The suttas call certain noble disciples body-witnesses (kayasakkhi). The classical Theravada reading ties the term to the formless attainments. I suggest a different reading — that the body-witness is one who contacts the cessation of perception and feeling — which I think makes more sense of both the texts and the term.

It is tempting to call nirodha samapatti, the cessation of perception and feeling, a form of Nibbana: the mind shuts down and all formations come to rest. In one sense that is right; in another it is not. Here is what the suttas mean by Nibbana, which senses the cessation attainment fits, and why it may still be the closest thing to a taste of final Nibbana in this life.

Theravada orthodoxy says only non-returners and arahants can reach nirodha samapatti, the cessation of perception and feeling — and many believe reaching it carries you to awakening. I disagree with both claims. Here is what the suttas do and don't say about who can attain it and what follows, alongside what I found in my own practice.