[308] "Suppose, Poṭṭhapāda, a man were to build a ladder for climbing up to a mansion, right beneath that very mansion. People might say to him: 'Good man, this mansion for climbing up to which you are building a ladder — do you know whether that mansion lies to the east, to the south, to the west, or to the north, or whether it is high, or low, or middling?' If he were to say: 'This, friends, is the very mansion for climbing up to which I am building the ladder — right beneath that very mansion' — what do you think, Poṭṭhapāda? That being so, would not that man's statement turn out to be demonstrable (sappāṭihīrakata)?"
"Certainly, venerable sir, that being so, that man's statement would turn out to be demonstrable."
"Just so, Poṭṭhapāda, if others should ask us: 'But what, friend, is that solid acquisition of a self (oḷārika attapaṭilābha) …' — 'But what, friend, is that mind-made acquisition of a self?' — 'But what, friend, is that formless acquisition of a self, for the abandoning of which you teach the Dhamma, such that, practicing in accordance with it, corrupting qualities will be abandoned in you, cleansing qualities will increase, and you will enter and dwell in the fullness and abundance of wisdom, having realized it for yourselves with direct knowledge in this very life?' — being asked thus, we would answer them: 'This, friends, is that very formless acquisition of a self for the abandoning of which we …' What do you think, Poṭṭhapāda? That being so, would not the statement turn out to be demonstrable?"
"Certainly, venerable sir, that being so, the statement turns out to be demonstrable."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.