For a mendicant with defilements ended it is in line with the teaching to answer: ‘Reverends, knowing that form is powerless, faded, and unreliable, I understand that my mind is freed through the ending, fading away, cessation, giving away, and letting go of attraction, grasping, mental fixation, insistence, and underlying tendency for form. Knowing that feeling … perception … choices … consciousness is powerless, faded, and unreliable, I understand that my mind is freed through the ending, fading away, cessation, giving away, and letting go of attraction, grasping, mental fixation, insistence, and underlying tendency for consciousness. That is how I know and see regarding these five grasping aggregates so that my mind is freed from defilements by not grasping.’
Saying ‘Good!’ you should applaud and cheer that mendicant’s statement, then ask a further question: ‘Reverend, these six elements have been rightly explained by the Buddha. What six? The elements of earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness. These are the six elements that have been rightly explained by the Buddha. How does the venerable know and see regarding these six elements so that your mind is freed from defilements by not grasping?’