Not perceiving form internally, someone sees forms externally that are white, with white color and white appearance. They’re like the morning star that’s white, with white color and white appearance. Or a cloth from Varanasi that’s smoothed on both sides, white, with white color and white appearance. In the same way, not perceiving form internally, someone sees forms externally that are white, with white color and white appearance. Mastering them, they perceive: ‘I know and see.’ This is the eighth dimension of mastery. These are the eight dimensions of mastery.

19. The Eight Liberations Ānanda, there are these eight liberations. What eight? Having physical form, they see forms. This is the first liberation. Not perceiving form internally, they see forms externally. This is the second liberation. They’re focused only on beauty. This is the third liberation. Going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, they enter and remain in the dimension of infinite space. This is the fourth liberation. Going totally beyond the dimension of infinite space, aware that ‘consciousness is infinite’, they enter and remain in the dimension of infinite consciousness. This is the fifth liberation. Going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, they enter and remain in the dimension of nothingness. This is the sixth liberation. Going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, they enter and remain in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is the seventh liberation. Going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, they enter and remain in the cessation of perception and feeling. This is the eighth liberation. These are the eight liberations.