an.9.37 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

With Ananda

On one occasion Ven. Ananda was staying in Kosambi at Ghosita’s monastery. There he addressed the monks, “Friend monks!”

“Yes, friend,” the monks replied to him.

Ven. Ananda said, “It is amazing, friends, it is marvelous, how the Blessed One who knows & sees, the worthy one, rightly self-awakened, has attained & recognized the opportunity for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding, where the eye will be, and forms, and yet one will not be sensitive to that dimension; where the ear will be, and sounds… where the nose will be, and aromas… where the tongue will be, and flavors… where the body will be, and tactile sensations, and yet one will not be sensitive to that dimension.”

When this was said, Ven. Udayin said to Ven. Ananda, “Is one percipient when not sensitive to that dimension, my friend, or unpercipient?”

[Ananda:] “One is percipient when not sensitive to that dimension, my friend, not unpercipient.”

[Udayin:] “When not sensitive to that dimension, my friend, one is percipient of what?”

[Ananda:] “There is the case where, with the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of diversity, [perceiving,] ‘Infinite space,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space. This is one way of being percipient when not sensitive to that dimension.

“Then again, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, [perceiving,] ‘Infinite consciousness,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. This is another way of being percipient when not sensitive to that dimension.

“Then again, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, [perceiving,] ‘There is nothing,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of nothingness. This is another way of being percipient when not sensitive to that dimension.

“Once, friend, when I was staying in Saketa at the Game Refuge in the Black Forest, the nun Jatila Bhagika went to where I was staying, and on arrival—having bowed to me—stood to one side. As she was standing there, she said to me: ‘The concentration whereby—neither pressed down nor forced back, nor with fabrication kept blocked or suppressed—still as a result of release, contented as a result of standing still, and as a result of contentment one is not agitated: This concentration is said by the Blessed One to be the fruit of what?’

“I said to her, ‘Sister, the concentration whereby—neither pressed down nor forced back, nor with fabrication kept blocked or suppressed—still as a result of release, contented as a result of standing still, and as a result of contentment one is not agitated: This concentration is said by the Blessed One to be the fruit of gnosis.’ This is another way of being percipient when not sensitive to that dimension.”

- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

- Editor: Gabriel Laera

By Ānanda

At 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:
“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.”
When 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.”
“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.
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.
One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.
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.
One who doesn’t experience that sense-field perceives in this way.
Reverend, 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?’
When 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.”