Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to the Buddha: Atha kho āyasmā ānando yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

“Could it be, sir, that a mendicant might gain a state of immersion such that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body; and no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for all external stimuli; “Siyā nu kho, bhante, bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu, bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu; and that they’d live having attained the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit are no more?” yañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja viharato ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na honti tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja vihareyyā”ti?

“It could be, Ānanda, that a mendicant gains a state of immersion such that they have no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body; and no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for all external stimuli; “Siyā, ānanda, bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu, bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu; and that they’d live having attained the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit are no more.” yañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja viharato ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na honti tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja vihareyyā”ti.

“But how could this be, sir?” “Yathā kathaṁ pana, bhante, siyā bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu, bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu; yañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja viharato ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na honti tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja vihareyyā”ti?

“Ānanda, it’s when a mendicant thinks: “Idhānanda, bhikkhuno evaṁ hoti: ‘This is peaceful; this is sublime—that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.’ ‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.

That’s how, Ānanda, a mendicant might gain a state of immersion such that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body; and no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for all external stimuli; Evaṁ kho, ānanda, siyā bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu, bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā nāssu; and that they’d live having achieved the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit are no more. yañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja viharato ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na honti tañca cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ upasampajja vihareyyāti.

And Ānanda, this is what I was referring to in ‘The Way to the Far Shore’, in ‘The Questions of Puṇṇaka’ when I said: Idañca pana metaṁ, ānanda, sandhāya bhāsitaṁ pārāyane puṇṇakapañhe:

‘Having appraised the world high and low, ‘Saṅkhāya lokasmiṁ paroparāni, there is nothing in the world that disturbs them. Yassiñjitaṁ natthi kuhiñci loke; Peaceful, unclouded, untroubled, <j>with no need for hope—Santo vidhūmo anīgho nirāso, they’ve crossed over rebirth and old age, I declare.’” Atāri so jātijaranti brūmī’”ti.

Dutiyaṁ.