6.
The Discourse on Deliverance
66.
"Monks, there are these eight deliverances.
What are the eight?
One who is material sees forms.
This is the first deliverance.
"Not perceiving material forms internally, one sees forms externally. This is the second deliverance.
"One is intent only upon the beautiful. This is the third deliverance.
"With the complete transcendence of perceptions of material form, with the passing away of perceptions of sensory impingement, with inattention to perceptions of diversity, aware that 'space is infinite,' one enters and dwells in the plane of infinite space. This is the fourth deliverance.
"Having completely transcended the plane of infinite space, aware that 'consciousness is infinite,' one enters and dwells in the plane of infinite consciousness. This is the fifth deliverance.
"Having completely transcended the plane of infinite consciousness, aware that 'there is nothing,' one enters and dwells in the plane of nothingness. This is the sixth deliverance.
"Having completely transcended the plane of nothingness, one enters and dwells in the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. This is the seventh deliverance.
"Having completely transcended the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, one enters and dwells in the cessation of perception and feeling. This is the eighth deliverance. These, monks, are the eight deliverances." The sixth.