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was perfectly purified for me, then, monks, I declared myself, 'Fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect self-awakening in the world with its devas, Māras, and Brahmās, among the generation with its recluses and brahmins, with its devas and humans.' And knowledge and vision arose in me: 'My liberation of mind is unshakeable; this is the last birth; now there is no more renewed existence.'" The Fourth. 5. The Discourse on the Bases of Overcoming "There are, monks, these eight bases of overcoming. Which eight? One, having perception of form internally, sees forms externally, limited, beautiful or ugly. 'Having overcome them, I know, I see,' thus he perceives. This is the first base of overcoming. One, having perception of form internally, sees forms externally, immeasurable, beautiful or ugly. 'Having overcome them, I know, I see,' thus he perceives. This is the second base of overcoming. One, not having perception of form internally, sees forms externally, limited, beautiful or ugly. 'Having overcome them, I know, I see,' thus he perceives. This is the third base of overcoming. One, not having perception of form internally, sees forms externally, immeasurable, beautiful or ugly. 'Having overcome them, I know, I see,' thus he perceives. This is the fourth base of overcoming. One, not having perception of form internally, sees forms externally: blue, of blue color, with blue appearance, with blue radiance. 'Having overcome them, I know, I see,' thus he perceives. This is the p the fifth sphere of mastery. “With internal perception of formlessness, one sees external forms that are yellow, of yellow color, of yellow appearance, of yellow radiance. ‘Having overcome them, I know, I see,’ thus one perceives. This is the sixth sphere of mastery. “With internal perception of formlessness, one sees external forms that are red, of red color, of red appearance, of red radiance. ‘Having overcome them, I know, I see,’ thus one perceives. This is the seventh sphere of mastery. “With internal perception of formlessness, one sees external forms that are white, of white color, of white appearance, of white radiance. ‘Having overcome them, I know, I see,’ thus one perceives. This is the eighth sphere of mastery. These, bhikkhus, are the eight spheres of mastery.” The Fifth. 6. Discourse on Liberations 66. “There are, bhikkhus, eight liberations. Which eight? One with form sees forms. This is the first liberation. “With internal perception of formlessness, one sees external forms. This is the second liberation. “One is intent on the beautiful. This is the third liberation. “By completely transcending perceptions of form, by the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, by not attending to perceptions of diversity, (thinking) ‘space is infinite,’ one enters and dwells in the sphere of infinite space. This is the fourth liberation. “By completely transcending the sphere of infinite space, (thinking) ‘consciousness is infinite,’ one enters and dwells in the sphere of infinite consciousness. This is the fifth liberation. “By completely transcending the sphere of infinite consciousness, (thinking) ‘there is nothing,’ one enters and dwells in the sphere of nothingness. This is the sixth liberation. “By completely transcending the sphere of nothingness, one enters and dwells in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. This is the seventh liberation. “By completely transcending the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, one enters and dwells in the cessation of perception and feeling. attains and dwells in cessation. This is the eighth liberation. These, monks, are the eight liberations. The Sixth. 7. Discourse on Unnoble Speech 67. "These, monks, are eight kinds of ignoble speech. Which eight? Declaring as seen what is not seen, declaring as heard what is not heard, declaring as sensed what is not sensed, declaring as known what is not known, declaring as not seen what is seen, declaring as not heard what is heard, declaring as not sensed what is sensed, declaring as not known what is known. These, monks, are the eight kinds of ignoble speech." The Seventh. 8. Discourse on Noble Speech 68. "These, monks, are eight kinds of noble speech. Which eight? Declaring as not seen what is not seen, declaring as not heard what is not heard, declaring as not sensed what is not sensed, declaring as not known what is not known, declaring as seen what is seen, declaring as heard what is heard, declaring as sensed what is sensed, declaring as known what is known. These, monks, are the eight kinds of noble speech." The Eighth. 9. Discourse on Assemblies 69. "These, monks, are eight assemblies. Which eight? The assembly of nobles, the assembly of brahmins, the assembly of householders, the assembly of recluses, the assembly of the Four Great Kings, the assembly of the Thirty-three gods, the assembly of Māra, the assembly of Brahmā. I recall, monks, having approached hundreds of assemblies of nobles. There I have sat down with them, conversed with them, and engaged in discussion with them. There, whatever their complexion, such was my complexion; whatever their voice, such was my voice. I instruct them, inspire them, rouse them, and gladden them with a Dhamma talk. And as I speak, they do not know me, thinking: 'Who is this speaking? A god or a human?' Having instructed, inspired, roused, and gladdened them with a Dhamma talk, I vanish. And having vanished, they do not know me, thinking: 'Who is this who has vanished? A god or a human?'" "I recall, monks, having approached hundreds of assemblies of brahmins... and householders... and recluses... and the Four Great Kings... and the Thirty-three gods..." assemblies... the assembly of Māra... the assembly of Brahmā I approached. There too I had sat down before, and conversed before, and engaged in discussion before. There, whatever their complexion was, such was my complexion. Whatever their voice was, such was my voice. And with a talk on Dhamma I instruct, I rouse, I encourage, I gladden them. And as I speak, they do not know me: 'Who indeed is this speaking? A deva or a human?' Having instructed, roused, encouraged, and gladdened them with a talk on Dhamma, I vanish. And as I vanish, they do not know me: 'Who indeed is this who has vanished? A deva or a human?' These, bhikkhus, are the eight assemblies. The Ninth. 10. The Discourse on the Earthquake 70. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling in Vesālī, in the Great Wood, in the Gabled Hall. Then indeed the Blessed One, having dressed in the morning, and taking his bowl and robe, entered Vesālī for alms. Having wandered for alms in Vesālī, and returned from his alms round after his meal, he addressed the Venerable Ānanda: "Take the sitting mat, Ānanda. We shall go to the Cāpāla Shrine for our day's abiding." "Yes, Bhante," the Venerable Ānanda replied to the Blessed One, and taking the sitting mat, he followed close behind the Blessed One. Then indeed the Blessed One went to the Cāpāla Shrine; having gone there, he sat down on the prepared seat. Having sat down, the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda: "Delightful, Ānanda, is Vesālī. Delightful is the Udena Shrine. Delightful is the Gotamaka Shrine. Delightful is the Sattamba Shrine. Delightful is the Bahuputtaka Shrine. Delightful is the Sārandada Shrine. Delightful is the Cāpāla Shrine. Whoever, Ānanda, has developed the four bases of psychic power, made them much of, made them a vehicle, made them a basis, established them, practiced them, and thoroughly mastered them— if he wishes, Ānanda, or he might remain for an eon, or for the remainder of an eon. For the Tathāgata, Ānanda, the four bases of spiritual power have been developed, made much of, made a vehicle, made a basis, steadily practiced, accumulated, and well undertaken. If he wished, Ānanda, the Tathāgata might remain for an eon, or for the remainder of an eon." Even when the Blessed One was giving such a clear sign, making such a clear intimation, the Venerable Ānanda was unable to penetrate it; he did not entreat the Blessed One: "May the Blessed One remain for an eon! May the Fortunate One remain for an eon! For the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, the benefit, the happiness of devas and humans!" —for his mind was possessed by Māra. A second time, the Blessed One… …and a third time, the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda: "Delightful, Ānanda, is Vesālī! Delightful is Udena Shrine! Delightful is Gotamaka Shrine! Delightful is Sattamba Shrine! Delightful is Bahuputtaka Shrine! Delightful is Sārandada Shrine! Delightful is Cāpāla Shrine! Whoever, Ānanda, has developed the four bases of spiritual power, made them much of, made them a vehicle, made them a basis, steadily practiced them, accumulated them, and well undertaken them, if he wished, Ānanda, he might remain for an eon, or for the remainder of an eon. For the Tathāgata, Ānanda, the four bases of spiritual power have been developed… …if he wished, Ānanda, the Tathāgata might remain for an eon, or for the remainder of an eon." Even when the Blessed One was giving such a clear sign, making such a clear intimation, the Venerable Ānanda was unable to penetrate it; he did not entreat the Blessed One: "May the Blessed One remain for an eon! May the Fortunate One remain for an eon! For the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, the benefit, the happiness of devas and humans!" —for his mind was possessed by Māra. Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda: "Go now, Ānanda, do what you think is timely." "Yes, venerable sir," then Venerable Ānanda, having assented to the Blessed One, rose from his seat, saluted the Blessed One, circumambulated him respectfully, and sat down at the foot of a certain tree, not far from the Blessed One. Then Māra the Evil One,