dn9:6.0 1.1. On the Cessation of Perception
dn9:6.1 When he said this, the wanderer Poṭṭhapāda said to the Buddha,
dn9:6.2 “Sir, leave aside what we were sitting talking about just now.
dn9:6.3 It won’t be hard for you to hear about that later.
dn9:6.4 Sir, a few days ago several ascetics and brahmins who follow various other religions were sitting together at the debating hall, and a discussion about the cessation of perception came up among them:
dn9:6.5 ‘How does the cessation of perception happen?’
dn9:6.6 Some of them said:
dn9:6.7 ‘A person’s perceptions arise and cease without cause or reason.
dn9:6.8 When they arise, you become percipient.
dn9:6.9 When they cease, you become non-percipient.’
dn9:6.10 That’s how some describe the cessation of perception.
dn9:6.11 But someone else says:
dn9:6.12 ‘That’s not how it is, good fellows!
dn9:6.13 Perception is a person’s self,
dn9:6.14 which enters and departs.
dn9:6.15 When it enters, you become percipient.
dn9:6.16 When it departs, you become non-percipient.’
dn9:6.17 That’s how some describe the cessation of perception.
dn9:6.18 But someone else says:
dn9:6.19 ‘That’s not how it is, good fellows!
dn9:6.20 There are ascetics and brahmins of great power and might.
dn9:6.21 They insert and extract a person’s perception.
dn9:6.22 When they insert it, you become percipient.
dn9:6.23 When they extract it, you become non-percipient.’
dn9:6.24 That’s how some describe the cessation of perception.
dn9:6.25 But someone else says:
dn9:6.26 ‘That’s not how it is, good fellows!
dn9:6.27 There are deities of great power and might.
dn9:6.28 They insert and extract a person’s perception.
dn9:6.29 When they insert it, you become percipient.
dn9:6.30 When they extract it, you become non-percipient.’
dn9:6.31 That’s how some describe the cessation of perception.
dn9:6.32 That reminded me of the Buddha:
dn9:6.33 ‘Surely it must be the Blessed One, the Holy One who is so very skilled in such matters.’
dn9:6.34 The Buddha is skilled and well-versed concerning the cessation of perception.
dn9:6.35 How does the cessation of perception happen?”


