[687] The Venerable Mahāmoggallāna said this: "Here, friends, while I was in seclusion, gone into solitude, this reflection arose in my mind (citta): 'It is said, "noble silence, noble silence." What now is noble silence?' Then, friends, it occurred to me: 'Here a bhikkhu, with the subsiding of thought and examination (vitakka-vicāra), enters and dwells in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and without examination, and has rapture (pīti) and happiness born of concentration (samādhi). This is called noble silence.' So, friends, with the subsiding of thought and examination, I entered and dwelt in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and without examination, and has rapture and happiness born of concentration. While I was dwelling in that abiding, friends, perceptions and attentions accompanied by thought assailed me.
"Then, friends, the Blessed One approached me by spiritual power and said this: 'Moggallāna, Moggallāna! Do not be negligent, brahmin, regarding noble silence. Steady your mind in noble silence, unify your mind in noble silence, concentrate your mind in noble silence.' So, friends, on a later occasion, with the subsiding of thought and examination, I entered and dwelt in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and without examination, and has rapture and happiness born of concentration.
"Indeed, friends, if one speaking rightly could say of anyone, 'He is a disciple who, assisted by the Teacher, has attained to greatness of direct knowledge,' it is of me that one speaking rightly could say, 'He is a disciple who, assisted by the Teacher, has attained to greatness of direct knowledge.'"
The first [sutta].
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.