[241] On one occasion the Venerable Ānanda was dwelling at Kosambī, in Ghosita's Park. There the Venerable Ānanda addressed the bhikkhus: "Friends, bhikkhus!" "Friend," those bhikkhus replied to the Venerable Ānanda. The Venerable Ānanda said this: "It is wonderful, friends, it is marvellous, that the attainment of an opening has been awakened to by that Blessed One who knows and sees, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One, for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the passing away of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way (ñāya), for the realization of Nibbāna: that the eye itself will remain, and those forms, yet one will not experience that sense base (āyatana); the ear itself will remain, and those sounds, yet one will not experience that sense base; the nose itself will remain, and those odours, yet one will not experience that sense base; the tongue itself will remain, and those tastes, yet one will not experience that sense base; the body itself will remain, and those tangible objects, yet one will not experience that sense base."
When this was said, the Venerable Udāyī said to the Venerable Ānanda: "Is it, friend Ānanda, one who is percipient that does not experience that sense base, or one who is non-percipient?" "It is one who is percipient, friend, that does not experience that sense base, not one who is non-percipient." "But percipient of what, friend, does one not experience that sense base?"
"Here, friend, with the complete surmounting of perceptions of form, with the passing away of perceptions of sensory impingement, with non-attention to perceptions of diversity, [perceiving] 'space is infinite,' a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the base of the infinity of space (ākāsānañcāyatana). One percipient in this way, friend, does not experience that sense base. Again, friend, by completely surmounting the base of the infinity of space, [perceiving] 'consciousness is infinite,' a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the base of the infinity of consciousness (viññāṇañcāyatana). One percipient in this way too, friend, does not experience that sense base. Again, friend, by completely surmounting the base of the infinity of consciousness, [perceiving] 'there is nothing,' a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the base of nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatana). One percipient in this way too, friend, does not experience that sense base.
"On one occasion, friend, I was dwelling at Sāketa, in the Deer Park in the Añjana Grove. Then, friend, the bhikkhunī Jaṭilabhāgikā approached me; having approached, she paid homage to me and stood to one side. Standing to one side, friend, the bhikkhunī Jaṭilabhāgikā said to me: 'Venerable Ānanda, the concentration (samādhi) that does not lean forward and does not bend back, and that is not reined in and checked by forceful suppression through formations—which, being liberated, is steady; being steady, is content; being content, is not agitated—this concentration, Venerable Ānanda: what did the Blessed One declare to be its fruit?' When this was said, friend, I said to the bhikkhunī Jaṭilabhāgikā: 'Sister, the concentration that does not lean forward and does not bend back, and that is not reined in and checked by forceful suppression through formations—which, being liberated, is steady; being steady, is content; being content, is not agitated—this concentration, sister, the Blessed One declared to have final knowledge (aññā) as its fruit.' One percipient in this way too, friend, does not experience that sense base."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.