There are some ascetics and brahmins who describe the origin of the world in their denomination as having arisen as an anomaly. I go up to them and say, ‘Is it really true that this is the venerables’ view?’ And they answer, ‘Yes’. I say to them, ‘But how do you describe in your denomination that the origin of the world came about anomalously?’ But they are stumped by my question, and they even question me in return. So I answer them, ‘Reverends, there are gods named “non-percipient beings”. When perception arises they pass away from that host of gods. It’s possible that one of those beings passes away from that host and is reborn in this place. Having done so, they go forth from the lay life to homelessness. By dint of keen, resolute, committed, and diligent effort, and right application of mind, they experience an immersion of the heart of such a kind that they recollect the arising of perception, but no further. They say, “The self and the cosmos arose anomalously. Why is that? Because formerly I didn’t exist, whereas now, having not existed, I’ve transformed into the state of existing.” Is this how you describe in your denomination that the origin of the world came about anomalously?’ They say, ‘That is what we have heard, Reverend Gotama, just as you say.’ I understand this, and what goes beyond it. Yet since I do not misapprehend that understanding, I have realized quenching within myself. Directly knowing this, the Realized One does not come to ruin.