[214] "What do you think, Anurādha? Do you regard the Tathāgata thus: 'This Tathāgata is without form, without feeling (vedanā), without perception, without volitional formations, without consciousness'?"
"No indeed, venerable sir."
"And here, Anurādha, since the Tathāgata is not apprehended by you as real and actual even in this very life,¹ is that declaration of yours fitting: 'Friends, the Tathāgata—the highest person, the supreme person, the attainer of the supreme attainment—when describing that Tathāgata, describes him apart from these four positions: "The Tathāgata exists after death," or "The Tathāgata does not exist after death," or "The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death," or "The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death"'?"
"No indeed, venerable sir."
"Good, good, Anurādha! Formerly, Anurādha, and also now, I make known just suffering (dukkha) and the cessation of suffering."
¹ [Siam Raṭṭha editorial footnote on "ตถโต (tathato)": "It should be understood in the manner stated."]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.