[510] "But how, Lady, does the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling (saññāvedayitanirodha-samāpatti) come about?"
"Friend Visākha, for a bhikkhu attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, it does not occur thus: 'I shall attain the cessation of perception and feeling,' or 'I am attaining the cessation of perception and feeling,' or 'I have attained the cessation of perception and feeling.' Rather, his mind (citta) has been previously developed in such a way that it leads him to that state."
"But, Lady, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, which dhammas cease first: the bodily formation (kāyasaṅkhāra), the verbal formation (vacīsaṅkhāra), or the mental formation (cittasaṅkhāra)?"
"Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, the verbal formation ceases first, then the bodily formation, then the mental formation."
"But how, Lady, does emergence from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling come about?"
"Friend Visākha, for a bhikkhu emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, it does not occur thus: 'I shall emerge from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling,' or 'I am emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling,' or 'I have emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling.' Rather, his mind has been previously developed in such a way that it leads him to that state."
"But, Lady, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, which dhammas arise first: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation?"
"Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, the mental formation arises first, then the bodily formation, then the verbal formation."
"But, Lady, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, how many contacts (phassa) touch him?"
"Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, three contacts touch him: emptiness contact, signless contact, and undirected contact."
"But, Lady, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, to what does his mind slant, to what does it slope, to what does it incline?"
"Friend Visākha, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, his mind slants toward seclusion, slopes toward seclusion, inclines toward seclusion."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.