At Sāvatthi.
“Bhikkhus, there are these seven elements. What seven? The element of radiance, the element of beauty, the element of the base of boundless space, the element of the base of boundless consciousness, the element of the base of nothingness, the element of the base of neither perception nor non-perception, and the element of the cessation of perception and feeling. These are the seven elements.”
When this was said, a certain bhikkhu said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, the element of radiance, the element of beauty, the element of the base of boundless space, the element of the base of boundless consciousness, the element of the base of nothingness, the element of the base of neither perception nor non-perception, and the element of the cessation of perception and feeling—in dependence on what are these elements |discerned::clearly known, become evident [paññāyati]|?”
1 “Bhikkhu, the element of |radiance::luminosity [ābhā]| is discerned in dependence on |darkness::ignorance [andhakāra]|.
2 The element of |beauty::goodness, excellence [subha]| is discerned in dependence on |unattractive::ugly, disgusting [asubha]|.
3 The element of the base of boundless space is discerned in dependence on |form::experience of material world, physical objects of consciousness, first of the five aggregates [rūpa]|.
4 The element of the base of boundless consciousness is discerned in dependence on the |base of boundless space::field of boundless expanse, sometimes translated as dimension of infinite space [ākāsānañcāyatana]|.
5 The element of the base of nothingness is discerned in dependence on the |base of boundless consciousness::field of limitless awareness [viññāṇañcāyatana]|.
6 The element of the |base of neither perception nor non-perception::field of awareness of subtle mental activity that do not arise to the level of forming a clear perception [nevasaññānāsaññāyatana]| is discerned in dependence on the |base of nothingness::field of awareness centered on the absence of any distinct ”something“ to grasp or hold onto [ākiñcaññāyatana]|.
7 The element of the cessation of perception and feeling is discerned in dependence on |gradual ending::cessation, termination [nirodha]|.”
“Venerable sir, the element of radiance, the element of beauty, the element of the base of boundless space, the element of the base of boundless consciousness, the element of the base of nothingness, the element of the base of neither perception nor non-perception, and the element of the cessation of perception and feeling—how is the attainment of these elements to be |realized::attained, reached [samāpatti]|?”
“Bhikkhu, the element of radiance, the element of beauty, the element of the base of boundless space, the element of the base of boundless consciousness, and the element of the base of nothingness—these elements are to be realized as attainments of perception. The element of the base of neither perception nor non-perception is to be realized as an attainment |with a residue of formations::with subtle mental activity that does not arise to the level of forming a perception [saṅkhāra]|. The element of the cessation of perception and feeling is to be realized as an attainment of cessation.”