A Question About the Fourth AbsorptionCatutthajhānapañhāsutta

“They speak of this thing called the ‘fourth absorption’.“‘Catutthaṁ jhānaṁ, catutthaṁ jhānan’ti vuccati. What is the fourth absorption?Katamaṁ nu kho catutthaṁ jhānanti? It occurred to me:Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: ‘It’s when, with the giving up of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of former happiness and sadness, a mendicant enters and remains in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness.‘idha bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. This is called the fourth absorption.’Idaṁ vuccati catutthaṁ jhānan’ti.

And so … I was entering and remaining in the fourth absorption.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharāmi. While I was in that meditation, perception and focus accompanied by pleasure beset me.Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, iminā vihārena viharato sukhasahagatā saññāmanasikārā samudācaranti.

Then the Buddha came up to me with his psychic power and said,Atha kho maṁ, āvuso, bhagavā iddhiyā upasaṅkamitvā etadavoca: ‘Moggallāna, Moggallāna!‘moggallāna, moggallāna. Don’t neglect the fourth absorption, brahmin! Settle your mind in the fourth absorption; unify your mind and immerse it in the fourth absorption.’Mā, brāhmaṇa, catutthaṁ jhānaṁ pamādo, catutthe jhāne cittaṁ saṇṭhapehi, catutthe jhāne cittaṁ ekodiṁ karohi, catutthe jhāne cittaṁ samādahā’ti.

And so, after some time … I entered and remained in the fourth absorption.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, aparena samayena sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja vihāsiṁ.

So if anyone should be rightly called a disciple who attained to great direct knowledge with help from the Teacher, it’s me.”Yañhi taṁ, āvuso, sammā vadamāno vadeyya …pe… mahābhiññataṁ patto”ti.