Tatiyajhānapañhāsutta
“‘Tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ, tatiyaṁ jhānan’ti vuccati. Katamaṁ nu kho tatiyaṁ jhānanti? Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi— idha bhikkhu pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampajāno sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṁvedeti, yaṁ taṁ ariyā ācikkhanti: ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. Idaṁ vuccati tatiyaṁ jhānanti. So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharāmi sato ca sampajāno sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṁvedemi. Yaṁ taṁ ariyā ācikkhanti: ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharāmi. Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, iminā vihārena viharato pītisahagatā saññāmanasikārā samudācaranti.
A Question About the Third Absorption
“They speak of this thing called the ‘third absorption’. What is the third absorption? It occurred to me: ‘With the fading away of rapture, a mendicant enters and remains in the third absorption, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, experiencing for themselves the bliss of which the noble ones declare, “Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.” This is called the third absorption.’ And so … I was entering and remaining in the third absorption. While I was in that meditation, perception and focus accompanied by rapture beset me.