1. I revised the link in Zapper’s comment to point to the verse he quoted: “And so, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, I entered and remained in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, my defilements were ended.”
- In Pali: “So kho ahaṁ, ānanda, sabbaso nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ upasampajja viharāmi, paññāya ca me disvā āsavā parikkhayaṁ agamaṁsu.”
2. At the Arahanthood, a mind completely separates from various “distorted saññā” associated with the world of 31 realms.
- That process of overcoming the “distorted saññā” associated with all three lokas (kama, rupa, arupa) happens stepwise for an ubhatovimutti Arahants; Buddha attained the Buddhahood that way, too.
- Once overcoming the “kama saññā” (triggering the mind-made “sensual pleasure” perception) associated with the kama loka, one gets to the Anagami stage. Then one must overcome the “rupa saññā” (triggering the mind-made “jhanic pleasure” perception) associated with the rupa loka (there are four jhanic states discussed in the suttas). Then, one must overcome the “arupa saññā” (triggering the mind-made “arupa samapatti pleasure” perception) associated with the arupa loka (there are four arupa samapatti states discussed in the suttas). Thus, there are eight jhanic/samapatti states with the last one being “nevasaññānāsaññāyatana” (dimension of neither perception nor non-perception). In that state, the “distorted saññā” is so weak that it almost goes away, but because the arupa raga samyojana still remains intact, it comes back.
- In the final step, that arupa raga samyojana is overcome too, and the mind is fully released. That is the ninth state referred to: saññāvedayitanirodha or cessation of perception and feeling. Here “saññāvedayitanirodha”is “saññā avedayita nirodha” meaning one would be released from the (distorted) saññā associated with that last (eighth) samapatti state of nevasaññānāsaññāyatana.
3. Thus, the battle for Nibbana involves overcoming the “distorted saññā” associated with all three lokas (kama, rupa, arupa).
- A pannavimutti Arahant gets there without going through the stepwise process.
- For example, Ven. Bahiya may have arrived at Nibbana directly from the kama loka without cultivating rupa jhana or arupa samapatti. That certainly seems to be the case for Minister Santati, who had just returned from a battle. They were both pannavimutti Arahants.
- Some may have attained Nibbana (Arahanthood) via a low-lying specific jhana or a samapatti.
- One would be an ubhatovimutti Arahant only if one goes through all the nine steps.
Thanks to Zapper for pointing out this sutta!
