That is an interesting sutta where Ananda asks those questions to Mahākoṭṭhita (and the sutta is named Ānanda sutta), but in the immediately previous sutta AN4.173, Mahākoṭṭhita supposedly asks Sāriputta the exact same questions word for word and gets the exact same answers word for word (and this is named Mahākoṭṭhita sutta).
Ānanda’s query in AN4.174
“Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthaññaṁ kiñcī”ti?
After there is a remainderless (asesa) withdrawal (virāga) and cessation (nirodha) of the six sensory contact faculties (channaṁ phassa-āyatanānaṁ) is there anything else (atthi aññaṁ kiñci) left behind?
Mahākoṭṭhita’s reply:
“Mā hevaṁ, āvuso”.
“Don’t put it like that, respectable sir” [i.e. don’t say “something else is left behind”]
Ā “Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā natthaññaṁ kiñcī”ti?
… “is there nothing else left behind?”
M “Mā hevaṁ, āvuso”.
“Don’t put it like that, respectable sir” [i.e. don’t say “nothing else is left behind”]
Ā “Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthi ca natthi ca aññaṁ kiñcī”ti?
… “is there something else that does exist (when viewed in one way) and does not exist (when viewed in another way)?”
M “Mā hevaṁ, āvuso”.
“Don’t put it like that, respectable sir”
Ā “Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā nevatthi no natthaññaṁ kiñcī”ti?
… "is there something else that neither exists (in any way) nor doesn’t exist (in any way)?
M “Mā hevaṁ, āvuso”.
“Don’t put it like that, respectable sir”
Ā Yathā kathaṁ panāvuso, imassa bhāsitassa attho daṭṭhabbo”ti?
“Then how, respectable sir, is the meaning of this speech (of yours) to be understood?”
M Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā
- atthaññaṁ kiñci
- natthaññaṁ kiñci
- atthi ca natthi ca aññaṁ kiñci
- nevatthi no natthaññaṁ kiñci
iti vadaṁ appapañcaṁ papañceti
“These four claims try to bring what is not cognizable to the senses or mind into the purview of sensory and mental conception.”
M Yāvatā, āvuso, channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ gati tāvatā papañcassa gati.
“The reach of sensory and mental conception extends only so far as the reach of six sensory contact faculties (“channam phassāyatanānaṃ” mentioned previously i.e. saḷāyatana)”
M Yāvatā, āvuso, channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ gati tāvatā papañcassa gati.
“(and conversely too) the reach of six sensory contact faculties extends only so far as the reach of the sensory and mental conception”
M Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā papañcanirodho papañcavūpasamo”ti.
“After there is a remainderless withdrawal and cessation of the six sensory contact faculties, there is a cessation and tranquilization of sensory and mental conception.”
My thoughts about why the catuṣkoṭi (tetralemma) makes its appearance here - is because there is something here that needs ārya-tūṣṇībhāva (noble silence) as an answer (because the topic belongs to the domain of nibbāna, and being an Ostensive definition is therefore unexplainable).
But this thread is about the implications and meaning of anattā, so let’s please keep the discussion close to that concept.