Mahâ-Parinibbâna-Suttanta: The Book of the Great Decease

'"But, Lord, did you see those five hundred carts go by?" '"No, indeed, sir, I saw them not." '"But, Lord, did you hear the sound of them?" '"No, indeed, sir, I heard not their sound." '"But, Lord, were you then asleep?" '"No, sir, I was not asleep." '"But, Lord, were you then conscious?" '"Yes, I was conscious, sir." '"So that you, Lord, though you were both conscious and awake, neither saw, nor heard the sound of five hundred carts passing by, one after the other, and each close to you. Why, Lord, even your robe was sprinkled over with the dust of them!" '"It is even so, sir." 36. 'Then thought that man: "How wonderful a thing is it, and how marvellous, that those who have gone forth out of the world should pass their time in a state of mind so calm! So much so that a man though being both conscious and awake, p. 77 neither sees, nor hears the sound of five hundred carts passing by, one after the other, and each close to him." 'And after giving utterance to his deep faith in Âlâra Kâlâma, he departed thence.' 37. 'Now what think you, Pukkusa, which is the more difficult thing either to do or to meet with--that a man being conscious and awake should neither see, nor hear the sound of five hundred carts passing by, one after the other, close to him,--or that a man, being conscious and awake, should neither see, nor hear the sound thereof when the falling rain goes on beating and splashing, and the lightnings are flashing forth, and the thunderbolts are crashing?'