[228] "Bhikkhus, had this not been known by me, not seen, not understood, not realized, not experienced with wisdom — namely, that 'when a certain person here feels this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling (adukkhamasukhā vedanā), unwholesome states increase and wholesome states decline' — would it have been fitting for me, not knowing thus, to say: 'Abandon this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling'?"
"Surely not, venerable sir."
"But because, bhikkhus, this has been known by me, seen, understood, realized, and experienced with wisdom — namely, that 'when a certain person here feels this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states increase and wholesome states decline' — therefore I say: 'Abandon this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.'
"Bhikkhus, had this not been known by me, not seen, not understood, not realized, not experienced with wisdom — namely, that 'when a certain person here feels this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states decline and wholesome states increase' — would it have been fitting for me, not knowing thus, to say: 'Enter upon and dwell in this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling'?"
"Surely not, venerable sir."
"But because, bhikkhus, this has been known by me, seen, understood, realized, and experienced with wisdom — namely, that 'when a certain person here feels this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, unwholesome states decline and wholesome states increase' — therefore I say: 'Enter upon and dwell in this kind of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.