[342] "Suppose, bhikkhu, there were a king's frontier city, with strong walls and arched gateways, and with six gates. The gatekeeper there would be wise, competent, and intelligent, one who keeps out those unknown and admits those known. A swift pair of messengers, having come from the eastern direction, would say to that gatekeeper: 'Where, good man, is the lord of this city?' He would say: 'He, sirs, is sitting at the crossroads in the centre.' Then that swift pair of messengers, having delivered a message in accordance with reality to the lord of the city, would depart by the way they had come. A swift pair of messengers, having come from the western direction … from the northern direction … having come from the southern direction, a swift pair of messengers would say to that gatekeeper: 'Where, good man, is the lord of this city?' He would say: 'He, sirs, is sitting at the crossroads in the centre.' Then that swift pair of messengers, having delivered a message in accordance with reality to the lord of the city, would depart by the way they had come.
"I have made up this simile, bhikkhu, in order to convey a meaning. And this is the meaning here: 'The city,' bhikkhu, is a designation for this body composed of the four great elements (mahābhūta), originated from mother and father, built up out of boiled rice and porridge, subject to constant rubbing and pressing, to breaking apart and dispersal. 'The six gates,' bhikkhu, is a designation for the six internal sense bases (āyatana). 'The gatekeeper,' bhikkhu, is a designation for mindfulness (sati). 'The swift pair of messengers,' bhikkhu, is a designation for serenity (samatha) and insight (vipassanā). 'The lord of the city,' bhikkhu, is a designation for consciousness (viññāṇa). 'The crossroads in the centre,' bhikkhu, is a designation for the four great elements: the earth element (dhātu), the water element, the fire element, the air element. 'A message in accordance with reality (yathābhūtaṃ vacanaṃ),' bhikkhu, is a designation for Nibbāna. 'The way one came,' bhikkhu, is a designation for the Noble Eightfold Path (magga), that is: right view … right concentration (samādhi)."
The eighth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.