22.3 Of Imperturbable (Fourth Jhāna) Consciousness (KV22.3)

Controverted Point: That the Arahant completes existence in imperturbable absorption (āneñje).

Theravādin: But does he not complete existence with ordinary (or normal) consciousness? You agree. How, then, do you reconcile this with your proposition?

You are implying that he passes away with an ethically inoperative consciousness. Is it not rather with a consciousness that is pure “result”? Whereas according to you he passes away with a consciousness that is unmoral and purely inoperative, I suggest that it is with a consciousness that is unmoral and purely resultant.

And did not the Exalted One emerge from Fourth Jhāna before he passed utterly away immediately after?

The Points of Controversy, an English translation of the Pali Abhidhamma Kathāvatthu. Translated by Shwe Zan Aung and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. First published by Pali Text Society, 1915.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Manfred Wierich and Ven. Vimala and proofread by Josephine Tobin. Some changes were introduced:

Abbreviations, i.e., those of cited works and the participants in the controversies, were expanded.

Cross-references were linked.

Some typographic changes were introduced, among others, i.e.: the phonetic symbol “ŋ” was changed to the Pāli diacritical letter “ṃ”, “ô” to “o”, single quotes to double quotes, and “:—” to “:”.

Letter-spacing with fixed spaces was replaced with bold font.

The corrigenda were merged into the text. Some could not be resolved, though.

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