9.
Discourse on Meditative Absorption and Direct Knowledge
152.
He was dwelling at Sāvatthī, etc.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome mental states, enter and dwell in the first meditative absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with rapture and bliss born of seclusion.
Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome mental states, enters upon and dwells in the first meditative absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with rapture and bliss born of seclusion."
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the subsiding of applied and sustained thought, enter and dwell in the second meditative absorption, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without applied thought and without sustained thought, with rapture and bliss born of concentration. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the subsiding of applied and sustained thought, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the second meditative absorption.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the fading away of rapture, dwell equanimous, mindful and fully aware, and experience bliss with the body - that which the noble ones declare: 'He who is equanimous and mindful dwells in bliss' - I enter and dwell in the third meditative absorption. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the fading away of rapture, dwells equanimous, mindful and fully aware, and experiences bliss with the body - that which the noble ones declare: 'He who is equanimous and mindful dwells in bliss' - he enters upon and dwells in the third meditative absorption.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the abandoning of bliss and pain, and with the prior disappearance of pleasure and displeasure, enter and dwell in the fourth meditative absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-bliss and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the abandoning of bliss, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the fourth meditative absorption.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the complete transcendence of perceptions of fine-material form, with the passing away of perceptions of sensory impingement, with inattention to perceptions of diversity, aware that 'space is infinite,' enter and dwell in the plane of infinite space. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the complete transcendence of perceptions of fine-material form, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the plane of infinite space.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the complete transcendence of the plane of infinite space, aware that 'consciousness is infinite,' enter and dwell in the plane of infinite consciousness. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the complete transcendence of the plane of infinite space, aware that 'consciousness is infinite,' enters upon and dwells in the plane of infinite consciousness.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the complete transcendence of the plane of infinite consciousness, aware that 'there is nothing,' enter and dwell in the plane of nothingness. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the plane of nothingness.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the complete transcendence of the plane of nothingness, enter and dwell in the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, with the complete transcendence of the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, enter and dwell in the cessation of perception and feeling. Kassapa too, monks, etc. he enters upon and dwells in the cessation of perception and feeling.
"I, monks, whenever I wish, wield the various kinds of supernormal power: having been one, I become many; having been many, I become one; appearing, vanishing, I go unhindered through walls, through ramparts, through mountains, just as through space; I dive in and out of the earth just as in water; I go on water without breaking it just as on earth; I travel cross-legged through space just as a winged bird; I fondle and stroke with my hand even the moon and sun, so mighty and powerful; I exercise mastery with my body even as far as the Brahma world. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, experiences the various kinds of supernormal power, etc. He exercises mastery with his body even as far as the Brahma world.
"Monks, whenever I wish, with the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, I hear both sounds, divine and human, whether far or near. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the divine ear element... etc. whether far or near.
"Monks, whenever I wish, I understand the minds of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with my own mind - I understand a mind with lust as 'a mind with lust', I understand a mind without lust as 'a mind without lust', a mind with hate... etc. a mind without hate, a mind with delusion, a mind without delusion, a contracted mind, a distracted mind, an exalted mind, a not exalted mind, a surpassed mind, an unsurpassed mind, a concentrated mind, an unconcentrated mind, a liberated mind, I understand an unliberated mind as 'an unliberated mind'. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, understands the minds of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with his own mind - he understands a mind with lust as 'a mind with lust'... etc. he understands an unliberated mind as 'an unliberated mind'.
"Monks, whenever I wish, I recollect manifold past lives, as follows - one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many cosmic cycles of universe-contraction, many cosmic cycles of universe-expansion, many cosmic cycles of universe-contraction and expansion - 'There I was, having such a name, such a clan, such an appearance, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose there. There too I was, having such a name, such a clan, such an appearance, such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a life span; passing away from there, I arose here.' Thus with their aspects and particulars I recollect my manifold past lives. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, recollects manifold past lives, as follows - one birth... etc. thus with aspects and terms he recollects manifold past lives.
"Monks, whenever I wish, with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understand beings according to their actions - 'These beings indeed, sirs, endowed with bodily misconduct, endowed with verbal misconduct, endowed with mental misconduct, revilers of the noble ones, holding wrong views, undertaking actions based on wrong views; upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell. But these beings, sirs, endowed with bodily good conduct, endowed with verbal good conduct, endowed with mental good conduct, not revilers of the noble ones, holding right views, undertaking actions based on right views; upon the body's collapse at death, they have arisen in a fortunate realm, in a heavenly world.' Thus with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understand beings according to their actions. Kassapa too, monks, whenever he wishes, with the divine eye, which is pure and surpasses the human, sees beings passing away... etc. he understands beings according to their actions.
"I, monks, through the elimination of the mental corruptions, realised by my own direct knowledge, in this very life, the liberation of mind and the liberation by wisdom that are free from mental corruptions and, having entered upon them, dwell in them. Kassapa too, monks, through the elimination of the mental corruptions, realised by his own direct knowledge, in this very life, the liberation of mind and the liberation by wisdom that are free from mental corruptions and, having entered upon them, dwells in them." The ninth.