English
and the benefit in the sphere of infinite space was not attained by me, and it was not cultivated by me. Therefore, my mind does not incline towards, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated when seeing this as peaceful, in the sphere of infinite space.’ Then it occurred to me, Ānanda: ‘If indeed I, having seen the danger in forms, were to make much of it, and having attained the benefit in the sphere of infinite space, were to cultivate it, it is indeed possible that my mind would incline towards, would become clear, would settle, would become liberated when seeing this as peaceful, in the sphere of infinite space.’ So I, Ānanda, at a later time, having seen the danger in forms, made much of it, and having attained the benefit in the sphere of infinite space, cultivated it. Then my mind, Ānanda, inclined towards, became clear, settled, became liberated when seeing this as peaceful, in the sphere of infinite space. So I, Ānanda, by completely transcending perceptions of form, by the disappearance of perceptions of sensory impact, by not attending to perceptions of diversity, (perceiving) ‘space is infinite’, I entered and dwelled in the sphere of infinite space. As I, Ānanda, was dwelling in this dwelling, perceptions and mental formations associated with form arose. This was an affliction for me. Just as, Ānanda, for one who is happy, suffering might arise solely as an affliction; even so, perceptions and mental formations associated with form arose for me. This was an affliction for me. ‘‘Then it occurred to me, Ānanda: ‘What if I, having completely transcended the sphere of infinite space, (perceiving) ‘‘consciousness is infinite’’, were to enter and dwell in the sphere of infinite consciousness?’ Then my mind, Ānanda, in the sphere of infinite consciousness, did not incline towards, did not become clear, did not settle stands not released, seeing this as peaceful. Then, Ananda, this occurred to me – ‘What now is the cause, what the condition, whereby my mind in the sphere of infinite consciousness does not leap forth, does not become clear, does not stand firm, does not become released, seeing this as peaceful’? Then, Ananda, this occurred to me – ‘In the sphere of infinite space, indeed, the drawback was not seen by me, and it was not made much of; and in the sphere of infinite consciousness, the benefit was not attained, and it was not cultivated by me. Therefore my mind in the sphere of infinite consciousness does not leap forth, does not become clear, does not stand firm, does not become released, seeing this as peaceful’. Then, Ananda, this occurred to me – ‘If indeed I, having seen the drawback in the sphere of infinite space, were to make much of it, and having attained the benefit in the sphere of infinite consciousness, were to cultivate it, then it is possible that my mind in the sphere of infinite consciousness would leap forth, would become clear, would stand firm, would become released, seeing this as peaceful’. So then I, Ananda, at a later time, having seen the drawback in the sphere of infinite space, made much of it; and having attained the benefit in the sphere of infinite consciousness, cultivated it. Then, Ananda, my mind in the sphere of infinite consciousness leaped forth, became clear, stood firm, became released, seeing this as peaceful. So then I, Ananda, having completely transcended the sphere of infinite space, abided, having entered the sphere of infinite consciousness, thinking ‘consciousness is infinite’. As I, Ananda, abided in this abiding, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of infinite space arose. And that was an affliction for me. Just as, Ananda, for one who is well, pain might arise, just as an affliction; even so for me, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of infinite space arose. And that was an affliction for me. ‘‘Then, Ananda, this occurred to me – ‘What if I, having completely transcended the sphere of infinite consciousness, were to abide, having entered the sphere of nothingness, thinking ‘there is nothing’?’ Then, Ananda, the sphere of nothingness in the sphere, the mind does not incline, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated, seeing this as peaceful. Then, Ananda, this occurred to me: ‘What, pray, is the cause, what is the condition, by which my mind does not incline, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated in the sphere of nothingness, seeing this as peaceful?’ Then, Ananda, this occurred to me: ‘Indeed, in the sphere of infinite consciousness, the danger was not seen by me, and it was not made much of by me. And in the sphere of nothingness, the benefit was not attained by me, and it was not cultivated by me. Therefore, my mind does not incline, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated in the sphere of nothingness, seeing this as peaceful.’ Then, Ananda, this occurred to me: ‘If indeed I were to see the danger in the sphere of infinite consciousness and make much of it, and having attained the benefit in the sphere of nothingness, were to cultivate it, then this possibility exists that my mind would incline, become clear, settle, and become liberated in the sphere of nothingness, seeing this as peaceful.’ So, Ananda, at a later time, I saw the danger in the sphere of infinite consciousness and made much of it, and having attained the benefit in the sphere of nothingness, cultivated it. Then, Ananda, for me, my mind inclined, became clear, settled, and became liberated in the sphere of nothingness, seeing this as peaceful. So, Ananda, I, having completely transcended the sphere of infinite consciousness, entered upon and dwelled in the sphere of nothingness, thinking ‘there is nothing’. Then, Ananda, for me, as I dwelled in this dwelling, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of infinite consciousness arose. And that was a disturbance to me. Just as, Ananda, for one who is happy, suffering might arise, solely for the purpose of disturbance; even so, for me, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of infinite consciousness arose. And that was a disturbance to me. Then, Ananda, this occurred to me: ‘What if I were to completely transcend the sphere of nothingness, and entering upon the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, were to dwell therein?’ To me, Ananda, my mind in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception does not leap forth, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated, though I see it as peaceful. To me, Ananda, this thought occurred: 'What now is the reason? What is the cause? Why does my mind in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception not leap forth, not become clear, not settle, not become liberated, though I see it as peaceful?' To me, Ananda, this thought occurred: 'Indeed, the danger in the sphere of nothingness was not seen by me, and not made much of by me. And the benefit in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception was not attained by me, and not cultivated by me. Therefore, my mind in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception does not leap forth, does not become clear, does not settle, does not become liberated, though I see it as peaceful.' To me, Ananda, this thought occurred: 'If I were to see the danger in the sphere of nothingness, and make much of it, and attain the benefit in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and cultivate it, then it is possible that my mind in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception would leap forth, would become clear, would settle, would become liberated, seeing this as peaceful.' So I, Ananda, at a later time, having seen the danger in the sphere of nothingness, made much of it. Having attained the benefit in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, I cultivated it. To me, Ananda, my mind in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception leaps forth, becomes clear, settles, becomes liberated, seeing this as peaceful. So I, Ananda, having completely transcended the sphere of nothingness, having entered the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, I dwell. To me, Ananda, as I dwell in this dwelling, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of nothingness arise. And that is an affliction to me. Just as, Ananda, pain might arise for one who is happy, solely for the sake of affliction; even so, for me, perceptions and mental formations associated with the sphere of nothingness arise. And that is an affliction to me. To me, Ananda, this thought occurred: 'What if I were to... the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception... having transcended it, he might enter and dwell in the cessation of perception and feeling. For me, Ananda, my mind did not leap into, did not become confident in, did not settle in, did not become liberated in the cessation of perception and feeling, even seeing it as peaceful. Then it occurred to me, Ananda: ‘What, now, is the cause, what is the condition, whereby my mind does not leap into, does not become confident in, does not settle in, does not become liberated in the cessation of perception and feeling, even seeing it as peaceful?’ Then it occurred to me, Ananda: ‘The danger in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception was not seen by me, nor was it made much of by me; and the benefit of the cessation of perception and feeling was not attained by me, nor was it cultivated by me. Therefore, my mind did not leap into, did not become confident in, did not settle in, did not become liberated in the cessation of perception and feeling, even seeing it as peaceful.’ Then it occurred to me, Ananda: ‘If I were to see the danger in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception and make much of it, and having attained the benefit of the cessation of perception and feeling, were to cultivate it,