“If they were to remain there without traveling on, even for myriad years, All-seer, and, being freed, were to grow cool right there, would the consciousness of that sort pass away?”

“As a flame tossed by a gust of wind,” replied the Buddha, “comes to an end and cannot be reckoned; so too, a sage freed <j>from the set of mental phenomena comes to an end and cannot be reckoned.”

“One who has disappeared—do they not exist? Or are they free from disease for eternity? Please, sage, answer me clearly, for truly you understand this matter.”

“One who has disappeared cannot be defined,” replied the Buddha. “They have nothing <j>by which others might describe them. When all things have been eradicated, eradicated, too, are all ways of speech.”

Anthology of Discourses 5.8 The Questions of Nanda