[219] "The power of serenity (samathabala)": in what sense is it the power of serenity?
By the first jhāna one is not shaken with regard to the hindrances (nīvaraṇa): thus it is the power of serenity. By the second jhāna one is not shaken with regard to applied thought and sustained thought (vitakka-vicāra): thus it is the power of serenity. By the third jhāna one is not shaken with regard to rapture (pīti): thus it is the power of serenity. By the fourth jhāna one is not shaken with regard to pleasure and pain: thus it is the power of serenity. By the attainment of the Sphere of Infinity of Space (ākāsānañcāyatanasamāpatti) one is not shaken with regard to the perception of form, the perception of repulsion, and the perception of diversity: thus it is the power of serenity. By the attainment of the Sphere of Infinity of Consciousness (viññāṇañcāyatanasamāpatti) one is not shaken with regard to the perception of the Sphere of Infinity of Space: thus it is the power of serenity. By the attainment of the Sphere of Nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatanasamāpatti) one is not shaken with regard to the perception of the Sphere of Infinity of Consciousness: thus it is the power of serenity. By the attainment of the Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception (nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasamāpatti) one is not shaken with regard to the perception of the Sphere of Nothingness: thus it is the power of serenity. One is not shaken, does not waver, does not vacillate with regard to restlessness (uddhacca), with regard to the defilements (kilesa) accompanied by restlessness, and with regard to the aggregates: thus it is the power of serenity. This is the power of serenity.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.