A Question About the Dimension of NothingnessĀkiñcaññāyatanapañhāsutta

“They speak of this thing called the ‘dimension of nothingness’.“‘Ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ, ākiñcaññāyatanan’ti vuccati. What is the dimension of nothingness?Katamaṁ nu kho ākiñcaññāyatananti? It occurred to me:Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: ‘It’s when 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.‘idha bhikkhu sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma natthi kiñcīti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. This is called the dimension of nothingness.’Idaṁ vuccati ākiñcaññāyatanan’ti.

And so … I was entering and remaining in the dimension of nothingness.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma natthi kiñcīti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharāmi. While I was in that meditation, perception and focus accompanied by the dimension of infinite consciousness beset me.Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, iminā vihārena viharato viññāṇañcāyatanasahagatā 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 dimension of nothingness, brahmin! Settle your mind in the dimension of nothingness; unify your mind and immerse it in the dimension of nothingness.’Mā, brāhmaṇa, ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ pamādo, ākiñcaññāyatane cittaṁ saṇṭhapehi, ākiñcaññāyatane cittaṁ ekodiṁ karohi, ākiñcaññāyatane cittaṁ samādahā’ti.

And so, after some time … I entered and remained in the dimension of nothingness.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, aparena samayena sabbaso viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samatikkamma natthi kiñcīti ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ 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.