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"Suppose there was a mountain cow -- foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with her pasture, unskilled in roaming on rugged mountains -- and she were to think, 'What if I were to go in a direction I have never gone before, to eat grass I have never eaten before, to drink water I have never drunk before!' She would lift her hind hoof without having placed her front hoof firmly and [as a result] would not get to go in a direction she had never gone before, to eat grass she had never eaten before, or to drink water she had never drunk before. And as for the place where she was standing when the thought occurred to her, 'What if I were to go where I have never been before... to drink water I have never drunk before,' she would not return there safely. Why is that? Because she is a foolish, inexperienced mountain cow, unfamiliar with her pasture, unskilled in roaming on rugged mountains.
"In the same way, there are cases where a monk -- foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with his pasture, unskilled in being quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities, and entering and remaining in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation -- doesn't stick with that theme, doesn't develop it, pursue it, or establish himself firmly in it. The thought occurs to him, 'What if I, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, were to enter and remain in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance.' He is not able... to enter and remain in the second jhana... The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the first jhana... He is not able... to enter and remain in the first jhana. This is called a monk who has slipped and fallen from both sides, like the mountain cow, foolish, inexperienced, unfamiliar with her pasture, unskilled in roaming on rugged mountains.
"But suppose there was a mountain cow -- wise, experienced, familiar with her pasture, skilled in roaming on rugged mountains -- and she were to think, 'What if I were to go in a direction I have never gone before, to eat grass I have never eaten before, to drink water I have never drunk before!' She would lift her hind hoof only after having placed her front hoof firmly and [as a result] would get to go in a direction she had never gone before... to drink water she had never drunk before. And as for the place where she was standing when the thought occurred to her, 'What if I were to go in a direction I have never gone before... to drink water I have never drunk before,' she would return there safely. Why is that? Because she is a wise, experienced mountain cow, familiar with her pasture, skilled in roaming on rugged mountains.
"In the same way, there are some cases where a monk -- wise, experienced, familiar with his pasture, skilled in being quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities, and entering and remaining in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation -- sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'what if, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, I were to enter and remain in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance.' Without jumping at the second jhana, he -- with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation -- enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'what if, with the fading of rapture, I... were to enter and remain in the third jhana...' Without jumping at the third jhana, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful and alert, and physically sensitive to pleasure, entering and remaining in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the fourth jhana...' Without jumping at the fourth jhana, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the dimension of the infinitude of space.' Without jumping at the dimension of the infinitude of space, he, with the complete transcending of perceptions of [physical] form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of diversity, thinking, 'Infinite space,' enters and remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness.' Without jumping at the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, he, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, thinking, 'Infinite consciousness,' enters and remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the dimension of the nothingness.' Without jumping at the dimension of nothingness, he, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, thinking, 'There is nothing,' enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues, it and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I... were to enter and remain in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.' Without jumping at the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, he, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. He sticks with that theme, develops it, pursues it, and establishes himself firmly in it.
"The thought occurs to him, 'What if I, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, were to enter and remain in the cessation of perception and feeling.' Without jumping at the cessation of perception and feeling, he, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling.
"When a monk enters and emerges from that very attainment, his mind is pliant and malleable. With his pliant, malleable mind, limitless concentration is well developed. With his well-developed, limitless concentration, then whichever of the six higher knowledge’s he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he wields manifold supra-normal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives in and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting cross-legged he flies through the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, purified and surpassing the human -- both kinds of sounds: divine and human, whether near or far. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it with his own awareness. He discerns a mind with passion as a mind with passion, and a mind without passion as a mind without passion. He discerns a mind with aversion as a mind with aversion, and a mind without aversion as a mind without aversion. He discerns a mind with delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. He discerns a restricted mind as a restricted mind, and a scattered mind as a scattered mind. He discerns an enlarged mind as an enlarged mind, and an un-enlarged mind as an un-enlarged mind. He discerns an excelled mind [one that is not at the most excellent level] as an excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind as an unexcelled mind. He discerns a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind, and an un-concentrated mind as an un-concentrated mind. He discerns a released mind as a released mind, and an unreleased mind as an unreleased mind. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he recollects his manifold past lives (lit: previous homes), i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he remembers his manifold past lives in their modes and details. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, he sees -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human -- beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings -- who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views -- with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human -- he sees beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening.
"If he wants, then through the ending of the mental fermentations, he remains in the effluent-free release of awareness and release of discernment, having known and made them manifest for himself right in the here and now. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening."