[101] "Whoever, Ānanda, should speak thus: 'This is the utmost pleasure and joy that beings experience' — I do not concede this to him. Why is that? Because, Ānanda, there is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure. And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, a bhikkhu, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, enters upon and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied thought (vitakka) and sustained thought (vicāra), with rapture (pīti) and pleasure born of seclusion. This, Ānanda, is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure. Whoever, Ānanda, should speak thus: 'This is the utmost pleasure and joy that beings experience' — I do not concede this to him. Why is that? Because, Ānanda, there is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure.
"And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, with the stilling of applied and sustained thought, a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind (citta), is without applied thought and without sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration (samādhi) … the third jhāna … the fourth jhāna. This, Ānanda, is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure.
"And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, with the complete surmounting of perceptions of form, with the passing away of perceptions of sensory impingement, with non-attention to perceptions of diversity, [aware that] 'space is infinite,' a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the base of the infinity of space (ākāsānañcāyatana). This, Ānanda, is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure.
"And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, having completely surmounted the base of the infinity of space, [aware that] 'consciousness is infinite,' a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the base of the infinity of consciousness (viññāṇañcāyatana). This, Ānanda, … than that pleasure.
"And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, having completely surmounted the base of the infinity of consciousness, [aware that] 'there is nothing,' a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the base of nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatana). This, Ānanda, … than that pleasure.
"And what, Ānanda, is that other pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure? Here, Ānanda, having completely surmounted the base of nothingness, a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception (nevasaññānāsaññāyatana). This, Ānanda, is another pleasure more excellent and more sublime than that pleasure."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.