SNP5.7 — The Questions of the Student Upasīva
Alone, O Sakyan, I am unable to cross the great flood unsupported, said the venerable Upasīva. Tell me an object of support, O All-Seeing One, relying upon which I might cross this flood.
Mindfully observing nothingness, said the Blessed One, Upasīva, relying on there is nothing, cross the flood. Abandoning sensual pleasures, abstaining from conversation, look day and night to the destruction of craving.
One who is free from passion for all sensual pleasures, said the venerable Upasīva, relying on nothingness, having left behind all else, released in the highest liberation of perception, would he remain there without falling away?
One who is free from passion for all sensual pleasures, said the Blessed One, Upasīva, relying on nothingness, having left behind all else, released in the highest liberation of perception, he would remain there without falling away.
If he were to remain there without falling away, even for a multitude of years, O All-Seeing One, and were to become cool and released right there, would the consciousness of such a one pass away?
Just as a flame tossed by the force of the wind, said the Blessed One, Upasīva, goes out and can no longer be reckoned, so too a sage released from the mental body goes out and can no longer be reckoned.
Has he gone out, or does he simply not exist? Or is he eternally free from illness? Explain this to me clearly, O Sage, for this Dhamma is known to you.
For one who has gone out, there is no measure, said the Blessed One, Upasīva. That by which he might be described no longer exists for him. When all phenomena have been uprooted, all pathways of speech are uprooted as well.
The Questions of the Student Upasīva, the sixth.