O priests, is it said, 'He has blinded Māra, made useless the eye of Māra, gone out of sight of the Wicked One.'

"But again, O priests, a priest through having completely overpassed the realm of the infinity of space, says to himself, 'Consciousness is infinite,' and dwells in the realm of the infinity of consciousness. Of such a priest, O priests, is it said, 'He has blinded Māra, made useless the eye of Måra, gone out of sight of the Wicked One.'

"But again, O priests, a priest through having completely overpassed the realm of the infinity of consciousness, says to himself, Nothing exists,' and dwells in the realm of nothingness. Of such a priest, O priests, is it said, 'He has blinded Māra, made useless the eye of Māra, gone out of sight of the Wicked One.'

"But again, O priests, a priest through having completely overpassed the realm of nothingness, dwells in the realm of neither perception nor yet non-perception. Of such a priest, O priests, is it said, 'He has blinded Māra, made useless the eye of Māra, gone out of sight of the Wicked One.'

"But again, O priests, a priest through having completely overpassed the realm of neither perception nor yet non-perception, arrives at the cessation of perception and sensation, and before the clear vision of wisdom all his depravity wastes away. Of such a priest, O priests, is it said, 'He has blinded Mara, made useless the eye of Mara, gone out of sight of the Wicked One, and passed beyond all adhesion to the world.' He walks, stands, squats, and lies down in confident security. And why? Because, O priests, he is out of the reach of Māra."

Thus spake The Blessed One; and the delighted priests applauded the speech of The Blessed One.

The Noble-craving Sermon.

THE TRANCE OF CESSATION

I

1. Translated from the Samyutta-Nikāya (xli. 6o)

NSPIRATIONS and expirations, O householder, are bodily functions, therefore inspirations and expirations constitute bodily karma; first occur reasoning and reflection and afterwards articulate utterance, therefore reasoning and reflection constitute vocal karma; perception and sensation are mental functions and occur in association with the mind, therefore perception and sensation constitute mental karma.

2. Translated from the Samyutta-Nikäya (xxxvi. 115)

And moreover, O priest, I have taught the gradual cessation of karma. Of one who has entered the first trance the voice has ceased; of one who has entered the second trance reasoning and reflection have ceased; of one who has entered the third trance joy has ceased; of one who has entered the fourth trance the inspirations and the expirations have ceased; of one who has entered the realm of the infinity of space the perception of form has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of the infinity of consciousness the perception of the realm of the infinity of space has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of nothingness the perception of the realm of the infinity of consciousness has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of neither perception nor yet non-perception, the perception of the realm of nothingness has ceased; of one who has entered the cessation of perception and sensation, perception and sensation have ceased. Of the priest who has lost all depravity, passion has ceased, hatred has ceased, infatuation has ceased.

3. Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xxiii.)

What is the trance of cessation?

It is the stoppage of all mentality by a gradual cessation.

A priest who is desirous of entering on cessation will take his breakfast, wash carefully his hands and his feet, and seat him cross-legged on a well-strewn seat in some retired spot, with body erect, and contemplative faculty active. He then enters the first trance, and rising from it obtains insight into the transitoriness, misery, and lack of an Ego of the constituents of being.

This insight, however, is threefold: the insight into the constituents of being, the insight belonging to the attainment of the Fruits, and the insight belonging to the trance of cessation.

Whether the insight into the constituents of being be dull or keen, it is in either case a preparation for the Paths. The insight belonging to the attainment of the Fruits can only be keen, like the realization of the Paths.

The insight, however, belonging to the trance of cessation should not be too dull nor yet too keen. Therefore he will contemplate the constituents of being with an insight that is neither very dull nor very keen.

Thereupon he enters the second trance, and rising from it obtains insight into the constituents of being in the same manner as before. Thereupon he enters the third trance, ... the fourth trance, . . . the realm of the infinity of space, . . . the realm of the infinity of consciousness, and rising from it obtains insight into the constituents of being in the same manner as before. Then he enters the realm of nothingness, and rising from it performs the four preliminary duties; the protection of less intimate belongings, respect for the Order, a summons from The Teacher, limitation of time.

The protection of less intimate belongings:-That which is not intimately joined to the person of the priest, but is more loosely connected, such as his bowl and his robes, his couch and his bench, his dwelling, or any other of the requisites, should be protected from fire, water, wind, robbers, rats, etc., by means of a firm resolve. The manner of making this firm resolve is as follows:

He makes a firm resolve, saying, "For the space of seven days let not this and that article be burnt by fire, borne away by a flood, blown to pieces by the wind, carried off by rob

bers, or eaten by rats and the like." Then for the space of seven days no harm will touch them, any more than it did in the case of the elder, Nāga the Great; but if he does not make this firm resolve, they are liable to perish by fire, etc. In regard to this elder, tradition has it that he went for alms to the village where lived his mother, a lay devotee. The lay devotee gave him some rice-gruel and asked him to sit down in a reception-hall. The elder sat down and entered on cessation. While he was sitting there, the reception-hall took fire, and all the other priests took up the several mats on which they had been sitting, and fled away. The inhabitants of the village came together, and seeing the elder, cried out, "The lazy monk! the lazy monk!" The fire blazed up in the grass, bamboo, sticks of wood, etc., completely surrounding the elder. The people brought water in pitchers and put it out, removed the ashes and made the ground neat again, and scattering flowers stood worshiping him. The elder rose from his trance, when the fixed term had elapsed, and seeing the people gazing at him, sprang up into the air, and went to the island Piyañgu. This is the protection of less intimate belongings.

Articles, however, which are intimately joined to the person of the priest, such as his tunic, his upper garment, or the seat on which he may be sitting, do not need any special resolve. The trance is sufficient to protect them, as in the case of the venerable Sañjiva. For it has been said as follows: "The concentration of the venerable Sañjīva possesses magical power; the concentration of the venerable Săriputta possesses magical power."

Respect for the Order-respect, regard for the Order. The sense is the Order cannot hold a function without his presence. Here it is not respect for the Order but reflection on the respect due it which is his preliminary duty. Therefore let him reflect as follows:

"If, during the seven days I am sitting in a trance of cessation, the Order should wish to pass a resolution, or perform some other ecclesiastical function, I will arise before a priest comes and summons me."

If he does this before entering his trance, he will rise from it at the time set; but if he does not do it, and the Order

comes together and misses him, and inquires, "Where is such and such a priest?" and hearing that he has entered a trance of cessation sends some priest, saying, "Go, summon him by authority of the Order!" then he will have to rise from his trance when that priest has come within hearing and has called him, saying, " Brother, the Order sends you its respects." For such is the imperativeness of a command from the Order. Therefore he must reflect on this, and so enter his trance as to rise from it of his own accord.

A summons from The Teacher:-Here, also, it is reflection on a summons of The Teacher that is his duty. Therefore let it be reflected upon as follows:

"If, during the seven days I am sitting in a trance of cessation, The Teacher should take occasion to lay down some precept, or, apropos of some particular event, should teach the Doctrine, I will rise from my trance before any one summons me."

If he does this before sitting down, he will rise from it at the time set; but if he does not do it, and The Teacher misses him when the Order assembles, and inquires," Where is such and such a priest?" and hearing that he has entered a trance of cessation sends some priest, saying, "Go, summon him by my authority!" then he will have to rise from his trance when that priest has come within hearing and has called him, saying, "The Teacher sends for your venerable worship." For such is the imperativeness of a summons from The Teacher. Therefore he must reflect on this, and so enter his trance as to rise from it of his own accord.

Limitation of time-limitation of the time of life. For this priest should be skilful respecting the limitation of time. He should not enter this trance without first reflecting whether his span of life is to last seven days longer or not. For if he were to enter this trance without perceiving that his vital powers were to break up within the seven-day limit, his trance of cessation would not be able to ward off death, and as death cannot take place during cessation, he would have to rise from the midst of his trance. Therefore he must enter it only after having made the above reflection. For it has been said that it is permissible to neglect the other reflections, but not this one.