“Reverend, when asked these questions, you say ‘don’t put it like that’. … How then should we see the meaning of this statement?”
“In saying that, ‘when the six fields of contact have faded away and ceased with no residue left behind, something else exists’, you’re proliferating the unproliferated. In saying that, ‘something else no longer exists’, you’re proliferating the unproliferated. In saying that, ‘something else both still exists and no longer exists’, you’re proliferating the unproliferated. In saying that, ‘something else neither still exists nor no longer exists’, you’re proliferating the unproliferated. The scope of proliferation extends as far as the scope of the six fields of contact. The scope of the six fields of contact extends as far as the scope of proliferation. When the six fields of contact fade away and cease with no residue left behind, proliferation stops and is stilled.”
Numbered Discourses 4.175 18. Intention With Upavāṇa
Then Venerable Upavāṇa went up to Venerable Sāriputta, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, Upavāṇa sat down to one side, and said to Sāriputta:
“Reverend Sāriputta, do you become a terminator because of knowledge?”
“That’s not it, reverend.”
“Do you become a terminator because of conduct?”
“That’s not it, reverend.”