Venerable Sāriputta tells Ānanda about attaining the attainment of cessation in private retreat, describing how his faculties grew clear through that formless meditation.

SN 28.9 The Attainment of Cessation

Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

Atha kho āyasmā sāriputto …pe….

“Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, sabbaso nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ upasampajja viharāmi. Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, na evaṁ hoti: ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpanno’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.

Tathā hi panāyasmato sāriputtassa dīgharattaṁ ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā susamūhatā. Tasmā āyasmato sāriputtassa na evaṁ hoti: “‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpanno’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.

Navamaṁ.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

At Sāvatthī.

Atha kho āyasmā sāriputto …pe….

Venerable Ānanda saw Venerable Sāriputta …

“Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, sabbaso nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ upasampajja viharāmi.

“Reverend, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, I entered and remained in the cessation of perception and feeling.

Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, na evaṁ hoti:

But it didn’t occur to me:

‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpanno’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.

‘I am entering the cessation of perception and feeling’ or ‘I have entered the cessation of perception and feeling’ or ‘I am emerging from the cessation of perception and feeling’.”

Tathā hi panāyasmato sāriputtassa dīgharattaṁ ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā susamūhatā.

“That must be because Venerable Sāriputta has long ago totally eradicated I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit.

Tasmā āyasmato sāriputtassa na evaṁ hoti:

That’s why it didn’t occur to you:

“‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpanno’ti ‘ahaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.

‘I am entering the cessation of perception and feeling’ or ‘I have entered the cessation of perception and feeling’ or ‘I am emerging from the cessation of perception and feeling’.”

Navamaṁ.

Qualities:

Conceit

Conceit

Self-view expressed as comparison—seeing oneself as superior, inferior, or equal; the persistent “I am” conceit (asmimāna) that underlies identification and fuels rebirth

Also known as: arrogance, egotism, pride, self-importance, tendency of self-comparison
Pāli: māna, atimāna, unnaḷa
View all discourses →
Ending

Ending

The complete exhaustion and ending of craving, aversion, and delusion—the three roots of suffering. It refers to both the gradual wearing away of defilements through practice and the final cessation that constitutes Nibbāna.

Also known as: cessation, exhaustion, gradual ending, wearing away
Pāli: khaya, khīṇa, nirodha
View all discourses →

Last updated on July 27, 2026