“Alone and without support,”
said the venerable Upasīva,
“I cannot cross the great flood, O Sakyan.
Tell me of a support, all-seeing one,
depending on which I could cross this flood.”
“Being recollected, contemplating the state of having nothing, Upasīva,”
said the Auspicious One,
“and depending on the perception of absence, cross the flood.
Leaving behind desires, abstaining from talk,
look to the wasting away of craving, night and day.”
“He who is without craving amidst desirable things,”
said the venerable Upasīva,
“having left behind all else relying on the state of having nothing,
freed in the highest freedom of perception —
could he stay there without moving on?”
“He who is without craving amidst desirable things, Upasīva,”
said the Auspicious One,
“having left behind all else relying on the state of having nothing,
freed in the highest freedom of perception —
he could stay there without moving on.”
“And should he remain there, not moving on
for a great number of years, All-Seeing One,
would he become cold right there, freed?
Would the consciousness of one of such kind fall away?”
“Like a flame scattered by a rush of wind, Upasīva,”
said the Auspicious One,
“goes to the end and cannot be reckoned,
so too a sage freed from the name-body,
goes to the end and cannot be reckoned.”
“He who is gone to the end — is he not?
Or is he actually eternally unafflicted?
Explain that well to me, sage,
for so is this order known to you.”
“There is no measure for one gone to the end —
he has nothing by which they would designate him.
With the uprooting of all phenomena,
all modes of expression too are uprooted.”
Notes
In the translators’ booklet this is Snp 5.7, following SuttaCentral’s numbering.