Wood.Ekamidāhaṁ, āvuso, samayaṁ sākete viharāmi añjanavane migadāye. Then the nun Jaṭilagāhikā came up to me, bowed, stood to one side, and said to me:Atha kho, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikā bhikkhunī yenāhaṁ tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā maṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikā bhikkhunī maṁ etadavoca: ‘Honorable Ānanda, regarding the immersion that does not lean forward or pull back, and is not held in place by forceful suppression.‘yāyaṁ, bhante ānanda, samādhi na cābhinato na cāpanato na ca sasaṅkhāraniggayhavāritagato, Being free, it’s stable. Being stable, it’s content. Being content, one is not anxious.vimuttattā ṭhito, ṭhitattā santusito, santusitattā no paritassati. What did the Buddha say was the fruit of this immersion?’Ayaṁ, bhante ānanda, samādhi kiṁphalo vutto bhagavatā’ti?

When she said this, I said to her:Evaṁ vutte, sohaṁ, āvuso, jaṭilavāsikaṁ bhikkhuniṁ etadavocaṁ: ‘Sister, regarding the immersion that does not lean forward or pull back, and is not held in place by forceful suppression.‘yāyaṁ, bhagini, samādhi na cābhinato na cāpanato na ca sasaṅkhāraniggayhavāritagato, Being free, it’s stable. Being stable, it’s content. Being content, one is not anxious.vimuttattā ṭhito, ṭhitattā santusito, santusitattā no paritassati. The Buddha said that the fruit of this immersion is enlightenment.’Ayaṁ, bhagini, samādhi aññāphalo vutto bhagavatā’ti. One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way, too.”Evaṁsaññīpi kho, āvuso, tadāyatanaṁ no paṭisaṁvedetī”ti.