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Dhammapada: Verses and Stories
Dhammapada Verses 143 and 144
Pilotikatissatthera Vatthu Avoid Evil Through Shame Effort Is Necessary To Avoid Suffering
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Verse Where in the world is found Explanation: Rarely in the world is that person who is restrained |
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Verse As splendid horse touched with whip, Explanation: Like a well-bred horse duly disciplined by the whip, |
Dhammapada
Verses 143 and 144
Pilotikatissatthera Vatthu
Hirinisedho puriso
koci lokasmi vijjati
yo niddam apabodheti
asso bhadro kasamiva.
Asso yatha bhadro kasanivittho
atapino samvegino bhavatha
saddhaya silena ca viriyena ca
samadhina dhammavinicchayena1 ca
sampannavijjacarana patissata
jahissatha dukkhamidam anappakam.
Verse 143: Rare in this world is the kind of person who out of a
sense of shame restrains from doing evil and keeps himself awake like a good
horse that gives no cause to be whipped.
Verse 144: Like a good horse stirred at a touch of the whip, be
diligent and get alarmed by endless round of rebirths (i.e., samsara). By
faith, morality, effort, concentration, discernment of the Dhamma, be endowed
with knowledge and practice of morality, and with mindfulness, leave this
immeasurable dukkha (of samsara) behind.
1. dhammavinicchayena (dhamma + vinicchaya): discernment
of the Dharnma or Law. It is explained by the Commentary as karanakarana
jananam, knowing right and wrong causes of things.
The Story of Thera Pilotikatissa
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses
(143) and (144) of this book, with reference to Thera Pilotikatissa.
Once, Thera Ananda saw a shabbily dressed youth going round begging
for food; he felt pity for the youth and made him a samanera. The young
samanera left his old clothes and his begging plate on the fork of a tree. When
he became a bhikkhu he was known as Pilotikatissa. As a bhikkhu, he did not
have to worry about food and clothing as he was in affluent circumstances. Yet,
sometimes he did not feel happy in his life as a bhikkhu and thought of going
back to the life of a lay man. Whenever he had this feeling, he would go back
to that tree where he had left his old clothes and his plate. There, at the
foot of the tree, he would put this question to himself, “Oh shameless
one! Do you want to leave the place where you are fed well and dressed well? Do
you still want to put on these shabby clothes and go begging again with this
old plate in your hand?” Thus, he would rebuke himself, and after calming
down, he would go back to the monastery.
After two or three days, again, he felt like leaving the monastic
life of a bhikkhu, and again, he went to the tree where he kept his old clothes
and his plate. After asking himself the same old question and having been
reminded of the wretchedness of his old life, he returned to the monastery.
This was repeated many times. When other bhikkhus asked him why he often went
to the tree where he kept his old clothes and his plate, he told them that he
went to see his teacher.* Thus keeping his mind on his old clothes as the
subject of meditation, he came to realize the true nature of the aggregates of
the khandhas (i.e., anicca, dukkha, anatta), and eventually he became an
arahat. Then, he stopped going to the tree. Other bhikkhus noticing that
Pilotikatissa had stopped going to the tree where he kept his old clothes and
his plate asked him, “Why don’t you go to your teacher any more?” To
them, he answered, “When I had the need, I had to go to him; but there is
no need for me to go to him now.” When the bhikkhus heard his reply, they
took him to see the Buddha. When they came to his presence they said,
“Venerable Sir! This bhikkhu claims that he has attained arahatship; he must
be telling lies.” But the Buddha refuted them, and said,
“Bhikkhus! Pilotikatissa is not telling lies, he speaks the truth. Though
he had relationship with his teacher previously, now he has no relationship
whatsoever with his teacher. Thera Pilotikatissa has instructed himself to
differentiate right and wrong causes and to discern the true nature of things.
He has now become an arahat, and so there is no further connection between him
and his teacher.”
Then the Buddha spoke in Verse as follows:
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Verse 143: Rare in this world is the kind of person who out of a |
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Verse 144: Like a good horse stirred at a touch of the whip, be |
*teacher: here refers
to Pilotika’s old clothes and his begging plate; they are like a teacher to him
because they imbued him with a deep sense of shame and put him on the right
track.
IV.
MEDITATION
MINDFULNESS
FOUR APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS
LOTUS POSTURE
SAMADHI
CHAN SCHOOL
FOUR
DHYANAS
FOUR FORMLESS REALMS
FOUR DHYANAS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhy%C4%81na_in_Buddhism
Dhyāna
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Dhyāna in Sanskrit (Devanagari: ध्यान) or jhāna (झान) in Pāli
can refer to either meditation or meditative states. Equivalent terms are
“Chán” in modern Chinese, “Zen”
in Japanese, “Seon” in Korean, “Thien” in Vietnamese, and “Samten” in Tibetan.
As
a meditative state, dhyāna is characterized by profound stillness and
concentration. It is discussed in the Pāli canon (and the parallel agamas) and post-canonical Theravāda Buddhist literature, and in other
literature. There has been little scientific study of the states so far.
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Contents [hide] of jhāna Historical development Mahāyāna traditions Vajrayāna traditions Scientific studies References External links |
Jhāna
in the early suttas
In the early texts, it is taught as a state of collected,
full-body awareness in which mind becomes very powerful and still but not
frozen, and is thus able to observe and gain insight into the changing flow of
experience.[1][2] Later Theravada
literature, in particular the Visuddhimagga, describes it as an abiding in which the mind becomes fully immersed
and absorbed in the chosen object of attention,[3] characterized by
non-dual consciousness.[4]
The Buddha himself entered jhāna, as described in
the early texts, during his own quest for enlightenment, and is constantly seen
in the suttas encouraging his disciples to develop jhāna as a way of
achieving awakening and liberation.[5][6][7]
One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that
meditative absorption (jhāna) must be combined with liberating
cognition.[8]
Just before his passing away, The Buddha entered the jhānas
in direct and reverse order, and the passing away itself took place after
rising from the fourth jhāna.[9]
The Buddha’s instructions on attaining jhana are via mindfulness of breathing, found in the Ānāpānasati Sutta and elsewhere.
Stages of jhāna
In
the Pāli
canon
the Buddha describes eight progressive
states of absorption meditation or jhāna. Four are
considered to be meditations of form (rūpa jhāna) and four are formless
meditations (arūpa jhāna). The first four jhānas are said by the
Buddha to be conducive to a pleasant abiding and freedom from suffering.[10] The jhānas are
states of meditation where the mind is free from the five hindrances — craving, aversion, sloth,
agitation and doubt — and (from the second jhāna onwards) incapable of
discursive thinking. The deeper jhānas can last for many hours. Jhāna
empowers a meditator’s mind, making it able to penetrate into the deepest
truths of existence.
There
are four deeper states of meditative absorption called “the immaterial
attainments.” Sometimes these are also referred to as the “formless” jhānas (arūpa jhānas) in
distinction from the first
four jhānas
(rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word “jhāna”
is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in
sequence after the first four jhānas. The enlightenment of complete
dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.
The Rupa Jhānas
There are four stages of deep collectedness which are
called the Rupa Jhāna (Fine-material Jhāna):
- First Jhāna - In the first jhana there are - “directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention,
consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention” - Second Jhāna - In the second jhana there are - “internal
assurance, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling,
perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence,
mindfulness, equanimity, & attention” - Third Jhāna - In the third jhana, there are -
“equanimity-pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling,
perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence,
mindfulness, equanimity & attention” - Fourth Jhāna - In the fourth jhana there are - “a feeling of
equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of
awareness; unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention,
consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity
& attention”.[11]
The Arupa Jhānas
Beyond the four jhānas lie four attainments,
referred to in the early texts as aruppas. These are also referred to in
commentarial literature as immaterial/the formless jhānas (arūpajhānas), also translated as The Formless Dimensions:
- Dimension of Infinite Space - In the dimension of infinite space there are -
“the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of space,
unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention,
consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity,
& attention” - Dimension of Infinite
Consciousness - In the Dimension of
infinite consciousness there are - “the perception of the dimension
of the infinitude of consciousness, unification of mind, contact, feeling,
perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence,
mindfulness, equanimity, & attention” - Dimension of Nothingness - In the dimension of nothingness, there are -
“the perception of the dimension of nothingness, singleness of mind,
contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision,
persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention” - Dimension of Neither
Perception nor Non-Perception - About the
role of this jhana it is said: “He emerged mindfully from that
attainment. On emerging mindfully from that attainment, he regarded the
past qualities that had ceased & changed: ‘So this is how these
qualities, not having been, come into play. Having been, they vanish.’ He
remained unattracted & unrepelled with regard to those qualities,
independent, detached, released, dissociated, with an awareness rid of
barriers. He discerned that ‘There is a further escape,’ and pursuing it
there really was for him.” [11]
In the suttas, these are never referred to as jhānas.
And it is mistakenly believed that is likely that they belonged to the Brahmanical
tradition.[12] However, according
to the early scriptures, the Buddha did not say he learned the last two
formless attainments from two teachers, he only mentioned that Alara Kalama and
Uddaka Ramaputta claimed.[13] If the Buddha was
taught these two states as they declared then he should have practiced the
First Jhana many times and should have no trouble entering the First Jhana. The
Uppakilesa Sutta shows that this is not the case. The Buddha had to struggle
with a whole series of obstacles before he was able to find his way back into
the First Jhana that he recalled practicing as a child. When looking into the
Uppakilesa Sutta, it is clear that Alara and Uddaka overestimated themselves in
their claims.[14] At that time,
defilement such as desire and other hindrances were still present within the
future Buddha even after following their teachings. He realized that the
meditations they taught and their teachings do not lead to Nirvana and left. [15]
The Buddha said in the Ariyapariyesana Sutta:
”But the thought occurred to me, ‘This Dhamma leads not to
disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge,
to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the dimension of
neither perception nor non-perception.’ So, dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I
left.”[16]
Cessation of feelings and perceptions
The Buddha also rediscovered an attainment beyond the
dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, the “cessation of
feelings and perceptions.” This is sometimes called the “ninth jhāna”
in commentarial and scholarly literature.[13][17]
About this, it is said: “Seeing with discernment, his
fermentations were totally ended. He emerged mindfully from that attainment. On
emerging mindfully from that attainment, he regarded the past qualities that
had ceased & changed: ‘So this is how these qualities, not having been,
come into play. Having been, they vanish.’ He remained unattracted &
unrepelled with regard to those qualities, independent, detached, released,
dissociated, with an awareness rid of barriers. He discerned that ‘There is no
further escape,’ and pursuing it there really wasn’t for him.”[11]
Someone attaining this state is an anagami or an arahant.[18] In the above
extract, the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant
upon reaching it.[19]
Usage of jhāna
The
meditator uses the jhāna state to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in
order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain
higher knowledge. The longer the meditator stays in the state of jhāna
the sharper and more powerful the mind becomes. The jhāna will sometimes
cause the five
hindrances
to be suppressed for days.[20]
According
to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa
in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the
state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access
concentration. This will have the qualities of being certain, long-lasting and
stable. It is where the work of investigation and analysis of the true nature
of phenomena begins and is also where deep insight into the characteristics of
impermanence, suffering and not-self arises. The meditator can experience these
truths, which lie at the heart of the Buddha’s teachings, through direct
experience.
In
contrast, according to the sutta descriptions of jhāna practice,
the meditator does not emerge from jhāna to practice vipassana
but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhāna itself. In
particular the meditator is instructed to “enter and remain in the fourth jhāna”
before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental
defilements.[1][21]
With the
abandoning of pleasure and pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation
and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhāna: purity of
equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure nor pain…With his mind thus
concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant,
malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, the monk directs and
inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. He
discerns, as it has come to be, that ‘This is suffering… This is the
origination of suffering… This is the cessation of suffering… This is the
way leading to the cessation of suffering… These are mental fermentations…
This is the origination of fermentations… This is the cessation of
fermentations… This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.’
— Samaññaphala Sutta
As
the five hindrances may be suppressed for days after entering jhāna, the
meditator will feel perfectly clear, mindful, full of compassion, peaceful and
light after the meditation session. This, according to Ajahn Brahm, may cause
some meditators to mistakenly assume that they have gained enlightenment.[20]
The
jhāna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses
the defilements. Meditators must use the jhāna state as an instrument
for developing wisdom by cultivating insight and use it to penetrate the true
nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will lead to cutting off
the defilements and nibbana.
Jhānas are normally described
according to the nature of the mental factors which are present in these
states:
- Movement of
the mind onto the object (vitakka; Sanskrit: vitarka) - Retention
of the mind on the object (vicāra) - Joy
(pīti; Sanskrit: prīti) - Happiness (sukha)
- Equanimity (upekkhā;
Sanskrit: upekṣā) - One-pointedness (ekaggatā;
Sanskrit: ekāgratā)[22]
Four
progressive states of Jhāna:
- First jhāna
(vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, ekaggatā):
The five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss
remains. Only the subtlest of mental movement remains, perceivable in its
absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to
form unwholesome intentions ceases. - Second jhāna
(pīti, sukha, ekaggatā): All mental movement utterly
ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions
ceases as well. - Third jhāna
(sukha, ekaggatā): One-half of bliss (joy) disappears. - Fourth jhāna
(upekkhā, ekaggatā): The other half of bliss (happiness)
disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the
Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti
and sukha). The Buddha described
the jhānas as “the footsteps of the Tathāgata“. The
breath is said to cease temporarily in this state.
Traditionally,
this fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic powers (abhigna).[23]
The
scriptures state that one should not seek to attain ever higher jhānas
but master one first, then move on to the next. Mastery of jhāna
involves being able to enter a jhāna at will, stay as long as one likes,
leave at will and experience each of the jhāna factors as required. They
also seem to suggest that lower jhāna factors may manifest themselves in
higher jhāna, if the jhānas have not been properly developed. The
Buddha is seen to advise his disciples to concentrate and steady the jhāna
further.
Preliminary stage
The Buddha explains right
concentration (samma samādhi), part of
the noble eightfold path, as the four first jhānas. According to the Pāli canon commentary, there
is a certain stage of meditation that the meditator should reach before
entering into jhāna. This stage is access/neighbourhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi).
The overcoming of the five hindrances — sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry
and doubt — marked the entries into access concentration. This concentration is
an unstable state where the mind becomes well concentrated on an object but it
is still not yet a state of “full concentration” (jhāna). The
difference is, in full concentration certain factors become strengthened to
such a degree that they bring about a qualitative shift in the level of
consciousness and the mind no longer functions on the ordinary sensory level.
Access concentration is not mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha. However
there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma
on hearing a teaching from the Buddha. Often their minds are described as being
free from hindrances when this occurs and some have identified this as being a
type of access concentration.[24] The equivalent of upacāra-samādhi
used in Tibetan commentaries is nyer-bsdogs.[25]
At the state of access concentration, some
meditators may experience vivid mental imagery (Pāli: nimitta), which is
similar to a vivid dream — as vividly as if seen by the eye, but in this case
the meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images.
This is discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravāda
commentaries.[26]
Different meditators will experience different mental
images; some meditators may not experience any mental images at all. The same
meditator doing multiple meditation sessions may experience different mental
images for each session. The mental image may be pleasant, frightening,
disgusting, shocking or neutral.
As the concentration becomes stronger, the feelings of
breathing and of having a physical body will completely disappear, leaving only
pure awareness. At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid,
thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration because
the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has
completely disappeared. They should not be so afraid and should continue their
concentration in order to reach “full concentration” (jhāna).[27]
Mastering jhāna
A meditator should first master the lower jhānas,
before they can go into the higher jhānas. There are five aspects of jhāna
mastery:
- Mastery in adverting: the ability to advert[clarification needed] to the jhāna
factors one by one after emerging from the jhāna, wherever he
wants, whenever he wants, and for as long as he wants. - Mastery in attaining: the ability to enter upon jhāna
quickly. - Mastery in resolving: the ability to remain in the jhāna
for exactly the pre-determined length of time. - Mastery in emerging: the ability to emerge from jhāna
quickly without difficulty. - Mastery in reviewing: the ability to review the jhāna
and its factors with retrospective knowledge immediately after adverting
to them.
The early suttas state that “the most exquisite of
recluses” is able to attain any of the jhānas and abide in them without
difficulty. This particular arahant is “liberated in both
ways:” he is fluent in attaining the jhānas and is also aware of
their ultimate unsatisfactoriness. If he were not, he would fall into the same
problem as the teachers from whom the Buddha learned the spheres of nothingness
and neither perception nor non-perception, in seeing these meditative
attainments as something final. Their problem lay in seeing permanence where
there is impermanence.[28]
Historical
development
Element and formless meditation
Alexander Wynne attempted to find parallels in Brahmanical
texts to the meditative goals the two teachers claimed to have taught, drawing
especially on some of the Upanishads and the Mokshadharma chapter of the
Mahabharata. But in the Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final
form long after the Buddha’s lifetime and all scholars agree that the
Mokshadharma postdates him.[29]
The Four jhanas can’t be found in any pre-Buddhist texts,
but later on others adapted them into the Mahabharata. That is not to say that
other types of jhana do not exist ( such as “appana- kam jhana” (
breathingless meditation). These meditations have been rejected by the Buddha
as wrong meditation :
“Suppose I were to meditate on the non-breathing
meditation (appana- kam jhana)”- MN 36
Or jhana where someone focuses on a sensual meditation
object :
“Making that sensual passion the focal point, he
absorbs himself with it, premeditates, outmeditates, and mismeditates…..This
is the sort of meditation (jhana) that the Blessed One did not praise.”-
MN 108
Later when the Buddha used the word jhana in short, his
disciples understood that he meant First - Fourth Jhana included in Samma
Samadhi and not appana- kam jhana or any other types of meditation. When
disciples of the Buddha use the word jhana nowadays, we are referring to the
First to Fourth Jhana in particular.
The word jhana can be used to mean ” meditation”
in general. However, later when the Buddha teaches meditation he only
considered 1-4 Jhana as the right meditation. Therefore, when speaking about
jhana ( meditation) he was only referring to the 1-4 Jhana. The word jhana
began to took on a different meaning among many of his disciples, and that is
the 1-4 Jhana while excluding other types of meditation found during his time,
such as “appana-kam jhana” ( where someone hold back the breath and
it causes great pain) or focusing on a sensual meditation object, etc…For
this reason, sometimes we see the word jhana being used in its earlier meaning
to refer to just ” meditation” in general. Other times we see the
word jhana being used to refer to 1-4 Jhana of the Buddha’s teaching in
particular for short instead of saying First Jhana, Second Jhana, Third Jhana
and Fourth Jhana.
Wynne claimed that Brahminic passages on meditation
suggest that the most basic presupposition of early Brahmanical yoga is that
the creation of the world must be reversed, through a series of meditative
states, by the yogin who seeks the realization of the self.[30] These states were
given doctrinal background in early Brahminic cosmologies, which classified the
world into successively coarser strata. One such stratification is found at TU II.1 and Mbh XII.195, and proceeds as follows: self, space, wind, fire, water, earth. Mbh XII.224 gives alternatively: Brahman, mind, space, wind,
fire, water, earth.[31] In Brahmanical
thought, the meditative states of consciousness were thought to be identical to
the subtle strata of the cosmos.[32] There is no similar
theoretical background to element meditation in the early Buddhist texts, where
the elements appear simply as suitable objects of meditation.[33] It is likely that
the Brahmanic practices of element meditation were borrowed and adapted by early
Buddhists, with the original Brahmanic ideology of the practices being
discarded in the process.[34] The uses of the
elements in early Buddhist literature have in general very little connection to
Brahmanical thought; in most places they occur in teachings where they form the
objects of a detailed contemplation of the human person. The aim of these
contemplations is to induce the correct understanding that the various perceived
aspects of the human person do not comprise a self.[35] Moreover, the self
is conceptualized in terms similar to both “nothingness” and
“neither perception nor non-perception” at different places in early
Upanishadic literature.[32] The latter
corresponds to Yajnavalkya’s definition of the self in his famous dialogue with Maitreyi in the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad and the definition given in the
post-Buddhist Mandukya
Upanishad. This is mentioned as a claim of
non-Buddhist ascetics and Brahmins in the Pañcattaya Sutta (Majjhima
Nikaya 102.2).[36][37] In the same
dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya draws the
conclusions that the self that is neither perceptive nor non-perceptive is a
state of consciousness without object. The early Buddhist evidence suggests
much the same thing for the state of “neither perception nor non-perception”.[37] It is a state
without an object of awareness, that is not devoid of awareness.[38] The state following
it in the Buddhist scheme, the “cessation of perception and
sensation”, is devoid not only of objectivity, but of subjectivity as
well: see Nibbana#Transcendent knowing.[39] It is suggested
that Uddaka Ramaputta belonged to the pre-Buddhist tradition portrayed by the
Buddhist and Brahmanic sources, in which the philosophical formulations of the
early Upanishads were accepted and the meditative state of “neither
perception nor non-perception” was equated with the self.[40] Furthermore, he
suggested that the goal of Alara Kalama was a Brahminical concept. Evidence in
the Chandogya
Upanishad and the Taittiriya Upanishad
suggests that a different early Brahminic philosophical tradition held the view
that the unmanifest state of Brahman was a form of non-existence.[41] Thus it seems likely
that both element and formless meditation was learned by the Buddha from his
two teachers and adapted by him to his own system.[42]While the Buddha was
not the first to attain the formless meditative absorption, the stratification
of particular samādhi experiences into the four jhānas seems to
be a Buddhist innovation. It was then borrowed and presented in an incomplete
form in the Mokṣadharma, a part of the Mahābhārata.[43] It appears that in
early Brahminic yoga, the formless spheres were attained following element
meditation.[44] This is also taught
as an option in the early Buddhist texts.[45] The primary method
taught to achieve the formless attainment in early Buddhist scriptures, on the
other hand, is to proceed to the sphere of infinite space following the fourth jhāna.[46]
It is important to note that of the 200 or so Upanishads,
only the first 10 or 12 are considered the oldest and principal Upanishads.
Among these 10 or 12 principal Upanishads, the Taittiriya, Aitareya and
Kausitaki shows Buddhist influence . The Brihadaranyaka,
Jaiminiya-Upanisad-Brahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads were composed during
the pre-Buddhist era while the rest of these 12 oldest Upanishads are dated to
the last few centuries BCE.
A closer look at the early suttas show some reasons why
the Four Jhanas discussed by the Buddha was not practiced by people before the
Buddha’s Enlightenment . That is not to say that people didn’t practice it some
time after the previous Buddha. During the Buddha’s time there are Brahmins and
Wandering Ascetics, such as Jains, etc..One of the reasons why Jhana was not
practiced before the Buddha’s Enlightenment was because people then either
indulged in seeking pleasure and comfort of the body or else following a
religion of tormenting the body. Both were caught up with the body and its five
senses and knew no release from the five senses. Neither produced the sustained
tranquility of the body necessary as the foundation for Jhana . “.[47]
The texts cited by Alexander Wynne in an attempt to find
parallels in Brahmanical texts to the meditative goals the two teachers claimed
to have taught assumed their final form long after the Buddha’s lifetime .
When it comes to the Brahmanical tradition during that
time, various examples can be found in the Ambattha Sutta and others. Ambattha,
“ who was a student of the Vedas, who knew the mantras, perfected in the Three
Vedas, a skilled expounder of the rules and rituals, the lore of sounds and
meanings and, fifthly, oral tradition, complete in philosophy and in the marks
of a Great Man, admitted and accepted by his master in the Three Vedas with the
words: “ What I know, you know; what you know, I know.” [48] He was sent to test
the Buddha and was rude to him. He said “ These shaven little ascetics,
menials, black scrapings from Brahma’s foot, what converse can they have with
brahmins learned in the Three Vedas ?”[49]
The Buddha told him that “ they are far from attainment of
the unexcelled knowledge – and – conduct”, which is attained by abandoning
sensual attachments .[50]
“ But, Reverend Gotama, what is this conduct, what is this
knowledge ?” The Buddha then taught him about morality, guarding the sense
doors, jhanas, insights, and the like. Here is a man who mastered the Three
Vedas and was declared by his teacher with the words : “ What I know, you
know; what you know, I know.”, And yet still doesn’t know about sense
restraints, as well as the Four Jhanas and panna :
The Buddha then taught him the following subjects:
1. “ A disciple goes forth and practices the moralities …(
Sila)
2. he guards the sense doors…..
3. attains the four jhanas …… Thus he develops
concentration ( Samadhi)
4. He attains various insights ……( Panna)
5. and the cessation of the corruptions……( Awakening)
“…..What do you think, Ambattha ? Do you and your
teacher live in accordance with this unexcelled knowledge and conduct ?” “
No indeed, Reverend Gotama! Who are my teacher and I in comparison? We are far
from it!” [51]
The Buddha also mentioned various sensory pleasure that
Ambattha, his teachers and other Brahmins indulge in, which prevent them from
experiencing seclusion from sense pleasure, jhanas, and insight :
1. “ Perfumed, their hair and beards trimmed, adorned with
garlands, and wreaths,… indulging in the pleasures of the five senses and
addicted to them”
2. “ Amuse themselves with women dressed up in flounces
and furbelows”
3. “ Ride around chariots drawn by mares with braided tails,
that they urged on with long goad-sticks…have themselves guarded in fortified
towns with palisades and barricades, by men with long swords..”
“ So, Ambattha, neither you nor your teacher are a sage or
one trained in the way of a sage.”
He also taught other many other learned Brahmins masters (
about sila, sense restraints, jhana, insight, etc..) in Sonadanda Sutta,
Kutadanta Sutta, etc.…[52]
On the other extreme during that time, we have the
wandering ascetics who indulge in torturing their bodies . “When the Bodhisatta
began the easy ‘practices leading to such tranquility of body, his first five
disciples abandoned – him in disgust. Such practice was not regarded as valid.
Therefore it was not practiced, and so Jhana never occurred.”[53]
For example, in the Nigantha Nataputta sutta of the Citta
Samyutta # 41, the Nigantha Nataputta, the Jain leader, does not even believe
that it is possible [54], much less practice
it, or attained it. Bhikkhu Brahmali pointed out that in the suttas the
Nigantha Nataputta is portrayed as never having heard of samadhi without
vitakka-vicara. That is, he doesn’t seem to know anything about the Four jhana,
let alone the immaterial attainments. As the leader of one of the largest
religious sects of the time one would have expected him to know a lot about
meditation, even if only second hand:
Nigantha Nataputta said to Citta ( a non-returner disciple
of the Buddha) : “ Householder, do you have faith in the ascetic Gotama
when he says: “ There is a concentration without thought and examination, there
is a cessaton of thought and examination?”[55]
Citta : “ In this manner, venerable sir, I do not go
by faith in the Blessed One …..”[56]
Nigantha Nataputta said “ …….One who thinks that thought
and examination can be stopped might imagine he could catch the wind in a net
or arrest the current of the river Ganges with his own fist.”[57]
Citta then goes on to explain that he doesn’t just go by
mere faith, but directly experienced it for himself. Also he explained how he
entered the Four Jhanas taught by the Buddha.[58]
Some might think that the Eight Limbs of the yoga sutras
shows Samadhi as one of its limbs. But the Eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra was
only developed after the Buddha and is influenced by the Buddha’s Eightfold
Path. The suttas show that during the time of the Buddha Nigantha Nataputta,
the Jain leader, did not even believe that it is possible to enter a state
where the thoughts and examination stop.[59]
Samadhi was first found in the Tipitaka and not in any
pre-buddhist text. But it was later incorporated into later texts such as the
Maitrayaniya Upanishad . The Buddha was also incorporated into the Puranas .
Although Samadhi where the mind stop was adopted by later hindu texts, but it
was considered Enlightenment.[60] However, the Buddha
clearly taught an Eightfold Path consisting of three division: Sila, Samadhi,
and Panna. Just Samadhi alone will not be sufficient for enlightenment. The
Buddha himself entered Samadhi when he was a little boy, but without the third
division, Panna, he did not become enlightened back then. Later on he developed
Panna using that Samadhi.
Although the “Dimension of Nothingness” and the
“Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception” are included in
the list of nine Jhanas taught by the Buddha, they are not included in the Noble
Eightfold Path. Noble Path number eight is
“Samma Samadhi” (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas
are considered “Right Concentration”. If he takes a disciple through
all the Jhanas, the emphasis is on the “Cessation of Feelings and
Perceptions” rather than stopping short at the “Dimension of Neither
Perception nor Non-Perception”.
In the Magga-vibhanga Sutta, the Buddha defines Right
Concentration that belongs to the concentration (samadhi) division of the path
as the first four Jhanas:
“And what is right concentration? There is the case
where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful
(mental) qualities — enters & remains in the first Jhana: rapture &
pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought &
evaluation. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters
& remains in the Second Jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure,
unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal
assurance. With the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, &
alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the Third
Jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a
pleasant abiding.’ With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the
earlier disappearance of elation & distress — he enters & remains in
the Fourth Jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor
pain. This is called right concentration.” [61]
See also: Buddhism and Hinduism#Soteriology
The Buddha and jhāna
The meditations he learned did not lead to nibbana. He then underwent harsh ascetic practices with which he eventually
also became disillusioned. He subsequently remembered entering jhāna as
a child, and realized that “that indeed is the path to
enlightenment.”
According to the Maha-Saccaka Sutta, the Buddha recalled a
meditative state he entered by chance as a child and abandoned the ascetic
practices he has been doing:
“I thought: ‘I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was
working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite
secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities — I entered
& remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion,
accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to
Awakening?’ Then following on that memory came the realization: ‘That is the
path to Awakening.’” [16]
According to the Upakkilesa Sutta, after figuring out the
cause of the various obstacles and overcoming them, the Buddha was able to
penetrate the sign and enters 1st- 4th Jhana.
“I also saw both the light and the vision of forms.
Shortly after the vision of light and shapes disappear. I thought, ‘What is the
cause and condition in which light and vision of the forms disappear?’ Then
consider the following: ‘The question arose in me and because of doubt my
concentration fell, when my concentration fell, the light disappeared and the
vision of forms. I act so that the question does not arise in me again.’” “I
remained diligent, ardent, perceived both the light and the vision of forms.
Shortly after the vision of light and shapes disappear. I thought, ‘What is the
cause and condition in which light and vision of the forms disappear?’ Then
consider the following: ‘Inattention arose in me because of inattention and my
concentration has decreased, when my concentration fell, the light disappeared
and the vision of forms. I must act in such a way that neither doubt nor
disregard arise in me again.’”
In the same way as above, the Buddha encountered many more
obstacles that caused the light to disappear and found his way out them. These
includes, sloth and torpor, fear, elation, inertia, excessive energy, energy
deficient, desire, perception of diversity, and excessive meditation on the
ways. Finally, he was able to penetrate the light and entered jhana.
The following descriptions in the Upakkilesa Sutta further
show how he find his way into the first four Jhanas, which he later considered
as “samma samadhi”.
“When Anuruddha, I realized that doubt is an imperfection
of the mind, I dropped out of doubt, an imperfection of the mind. When I
realized that inattention … sloth and torpor … fear … elation … inertia …
excessive energy … deficient energy … desire … perception of diversity …
excessive meditation on the ways, I abandoned excessive meditation on the ways,
an imperfection of the mind.” “When Anuruddha, I realized that doubt is an
imperfection of the mind, I dropped out of doubt, an imperfection of the mind.
When I realized that inattention … sloth and torpor … fear … elation … inertia
… excessive energy … deficient energy … desire … perception of diversity …
excessive meditation on the ways, I abandoned excessive meditation on the ways,
an imperfection of the mind, so I thought, ‘I abandoned these imperfections of
the mind.’ Now the concentration will develop in three ways. ..And so,
Anuruddha, develop concentration with directed thought and sustained thought;
developed concentration without directed thought, but only with the sustained
thought; developed concentration without directed thought and without thought
sustained, developed with the concentration ecstasy; developed concentration
without ecstasy; develop concentration accompanied by happiness, developing
concentration accompanied by equanimity … When Anuruddha, I developed
concentration with directed thought and sustained thought to the development …
when the concentration accompanied by fairness, knowledge and vision arose in
me: ‘My release is unshakable, this is my last birth, now there are no more
likely to be any condition.’”[16]
In the suttas, the immaterial attainments are never
referred to as jhānas. The immaterial attainments have more to do with
expanding, while the Jhanas (1-4) focus on concentration. A common translation
for the term “samadhi” is concentration. Rhys Davids and Maurice
Walshe agreed that the term “samadhi” is not found in any pre-buddhist text.
Hindu texts later used that term to indicate the state of enlightenment. This
is not in conformity with Buddhist usage. In “The Long Discourse of the
Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya” ( pg. 1700) Maurice Walshe
wrote that:
Rhys Davids also states that the term samadhi is not found
in any pre-Buddhist text. To his remarks on the subject should be added that
its subsequent use in Hindu texts to denote the state of enlightenment is not
in conformity with Buddhist usage, where the basic meaning of concentration is
expanded to cover ‘meditation’ in general.” [62]
While the states of samādhi were not the goal, they
were indeed the path.[63]
Three discourses in the Bhojjhanga-Samyutta present
the claims of non-Buddhist wanderers that they too develop Buddhist-style
meditation, including samādhi. They ask the Buddha what the difference
is between their teachings and his. He does not respond by teaching right view,
but by telling them that they do not fully understand samādhi practice.
Ajahn Sujato interprets this statement as explaining a statement of the
Buddha’s elsewhere that he “awakened to jhāna“; he was the
first to fully comprehend both the benefits and limitations of samādhi
experiences.[64]
In Mahāyāna
traditions
Mahāyāna
Buddhism includes numerous schools of practice, which each draw upon various
Buddhist sūtras, philosophical treatises, and commentaries. Accordingly, each
school has its own meditation methods for the purpose of developing samādhi and
prajñā, with the goal of
ultimately attaining enlightenment. Nevertheless, each has its own emphasis,
mode of expression, and philosophical outlook. In his classic book on
meditation of the various Chinese Buddhist traditions, Charles Luk writes, “The Buddha
Dharma is useless if it is not put into actual practice, because if we do not
have personal experience of it, it will be alien to us and we will never awaken
to it in spite of our book learning.”[65] Venerable Nan Huaijin echoes similar sentiments
about the importance of meditation by remarking, “Intellectual reasoning
is just another spinning of the sixth
consciousness,
whereas the practice of meditation is the true entry into the Dharma.”[66] Therefore, the importance
of dhyāna in the broad sense of “meditation” in the Mahāyāna tradition is indeed
emphasized.
In
China, the word “dhyāna” was originally transliterated as chánnà
(禪那), and shortened to just chán (禪)
by common usage. This word chán is the same word used for the Chán
school (Jp. Zen). Some scholars and various
authors have claimed that Chán/Zen Buddhism does not utilize the stages of
dhyāna.[67][68] However, this is
contradicted by statements from well known exponents of Chán Buddhism such as
Venerable Sheng Yen, Venerable Hsuan Hua, and Venerable Nan Huaijin.[69][70][71] Sheng Yen, a Buddhist monk
and scholar from the Linji and Caodong lineages of the Chán school, clarifies
that the Chán/Zen school does indeed include the dhyānas:[69]
Although the Chán school
definitely advocates practicing meditation to reach absorption states (dhyāna),
not all meditative absorption states are those of the Chán school.
Sheng
Yen also cites meditative concentration as necessary, citing samādhi as one of
the requisite factors for progress on the path toward enlightenment.[69] Nan Huaijin also agrees
about the dhyanas being necessary in Chán Buddhism, and regarding the various
stages, he states, “Real cultivation going toward samādhi goes through the
four dhyānas.”[71] Sheng Yen clarifies that
the eight dhyānas are to be understood as mundane meditative states, which are
also shared by practitioners on “outer paths”, as well as ordinary
people, or in principle even animals.[69] He characterizes these as intermediate
steps for supramundane realization in dhyāna.[72]
In
the Platform
Sutra,
Hui Neng says : “To
concentrate the mind and to contemplate it until it is still is a disease and
not Zen.” He goes on to say that the meditator who enters a state in which
thoughts are suppressed must allow them to arise naturally once again.[73] The early Buddhist texts
describe right concentration, that is, dhyāna, as an abiding in which the mind
is unified, but not static; it is not the suppression of all thought.[1]
Venerable
Hsuan Hua, who taught Chán and Pure
Land Buddhism,
outlines the four preliminary stages of dhyāna:[70]
- In the
First Dhyāna, there is the arising of bliss. The external breathing stops,
while the internal breathing comes alive, and it is said that the mind is
as clear as water and as bright as a mirror.[74] When the
external breathing stops, the nose and mouth do not breathe.[75] While in
this state, the mind and body have a feeling of existing within empty
space.[76] - In the
Second Dhyāna, there is pure bliss born from samādhi. In this stage, there
is said to be happiness without compare. After reaching this stage, it is
said that some practitioners may go without food or water for many days
and still be alright. When in this second stage, not only does the
external breathing stop, but the pulse comes to a stop as well. After
leaving this state, the pulse resumes its normal function.[77] - In the
Third Dhyāna, the joy of the previous stages is left, leaving only a subtle
and blissful peace.[78] At this
stage it is said that not only do the breathing and pulse stop, but idle
thoughts stop as well.[79] Although
idle thoughts have been cleared away, it is emphasized that this stage is
nothing special, and just part of the progression.[79] At this
stage, the body becomes as soft as the body of an infant.[80] Softness
and suppleness of the body is considered to be a physical indicator of the
quality of an individual’s samādhi. Nan Huaijin states: “All the
eminent monks of great virtue in the past were able to predict what day
they would die, and even on the brink of death their bodies were as soft
and supple as a baby’s. Others who were even more lofty turned into a
field of light, and their human forms disappeared. At most all they left
behind were a few pieces of fingernail, or a lock of hair as a memento.”[80] - In the
Fourth Dhyāna, the only manifestation is that of complete purity and
perfection.[79] At this
stage one is still considered the stage of an ordinary mortal, and still
far from the Nirvāṇa of the
fully enlightened buddhas.[81] In the
tradition of Chinese Buddhism, it is said that those individuals who have
reached this stage sometimes choose to walk with their feet one inch above
the earth, so they do not harm any living beings.[81]
In
Vajrayāna traditions
B.
Alan Wallace holds that modern Tibetan
Buddhism lacks emphasis on achieving levels of concentration higher than access
concentration.[82][83] According to
Wallace, one possible explanation for this situation is that virtually all
Tibetan Buddhist meditators seek to become enlightened through the use of tantric
practices. These require the presence of
sense desire and passion in one’s consciousness, but jhāna effectively
inhibits these phenomena.[82] While few Tibetan
Buddhists, either inside or outside Tibet, devote themselves to the practice of
concentration, Tibetan Buddhist literature does provide extensive instructions
on it, and great Tibetan meditators of earlier times stressed its importance.[84] All this being
said, Wallace has translated and commented on Tsongkapa’s Stages of the Path, a Tibetan classic
on this topic, in his book Balancing the Mind. It is a very intricate guide on
mastering equanimity and insight during meditation, both of which are claimed
to be required to advance up the jhanas.
Scientific
studies
There has been little scientific study of these mental
states. In 2008, an EEG study found “strong, significant, and consistent differences in
specific brain regions when the meditator is in a jhana state compared to
normal resting consciousness”.[85] Tentative
hypotheses on the neurological correlates have been proposed, but lack
supporting evidence.[86]
References
1.
^
a b c Richard Shankman, The
Experience of Samadhi - an in depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation,
Shambala publications 2008
2.
^ “Should we come out of
Jhana to practice vipassana?”. Venerable Henepola Gunaratana.
3.
^ “Jhana”. Access to Insight.
Retrieved 2007-12-03.
4.
^ Ajahn Brahm, Mindfulness,
Bliss, and Beyond. Wisdom Publications 2006, page 156.
5.
^ “A Sketch of the Buddha’s Life”. Access to Insight.
Retrieved 2007-12-03.
6.
^ Henepola Gunaratana. “The Jhanas”. Buddhist Publication
Society. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
7.
^ In the Pali Canon, the
instruction on jhana is contained in suttas MN119, AN 1.16, MN118, MN4, MN19,
MN36, MN43,MN45, MN64, MN65, MN66, MN76, MN77, MN78, MN79, MN85, MN105, MN107,
MN108, MN119, MN125, MN138, MN152, AN2.2, AN3.6, AN3.7, AN3.8, DN1, DN2, MN94,
MN100, MN101, MN111, MN112, MN122, MN139 & MN141. This list is not
exhaustive.
8.
^ Alexander Wynne, The
Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge, 2007, page 73.
9.
^ Sister Vajira & Francis
Story. “Maha-parinibbana
Sutta”.
Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
10. ^ DN 22
11. ^ a b c as stated by Buddha Gotama
in the Anuppada Sutta, MN#111
12. ^ John J. Holder, Early
Buddhist Discourses. Hackett Publishing Company, 2006, page xi.
13. ^ a b Steven Sutcliffe, Religion:
Empirical Studies. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004, page 135.
14. ^ Mindfulness, Bliss, and
Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook. (2006). Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-275-7.
15. ^ Nanamoli Bhikkhu, The
Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Wisdom Publications,1995, page 1070.
16. ^ a b c Nanamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(1995, ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New
Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
17. ^ Chandima Wijebandara, Early
Buddhism, Its Religious and Intellectual Milieu. Postgraduate Institute of
Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, 1993, page 22.
18. ^ Peter Harvey, An
Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 252.
19. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s
commentary on the Anuppada Sutta, MN#111
20. ^ a b Ajahn Brahmavamso. “Deep Insight”. BuddhaSasana. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
21. ^ “Samaññaphala
Sutta”.
22. ^ In the Suttapitaka, right concentration is
often referred to as having five factors, with one-pointedness (ekaggatā)
not being explicitly identified as a factor of jhana attainment (see,
for instance, SN 28.1-4, AN 4.41, AN 5.28).
23. ^ For instance in AN 5.28, the Buddha states
(Thanissaro, 1997.):
When
a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in
this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know
and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening….
If
he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes
many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes
unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives
in and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking
as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a
winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so
mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the
Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening …
24. ^ Peter Harvey, Consciousness
Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha. In Karel Werner, ed., The
Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press 1989, page 95. He finds access
concentration described at Digha Nikaya I, 110, among other places.
“The situation at D I, 110, then, can be seen as one where the hearer of a
discourse enters a state which, while not an actual jhana, could be bordering
on it. As it is free from hindrances, it could be seen as ‘access’
concentration with a degree of wisdom.” See also Peter Harvey, The
Selfless Mind, page 170.
25. ^ B. Alan Wallace, The
bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus
Publishing Company, 1998, page 92. Wallace translates both as “the first
proximate meditative stabilization”.
26. ^ Tse-fu Kuan, Mindfulness
in Early Buddhism: New Approaches Through Psychology and Textual Analysis of
Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources. Routledge, 2008, pages 65-67.
27. ^ Venerable Sujivo, Access
and Fixed Concentration. Vipassana Tribune, Vol 4 No 2, July 1996, Buddhist
Wisdom Centre, Malaysia. Available here.
28. ^ Nathan Katz, Buddhist
Images of Human Perfection: The Arahant of the Sutta Piṭaka
Compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahāsiddha. Motilal Banarsidass, 1990,
page 78.
29. ^ Vishvapani (rev.) (1997).
Review: Origin of Buddhist Meditation . Retrieved 2011-2-17 from “Western
Buddhist Review” at http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol5/the-origin-of-buddhist-meditation.html.
30. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, pages 41, 56.
31. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 49.
32. ^ a b Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 42.
33. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 39.
34. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 41.
35. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 35.
36. ^ M II.228.16 ff according to
the PTS numbering.
37. ^ a b Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 43.
38. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 44.
39. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 99.
40. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 44, see also 45-49.
41. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, pages 44-45, see also Noa Ronkin, Early
Buddhist Metaphysics. Routledge 2005, page 196.
42. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 50.
43. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 29.
44. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 56.
45. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin
of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, pages 29-31.
46. ^ Henepola Gunaratana, The
Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. [1].
47. ^ Mindfulness, Bliss, and
Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook. (2006). Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-275-7.
48. ^ Nanamoli Bhikkhu, The
Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Wisdom Publications,1995, page 1070.
49. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
50. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
51. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
52. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
53. ^ Mindfulness, Bliss, and
Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook. (2006). Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-275-7.
54. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
55. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
56. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
57. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
58. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
59. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
60. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
61. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.)
(2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the
Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
62. ^ Walshe, Maurice (trans.)
(1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
63. ^ Ajahn Sujato, A History
of Mindfulness. Santipada Publications, page 97. Digital version available
online: [2].
64. ^ Ajahn Sujato, A History
of Mindfulness. Santipada Publications, page 98. Digital version available
online: [3].
65. ^ Luk, Charles. The
Secrets of Chinese Meditation. 1964. p. 11
66. ^ Nan, Huai-Chin. To Realize
Enlightenment: Practice of the Cultivation Path. 1994. p. 1
67. ^ Peter N. Gregory, Traditions
of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism. University of Hawaii Press, 1986, page
27.
68. ^ B. Alan Wallace, The
Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind. Wisdom
Publications, 2006, page xii.[4]
69. ^ a b c d Sheng Yen. Orthodox
Chinese Buddhism. North Atlantic Books. 2007. p. 122
70. ^ a b Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. p. 85
71. ^ a b Nan, Huai-Chin. Diamond
Sutra Explained. 2004. p. 60
72. ^ Sheng Yen. Orthodox
Chinese Buddhism. North Atlantic Books. 2007. pp. 122-124
73. ^ Roderick S. Bucknell and
Martin Stuart-Fox, The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist
Meditation and Symbolism. Routledge, 1995, pages 49-50.
74. ^ Hsuan Hua. The Chan Handbook.
2004. pp. 85-86
75. ^ Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. p. 44
76. ^ Nan, Huai-Chin. Working
Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice. 1993. p. 132
77. ^ Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. p. 86
78. ^ Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. pp. 86-87
79. ^ a b c Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. p. 87
80. ^ a b Nan, Huai-Chin. Working Toward
Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice. 1993. p. 135
81. ^ a b Hsuan Hua. The Chan
Handbook. 2004. p. 88
82. ^ a b B. Alan Wallace, The
bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus
Publishing Company, 1998, pages 215-216.
83. ^ Study and Practice of
Meditation: Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless
Absorptions by Leah Zahler. Snow Lion Publications: 2009 pg 264-5
84. ^ B. Alan Wallace, The
Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind. Wisdom
Publications, 2006, page xii.
85. ^ Hagerty et al 2008,
“EEG Power and Coherence Analysis of an Expert Meditator in the Eight
Jhanas” [5]
86. ^ Leigh Brasington 2010
“The Neurological Correlates of the Jhanas. A Tentative Hypothesis” [6]
[edit]
External links
- Henepola
Gunaratana, The Jhana
In Theravada Buddhist Meditation - Ajahn
Brahmavamso, Travelogue
to the four Jhanas - Bhikkhu
Isidatta, Reflecting
on the four Jhanas - Leigh
Brasington, Interpretations
of the Jhanas - Tse-fu
Kuan, Clarification
on Feelings in Buddhist Dhyāna/Jhāna Meditation - Most Ven.Vimalaramsi Mahāthera,
MN 111 One
by One as They Occurred - Anupada Sutta.
Dhamma-Talks on the Anupada-Sutta. This provides a highly detailed account
of the progression through the jhānas, - Ajahn
Brahmavamso, The Jhanas - Bhikkhu
Isidatta, Surfing on
the Wave of Bliss - “The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist
Meditation,”
thesis by Ven. Henepola
Gunaratana,
published by BPS as Wheel
351/353 (1988). (See also ATI version.) - “Jhana” (2005),
descriptions and similes from the Pali Canon’s Anguttara
Nikaya
and Dhammapada, by John
T. Bullitt. - “Jhanas Advice” page about
the Jhanas as taught by Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, book and free talks available
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html
The Jhanas in
Theravada Buddhist Meditation
by
Henepola
Gunaratana
Contents
- The Moral Foundation for
Jhana - The Good Friend and the
Subject of Meditation - Choosing a Suitable Dwelling
Factors
Supramundane
Disciples
Abbreviations
PTS = Pali Text Society edition
BBS = Burmese Buddhasasana Samiti edition
A. …. Anguttara Nikaya (PTS)
D. …. Digha Nikaya (PTS)
Dhs. …. Dhammasangani (BBS)
Dhs.A. …. Dhammasangani Atthakatha = Atthasalini (BBS)
M. …. Majjhima Nikaya (PTS)
M.A. …. Majjhima Nikaya Atthakatha (BBS)
Miln. …. Milindapanha (PTS)
PP. …. Path of Purification (translation of Visuddhimagga, by Bhikkhu
Ñanamoli; Kandy: BPS, 1975)
S. …. Samyutta Nikaya (PTS)
SA. …. Samyutta Nikaya Atthakatha (BBS)
ST. …. Samyutta Nikaya Tika (BBS)
Vbh. …. Vibhanga (PTS)
Vin.A. …. Vinaya Atthakatha (BBS)
Vism. …. Visuddhimagga (PTS)
Vism.T. …. Visuddhimagga Tika (BBS)
1.
Introduction
The Doctrinal Context of
Jhana
The Buddha says that just as in the great ocean there is
but one taste, the taste of salt, so in his doctrine and discipline there is
but one taste, the taste of freedom. The taste of freedom that pervades the
Buddha’s teaching is the taste of spiritual freedom, which from the Buddhist
perspective means freedom from suffering. In the process leading to deliverance
from suffering, meditation is the means of generating the inner awakening
required for liberation. The methods of meditation taught in the Theravada
Buddhist tradition are based on the Buddha’s own experience, forged by him in
the course of his own quest for enlightenment. They are designed to re-create
in the disciple who practices them the same essential enlightenment that the
Buddha himself attained when he sat beneath the Bodhi tree, the awakening to
the Four Noble Truths.
The various subjects and methods of meditation expounded
in the Theravada Buddhist scriptures — the Pali canon and its commentaries —
divide into two inter-related systems. One is called the development of
serenity (samathabhavana), the other the development of insight (vipassanabhavana).
The former also goes under the name of development of concentration (samadhibhavana),
the latter the development of wisdom (paññabhavana). The practice of
serenity meditation aims at developing a calm, concentrated, unified mind as a
means of experiencing inner peace and as a basis for wisdom. The practice of
insight meditation aims at gaining a direct understanding of the real nature of
phenomena. Of the two, the development of insight is regarded by Buddhism as
the essential key to liberation, the direct antidote to the ignorance
underlying bondage and suffering. Whereas serenity meditation is recognized as
common to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist contemplative disciplines, insight
meditation is held to be the unique discovery of the Buddha and an unparalleled
feature of his path. However, because the growth of insight presupposes a
certain degree of concentration, and serenity meditation helps to achieve this,
the development of serenity also claims an incontestable place in the Buddhist
meditative process. Together the two types of meditation work to make the mind
a fit instrument for enlightenment. With his mind unified by means of the
development of serenity, made sharp and bright by the development of insight,
the meditator can proceed unobstructed to reach the end of suffering, Nibbana.
Pivotal to both systems of meditation, though belonging
inherently to the side of serenity, is a set of meditative attainments called
the jhanas. Though translators have offered various renderings of this
word, ranging from the feeble “musing” to the misleading
“trance” and the ambiguous “meditation,” we prefer to leave
the word untranslated and to let its meaning emerge from its contextual usages.
From these it is clear that the jhanas are states of deep mental unification
which result from the centering of the mind upon a single object with such
power of attention that a total immersion in the object takes place. The early
suttas speak of four jhanas, named simply after their numerical position in the
series: the first jhana, the second jhana, the third jhana and the forth jhana.
In the suttas the four repeatedly appear each described by a standard formula
which we will examine later in detail.
The importance of the jhanas in the Buddhist path can
readily be gauged from the frequency with which they are mentioned throughout
the suttas. The jhanas figure prominently both in the Buddha’s own experience
and in his exhortation to disciples. In his childhood, while attending an
annual plowing festival, the future Buddha spontaneously entered the first
jhana. It was the memory of this childhood incident, many years later after his
futile pursuit of austerities, that revealed to him the way to enlightenment
during his period of deepest despondency (M.i, 246-47). After taking his seat
beneath the Bodhi tree, the Buddha entered the four jhanas immediately before
direction his mind to the threefold knowledge that issued in his enlightenment
(M.i.247-49). Throughout his active career the four jhanas remained “his
heavenly dwelling” (D.iii,220) to which he resorted in order to live
happily here and now. His understanding of the corruption, purification and
emergence in the jhanas and other meditative attainments is one of the
Tathagata’s ten powers which enable him to turn the matchless wheel of the
Dhamma (M.i,70). Just before his passing away the Buddha entered the jhanas in
direct and reverse order, and the passing away itself took place directly from
the fourth jhana (D.ii,156).
The Buddha is constantly seen in the suttas encouraging
his disciples to develop jhana. The four jhanas are invariably included in the
complete course of training laid down for disciples.[1]
They figure in the training as the discipline of higher consciousness (adhicittasikkha),
right concentration (sammasamadhi) of the Noble Eightfold Path, and the
faculty and power of concentration (samadhindriya, samadhibala). Though
a vehicle of dry insight can be found, indications are that this path is not an
easy one, lacking the aid of the powerful serenity available to the
practitioner of jhana. The way of the jhana attainer seems by comparison
smoother and more pleasurable (A.ii,150-52). The Buddha even refers to the four
jhanas figuratively as a kind of Nibbana: he calls them immediately visible
Nibbana, factorial Nibbana, Nibbana here and now (A.iv,453-54).
To attain the jhanas, the meditator must begin by
eliminating the unwholesome mental states obstructing inner collectedness,
generally grouped together as the five hindrances (pañcanivarana):
sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry and doubt.[2]
The mind’s absorption on its object is brought about by five opposing mental
states — applied thought, sustained thought, rapture, happiness and one
pointedness[3]
— called the jhana factors (jhanangani) because they lift the mind to
the level of the first jhana and remain there as its defining components.
After reaching the first jhana the ardent meditator can go
on to reach the higher jhanas, which is done by eliminating the coarser factors
in each jhana. Beyond the four jhanas lies another fourfold set of higher
meditative states which deepen still further the element of serenity. These
attainments (aruppa), are the base of boundless space, the base of
boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception.[4]
In the Pali commentaries these come to be called the four immaterial jhanas
(arupajhana), the four preceding states being renamed for the sake of
clarity, the four fine-material jhanas (rupajhana). Often the two sets
are joined together under the collective title of the eight jhanas or the eight
attainments (atthasamapattiyo).
The four jhanas and the four immaterial attainments appear
initially as mundane states of deep serenity pertaining to the preliminary
stage of the Buddhist path, and on this level they help provide the base of
concentration needed for wisdom to arise. But the four jhanas again reappear in
a later stage in the development of the path, in direct association with
liberating wisdom, and they are then designated the supramundane (lokuttara)
jhanas. These supramundane jhanas are the levels of concentration
pertaining to the four degrees of enlightenment experience called the
supramundane paths (magga) and the stages of liberation resulting from
them, the four fruits (phala).
Finally, even after full liberation is achieved, the
mundane jhanas can still remain as attainments available to the fully liberated
person, part of his untrammeled contemplative experience.
Etymology of Jhana
The great Buddhist commentator Buddhaghosa traces the Pali
word “jhana” (Skt. dhyana) to two verbal forms. One, the
etymologically correct derivation, is the verb jhayati, meaning to think
or meditate; the other is a more playful derivation, intended to illuminate its
function rather than its verbal source, from the verb jhapeti meaning to
burn up. He explains: “It burns up opposing states, thus it is jhana”
(Vin.A. i, 116), the purport being that jhana “burns up” or destroys
the mental defilements preventing the developing the development of serenity
and insight.
In the same passage Buddhaghosa says that jhana has the
characteristic mark of contemplation (upanijjhana). Contemplation, he
states, is twofold: the contemplation of the object and the contemplation of
the characteristics of phenomena. The former is exercised by the eight
attainments of serenity together with their access, since these contemplate the
object used as the basis for developing concentration; for this reason these
attainments are given the name “jhana” in the mainstream of Pali
meditative exposition. However, Buddhaghosa also allows that the term
“jhana” can be extended loosely to insight (vipassana), the
paths and the fruits on the ground that these perform the work of contemplating
the characteristics of things the three marks of impermanence, suffering and
non-self in the case of insight, Nibbana in the case of the paths and fruits.
In brief the twofold meaning of jhana as
“contemplation” and “burning up” can be brought into
connection with the meditative process as follows. By fixing his mind on the
object the meditator reduces and eliminates the lower mental qualities such as
the five hindrances and promotes the growth of the higher qualities such as the
jhana factors, which lead the mind to complete absorption in the object. Then
by contemplating the characteristics of phenomena with insight, the meditator
eventually reaches the supramundane jhana of the four paths, and with this
jhana he burns up the defilements and attains the liberating experience of the
fruits.
Jhana and Samadhi
In the vocabulary of Buddhist meditation the word
“jhana” is closely connected with another word, “samadhi”
generally rendered by “concentration.” Samadhi derives from
the prefixed verbal root sam-a-dha, meaning to collect or to bring
together, thus suggesting the concentration or unification of the mind. The
word “samadhi” is almost interchangeable with the word “samatha,”
serenity, though the latter comes from a different root, sam, meaning to
become calm.
In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness,
(cittass’ekaggata M.i,301) and this definition is followed through
rigorously in the Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma treats one-pointedness as a
distinct mental factor present in every state of consciousness, exercising the
function of unifying the mind on its object. From this strict psychological
standpoint samadhi can be present in unwholesome states of consciousness
as well as in wholesome an neutral states. In its unwholesome forms it is
called “wrong concentration” (micchasamadhi), In its wholesome
forms “right concentration” (sammasamadhi).
In expositions on the practice of meditation, however, samadhi
is limited to one-pointedness of mind (Vism.84-85; PP.84-85), and even here we
can understand from the context that the word means only the wholesome
one-pointedness involved in the deliberate transmutation of the mind to a
heightened level of calm. Thus Buddhaghosa explains samadhi
etymologically as “the centering of consciousness and consciousness
concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object… the state in virtue of
which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single
object, undistracted and unscattered” (Vism.84-85; PP.85).
However, despite the commentator’s bid for consistency,
the word samadhi is used in the Pali literature on meditation with
varying degrees of specificity of meaning. In the narrowest sense, as defined
by Buddhaghosa, it denotes the particular mental factor responsible for the
concentrating of the mind, namely, one-pointedness. In a wider sense it can
signify the states of unified consciousness that result from the strengthening
of concentration, i.e., the meditative attainments of serenity and the stages
leading up to them. And in a still wider sense the word samadhi can be
applied to the method of practice used to produce and cultivate these refined
states of concentration, here being equivalent to the development of serenity.
It is in the second sense that samadhi and jhana
come closest in meaning. The Buddha explains right concentration as the four
jhanas (D.ii,313), and in doing so allows concentration to encompass the
meditative attainments signified by the jhanas. However, even though jhana and samadhi
can overlap in denotation, certain differences in their suggested and
contextual meanings prevent unqualified identification of the two terms. First
behind the Buddha’s use of the jhana formula to explain right concentration
lies a more technical understanding of the terms. According to this
understanding samadhi can be narrowed down in range to signify only one
mental factor, the most prominent in the jhana, namely, one-pointedness, while
the word “jhana” itself must be seen as encompassing the state of
consciousness in its entirety, or at least the whole group of mental factors
individuating that meditative state as a jhana.
In the second place, when samadhi is considered in
its broader meaning it involves a wider range of reference than jhana. The Pali
exegetical tradition recognizes three levels of samadhi: preliminary
concentration (parikammasamadhi), which is produced as a result of the
meditator’s initial efforts to focus his mind on his meditation subject; access
concentration (upacarasamadhi), marked by the suppression of the five
hindrances, the manifestation of the jhana factors, and the appearance of a
luminous mental replica of the meditation object called the counterpart sign (patibhaganimitta);
and absorption concentration (appanasamadhi), the complete immersion of
the mind in its object effected by the full maturation of the jhana factors.[5]
Absorption concentration comprises the eight attainments, the four immaterial
attainments, and to this extent jhana and samadhi coincide. However, samadhi
still has a broader scope than jhana, since it includes not only the jhanas
themselves but also the two preparatory degrees of concentration leading up to
them. Further, samadhi also covers a still different type of concentration
called momentary concentration (khanikasamadhi), the mobile mental
stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing
flow of phenomena.
2. The
Preparation for Jhana
The jhanas do not arise out of a void but in dependence on
the right conditions. They come to growth only when provided with the
nutriments conductive to their development. Therefore, prior to beginning
meditation, the aspirant to the jhanas must prepare a groundwork for his
practice by fulfilling certain preliminary requirements. He first must endeavor
to purify his moral virtue, sever the outer impediments to practice, and place
himself under a qualified teacher who will assign him a suitable meditation
subject and explain to him the methods of developing it. After learning these
the disciple must then seek out a congenial dwelling and diligently strive for
success. In this chapter we will examine in order each of the preparatory steps
that have to be fulfilled before commencing to develop jhana.
The Moral Foundation for
Jhana
A disciple aspiring to the jhanas first has to lay a solid
foundation of moral discipline. Moral purity is indispensable to meditative
progress for several deeply psychological reasons. It is needed first, in order
to safeguard against the danger of remorse, the nagging sense of guilt that
arises when the basic principles of morality are ignored or deliberately
violated. Scrupulous conformity to virtuous rules of conduct protects the
meditator from this danger disruptive to inner calm, and brings joy and
happiness when the meditator reflects upon the purity of his conduct (see
A.v,1-7).
A second reason a moral foundation is needed for
meditation follows from an understanding of the purpose of concentration.
Concentration, in the Buddhist discipline, aims at providing a base for wisdom
by cleansing the mind of the dispersive influence of the defilements. But in
order for the concentration exercises to effectively combat the defilements,
the coarser expressions of the latter through bodily and verbal action first
have to be checked. Moral transgressions being invariably motivated by
defilements — by greed, hatred and delusion — when a person acts in violation
of the precepts of morality he excites and reinforces the very same mental
factors his practice of meditation is intended to eliminate. This involves him
in a crossfire of incompatible aims which renders his attempts at mental
purification ineffective. The only way he can avoid frustration in his endeavor
to purify the mind of its subtler defilements is to prevent the unwholesome
inner impulses from breathing out in the coarser form of unwholesome bodily and
verbal deeds. Only when he establishes control over the outer expression of the
defilements can he turn to deal with them inwardly as mental obsessions that
appear in the process of meditation.
The practice of moral discipline consists negatively in
abstinence from immoral actions of body and speech and positively in the
observance of ethical principles promoting peace within oneself and harmony in
one’s relations with others. The basic code of moral discipline taught by the
Buddha for the guidance of his lay followers is the five precepts: abstinence
from taking life, from stealing, from sexual misconduct, from false speech, and
from intoxicating drugs and drinks. These principles are bindings as minimal
ethical obligations for all practitioners of the Buddhist path, and within
their bounds considerable progress in meditation can be made. However, those
aspiring to reach the higher levels of jhanas and to pursue the path further to
the stages of liberation, are encouraged to take up the more complete moral
discipline pertaining to the life of renunciation. Early Buddhism is
unambiguous in its emphasis on the limitations of household life for following
the path in its fullness and perfection. Time and again the texts say that the
household life is confining, a “path for the dust of passion,” while
the life of homelessness is like open space. Thus a disciple who is fully
intent upon making rapid progress towards Nibbana will when outer conditions
allow for it, “shave off his hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and
go forth from the home life into homelessness” (M.i,179).
The moral training for the bhikkhus or monks has been
arranged into a system called the fourfold purification of morality (catuparisuddhisila).[6]
The first component of this scheme, its backbone, consists in the morality
of restraint according to the Patimokkha, the code of 227 training precepts
promulgated by the Buddha to regulate the conduct of the Sangha or monastic
order. Each of these rules is in some way intended to facilitate control over
the defilements and to induce a mode of living marked by harmlessness,
contentment and simplicity. The second aspect of the monk’s moral discipline is
restraint of the senses, by which the monk maintains close watchfulness
over his mind as he engages in sense contacts so that he does not give rise to
desire for pleasurable objects and aversion towards repulsive ones. Third, the
monk is to live by a purified livelihood, obtaining his basic requisites
such as robes, food, lodgings and medicines in ways consistent with his
vocation. The fourth factor of the moral training is proper use of the
requisites, which means that the monk should reflect upon the purposes for
which he makes use of his requisites and should employ them only for
maintaining his health and comfort, not for luxury and enjoyment.
After establishing a foundation of purified morality, the
aspirant to meditation is advised to cut off any outer impediments (palibodha)
that may hinder his efforts to lead a contemplative life. These impediments are
numbered as ten: a dwelling, which becomes an impediment for those who allow
their minds to become preoccupied with its upkeep or with its appurtenances; a
family of relatives or supporters with whom the aspirant may become emotionally
involved in ways that hinder his progress; gains, which may bind the monk by
obligation to those who offer them; a class of students who must be instructed;
building work, which demands time and attention; travel; kin, meaning parents,
teachers, pupils or close friends; illness; the study of scriptures; and
supernormal powers, which are an impediment to insight (Vism.90-97; PP.91-98).
The Good Friend and the
Subject of Meditation
The path of practice leading to the jhanas is an arduous course
involving precise techniques and skillfulness is needed in dealing with the
pitfalls that lie along the way. The knowledge of how to attain the jhanas has
been transmitted through a lineage of teachers going back to the time of the
Buddha himself. A prospective meditator is advised to avail himself of the
living heritage of accumulated knowledge and experience by placing himself
under the care of a qualified teacher, described as a “good friend” (kalyanamitta),
one who gives guidance and wise advice rooted in his own practice and
experience. On the basis of either of the power of penetrating others minds, or
by personal observation, or by questioning, the teacher will size up the
temperament of his new pupil and then select a meditation subject for him
appropriate to his temperament.
The various meditation subjects that the Buddha prescribed
for the development of serenity have been collected in the commentaries into a
set called the forty kammatthana. This word means literally a place of
work, and is applied to the subject of meditation as the place where the
meditator undertakes the work of meditation. The forty meditation subjects are
distributed into seven categories, enumerated in the Visuddhimagga as
follows: ten kasinas, ten kinds of foulness, ten recollections, four divine
abidings, four immaterial states, one perception, and one defining.[7]
A kasina is a device representing a particular quality
used as a support for concentration. The ten kasinas are those of earth, water,
fire and air; four color kasinas — blue, yellow, red and white; the light
kasina and the limited space kasina. The kasina can be either a naturally
occurring form of the element or color chosen, or an artificially produced
device such as a disk that the meditator can use at his convenience in his
meditation quarters.
The ten kinds of foulness are ten stages in the
decomposition of a corpse: the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut-up,
the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the
worm-infested and a skeleton. The primary purpose of these meditations is to
reduce sensual lust by gaining a clear perception of the repulsiveness of the
body.
The ten recollections are the recollections of the Buddha,
the Dhamma, the Sangha, morality, generosity and the deities, mindfulness of
death, mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of breathing, and the recollection
of peace. The first three are devotional contemplations on the sublime
qualities of the “Three Jewels,” the primary objects of Buddhist
virtues and on the deities inhabiting the heavenly worlds, intended principally
for those still intent on a higher rebirth. Mindfulness of death is reflection
on the inevitability of death, a constant spur to spiritual exertion.
Mindfulness of the body involves the mental dissection of the body into
thirty-two parts, undertaken with a view to perceiving its unattractiveness.
Mindfulness of breathing is awareness of the in-and-out movement of the breath,
perhaps the most fundamental of all Buddhist meditation subjects. And the
recollection of peace is reflection on the qualities of Nibbana.
The four divine abidings (brahmavihara) are the
development of boundless loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and
equanimity. These meditations are also called the “immeasurables” (appamañña)
because they are to be developed towards all sentient beings without
qualification or exclusiveness.
The four immaterial states are the base of boundless
space, the base of boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the
base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. These are the objects leading to
the corresponding meditative attainments, the immaterial jhanas.
The one perception is the perception of the repulsiveness
of food. The one defining is the defining of the four elements, that is, the
analysis of the physical body into the elemental modes of solidity, fluidity,
heat and oscillation.
The forty meditation subjects are treated in the
commentarial texts from two important angles — one their ability to induce
different levels of concentration, the other their suitability for differing
temperaments. Not all meditation subjects are equally effective in inducing the
deeper levels of concentration. They are first distinguished on the basis of
their capacity for inducing only access concentration or for inducing full
absorption; those capable of inducing absorption are then distinguished further
according to their ability to induce the different levels of jhana.
Of the forty subjects, ten are capable of leading only to
access concentration: eight recollections — i.e., all except mindfulness of the
body and mindfulness of breathing — plus the perception of repulsiveness in
nutriment and the defining of the four elements. These, because they are
occupied with a diversity of qualities and involve and active application of
discursive thought, cannot lead beyond access. The other thirty subjects can all
lead to absorption.
The ten kasinas and mindfulness of breathing, owing to
their simplicity and freedom from thought construction, can lead to all four
jhanas. The ten kinds of foulness and mindfulness of the body lead only to the
first jhana, being limited because the mind can only hold onto them with the
aid of applied thought (vitakka) which is absent in the second and
higher jhanas. The first three divine abidings can induce the lower three
jhanas but not the fourth, since they arise in association with pleasant
feeling, while the divine abiding of equanimity occurs only at the level of the
fourth jhana, where neutral feeling gains ascendency. The four immaterial
states conduce to the respective immaterial jhanas corresponding to their
names.
The forty subjects are also differentiated according to
their appropriateness for different character types. Six main character types
are recognized — the greedy, the hating, the deluded, the faithful, the
intelligent and the speculative — this oversimplified typology being taken only
as a pragmatic guideline which in practice admits various shades and
combinations. The ten kind of foulness and mindfulness of the body, clearly
intended to attenuate sensual desire, are suitable for those of greedy
temperament. Eight subjects — the four divine abidings and four color kasinas —
are appropriate for the hating temperament. Mindfulness of breathing is
suitable for those of the deluded and the speculative temperament. The first
six recollections are appropriate for the faithful temperament. Four subjects —
mindfulness of death, the recollection of peace, the defining of the four
elements, and the perception of the repulsiveness in nutriment — are especially
effective for those of intelligent temperament. The remaining six kasinas and
the immaterial states are suitable for all kinds of temperaments. But the
kasinas should be limited in size for one of speculative temperament and large
in size for one of deluded temperament.
Immediately after giving this breakdown Buddhaghosa adds a
proviso to prevent misunderstanding. He states that this division by way of
temperament is made on the basis of direct opposition and complete suitability,
but actually there is no wholesome form of meditation that does not suppress
the defilements and strengthen the virtuous mental factors. Thus an individual
meditator may be advised to meditate on foulness to abandon lust, on
loving-kindness to abandon hatred, on breathing to cut off discursive thought,
and on impermanence to eliminate the conceit “I am” (A.iv,358).
Choosing a Suitable
Dwelling
The teacher assigns a meditation subject to his pupil
appropriate to his character and explains the methods of developing it. He can
teach it gradually to a pupil who is going to remain in close proximity to him,
or in detail to one who will go to practice it elsewhere. If the disciple is
not going to stay with his teacher he must be careful to select a suitable
place for meditation. The texts mention eighteen kinds of monasteries
unfavorable to the development of jhana: a large monastery, a new one, a
dilapidated one, one near a road, one with a pond, leaves, flowers or fruits,
one sought after by many people, one in cities, among timber of fields, where
people quarrel, in a port, in border lands, on a frontier, a haunted place, and
one without access to a spiritual teacher (Vism. 118-121; PP122-125).
The factors which make a dwelling favorable to meditation
are mentioned by the Buddha himself. If should not be too far from or too near
a village that can be relied on as an alms resort, and should have a clear
path: it should be quiet and secluded; it should be free from rough weather and
from harmful insects and animals; one should be able to obtain one’s physical
requisites while dwelling there; and the dwelling should provide ready access
to learned elders and spiritual friends who can be consulted when problems
arise in meditation (A.v,15). The types of dwelling places commended by the
Buddha most frequently in the suttas as conductive to the jhanas are a secluded
dwelling in the forest, at the foot of a tree, on a mountain, in a cleft, in a
cave, in a cemetery, on a wooded flatland, in the open air, or on a heap of
straw (M.i,181). Having found a suitable dwelling and settled there, the
disciple should maintain scrupulous observance of the rules of discipline, He
should be content with his simple requisites, exercise control over his sense
faculties, be mindful and discerning in all activities, and practice meditation
diligently as he was instructed. It is at this point that he meets the first
great challenge of his contemplative life, the battle with the five hindrances.
3. The
First Jhana and its Factors
The attainment of any jhana comes about through a twofold
process of development. On one side the states obstructive to it, called its factors
of abandonment, have to be eliminated, on the other the states composing it,
called its factors of possession, have to be acquired. In the case of the first
jhana the factors of abandonment are the five hindrances and the factors of
possession the five basic jhana factors. Both are alluded to in the standard
formula for the first jhana, the opening phrase referring to the abandonment of
the hindrances and the subsequent portion enumerating the jhana factors:
Quite secluded
from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind, he enters and
dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied thought and
sustained thought with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. (M.i,1818;
Vbh.245)
In this chapter we will first discuss the five hindrances
and their abandonment, then we will investigate the jhana factors both
individually and by way of their combined contribution to the attainment of the
first jhana. We will close the chapter with some remarks on the ways of
perfecting the first jhana, a necessary preparation for the further development
of concentration.
The Abandoning of the
Hindrances
The five hindrances (pañcanivarana) are sensual
desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt. This
group, the principal classification the Buddha uses for the obstacles to
meditation, receives its name because its five members hinder and envelop the
mind, preventing meditative development in the two spheres of serenity and
insight. Hence the Buddha calls them “obstructions, hindrances,
corruptions of the mind which weaken wisdom”(S.v,94).
The hindrance of sensual desire (kamachanda) is
explained as desire for the “five strands of sense pleasure,” that
is, for pleasant forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangibles. It ranges from
subtle liking to powerful lust. The hindrance of ill will (byapada)
signifies aversion directed towards disagreeable persons or things. It can vary
in range from mild annoyance to overpowering hatred. Thus the first two
hindrances correspond to the first two root defilements, greed and hate. The
third root defilement, delusion, is not enumerated separately among the
hindrances but can be found underlying the remaining three.
Sloth and torpor is a compound hindrance made up of two
components: sloth (thina), which is dullness, inertia or mental
stiffness; and torpor (middha), which is indolence or drowsiness.
Restlessness and worry is another double hindrance, restlessness (uddhacca)
being explained as excitement, agitation or disquietude, worry (kukkucca)
as the sense of guilt aroused by moral transgressions. Finally, the hindrance
of doubt (vicikiccha) is explained as uncertainty with regard to the
Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha and the training.
The Buddha offers two sets of similes to illustrate the
detrimental effect of the hindrances. The first compares the five hindrances to
five types of calamity: sensual desire is like a debt, ill will like a disease,
sloth and torpor like imprisonment, restless and worry like slavery, and doubt
like being lost on a desert road. Release from the hindrances is to be seen as
freedom from debt, good health, release from prison, emancipation from slavery,
and arriving at a place of safety (D.i,71-73). The second set of similes
compares the hindrances to five kinds of impurities affecting a bowl of water,
preventing a keen-sighted man from seeing his own reflection as it really is.
Sensual desire is like a bowl of water mixed with brightly colored paints, ill
will like a bowl of boiling water, sloth and torpor like water covered by mossy
plants, restlessness and worry like water blown into ripples by the wind, and
doubt like muddy water. Just as the keen-eyed man would not be able to see his
reflection in these five kinds of water, so one whose mind is obsessed by the
five hindrances does not know and see as it is his own good, the good of others
or the good of both (S.v,121-24). Although there are numerous defilements opposed
to the first jhana the five hindrances alone are called its factors of
abandoning. One reason according to the Visuddhimagga, is that the
hindrances are specifically obstructive to jhana, each hindrance impeding in
its own way the mind’s capacity for concentration.
The mind affected
through lust by greed for varied objective fields does not become concentrated
on an object consisting in unity, or being overwhelmed by lust, it does not
enter on the way to abandoning the sense-desire element. When pestered by ill
will towards an object, it does not occur uninterruptedly. When overcome by
stiffness and torpor, it is unwieldy. When seized by agitation and worry, it is
unquiet and buzzes about. When stricken by uncertainty, it fails to mount the
way to accomplish the attainment of jhana. So it is these only that are called
factors of abandonment because they are specifically obstructive to
jhana.(Vism.146: PP.152)
A second reason for confining the first jhana’s factors of
abandoning to the five hindrances is to permit a direct alignment to be made
between the hindrances and the jhanic factors. Buddhaghosa states that the
abandonment of the five hindrances alone is mentioned in connection with jhana
because the hindrances are the direct enemies of the five jhana factors, which
the latter must eliminate and abolish. To support his point the commentator
cites a passage demonstrating a one-to-one correspondence between the jhana
factors and the hindrances: one-pointedness is opposed to sensual desire,
rapture to ill will, applied thought to sloth and torpor, happiness to
restlessness and worry, and sustained thought to doubt (Vism. 141; PP.147).[8]
Thus each jhana factor is seen as having the specific task of eliminating a
particular obstruction to the jhana and to correlate these obstructions with
the five jhana factors they are collected into a scheme of five hindrances.
The standard passage describing the attainment of the
first jhana says that the jhana is entered upon by one who is “secluded
from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind.” The Visuddhimagga
explains that there are three kinds of seclusion relevant to the present
context — namely, bodily seclusion (kayaviveka), mental seclusion (cittaviveka),
and seclusion by suppression (vikkhambhanaviveka) (Vism. 140; PP.145).
These three terms allude to two distinct sets of exegetical categories. The
first two belong to a threefold arrangement made up of bodily seclusion, mental
seclusion, and “seclusion from the substance” (upadhiviveka).
The first means physical withdrawal from active social engagement into a
condition of solitude for the purpose of devoting time and energy to spiritual
development. The second, which generally presupposes the first, means the
seclusion of the mind from its entanglement in defilements; it is in effect
equivalent to concentration of at least the access level. The third,
“seclusion from the substance,” is Nibbana, liberation from the
elements of phenomenal existence. The achievement of the first jhana does not
depend on the third, which is its outcome rather than prerequisite, but it does
require physical solitude and the separation of the mind from defilements, hence
bodily and mental seclusion. The third type of seclusion pertinent to the
context, seclusion by suppression, belongs to a different scheme generally
discussed under the heading of “abandonment” (pahana) rather
than “seclusion.” The type of abandonment required for the attainment
of jhana is abandonment by suppression, which means the removal of the
hindrances by force of concentration similar to the pressing down of weeds in a
pond by means of a porous pot.[9]
The work of overcoming the five hindrances is accomplished
through the gradual training (anupubbasikkha) which the Buddha has laid
down so often in the suttas, such as the Samaññaphala Sutta and the Culahatthipadopama
Sutta. The gradual training is a step-by-step process designed to lead the
practitioner gradually to liberation. The training begins with moral
discipline, the undertaking and observance of specific rules of conduct which
enable the disciple to control the coarser modes of bodily and verbal
misconduct through which the hindrances find an outlet. With moral discipline
as a basis, the disciple practices the restraint of the senses. He does not
seize upon the general appearances of the beguiling features of things, but
guards and masters his sense faculties so that sensual attractive and repugnant
objects no longer become grounds for desire and aversion. Then, endowed with
the self-restraint, he develops mindfulness and discernment (sati-sampajañña)
in all his activities and postures, examining everything he does with clear
awareness as to its purpose and suitability. He also cultivates contentment
with a minimum of robes, food, shelter and other requisites.
Once he has fulfilled these preliminaries the disciple is
prepared to go into solitude to develop the jhanas, and it is here that he
directly confronts the five hindrances. The elimination of the hindrances
requires that the meditator honestly appraises his own mind. When sensuality,
ill will and the other hindrances are present, he must recognize that they are
present and he must investigate the conditions that lead to their arising: the
latter he must scrupulously avoid. The meditator must also understand the
appropriate antidotes for each of the five hindrances. The Buddha says that all
the hindrances arise through unwise consideration (ayoniso manasikara)
and that they can be eliminated by wise consideration (yoniso manasikara).
Each hindrance, however, has its own specific antidote. Thus wise consideration
of the repulsive feature of things is the antidote to sensual desire; wise
consideration of loving-kindness counteracts ill will; wise consideration of
the elements of effort, exertion and striving opposes sloth and torpor; wise
consideration of tranquillity of mind removes restlessness and worry; and wise
consideration of the real qualities of things eliminates doubt (S.v,105-106).
Having given up
covetousness [i.e., sensual desire] with regard to the world, he dwells with a
heart free of covetousness; he cleanses his mind from covetousness. Having
given up the blemish of ill will, he dwells without ill will; friendly and
compassionate towards all living beings, he cleanses his mind from the
blemishes of ill will. Having given up sloth and torpor, he dwells free from
sloth and torpor, in the perception of light; mindful and clearly
comprehending, he cleanses his mind from sloth and torpor. Having given up
restlessness and worry, he dwells without restlessness; his mind being calmed
within, he cleanses it from restlessness and worry. Having given up doubt, he
dwells as one who has passed beyond doubt; being free from uncertainty about
wholesome things, he cleanses his mind from doubt…
And when he sees himself free of these five hindrances,
joy arises; in him who is joyful, rapture arises; in him whose mind is
enraptured, the body is stilled; the body being stilled, he feels happiness;
and a happy mind finds concentration. Then, quite secluded from sense
pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind, he enters and dwells in
the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought,
with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. (D.i,73-74)[10]
The Factors of the First
Jhana
The first jhana possesses five component factors: applied
thought, sustained thought, rapture, happiness and one-pointedness of mind.
Four of these are explicitly mentioned in the formula for the jhana; the fifth,
one-pointedness, is mentioned elsewhere in the suttas but is already suggested
by the notion of jhana itself. These five states receive their name, first
because they lead the mind from the level of ordinary consciousness to the
jhanic level, and second because they constitute the first jhana and give it
its distinct definition.
The jhana factors are first aroused by the meditator’s
initial efforts to concentrate upon one of the prescribed objects for
developing jhana. As he fixes his mind on the preliminary object, such as a
kasina disk, a point is eventually reached where he can perceive the object as
clearly with his eyes closed as with them open. This visualized object is
called the learning sign (uggahanimitta). As he concentrates on the
learning sign, his efforts call into play the embryonic jhana factors, which
grow in force, duration and prominence as a result of the meditative exertion.
These factors, being incompatible with the hindrances, attenuate them, exclude
them, and hold them at bay. With continued practice the learning sign gives
rise to a purified luminous replica of itself called the counterpart sign (patibhaganimitta),
the manifestation of which marks the complete suppression of the hindrances and
the attainment of access concentration (upacarasamadhi). All three
events — the suppression of the hindrances, the arising of the counterpart
sign, and the attainment of access concentration — take place at precisely the
same moment, without interval (Vism. 126; PP.131). And though previously the
process of mental cultivation may have required the elimination of different
hindrances at different times, when access is achieved they all subside
together:
Simultaneously
with his acquiring the counterpart sign his lust is abandoned by suppression
owing to his giving no attention externally to sense desires (as object). And
owing to his abandoning of approval, ill will is abandoned too, as pus is with
the abandoning of blood. Likewise stiffness and torpor is abandoned through
exertion of energy, agitation and worry is abandoned through devotion to
peaceful things that cause no remorse; and uncertainty about the Master who
teaches the way, about the way, and about the fruit of the way, about the way,
and about the fruit of the way, is abandoned through the actual experience of
the distinction attained. So the five hindrances are abandoned. (Vism. 189;
PP.196)
Though the mental factors determinative of the first jhana
are present in access concentration, they do not as yet possess sufficient
strength to constitute the jhana, but are strong enough only to exclude the
hindrances. With continued practice, however, the nascent jhana factors grow in
strength until they are capable of issuing in jhana. Because of the
instrumental role these factors play both in the attainment and constitution of
the first jhana they are deserving of closer individual scrutiny.
Applied
Thought (vitakka)
The word vitakka frequently appears in the texts in
conjunction with the word vicara. The pair signify two interconnected
but distinct aspects of the thought process, and to bring out the difference
between them (as well as their common character), we translate the one as
applied thought and the other as sustained thought.
In both the suttas and the Abhidhamma applied thought is
defined as the application of the mind to its object (cetaso abhiniropana),
a function which the Atthasalini illustrates thus: “Just as someone
ascends the king’s palace in dependence on a relative of friend dear to the
king, so the mind ascends the object in dependence on applied thought”
(Dhs.A.157). This function of applying the mind to the object is common to the
wide variety of modes in which the mental factor of applied thought occurs, ranging
from sense discrimination to imagination, reasoning and deliberation and to the
practice of concentration culminating in the first jhana. Applied thought can
be unwholesome as in thoughts of sensual pleasure, ill will and cruelty, or
wholesome as in thoughts of renunciation, benevolence and compassion (M.i,116).
In jhana applied through is invariably wholesome and its
function of directing the mind upon its object stands forth with special
clarity. To convey this the Visuddhimagga explains that in jhana the function
of applied thought is “to strike at and thresh — for the meditator is
said, in virtue of it, to have the object struck at by applied thought,
threshed by applied thought” (Vism.142;PP148). The Milindapanha
makes the same point by defining applied thought as absorption (appana):
“Just as a carpenter drives a well-fashioned piece of wood into a joint,
so applied thought has the characteristic of absorption” (Miln.62).
The object of jhana into which vitakka drives the
mind and its concomitant states is the counterpart sign, which emerges from the
learning sign as the hindrances are suppressed and the mind enters access
concentration. The Visuddhimagga explains the difference between the two
signs thus:
In the learning
sign any fault in the kasina is apparent. But the counterpart sign appears as
if breaking out from the learning sign, and a hundred times, a thousand times
more purified, like a looking-glass disk drawn from its case, like a
mother-of-pearl dish well washed, like the moon’s disk coming out from behind a
cloud, like cranes against a thunder cloud. But it has neither color nor shape;
for if it had, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross, susceptible of
comprehension (by insight) and stamped with the three characteristics. But it
is not like that. For it is born only of perception in one who has obtained
concentration, being a mere mode of appearance (Vism. 125-26; PP.130)
The counterpart sign is the object of both access
concentration and jhana, which differ neither in their object nor in the
removal of the hindrances but in the strength of their respective jhana
factors. In the former the factors are still weak, not yet fully developed,
while in the jhana they are strong enough to make the mind fully absorbed in
the object. In this process applied thought is the factor primarily responsible
for directing the mind towards the counterpart sign and thrusting it in with
the force of full absorption.
Sustained
Thought (vicara)
Vicara seems to represent a more
developed phase of the thought process than vitakka. The commentaries
explain that it has the characteristic of “continued pressure” on the
object (Vim. 142; PP.148). Applied thought is described as the first impact of
the mind on the object, the gross inceptive phase of thought; sustained thought
is described as the act of anchoring the mind on the object, the subtle phase
of continued mental pressure. Buddhaghosa illustrates the difference between
the two with a series of similes. Applied thought is like striking a bell,
sustained thought like the ringing; applied thought is like a bee’s flying
towards a flower, sustained thought like its buzzing around the flower; applied
thought is like a compass pin that stays fixed to the center of a circle,
sustained thought like the pin that revolves around (Vism. 142-43; PP.148-49).
These similes make it clear that applied thought and
sustained thought functionally associated, perform different tasks. Applied
thought brings the mind to the object, sustained thought fixes and anchors it
there. Applied thought focuses the mind on the object, sustained thought
examines and inspects what is focused on. Applied thought brings a deepening of
concentration by again and again leading the mind back to the same object,
sustained thought sustains the concentration achieved by keeping the mind
anchored on that object.
Rapture
(piti)
The third factor present in the first jhana is piti,
usually translated as joy or rapture.[11]
In the suttas piti is sometimes said to arise from another quality
called pamojja, translated as joy or gladness, which springs up with the
abandonment of the five hindrances. When the disciple sees the five hindrances
abandoned in himself “gladness arises within him; thus gladdened, rapture
arises in him; and when he is rapturous his body becomes tranquil”
(D.i,73). Tranquillity in turn leads to happiness, on the basis of which the
mind becomes concentrated. Thus rapture precedes the actual arising of the
first jhana, but persists through the remaining stages up to the third jhana.
The Vibhanga defines piti as “gladness, joy,
joyfulness, mirth, merriment, exultation, exhilaration, and satisfaction of
mind” (Vbh. 257). The commentaries ascribe to it the characteristic of
endearing, the function of refreshing the body and mind or pervading with rapture,
and the manifestation as elation (Vism.143; PP.149). Shwe Zan Aung explains
that “piti abstracted means interest of varying degrees of
intensity, in an object felt as desirable or as calculated to bring
happiness.”[12]
When defined in terms of agency, piti is that which
creates interest in the object; when defined in terms of its nature it is the
interest in the object. Because it creates a positive interest in the object,
the jhana factor of rapture is able to counter and suppress the hindrance of
ill will, a state of aversion implying a negative evaluation of the object.
Rapture is graded into five categories: minor rapture,
momentary rapture, showering rapture, uplifting rapture and pervading rapture.[13]
Minor rapture is generally the first to appear in the progressive development
of meditation; it is capable of causing the hairs of the body to rise.
Momentary rapture, which is like lightning, comes next but cannot be sustained
for long. Showering rapture runs through the body in waves, producing a thrill
but without leaving a lasting impact. Uplifting rapture, which can cause
levitation, is more sustained but still tends to disturb concentration, The
form of rapture most conductive to the attainment of jhana is all-pervading
rapture, which is said to suffuse the whole body so that it becomes like a full
bladder or like a mountain cavern inundated with a mighty flood of water. The Visuddhimagga
states that what is intended by the jhana factor of rapture is this
all-pervading rapture “which is the root of absorption and comes by growth
into association with absorption” (Vism.144; PP.151)
Happiness
(sukha)
As a factor of the first jhana, sukha signifies
pleasant feeling. The word is explicitly defined in the sense by the Vibhanga
in its analysis of the first jhana: “Therein, what is happiness? Mental
pleasure and happiness born of mind-contact, the felt pleasure and happiness
born of mind-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of mind contact — this
is called ‘happiness’ ” (Vbh.257). The Visuddhimagga explains that
happiness in the first jhana has the characteristic of gratifying, the function
of intensifying associated states, and as manifestation, the rendering of aid
to its associated states (Vism. 145; PP.151).
Rapture and happiness link together in a very close
relationship, but though the two are difficult to distinguish, they are not
identical. Happiness is a feeling (vedana); rapture a mental formation
(sankhara). Happiness always accompanies rapture, so that when rapture is
present happiness must always be present; but rapture does not always accompany
happiness, for in the third jhana, as we will see, there is happiness but no
rapture. The Atthasalini, which explains rapture as “delight in the
attaining of the desired object” and happiness as “the enjoyment of
the taste of what is required,” illustrates the difference by means of a
simile:
Rapture is like a
weary traveler in the desert in summer, who hears of, or sees water of a shady
wood. Ease [happiness] is like his enjoying the water of entering the forest
shade. For a man who, traveling along the path through a great desert and
overcome by the heat, is thirsty and desirous of drink, if he saw a man on the
way, would ask ‘Where is water?’ The other would say, ‘Beyond the wood is a
dense forest with a natural lake. Go there, and you will get some.’ He, hearing
these words, would be glad and delighted and as he went would see lotus leaves,
etc., fallen on the ground and become more glad and delighted. Going onwards,
he would see men with wet clothes and hair, hear the sounds of wild fowl and
pea-fowl, etc., see the dense forest of green like a net of jewels growing by
the edge of the natural lake, he would see the water lily, the lotus, the white
lily, etc., growing in the lake, he would see the clear transparent water, he
would be all the more glad and delighted, would descend into the natural lake,
bathe and drink at pleasure and, his oppression being allayed, he would eat the
fibers and stalks of the lilies, adorn himself with the blue lotus, carry on
his shoulders the roots of the mandalaka, ascend from the lake, put on his
clothes, dry the bathing cloth in the sun, and in the cool shade where the
breeze blew ever so gently lay himself down and saw: ‘O bliss! O bliss!’ Thus
should this illustration be applied. The time of gladness and delight from when
he heard of the natural lake and the dense forest till he saw the water is like
rapture having the manner of gladness and delight at the object in view. The time
when, after his bath and dried he laid himself down in the cool shade, saying,
‘O bliss! O bliss!’ etc., is the sense of ease [happiness] grown strong,
established in that mode of enjoying the taste of the object.[14]
Since rapture and happiness co-exist in the first jhana,
this simile should not be taken to imply that they are mutually exclusive. Its
purport is to suggest that rapture gains prominence before happiness, for which
it helps provide a causal foundation.
In the description of the first jhana, rapture and
happiness are said to be “born of seclusion” and to suffuse the whole
body of the meditator in such a way that there is no part of his body which remains
unaffected by them:
Monks, secluded
from sense pleasure… a monk enters and dwells in the first jhana. He steeps,
drenches, fills and suffuses his body with the rapture and happiness born of
seclusion, so that there is no part of his entire body that is not suffused
with this rapture and happiness. Just as a skilled bath-attendant or his
apprentice might strew bathing powder in a copper basin, sprinkle it again and
again with water, and knead it together so that the mass of bathing soap would
be pervaded, suffused, and saturated with moisture inside and out yet would not
ooze moisture, so a monk steeps, drenches, fills and suffuses his body with the
rapture and happiness born of seclusion, so that, there is no part of his
entire body that is not suffused with this rapture and happiness born of
seclusion. (D.i,74)
One-pointedness
(ekaggata)
Unlike the previous four jhana factors, one-pointedness is
not specifically mentioned in the standard formula for the first jhana, but it
is included among the jhana factors by the Mahavedalla Sutta (M.i,294) as well
as in the Abhidhamma and the commentaries. One-pointedness is a universal
mental concomitant, the factor by virtue of which the mind is centered upon its
object. It brings the mind to a single point, the point occupied by the object.
One-pointedness is used in the text as a synonym for
concentration (samadhi) which has the characteristic of non-distraction,
the function of eliminating distractions, non-wavering as its manifestation,
and happiness as its proximate cause (Vism.85; PP.85). As a jhana factor
one-pointedness is always directed to a wholesome object and wards off
unwholesome influences, in particular the hindrance of sensual desire. As the
hindrances are absent in jhana one-pointedness acquires special strength, based
on the previous sustained effort of concentration.
Besides the five jhana factors, the first jhana contains a
great number of other mental factors functioning in unison as coordinate
members of a single state of consciousness. Already the Anupada Sutta lists
such additional components of the first jhana as contact, feeling, perception,
volition, consciousness, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity and
attention (M.iii,25). In the Abhidhamma literature this is extended still
further up to thirty-three indispensable components. Nevertheless, only five
states are called the factors of the first jhana, for only these have the
functions of inhibiting the five hindrances and fixing the mind in absorption.
For the jhana to arise all these five factors must be present simultaneously,
exercising their special operations:
But applied
thought directs the mind onto the object; sustained thought keeps it anchored
there. Happiness [rapture] produced by the success of the effort refreshes the
mind whose effort has succeeded through not being distracted by those
hindrances; and bliss [happiness] intensifies it for the same reason. Then
unification aided by this directing onto, this anchoring, this refreshing and
this intensifying, evenly and rightly centers the mind with its remaining
associated states on the object consisting in unity. Consequently possession of
five factors should be understood as the arising of these five, namely, applied
thought, sustained thought, happiness [rapture], bliss [happiness], and
unification of mind. For it is when these are arisen that jhana is said to be
arisen, which is why they are called the five factors of possession.
(Vism.146;PP.152)
Each jhana factor serves as support for the one which
succeeds it. Applied thought must direct the mind to its object in order for
sustained thought to anchor it there. Only when the mind is anchored can the
interest develop which will culminate in rapture. As rapture develops it brings
happiness to maturity, and this spiritual happiness, by providing an
alternative to the fickle pleasures of the senses, aids the growth of
one-pointedness. In this way, as Nagasena explains, all the other wholesome
states lead to concentration, which stands at their head like the apex on the
roof of a house (Miln. 38-39).
Perfecting the First
Jhana
The difference between access and absorption
concentration, as we have said, does not lie in the absence of the hindrances,
which is common to both, but in the relative strength of the jhana factors. In
access the factors are weak so that concentration is fragile, comparable to a
child who walks a few steps and then falls down. But in absorption the jhana
factors are strong and well developed so that the mind can remain continuously in
concentration just as a healthy man can remain standing on his feet for a whole
day and night (Vism.126; PP.131).
Because full absorption offers the benefit of strengthened
concentration, a meditator who gains access is encouraged to strive for the
attainment of jhana. To develop his practice several important measures are
recommended.[15]
The meditator should live in a suitable dwelling, rely upon a suitable alms
resort, avoid profitless talk, associate only with spiritually-minded
companions, make use only of suitable food, live in a congenial climate, and
maintain his practice in a suitable posture. He should also cultivate the ten
kinds of skill in absorption. He should clean his lodging and his physical body
so that they conduce to clear meditation, balance his spiritual faculties by
seeing that faith is balanced with wisdom and energy with concentration, and he
must be skillful in producing and developing the sign of concentration (1-3).
He should exert the mind when it is slack, restrain it when it is agitated,
encourage it when it is restless or dejected, and look at the mind with
equanimity when all is proceeding well (4-7). The meditator should avoid distracting
persons, should approach people experienced in concentration, and should be
firm in his resolution to attain jhana (8-10).
After attaining the first jhana a few times the meditator
is not advised to set out immediately striving for the second jhana. This would
be a foolish and profitless spiritual ambition. Before he is prepared to make
the second jhana the goal of his endeavor he must first bring the first jhana
to perfection. If he is too eager to reach the second jhana before he has
perfected the first, he is likely to fail to gain the second and find himself
unable to regain the first. The Buddha compares such a meditator to a foolish
cow who, while still unfamiliar with her own pasture, sets out for new pastures
and gets lost in the mountains: she fails to find food or drink and is unable
to find her way home (A.iv, 418-19).
The perfecting of the first jhana involves two steps: the
extension of the sign and the achievement of the five masteries. The extension
of the sign means extending the size of the counterpart sign, the object of the
jhana. Beginning with a small area, the size of one or two fingers, the
meditator gradually learns to broaden the sign until the mental image can be
made to cover the world-sphere or even beyond (Vism. 152-53; PP.158-59).
Following this the meditator should try to acquire five
kinds of mastery over the jhana: mastery in adverting, in attaining, in
resolving, in emerging and in reviewing.[16]
Mastery in adverting is the ability to advert to the jhana factors one by one
after emerging from the jhana, wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and for as
long as he wants. Mastery in attaining is the ability to enter upon jhana quickly,
mastery in resolving the ability to remain in the jhana for exactly the
pre-determined length of time, mastery in emerging the ability to emerge from
jhana quickly without difficulty, and mastery in reviewing the ability to
review the jhana and its factors with retrospective knowledge immediately after
adverting to them. When the meditator has achieved this fivefold mastery, then
he is ready to strive for the second jhana.
4. The
Higher Jhanas
In this chapter we will survey the higher states of jhana.
First we will discuss the remaining three jhanas of the fine-material sphere,
using the descriptive formulas of the suttas as our starting point and the
later literature as our source for the methods of practice that lead to these
attainments. Following this we will consider the four meditative states that
pertain to the immaterial sphere, which come to be called the immaterial
jhanas. Our examination will bring out the dynamic character of the process by
which the jhanas are successively achieved. The attainment of the higher jhanas
of the fine-material sphere, we will see, involves the successive elimination
of the grosser factors and the bringing to prominence of the subtler ones, the
attainment of the formless jhanas the replacement of grosser objects with
successively more refined objects. From our study it will become clear that the
jhanas link together in a graded sequence of development in which the lower
serves as basis for the higher and the higher intensifies and purifies states
already present in the lower. We will end the chapter with a brief look at the
connection between the jhanas and the Buddhist teaching of rebirth.
The Higher Fine-material
Jhanas
The formula for the attainment of the second jhana
runs as follows:
With the
subsiding of applied thought and sustained thought he enters and dwells in the
second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without
applied thought and sustained thought, and is filled with rapture and happiness
born of concentration (M.i,181; Vbh. 245)
The second jhana, like the first, is attained by
eliminating the factors to be abandoned and by developing the factors of
possession. In this case however, the factors to be abandoned are the two
initial factors of the first jhana itself, applied thought and sustained thought;
the factors of possession are the three remaining jhana factors, rapture,
happiness and one-pointedness. Hence the formula begins “with the
subsiding of applied thought and sustained thought,” and then mentions the
jhana’s positive endowments.
After achieving the five kinds of mastery over the first
jhana, a meditator who wishes to reach the second jhana should enter the first
jhana and contemplate its defects. These are twofold: one, which might be
called the defect of proximate corruption, is the nearness of the five
hindrances, against which the first jhana provides only a relatively mild
safeguard; the other defect, inherent to the first jhana, is its inclusion of
applied and sustained thought, which now appear as gross, even as impediments
needing to be eliminated to attain the more peaceful and subtle second jhana.
By reflecting upon the second jhana as more tranquil and
sublime than the first, the meditator ends his attachment to the first jhana
and engages in renewed striving with the aim of reaching the higher stage. He
directs his mind to his meditation subject — which must be one capable of
inducing the higher jhanas such as a kasina or the breath — and resolves to
overcome applied and sustained thought. When his practice comes to maturity the
two kinds of thought subside and the second jhana arises. In the second jhana
only three of the original five jhana factors remain — rapture, happiness, and
one-pointedness. Moreover, with the elimination of the two grosser factors
these have acquired a subtler and more peaceful tone.[17]
Besides the main jhana factors, the canonical formula
includes several other states in its description of the second jhana. “Internal
confidence” (ajjhattamsampasadanam), conveys the twofold meaning of
faith and tranquillity. In the first jhana the meditator’s faith lacked full
clarity and serenity due to “the disturbance created by applied and
sustained thought, like water ruffled by ripples and wavelets” (Vism. 157;
PP.163). But when applied and sustained thought subside, the mind becomes very
peaceful and the meditator’s faith acquires fuller confidence.
The formula also mentions unification of mind (cetaso
ekodibhavam), which is identified with one-pointedness or concentration.
Though present in the first jhana, concentration only gains special mention in
connection with the second jhana since it is here that it acquires eminence. In
the first jhana concentration was still imperfect, being subject to the
disturbing influence of applied and sustained thought. For the same reason this
jhana, along with its constituent rapture and happiness, is said to be born of
concentration (samadhijam): “It is only this concentration that is
quite worthy to be called ‘concentration’ because of its complete confidence
and extreme immobility due to absence of disturbance by applied and sustained
thought” (Vism.158; PP.164).
To attain the third jhana the meditator must use
the same method he used to ascend from the first jhana to the second. He must
master the second jhana in the five ways, enter and emerge from it, and reflect
upon its defects. In this case the defect of proximate corruption is the
nearness of applied and sustained thought, which threaten to disrupt the
serenity of the second jhana; its inherent defect is the presence of rapture,
which now appears as a gross factor that should be discarded. Aware of the
imperfections in the second jhana, the meditator cultivates indifference
towards it and aspires instead for the peace and sublimity of the third jhana,
towards the attainment of which he now directs his efforts. When his practice
matures he enters the third jhana, which has the two jhana factors that remain
when the rapture disappears, happiness and one-pointedness, and which the
suttas describe as follows:
With the fading away of rapture, he dwells in equanimity,
mindful and discerning; and he experiences in his own person that happiness of
which the noble ones say: ‘Happily lives he who is equanimous and mindful’ —
thus he enters and dwells in the third jhana. (M.i,182; Vbh.245)
The formula indicates that the third jhana contains,
besides its two defining factors, three additional components not included
among the jhana factors: equanimity, mindfulness and discernment. Equanimity is
mentioned twice. The Pali word for equanimity, upekkha, occurs in the
texts with a wide range of meanings, the most important being neutral feeling —
that is, feeling which is neither painful nor pleasant — and the mental quality
of inner balance or equipoise called “specific neutrality” (tatramajjhattata
— see Vism.161; PP.167). The equanimity referred to in the formula is a mode of
specific neutrality which belongs to the aggregate of mental formations (sankharakkhandha)
and thus should not be confused with equanimity as neutral feeling. Though the
two are often associated, each can exist independently of the other, and in the
third jhana equanimity as specific neutrality co-exists with happiness or
pleasant feeling.
The meditator in third jhana is also said to be mindful
and discerning, which points to another pair of frequently conjoined mental
functions. Mindfulness (sati), in this context, means the remembrance of
the meditation object, the constant bearing of the object in mind without
allowing it to float away. Discernment (sampajañña) is an aspect of
wisdom or understanding which scrutinizes the object and grasps its nature free
from delusion. Though these two factors were already present even in the first
two jhanas, they are first mentioned only in connection with the third since it
is here that their efficacy becomes manifest. The two are needed particularly
to avoid a return to rapture. Just as a suckling calf, removed from its mother
and left unguarded, again approaches the mother, so the happiness of jhana
tends to veer towards rapture, its natural partner, if unguarded by mindfulness
and discernment (Dhs. A.219). To prevent this and the consequent loss of the
third jhana is the task of mindfulness and discernment.
The attainment of the fourth jhana commences with
the aforesaid procedure. In this case the meditator sees that the third jhana
is threatened by the proximity of rapture, which is ever ready to swell up
again due to its natural affinity with happiness; he also sees that it is
inherently defective due to the presence of happiness, a gross factor which
provides fuel for clinging. He then contemplates the state where equanimous
feeling and one-pointedness subsist together — the fourth jhana — as far more
peaceful and secure than anything he has so far experienced, and therefore as
far more desirable. Taking as his object the same counterpart sign he took for
the earlier jhana, he strengthens his efforts in concentration for the purpose
of abandoning the gross factor of happiness and entering the higher jhana. When
his practice matures the mind enters absorption into the fourth jhana:
With the
abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and
grief, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhana, which has
neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.
(M.i,182; Vbh.245)
The first part of this formula specifies the conditions
for the attainment of this jhana — also called the neither-painful-nor-pleasant
liberation of mind (M.i, 296) — to be the abandoning of four kinds of feeling
incompatible with it, the first two signifying bodily feelings, the latter two
the corresponding mental feelings. The formula also introduces several new
terms and phrases which have not been encountered previously. First, it
mentions a new feeling, neither-pain-nor-pleasure (adukkhamasukha),
which remains after the other four feelings have subsided. This kind of feeling
also called equanimous or neutral feeling, replaces happiness as the
concomitant feeling of the jhana and also figures as one of the jhana factors.
Thus this attainment has two jhana factors: neutral feeling and one-pointedness
of mind. Previously the ascent from one jhana to the next was marked by the progressive
elimination of the coarser jhana factors, but none were added to replace those
which were excluded. But now, in the move from the third to the fourth jhana, a
substitution occurs, neutral feeling moving in to take the place of happiness.
In addition we also find a new phrase composed of familiar
terms, “purity of mindfulness due to equanimity” (upekkhasatiparisuddhi).
The Vibhanga explains: “This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified
by equanimity” (Vbh. 261), and Buddhaghosa adds: “for the mindfulness
in this jhana is quite purified, and its purification is effected by
equanimity, not by anything else” (Vism.167; PP.174). The equanimity which
purifies the mindfulness is not neutral feeling, as might be supposed, but
specific neutrality, the sublime impartiality free from attachment and
aversion, which also pertains to this jhana. Though both specific neutrality
and mindfulness were present in the lower three jhanas, none among these is
said to have “purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.” The reason is
that in the lower jhanas the equanimity present was not purified itself, being
overshadowed by opposing states and lacking association with equanimous
feeling. It is like a crescent moon which exists by day but cannot be seen
because of the sunlight and the bright sky. But in the fourth jhana, where
equanimity gains the support of equanimous feeling, it shines forth like the
crescent moon at night and purifies mindfulness and the other associated states
(Vism. 169; PP.175).
The Immaterial Jhanas
Beyond the four jhanas lie four higher attainments in the
scale of concentration, referred to in the suttas as the “peaceful
immaterial liberations transcending material form” (santa vimokkha
atikammarupe aruppa, M.i,33). In the commentaries they are also called the
immaterial jhanas, and while this expression is not found in the suttas it
seems appropriate in so far as these states correspond to jhanic levels of
consciousness and continue the same process of mental unification initiated by
the original four jhanas, now sometimes called the fine-material jhanas. The
immaterial jhanas are designated, not by numerical names like their
predecessors, but by the names of their objective spheres: the base of
boundless space, the base of boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness,
and the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.[18]
They receive the designation “immaterial” or ” formless” (arupa)
because they are achieved by surmounting all perceptions of material form,
including the subtle form of the counterpart sign which served as the object of
the previous jhanas, and because they are the subjective correlates of the
immaterial planes of existence.
Like the fine-material jhanas follow a fixed sequence and
must be attained in the order in which they are presented. That is, the
meditator who wishes to achieve the immaterial jhanas must begin with the base
of boundless space and then proceed step by step up to the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception. However, an important difference
separates the modes of progress in the two cases. In the case of the
fine-material jhanas, the ascent from one jhana to another involves a
surmounting of jhana factors. To rise from the first jhana to the second the
meditator must eliminate applied thought and sustained thought, to rise from
the second to the third he must overcome rapture, and to rise from the third to
the fourth he must replace pleasant with neutral feeling. Thus progress
involves a reduction and refinement of the jhana factors, from the initial five
to the culmination in one-pointedness and neutral feeling.
Once the fourth jhana is reached the jhana factors remain
constant, and in higher ascent to the immaterial attainments there is no
further elimination of jhana factors. For this reason the formless jhanas, when
classified from the perspective of their factorial constitution as is done in
the Abhidhamma, are considered modes of the fourth jhana. They are all
two-factored jhanas, constituted by one-pointedness and equanimous feeling.
Rather than being determined by a surmounting of factors,
the order of the immaterial jhanas is determined by a surmounting of objects.
Whereas for the lower jhanas the object can remain constant but the factors
must be changed, for the immaterial jhanas the factors remain constant while
the objects change. The base of boundless space eliminates the kasina object of
the fourth jhana, the base of boundless consciousness surmounts the object of
the base of boundless space, the base of nothingness surmounts the object of
base of boundless consciousness, and the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception surmounts the objects the object of the
base of nothingness.
Because the objects become progressively more subtle at
each level, the jhana factors of equanimous feeling and one-pointedness, while
remaining constant in nature throughout, become correspondingly more refined in
quality. Buddhaghosa illustrates this with a simile of four pieces of cloth of
the same measurements, spun by the same person, yet made of thick, thin,
thinner and very thin thread respectively (Vism. 339; PP.369). Also, whereas
the four lower jhanas can each take a variety of objects — the ten kasinas, the
in-and-out breath, etc. — and do not stand in any integral relation to these
objects, the four immaterial jhanas each take a single object inseparably
related to the attainment itself. The first is attained solely with the base of
boundless space as object, the second with the base of boundless consciousness,
and so forth.
The motivation which initially leads a meditator to seek
the immaterial attainments is a clear recognition of the dangers inherent in
material existence: it is in virtue of matter that injuries and death by
weapons and knives occur that one is afflicted with diseases, subject of hunger
and thirst, while none of this takes place on the immaterial planes of
existence (M.i,410). Wishing to escape these dangers by taking rebirth in the
immaterial planes, the meditator must first attain the four fine-material
jhanas and master the fourth jhana with any kasina as object except the omitted
space kasina. By this much the meditator has risen above gross matter, but he
still has not transcended the subtle material form comprised by the luminous
counterpart sign which is the object of his jhana. To reach the formless
attainments the meditator, after emerging from the fourth jhana, must consider
that even that jhana, as refined as it is, still has an object consisting in
material form and thus is distantly connected with gross matter; moreover, it
is close to happiness, a factor of the third jhana, and is far coarser than the
immaterial states. The meditator sees the base of boundless space, the first
immaterial jhana, as more peaceful and sublime than the fourth fine-material
jhana and as more safely removed from materiality.
Following these preparatory reflections, the meditator
enters the fourth jhana based on a kasina object and extends the counterpart sign
of the kasina “to the limit of the world-sphere, or as far as he
likes.” Then, after emerging from the fourth jhana, he must remove the
kasina by attending exclusively to the space it has been made to cover without
attending to the kasina itself. Taking as his object the space left after the
removal of the kasina, the meditator adverts to it as “boundless
space” or simply as “space, space,” striking at it with applied
and sustained thought. As he cultivates this practice over and over, eventually
the consciousness pertaining to the base of boundless space arises with
boundless space as its object (Vism. 327-28; PP.355-56).
A meditator who has gained mastery over the base of
boundless space, wishing to attain as well the second immaterial jhana, must
reflect upon the two defects of the first attainment which are its proximity to
the fine-material jhanas and its grossness compared to the base of boundless
consciousness. Having in this way developed indifferent to the lower
attainment, he must next enter and emerge from the base of boundless space and
then fix his attention upon the consciousness that occurred there pervading the
boundless space. Since the space taken as the object by the first formless
jhana was boundless, the consciousness of that space also involves an aspect of
boundlessness, and it is to this boundless consciousness that the aspirant for
the next attainment adverts. He is not to attend to it merely as boundless, but
as “boundless consciousness” or simply as “consciousness.”
He continues to cultivate this sign again and again until the consciousness
belonging to the base of boundless consciousness arises in absorption taking as
its object the boundless consciousness pertaining to the first immaterial state
(Vism. 331-32; PP.360-61).
To attain the next formless state, the base of
nothingness, the meditator who has mastered the base of boundless consciousness
must contemplate its defects in the same twofold manner and advert to the
superior peacefulness of the base of nothingness. Without giving any more
attention to the base of boundless consciousness, he should “give
attention to the present non-existence, voidness, secluded aspect of that same
past consciousness belonging to the base consisting of boundless space”
(Vism. 333; PP.362). In other words, the meditator is to focus upon the present
absence or non-existence of the consciousness belonging to the base of
boundless space, adverting to it over and over thus: “There is not, there
is not” or “void, void”. When his efforts fructify there arises
in absorption a consciousness belonging to the base of nothingness, with the
non-existence of the consciousness of boundless space as its object. Whereas
the second immaterial state relates to the consciousness of boundless space
positively, by focusing upon the content of that consciousness and
appropriating its boundlessness, the third immaterial state relates to it
negatively, by excluding that consciousness from awareness and making the
absence or present non-existence of that consciousness its object.
The fourth and final immaterial jhana, the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception, is reached through the same preliminary
procedure. The meditator can also reflect upon the unsatisfactoriness of
perception, thinking: “Perception is a disease, perception is a boil,
perception is a dart… this is peaceful, this is sublime, that is to say,
neither-perception-nor-non-perception” (M.ii,231). In this way he ends his
attachment to the base of nothingness and strengthens his resolve to attain the
next higher stage. He then adverts to the four mental aggregates that
constitute the attainment of the base of nothingness — its feeling, perception,
mental formations and consciousness — contemplating them as “peaceful,
peaceful,” reviewing that base and striking at it with applied and
sustained thought. As he does so the hindrances are suppressed, the mind passes
through access and enters the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
This jhana receives its name because, on the one hand, it
lacks gross perception with its function of clearly discerning objects, and
thus cannot be said to have perception; on the other, it retains a very subtle
perception, and thus cannot be said to be without perception. Because all the
mental functions are here reduced to the finest and most subtle level, this
jhana is also named the attainment with residual formations. At this level the
mind has reached the highest possible development in the direction of pure
serenity. It has attained the most intense degree of concentration, becoming so
refined that consciousness can no longer be described in terms of existence or
non-existence. Yet even this attainment, from the Buddhist point of view, is
still a mundane state which must finally give way to insight that alone leads
to true liberation.
The Jhanas and Rebirth
Buddhism teaches that all sentient beings in whom
ignorance and craving still linger are subject to rebirth following death.
Their mode of rebirth is determined by their kamma, their volitional action,
wholesome kamma issuing in a good rebirth and unwholesome kamma in a bad
rebirth. As a kind of wholesome kamma the attainment of jhana can play a key
role in the rebirth process, being considered a weighty good kamma which takes
precedence over other lesser kammas in determining the future rebirth of the
person who attains it.
Buddhist cosmology groups the numerous planes of existence
into which rebirth takes place into three broad spheres each of which comprises
a number of subsidiary planes. The sense-sphere (kamadhatu) is the field
of rebirth for evil deeds and for meritorious deeds falling short of the
jhanas; the fine-material sphere (rupadhatu), the field of rebirth for
the fine-material jhanas; and the immaterial sphere (arupadhatu), the
field of rebirth for the immaterial jhanas.
An unwholesome kamma, should it become determinative of
rebirth, will lead to a new existence in one of the four planes of misery
belonging to the sense-sphere: the hells, the animal kingdom, the sphere of
afflicted spirits, or the host of titans. A wholesome kamma of a subjhanic type
produces rebirth in one of the seven happy planes in the sense-sphere, the
human world or the six heavenly worlds.
Above the sense-sphere realms are the fine-material
realms, into which rebirth is gained only through the attainment of the
fine-material jhanas. The sixteen realms in this sphere are hierarchically
ordered in correlation with the four jhanas. Those who have practiced the first
jhana to a minor degree are reborn in the Realm of the Retinue of Brahma, to a
moderate degree in the Realm of the Ministers of Brahma, and to a superior
degree in the Realm of the Great Brahma.[19]
Similarly, practicing the second jhana to a minor degree brings rebirth in the
Realm of Minor Luster, to a moderate degree in the Realm of Infinite Luster,
and to a superior degree the Realm of Radiant Luster.[20]
Again, practicing the third jhana to a minor degree brings rebirth in the Realm
of Minor Aura, to a moderate degree in the Realm of Infinite Aura, and to a
superior degree in the Realm of Steady Aura.[21]
Corresponding to the fourth jhana there are seven realms:
the Realm of Great Reward, the Realm of Non-percipient Beings, and the five
Pure Abodes.[22]
With this jhana the rebirth pattern deviates from the former one. It seems that
all beings who practice the fourth jhana of the mundane level without reaching
any supramundane attainment are reborn in the realm of Great Reward. There is
no differentiation by way of inferior, moderate or superior grades of
development. The Realm of Non-percipient Beings is reached by those who, after
attaining the fourth jhana, then use the power of their meditation to take
rebirth with only material bodies; they do not acquire consciousness again
until they pass away from this realm. The five Pure Abodes are open only to
non-returners (anagamis), noble disciples at the penultimate stage of
liberation who have eradicated the fetters binding them to the sense-sphere and
thence automatically take rebirth in higher realms, where they attain
arahatship and reach final deliverance.
Beyond the fine-material sphere lie the immaterial realms,
which are four in number — the base of boundless space, the base of boundless
consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception. As should be evident, these are realms
of rebirth for those who, without having broken the fetters that bind them to
samsara, achieve and master one or another of the four immaterial jhanas. Those
meditators who have mastery over a formless attainment at the time of death
take rebirth in the appropriate plane, where they abide until the kammic force
of the jhana is exhausted. Then they pass away, to take rebirth in some other
realm as determined by their accumulated kamma.[23]
5.
Jhanas and the Supramundane
The Way of Wisdom
The goal of the Buddhist path, complete and permanent
liberation from suffering, is to be achieved by practicing the full threefold
discipline of morality (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (pañña). The
mundane jhanas, comprising the four fine-material jhanas and the four
immaterial jhanas, pertain to the stage of concentration, which they fulfill to
an eminent degree. However, taken by themselves, these states do not ensure
complete deliverance, for they are incapable of cutting off the roots of
suffering. The Buddha teaches that the cause of suffering, the driving power
behind the cycle of rebirths, is the defilements with their three unwholesome
roots — greed, hatred and delusion. Concentration of the absorption level, no
matter to what heights it is pursued, only suppresses the defilements, but
cannot destroy their latent seeds. Thence bare mundane jhana, even when
sustained, cannot by itself terminate the cycle of rebirths. To the contrary,
it may even perpetuate the round. For if any fine-material or immaterial jhana
is held to with clinging, it will bring about a rebirth in that particular
plane of existence corresponding to its own kammic potency, which can then be
followed by rebirth in some lower realm.
What is required to achieve complete deliverance from the
cycle of rebirths is the eradication of the defilements. Since the most basic
defilement is ignorance (avijja), the key to liberation lies in developing its
direct opposite, namely wisdom (pañña).
Since wisdom presupposes a certain proficiency in
concentration it is inevitable that jhana comes to claim a place in its
development. This place, however, is not fixed and invariable, but as we will
see allows for differences depending on the individual meditator’s disposition.
Fundamental to the discussion in this chapter is a
distinction between two terms crucial to Theravada philosophical exposition,
“mundane” (lokiya) and “supramundane” (lokuttara).
The term “mundane” applies to all phenomena comprised in the world (loka)
— to subtle states of consciousness as well as matter, to virtue as well as
evil, to meditative attainments as well as sensual engrossments. The term
“supramundane,” in contrast, applies exclusively to that which
transcends the world, that is the nine supramundane states: Nibbana, the four
noble paths (magga) leading to Nibbana, and their corresponding fruits (phala)
which experience the bliss of Nibbana.
Wisdom has the specific characteristic of penetrating the
true nature of phenomena. It penetrates the particular and general features of
things through direct cognition rather than discursive thought. Its function is
“to abolish the darkness of delusion which conceals the individual essences
of states” and its manifestation is “non-delusion.” Since the
Buddha says that one whose mind is concentrated knows and sees things as they
are, the proximate cause of wisdom is concentration (Vism. 438; PP.481).
The wisdom instrumental in attaining liberation is divided
into two principal types: insight knowledge (vipassanañana) and the
knowledge pertaining to the supramundane paths (maggañana). The first is
the direct penetration of the three characteristics of conditioned phenomena —
impermanence, suffering and non-self.[24]
It takes as its objective sphere the five aggregates (pañcakkhandha) —
material form, feeling perception, mental formations and consciousness. Because
insight knowledge takes the world of conditioned formations as its object, it
is regarded as a mundane form of wisdom. Insight knowledge does not itself
directly eradicate the defilements, but serves to prepare the way for the
second type of wisdom, the wisdom of the supramundane paths, which emerges when
insight has been brought to its climax. The wisdom of the path, occurring in
four distinct stages (to be discussed below ), simultaneously realizes Nibbana,
fathoms the Four Noble Truths, and cuts off the defilements. This wisdom is
called “supramundane” because it rises up from the world of the five
aggregates to realize the state transcendent to the world, Nibbana.
The Buddhist disciple, striving for deliverance, begins
the development of wisdom by first securely establishing its roots — purified
moral discipline and concentration. He then learns and masters the basic
material upon which wisdom is to work — the aggregates, elements, sense bases,
dependent arising, the Four Noble Truths, etc. He commences the actual practice
of wisdom by cultivating insight into the impermanence, suffering and non-self
aspect of the five aggregates. When this insight reaches its apex it issues in
supramundane wisdom, the right view factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, which
turns from conditioned formations to the unconditioned Nibbana and thereby
eradicates the defilements.
The Two Vehicles
The Theravada tradition recognizes two alternative
approaches to the development of wisdom, between which practitioners are free
to choose according to their aptitude and propensity. These two approaches are
the vehicle of serenity (samathayana) and the vehicle of insight (vipassanayana).
The meditators who follow them are called, respectively, the samathayanika,
“one who makes serenity his vehicle,” and the vipassanayanika,
“one who makes insight his vehicle.” Since both vehicles, despite
their names, are approaches to developing insight, to prevent misunderstanding
the latter type of meditator is sometimes called a suddhavipassanayanika,
“one who makes bare insight his vehicle,” or a sukkhavipassaka,
“a dry-insight worker.” Though all three terms appear initially in
the commentaries rather than in the suttas, the recognition of the two vehicles
seems implicit in a number of canonical passages.
The samathayanika is a meditator who first attains
access concentration or one of the eight mundane jhanas, then emerges and uses
his attainment as a basis for cultivating insight until he arrives at the
supramundane path. In contrast, the vipassanayanika does not attain
mundane jhana prior to practicing insight contemplation, or if he does, does
not use it as an instrument for cultivating insight. Instead, without entering
and emerging from jhana, he proceeds directly to insight contemplation on
mental and material phenomena and by means of this bare insight he reaches the
noble path. For both kinds of meditator the experience of the path in any of
its four stages always occurs at a level of jhanic intensity and thus
necessarily includes supramundane jhana under the heading of right concentration
(samma samadhi), the eighth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path.
The classical source for the distinction between the two
vehicles of serenity and insight is the Visuddhimagga where it is
explained that when a meditator begins the development of wisdom “if
firstly, his vehicle is serenity, [he] should emerge from any fine-material or
immaterial jhana except the base consisting of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and he should discern, according to
characteristic, function, etc. the jhana factors consisting of applied thought,
etc. and the states associated with them” (Vism. 557; PP679-80). Other
commentarial passages allow access concentration to suffice for the vehicle of
serenity, but the last immaterial jhana is excluded because its factors are too
subtle to be discerned. The meditator whose vehicle is pure insight, on the
other hand, is advised to start directly by discerning material and mental
phenomena, beginning with the four elements, without utilizing a jhana for this
purpose (Vism. 558; PP.680). Thus the samathayanika first attains access
concentration or mundane jhana and then develops insight knowledge, by means of
which he reaches the supramundane path containing wisdom under the heading of
right view, and supramundane jhana under the heading of right concentration.
The vipassanayanika, in contrast, skips over mundane jhana and goes
directly into insight contemplation. When he reaches the end of the progression
of insight knowledge he arrives at the supramundane path which, as in the
previous case, brings together wisdom with supramundane jhana. This jhana
counts as his accomplishment of serenity.
For a meditator following the vehicle of serenity the
attainment of jhana fulfills two functions: first, it produces a basis of
mental purity and inner collectedness needed for undertaking the work of
insight contemplation; and second, it serves as an object to be examined with
insight in order to discern the three characteristics of impermanence,
suffering and non-self. Jhana accomplishes the first function by providing a
powerful instrument for overcoming the five hindrances. As we have seen, for
wisdom to arise the mind must first be concentrated well, and to be
concentrated well it must be freed from the hindrances, a task accomplished
pre-eminently by the attainment of jhana. Though access concentration will keep
the hindrances at bay, jhana will ensure that they are removed to a much safer
distance.
In their capacity for producing concentration the jhanas
are called the basis (pada) for insight, and that particular jhana a
meditator enters and emerges from before commencing his practice of insight is
designated his padakajjhana, the basic or foundational jhana. Insight
cannot be practiced while absorbed in jhana, since insight meditation requires
investigation and observation, which are impossible when the mind is immersed
in one-pointed absorption. But after emerging from the jhana the mind is
cleared of the hindrances, and the stillness and clarity that then result
conduce to precise, penetrating insight.
The jhanas also enter into the samathayanika’s
practice in second capacity, that is, as objects for scrutinization by insight.
The practice of insight consists essentially in the examination of mental and
physical phenomena to discover their marks of impermanence, suffering and
non-self. The jhanas a meditator attains provide him with a readily available
and strikingly clear object in which to seek out the three characteristics.
After emerging from a jhana the meditator will proceed to examine the jhanic
consciousness and to discern the way it exemplifies the three universal marks.
This process is called sammasanañana, “comprehension
knowledge,” and the jhana subject to such treatment is termed sammasitajjhana,
“the comprehended jhana” (Vism. 607-11; PP.706-10). Though the basic
jhana and the comprehended jhana will often be the same, the two do not
necessarily coincide. A meditator cannot practice comprehension on a jhana
higher than he is capable of attaining, but one who uses a higher jhana as his padakajjhana
can still practice insight comprehension on a lower jhana which he has
previously attained and mastered. The admitted difference between the padakajjhana
and the sammasitajjhana leads to discrepant theories about the
supramundane concentration of the noble path, as we will see.
Whereas the sequence of training undertaken by the samathayanika
meditator is unproblematic, the vipassanayanika’s approach presents the
difficulty of accounting for the concentration he uses to provide a basis for
insight. Concentration is needed in order to see and know things as they are,
but without access concentration or jhana, what concentration can he use? The
solution to this problem is found in a type of concentration distinct from the
access and absorption concentrations pertaining to the vehicle of serenity,
called “momentary concentration” (khanika samadhi). Despite
its name, momentary concentration does not signify a single moment of
concentration amidst a current of distracted thoughts, but a dynamic
concentration which flows from object to object in the ever-changing flux of
phenomena, retaining a constant degree of intensity and collectedness
sufficient to purify the mind of the hindrances. Momentary concentration arises
in the samathayanika simultaneously with his post-jhanic attainment of
insight, but for the vipassanayanika it develops naturally and
spontaneously in the course of his insight practice without his having to fix
the mind upon a single exclusive object. Thus the follower of the vehicle of
insight does not omit concentration altogether from his training, but develops
it in a different manner from the practitioner of serenity. Without gaining
jhana he goes directly into contemplation on the five aggregates and by
observing them constantly from moment to moment acquires momentary
concentration as an accompaniment of his investigations. This momentary
concentration fulfills the same function as the basic jhana of the serenity
vehicle, providing the foundation of mental clarity needed for insight to
emerge.
Supramundane Jhana
The climax in the development of insight is the attainment
of the supramundane paths and fruits. Each path is a momentary peak experience
directly apprehending Nibbana and permanently cutting off certain defilements.
These defilements are generally grouped into a set of ten “fetters” (samyojana)
which keep beings chained to the round of rebirths. The first path, called the
path of stream-entry (sotapatti) because it marks the entry into the
stream of the Dhamma, eradicates the first three fetters — The false view of
self, doubt, and clinging to rites and rituals. The disciple who has reached
stream-entry has limited his future births to a maximum of seven in the happy
realms of the human and heavenly worlds, after which he will attain final
deliverance. But an ardent disciple may progress to still higher stages in the
same life in which he reaches stream-entry, by making an aspiration for the
next higher path and again undertaking the development of insight with the aim
of reaching that path.
The next supramundane path is that of the once-returner (sakadagami).
This path does not eradicate any fetters completely, but it greatly attenuates
sensual desire and ill will. The once-returner is so called because he is bound
to make an end of suffering after returning to this world only one more time.
The third path, that of the non-returner (anagami) utterly destroys the
sensual desire and ill will weakened by the preceding path. The non-returner is
assured that he will never again take rebirth in the sense-sphere; if he does
not penetrate higher he will be reborn spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and
there reach final Nibbana. The highest path, the path of arahatship, eradicate
the remaining five fetters — desire for existence in the fine-material and
immaterial spheres, conceit, restlessness and ignorance. The arahant has
completed the development of the entire path taught by the Buddha; he has
reached the end of rebirths and can sound his “lion’s roar”:
“Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has
been done, there is nothing further beyond this.”
Each path is followed immediately by the supramundane
experience of fruition, which results from the path, comes in the same four
graded stages, and shares the path’s world-transcending character. But whereas
the path performs the active function of cutting off defilements, fruition
simply enjoys the bliss and peace that result when the path has completed its
task. Also, where the path is limited to a single moment of consciousness, the
fruition that follows immediately on the path endures for two or three moments.
And while each of the four paths occurs only once and can never be repeated,
fruition remains accessible to the noble disciple at the appropriate level. He
can resort to it as a special meditative state called fruition attainment (phalasamapatti)
for the purpose of experiencing nibbanic bliss here and now (Vism. 699-702;
PP.819-24).
The supramundane paths and fruits always arise as states
of jhanic consciousness. They occur as states of jhana because they contain
within themselves the jhana factors elevated to an intensity corresponding to
that of the jhana factors in the mundane jhanas. Since they possess the jhana
factors these states are able to fix upon their object with the force of full
absorption. Thence, taking the absorptive force of the jhana factors as the
criterion, the paths and fruits may be reckoned as belonging to either the
first, second, third or fourth jhana of the fourfold scheme, or to the first,
second, third, fourth or fifth jhana of the fivefold scheme.
The basis for the recognition of a supramundane type of
jhana goes back to the suttas, especially to the section of “The Great
Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness” where the Buddha defines
right concentration of the Noble Eightfold Path by the standard formula for the
four jhanas (D.ii,313). However, it is in the Abhidhamma that the connection
between the jhanas, paths and fruits comes to be worked out with great
intricacy of detail. The Dhammasangani, in its section on states of
consciousness, expounds each of the path and fruition states of consciousness
as occasions, first, of one or another of the four jhanas in the fourfold
scheme, and then again as occasions of one or another of the five jhanas in the
fivefold scheme (Dhs.74-86). Standard Abhidhammic exposition, as formalized in
the synoptical manuals of Abhidhamma, employs the fivefold scheme and brings
each of the paths and fruits into connection with each of the five jhanas. In
this way the eight types of supramundane consciousness — the path and fruition
consciousness of stream-entry, the once-returner, the non-returner and
arahatship — proliferate to forty types of supramundane consciousness, since
any path or fruit can occur at the level of any of the five jhanas. It should
be noted, however, that there are no paths and fruits conjoined with the
immaterial attainments, the reason being that supramundane jhana is presented
solely from the standpoint of its factorial constitution, which for the
immaterial attainment and the fifth jhana is identical — equanimity and
one-pointedness.
The fullest treatment of the supramundane jhanas in the
authoritative Pali literature can be found in the Dhammasangani read in
conjunction with its commentary, the Atthasalini. The Dhammasangani
opens its analysis of the first wholesome supramundane consciousness with the
words:
On the occasion
when one develops supramundane jhana which is emancipating, leading to the
demolition (of existence), for the abandonment of views, for reaching the first
plane, secluded from sense pleasures… one enters and dwells in the first
jhana. (Dhs. 72)
The Atthasalini explains the word lokuttara,
which we have been translating “supramundane,” as meaning “it
crosses over the world, it transcends the world, it stands having surmounted
and overcome the world.” It glosses the phrase “one develops
jhana” thus: “One develops, produces, cultivates absorption jhana
lasting for a single thought-moment.” This gloss shows us two things about
the consciousness of the path: that it occurs as a jhana at the level of full
absorption and that this absorption of the path lasts for only a single
thought-moment. The word “emancipating” (niyyanika) is
explained to mean that this jhana “goes out” from the world, from the
round of existence, the phrase “leading to demolition” (apacayagami)
that it demolishes and dismantles the process of rebirth (Dhs.A.259).
This last phrase points to a striking difference between
mundane and supramundane jhana. The Dhammasangani’s exposition of the
former begins: “On the occasion when one develops the path for rebirth
in the fine-material sphere… one enters and dwells in the first
jhana” [my italics]. Thus, with this statement, mundane jhana is shown to
sustain the round of rebirths; it is a wholesome kamma leading to renewed
existence. But the supramundane jhana of the path does not promote the
continuation of the round. To the contrary, it brings about the round’s
dismantling and demolition, as the Atthasalini shows with an illustrative
simile:
The wholesome
states of the three planes are said to lead to accumulation because they build
up and increase death and rebirth in the round. But not this. Just as when one
man has built up a wall eighteen feet high another might take a club and go
along demolishing it, so this goes along demolishing and dismantling the deaths
and rebirths built up by the wholesome kammas of the three planes by bringing
about a deficiency in their conditions. Thus it leads to demolition.[25]
Supramundane jhana is said to be cultivated “for the
abandoning of views.” This phrase points to the function of the first
path, which is to eradicate the fetters. The supramundane jhana of the first
path cuts off the fetter of personality view and all speculative views derived
from it. The Atthasalini points out that here we should understand that
it abandons not only wrong views but other unwholesome states as well, namely,
doubt, clinging to rites and rituals, and greed, hatred and delusion strong
enough to lead to the plane of misery. The commentary explicates “for
reaching the first plane” as meaning for attaining the fruit of
stream-entry.
Besides these, several other differences between mundane
and supramundane jhana may be briefly noted. First, with regard to their
object, the mundane jhanas have as object a conceptual entity such as the
counterpart sign of the kasinas or, in the case of the divine abodes, sentient
beings. In contrast, for the supramundane jhana of the paths and fruits the
object is exclusively Nibbana. With regard to their predominant tone, in
mundane jhana the element of serenity prevails, while the supramundane jhana of
the paths and fruits brings serenity and insight into balance. Wisdom is
present as right view and serenity as right concentration, both function
together in perfect harmony, neither one exceeding the other.
This difference in prevailing tone leads into a difference
in function or activity between the two kinds of jhana. Both the mundane and
supramundane are jhanas in the sense of closely attending (upanijjhana),
but in the case of mundane jhana this close attention issues merely in
absorption into the object, an absorption that can only suppress the defilement
temporarily. In the supramundane jhana, particularly of the four paths, the
coupling of close attention with wisdom brings the exercise of four functions
at a single moment. These four functions each apply to one of the Four Noble
Truths. The path penetrates the First Noble Truth by fully understanding
suffering; it penetrates the Second Noble Truth by abandoning craving, the
origin of suffering; it penetrates the Third Noble Truth by realizing Nibbana,
the cessation of suffering; and it penetrates the fourth Noble Truth by
developing the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to the end of suffering.
Buddhaghosa illustrates this with the simile of a lamp, which also performs
four tasks simultaneously: it burns the wick, dispels darkness, makes light
appear, and consumes oil (Vism.690; PP.808).
The Jhanic Level of the
Path and Fruit
When the paths and fruits are assigned to the level of the
four or five jhanas, the question arises as to what factor determines their particular
level of jhanic intensity. In other words, why do the path and fruit arise for
one meditator at the level of the first jhana, for another at the level of the
second jhana, and so forth? The commentaries present three theories concerning
the determination of the jhanic level of the path, apparently deriving from the
lineages of ancient teachers (Vism. 666-67; PP.778-80. Dhs.A.271-74). The first
holds that it is the basic jhana, i.e., the jhana used as a basis for the
insight leading to emergence in immediate proximity to the path, that governs
the difference in the jhanic level of the path. A second theory says that the
difference is governed by the aggregates made the objects of insight on the
occasion of insight leading to emergence. A third theory holds that it is the
personal inclination of the meditator that governs the difference.
According to the first theory the path arisen in a
dry-insight meditator who lacks jhana, and the path arisen in one who possesses
a jhana attainment but does not use it as a basis for insight, and the path
arisen by comprehending formations after emerging from the first jhana, are all
paths of the first jhana only. When the path is produced after emerging from
the second, third, fourth and fifth jhanas (of the fivefold system) and using
these as the basis for insight, then the path pertains to the level of the
jhana used as a basis — the second, third, fourth of fifth. For a meditator
using an immaterial jhana as basis the path will be a fifth jhana path. Thus in
this first theory, when formations are comprehended by insight after emerging
from a basic jhana, then it is the jhana attainment emerged from at the point
nearest to the path, i.e., just before insight leading to emergence is reached,
that makes the path similar in nature to itself.
According to the second theory the path that arises is
similar in nature to the states which are being comprehended with insight at
the time insight leading to emergence occurs. Thus if the meditator, after
emerging from a meditative attainment, is comprehending with insight
sense-sphere phenomena or the constituents of the first jhana, then the path
produced will occur at the level of the first jhana. On this theory, then, it
is the comprehended jhana (sammasitajjhana) that determines the jhanic
quality of the path. The one qualification that must be added is that a
meditator cannot contemplate with insight a jhana higher than he is capable of
attaining.
According to the third theory, the path occurs at the
level of whichever jhana the meditator wishes — either at the level of the
jhana he has used as the basis for insight or at the level of the jhana he has
made the object of insight comprehension. In other words, the jhanic quality of
the path accords with his personal inclination. However, mere wish alone is not
sufficient. For the path to occur at the jhanic level wished for, the mundane
jhana must have been either made the basis for insight or used as the object of
insight comprehension.
The difference between the three theories can be
understood through a simple example.[26]
If a meditator reaches the supramundane path by contemplating with insight the
first jhana after emerging from the fifth jhana, then according to the first
theory his path will belong to the fifth jhana, while according to the second
theory it will belong to the first jhana. Thus these two theories are
incompatible when a difference obtains between basic jhana and comprehended
jhana. But according to the third theory, the path becomes of whichever jhana
the meditator wishes, either the first or the fifth. Thus this doctrine does
not necessarily clash with the other two.
Buddhaghosa himself does not make a decision among these
three theories. He only points out that in all three doctrines, beneath their
disagreements, there is the recognition that the insight immediately preceding
the supramundane path determines the jhanic character of the path. For this
insight is the proximate and the principal cause for the arising of the path,
so whether it be the insight leading to emergence near the basic jhana or that
occurring through the contemplated jhana or that fixed by the meditator’s wish,
it is in all cases this final phase of insight that gives definition to the
supramundane path. Since the fruition that occurs immediately after the path
has an identical constitution to the path, its own supramundane jhana is
determined by the path. Thus a first jhana path produces a first jhana fruit,
and so forth for the remaining jhanas.
6.
Jhana and the Noble Disciples
All noble persons, as we saw, acquire supramundane jhana
along with their attainment of the noble paths and fruits. The noble ones at
each of the four stages of liberation, moreover, have access to the
supramundane jhana of their respective fruition attainments, from the fruition
attainment of stream-entry up to the fruition attainments of arahatship. It
remains problematic, however to what extent they also enjoy the possession of
mundane jhana. To determine an answer to this question we will consult an early
typology of seven types of noble disciples, which provides a more
psychologically oriented way of classifying the eight noble individuals. A look
at the explanation of these seven types will enable us to see the range of
jhanic attainment reached by the noble disciples. On this basis we will proceed
to assess the place of mundane jhana in the early Buddhist picture of the
arahant, the perfected individual.
Seven Types of Disciples
The sevenfold typology is originally found in the Kitagiri
Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (M.i,477-79) and is reformulated in the Puggalapaññatti
of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. This typology classifies the noble persons on the
paths and fruits into seven types: the faith-devotee (saddhanusari), the
one liberated by faith (saddhavimutta), the body-witness (kayasakkhi),
the one liberated in both ways (ubhatobhagavimutta), the truth-devotee (dhammanusari),
the one attained to understanding (ditthipatta), and the one liberated
by wisdom (paññavimutta). The seven types may be divided into three
general groups, each defined by the predominance of a particular spiritual
faculty, The first two types are governed by a predominance of faith, the
middle two by a predominance of concentration, and the last three by a
predominance of wisdom. To this division, however, certain qualifications will
have to made as we go along.
[1] The faith-devotee is explained the sutta thus:
Herein, monks,
some person has not reached with his own (mental) body those peaceful
immaterial deliverances transcending material form: nor after seeing with
wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed.[27]
But he has a certain degree of faith in the Tathagata, a certain degree of
devotion to him, and he has these qualities — the faculties of faith, energy,
mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. This person, monks, is called a
faith-devotee. (M.i,479)
The Puggalapaññatti (p 182) defines the
faith-devotee from a different angle as a disciple practicing for the fruit of
stream-entry in whom the faculty of faith is predominant and who develops the
noble path led by faith. It adds that when he is established in the fruit he becomes
one liberated by faith. Although the sutta excluded the “peaceful
immaterial attainments,” i.e., the four immaterial jhana, from the
faith-devotee’s equipment, this implies nothing with regard to his achievement
of the four lower mundane jhanas. It would seem that the faith-devotee can have
previously attained any of the four fine-material jhanas before reaching the
path, and can also be a dry-insight worker bereft of mundane jhana.
[2] The one liberated by faith is strictly and literally defined
as a noble disciple at the six intermediate levels, from the fruit of
stream-entry through to the path of arahatship, who lacks the immaterial jhanas
and has a predominance of the faith faculty.
The Buddha explains the one liberated by faith as follows:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached with his own
(mental) body those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material
form; but having seen with wisdom, some of his cankers have been destroyed, and
his faith in the Tathagata is settled, deeply rooted, well established. This
person, monks, is called one liberated by faith. (M.i,478)
As in the case of the faith-devotee, the one liberated by
faith, while lacking the immaterial jhanas, may still be an obtainer of the
four mundane jhanas as well as a dry insight worker.
The Puggalapaññatti states (pp.184-85) that the
person liberated by faith is one who understands the Four Noble Truths, has
seen and verified by means of wisdom the teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata,
and having seen with wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. However, he has
not done so as easily as the ditthipatta, the person attained to
understanding, whose progress is easier due to his superior wisdom. The fact
that the one liberated by faith has destroyed only some of this cankers implies
that he has advanced beyond the first path but not yet reached the final fruit,
the fruit of arahatship.[28]
[3] The body-witness is a noble disciple at the six intermediate
levels, from the fruit of stream-entry to the path of arahatship, who has a
predominance of the faculty of concentration and can obtain the immaterial
jhanas. The sutta explanation reads:
And what person,
monks is a body-witness? Herein, monks, some person has reached with his own
(mental) body those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material
form, and having seen with wisdom, some of his cankers having been destroyed.
This person, monks, is called a body-witness. (M.i,478)
The Puggalapaññatti (p. 184) offers a slight
variation in this phrasing, substituting “the eight deliverances” (atthavimokkha)
for the sutta’s “peaceful immaterial deliverances” (santa vimokkha
aruppa). These eight deliverances consist of three meditative attainments
pertaining to the fine-material sphere (inclusive of all four lower jhanas),
the four immaterial jhanas, and the cessation of perception and feeling (saññavedayitanirodha)
— the last a special attainment accessible only to those non-returners and
arahats who have also mastered the eight jhanas.[29]
The statement of the Puggalapaññatti does not mean either that the achievement
of all eight deliverances is necessary to become a body-witness or that the
achievement of the three lower deliverances is sufficient. What is both
requisite and sufficient to qualify as a body-witness is the partial
destruction of defilements coupled with the attainment of at least the lowest
immaterial jhana. Thus the body witness becomes fivefold by way of those who
obtain any of the four immaterial jhanas and the one who also obtains the
cessation of perception and feeling.
[4] One who is liberated in both ways is an arahant who has
completely destroyed the defilements and possesses the immaterial attainments.
The commentaries explain the name “liberated in both ways” as meaning
“through the immaterial attainment he is liberated from the material body
and through the path (of arahatship) he is liberated from the mental body”
(MA.ii,131). The sutta defines this type of disciple thus:
And what person,
monks, is liberated in both ways? Herein, monks, someone has reached with his
own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material
form, and having seen with wisdom, his cankers are destroyed. This person,
monks, is called liberated in both ways. (M.i,477)
The Puggalapaññatti (p.184) gives basically the
same formula but replaces “immaterial deliverances” with “the
eight deliverances.” The same principle of interpretation that applied to
the body-witness applies here: the attainment of any immaterial jhana, even the
lowest, is sufficient to qualify a person as both-ways liberated. As the
commentary to the Visuddhimagga says: “One who has attained
arahatship after gaining even one [immaterial jhana] is liberated both
ways” (Vism.T.ii,466). This type becomes fivefold by way of those who
attain arahatship after emerging from one or another of the four immaterial
jhanas and the one who attains arahatship after emerging from the attainment of
cessation (MA:iii,131).
[5] The truth-devotee is a disciple on the first path in whom the
faculty of wisdom is predominant. The Buddha explains the truth-devotee as
follows:
Herein, monks,
some person has not reached with his own (mental) body those peaceful
immaterial deliverances transcending material form; nor, after seeing with
wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed. But the teachings proclaimed by the
Tathagata are accepted by him through mere reflection, and he has these
qualities — the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and
wisdom. This person, monks, is called a truth-devotee. (M.i,479)
The Puggalapaññatti (p.185) defines the
truth-devotee as one practicing for realization of the fruit of stream-entry in
whom the faculty of wisdom is predominant, and who develops the path led by
wisdom. It adds that when a truth-devotee is established in the fruit of
stream-entry he becomes one attained to understanding, the sixth type. The
sutta and Abhidhamma again differ as to emphasis, the one stressing lack of the
immaterial jhanas, the other the ariyan stature. Presumably, he may have any of
the four fine-material jhanas or be a bare-insight practitioner without any
mundane jhana.
[6] The one attained to understanding is a noble disciple at the
six intermediate levels who lacks the immaterial jhanas and has a predominance
of the wisdom faculty. The Buddha explains:
And what person,
monks, is the one attained to understanding? Herein, monks someone has not
reached with his own mental body those peaceful immaterial deliverances
transcending material form, but having seen with wisdom some of his cankers are
destroyed, and the teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata have been seen and
verified by him with wisdom. This person, monks, is called the one attained to
understanding. (M.i,478)
The Puggalapaññatti (p.185) defines the one
attained to understanding as a person who understands the Four Noble Truths,
has seen and verified by means of wisdom the teachings proclaimed by the
Tathagata, and having seen with wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. He
is thus the “wisdom counterpart” of the one liberated by faith, but
progresses more easily than the latter by virtue of his sharper wisdom. Like
his counterpart, he may possess any of the four mundane jhanas or may be a
dry-insight worker.
[7] The one liberated by wisdom is an arahant who does not obtain
the immaterial attainments. In the words of the sutta:
And what person,
monks, is the one liberated by wisdom? Herein, monks, someone has not reached
with his own (mental) body those peaceful material deliverances transcending
material form, but having seen with wisdom his cankers are destroyed. This
person, monks, is called one liberated by wisdom. (M.i,477-78)
The Puggalapaññatti’s definition (p.185) merely
replaces “immaterial deliverance” with “the eight
deliverances.” Though such arahats do not reach the immaterial jhanas it
is quite possible for them to attain the lower jhanas. The sutta commentary in
fact states that the one liberated by wisdom is fivefold by way of the
dry-insight worker and the four who attain arahatship after emerging from the
four jhanas.
It should be noted that the one liberated by wisdom is contrasted
not with the one liberated by faith, but with the one liberated in both ways.
The issue that divides the two types of arahant is the lack or possession of
the four immaterial jhanas and the attainment of cessation. The person
liberated by faith is found at the six intermediate levels of sanctity, not at
the level of arahatship. When he obtains arahatship, lacking the immaterial
jhanas, he becomes one liberated by wisdom even though faith rather that wisdom
is his predominant faculty. Similarly, a meditator with predominance of
concentration who possesses the immaterial attainments will still be liberated
in both ways even if wisdom rather than concentration claims first place among
his spiritual endowments, as was the case with the venerable Sariputta.
Jhana and the Arahant
From the standpoint of their spiritual stature the seven
types of noble persons can be divided into three categories. The first, which
includes the faith-devotee and the truth-devotee, consists of those on the path
of stream-entry, the first of the eight noble individuals. The second category,
comprising the one liberated by faith, the body-witness and the one attained to
understanding, consists of those on the six intermediate levels, from the
stream-enterer to one on the path of arahatship. The third category, comprising
the one liberated in both ways and the one liberated by wisdom, consists only
of arahats.[30]
The ubhatobhagavimutta, “one liberated in both
ways,” and the paññavimutta “one liberated by wisdom,”
thus form the terms of a twofold typology of arahats distinguished on the basis
of their accomplishment in jhana. The ubhatobhagavimutta arahant
experiences in his own person the “peaceful deliverances” of the
immaterial sphere, the paññavimutta arahant lacks this full experience
of the immaterial jhanas. Each of these two types, according to the
commentaries, again becomes fivefold — the ubhatobhagavimutta by way of
those who possess the ascending four immaterial jhanas and the attainment of
cessation, the paññavimutta by way of those who reach arahatship after
emerging from one of the four fine-material jhanas and the dry-insight
meditator whose insight lacks the support of mundane jhana.
The possibility of attaining the supramundane path without
possession of a mundane jhana has been questioned by some Theravada scholars,
but the Visuddhimagga clearly admits this possibility when it
distinguishes between the path arisen in a dry-insight meditator and the path
arisen in one who possesses a jhana but does not use it as a basis for insight
(Vism.666-67; PP.779). Textual evidence that there can be arahats lacking
mundane jhana is provided by the Susima Sutta (S.ii, 199-23) together with is
commentaries. When the monks in the sutta are asked how they can be arahats
without possessing supernormal powers of the immaterial attainments, they
reply: “We are liberated by wisdom” (paññavimutta kho mayam).
The commentary glosses this reply thus: “We are contemplatives,
dry-insight meditators, liberated by wisdom alone” (Mayam nijjhanaka
sukkhavipassaka paññamatten’eva vimutta ti, SA.ii,117). The commentary also
states that the Buddha gave his long disquisition on insight in the sutta
“to show the arising of knowledge even without concentration” (vina
pi samadhimevam nanuppattidassanattham, SA.ii,117). The subcommentary
establishes the point by explaining “even without concentration” to
mean “even without concentration previously accomplished reaching the mark
of serenity” (samathalakkhanappattam purimasiddhamvina pi samadhin ti),
adding that this is said in reference to one who makes insight his vehicle
(ST.ii,125).
In contrast to the paññavimutta arahats, those
arahats who are ubhatobhagavimutta enjoy a twofold liberation. Through
their mastery over the formless attainments they are liberated from the
material body (rupakaya), capable of dwelling in this very life in the
meditations corresponding to the immaterial planes of existence; through their
attainment of arahatship they are liberated from the mental body (namakaya),
presently free from all defilements and sure of final emancipation from future
becoming. Paññavimutta arahats only possess the second of these two
liberations.
The double liberation of the ubhatobhagavimutta
arahant should not be confused with another double liberation frequently
mentioned in the suttas in connection with arahatship. This second pair of
liberations, called cetovimutti paññavimutti, “liberation of mind,
liberation by wisdom,” is shared by all arahats. It appears in the stock
passage descriptive of arahatship: “With the destruction of the cankers he
here and now enters and dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation
by wisdom, having realized it for himself with direct knowledge.” That
this twofold liberation belongs to paññavimutta arahats as well as those
who are ubhatobhagavimutta is made clear by the Putta Sutta, where the stock
passage is used for two types of arahats called the “white lotus
recluse” and the “red lotus recluse”:
How, monks, is a
person a white lotus recluse (samanapundarika)? Here, monks, with the
destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and dwells in the
cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having realized it for
himself with direct knowledge. Yet he does not dwell experiencing the eight
deliverances with his body. Thus, monks, a person is a white lotus recluse.
And how, monks, is a person a red lotus recluse (samanapaduma)?
Here, monks, with the destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having
realized it for himself with direct knowledge. And he dwells experiencing the
eight deliverances with his body. Thus, monks, a person is a red lotus recluse.
(A.ii,87)
Since the description of these two types coincides with
that of paññavimutta and ubhatobhagavimutta the two pairs may be
identified, the white lotus recluse with the paññavimutta, the red lotus
recluse with the ubhatobhagavimutta. Yet the paññavimutta
arahant, while lacking the experience of the eight deliverances, still has both
liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom.
When liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom are
joined together and described as “cankerless” (anasava), they
can be taken to indicate two aspects of the arahant’s deliverance. Liberation
of mind signifies the release of his mind from craving and its associated
defilements, liberation by wisdom the release from ignorance: “With the
fading away of lust there is liberation of mind, with the fading away of
ignorance there is liberation by wisdom” (A.i,61). “As he sees and
understands thus his mind is liberated from the canker of sensual desire, from
the canker of existence, from the canker of ignorance” (M.i,183-84) — here
release from the first two cankers can be understood as liberation of mind,
release from the canker of ignorance as liberation by wisdom. In the
commentaries “liberation of mind” is identified with the
concentration factor in the fruition attainment of arahatship, “liberation
by wisdom” with the wisdom factor.
Since every arahant reaches arahatship through the Noble
Eightfold Path, he must have attained supramundane jhana in the form of right
concentration, the eighth factor of the path, defined as the four jhanas. This
jhana remains with him as the concentration of the fruition attainment of
arahatship, which occurs at the level of supramundane jhana corresponding to
that of his path. Thus he always stands in possession of at least the supramundane
jhana of fruition, called the “cankerless liberation of mind.”
However, this consideration does not reflect back on his mundane attainments,
requiring that every arahant possess mundane jhana.
Although early Buddhism acknowledges the possibility of a
dry-visioned arahatship, the attitude prevails that jhanas are still desirable
attributes in an arahant. They are of value not only prior to final attainment,
as a foundation for insight, but retain their value even afterwards. The value
of jhana in the stage of arahatship, when all spiritual training has been
completed, is twofold. One concerns the arahant’s inner experience, the other
his outer significance as a representative of the Buddha’s dispensation.
On the side of inner experience the jhanas are valued as
providing the arahant with a “blissful dwelling here and now” (ditthadhammasukhavihara).
The suttas often show arahats attaining to jhana and the Buddha himself
declares the four jhanas to be figuratively a kind of Nibbana in this present
life (A.iv.453-54). With respect to levels and factors there is no difference
between the mundane jhanas of an arahant and those of a non-arahant. The
difference concerns their function. For non-arahats the mundane jhanas
constitute wholesome kamma; they are deeds with a potential to produce results,
to precipitate rebirth in a corresponding realm of existence. But in the case
of an arahant mundane jhana no longer generates kamma. Since he has eradicated
ignorance and craving, the roots of kamma, his actions leave no residue; they
have no capacity to generate results. For him the jhanic consciousness is a
mere functional consciousness which comes and goes and once gone disappears
without a trace.
The value of the jhanas, however, extends beyond the
confines of the arahant’s personal experience to testify to the spiritual
efficacy of the Buddha’s dispensation. The jhanas are regarded as
ornamentations of the arahant, testimonies to the accomplishment of the
spiritually perfect person and the effectiveness of the teaching he follows. A
worthy monk is able to “gain at will without trouble or difficulty, the
four jhanas pertaining to the higher consciousness, blissful dwellings here and
now.” This ability to gain the jhanas at will is a “quality that
makes a monk an elder.” When accompanied by several other spiritual
accomplishments it is an essential quality of “a recluse who graces
recluses” and of a monk who can move unobstructed in the four directions.
Having ready access to the four jhanas makes an elder dear and agreeable,
respected and esteemed by his fellow monks. Facility in gaining the jhanas is
one of the eight qualities of a completely inspiring monk (samantapasadika
bhikkhu) perfect in all respects; it is also one of the eleven foundations
of faith (saddha pada). It is significant that in all these lists of
qualities the last item is always the attainment of arahatship, “the
cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom,” showing that all
desirable qualities in a bhikkhu culminate in arahatship.[31]
The higher the degree of his mastery over the meditative
attainments, the higher the esteem in which an arahant monk is held and the
more praiseworthy his achievement is considered. Thus the Buddha says of the ubhatobhagavimutta
arahant: “There is no liberation in both ways higher and more excellent
than this liberation in both ways”(D.ii,71).
The highest respect goes to those monks who possess not
only liberation in both ways but the six abhiññas or
“super-knowledges”: the exercise of psychic powers, the divine ear,
the ability to read the minds of others, the recollection of past lives,
knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings, and knowledge of final liberation.
The Buddha declares that a monk endowed with the six abhiññas, is worthy
of gifts and hospitality, worthy of offerings and reverential salutations, a
supreme field of merit for the world (A.iii,280-81). In the period after the
Buddha’s demise, what qualified a monk to give guidance to others was endowment
with ten qualities: moral virtue, learning, contentment, mastery over the four
jhanas, the five mundane abhiññas and attainment of the cankerless
liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom (M.iii,11-12). Perhaps it was because
he was extolled by the Buddha for his facility in the meditative attainments
and the abhiññas that the venerable Mahakassapa assumed the presidency
of the first great Buddhist council held in Rajagaha after the Buddha’s passing
away.
The graduation in the veneration given to arahats on the
basis of their mundane spiritual achievements implies something about the value
system of early Buddhism that is not often recognized. It suggests that while
final liberation may be the ultimate and most important value, it is not the
sole value even in the spiritual domain. Alongside it, as embellishments rather
than alternatives, stand mastery over the range of the mind and mastery over
the sphere of the knowable. The first is accomplished by the attainment of the
eight mundane jhanas, the second by the attainment of the abhiññas.
Together, final liberation adorned with this twofold mastery is esteemed as the
highest and most desirable way of actualizing the ultimate goal.
About
the Author
Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana was ordained as a Buddhist
monk in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 1947 and received his education at Vidyalankara
College and Buddhist Missionary College, Colombo. He worked for five years as a
Buddhist missionary among the Harijans (Untouchables) in India and for ten
years with the Buddhist Missionary Society in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1968
he came to the United States to serve as general secretary of the Buddhist
Vihara Society at the Washington Buddhist Vihara. In 1980 he was appointed
president of the Society. He has received a Ph.D. from The American University
and since 1973 has been Buddhist Chaplain at The American University. He is now
director of the Bhavana Meditation Center in West Virginia in the Shenandoah
Valley, about 100 miles from Washington, D.C.
Notes
1.
See
for example, the Samaññaphala Sutta (D. 2), the Culahatthipadopama Sutta (M. 27),etc.
2.
Kamacchanda,
byapada, thinamiddha, uddhaccakukkucca, vicikiccha.
3.
Vitakka,
vicara, piti, sukha, ekaggata.
4.
Akasanañcayatana,
viññanañcayatana, akincaññayatana, nevasaññanasaññayatana.
5.
See
Narada, A Manual of Abhidhamma, 4th ed. (Kandy: Buddhist Publication
Society, 1980), pp.389, 395-96.
6.
A
full description of the fourfold purification of morality will be found in the Visuddhimagga,
Chapter 1.
7.
The
following discussion is based on Vism.110-115; PP.112-118.
8.
Buddhaghosa
ascribes the passage he cites in support of the correspondence to the
“Petaka,” but it cannot be traced anywhere in the present Tipitaka,
nor in the exegetical work named Petakopadesa.
9.
The
other two types of abandoning are by substitution of opposites (tadangappahana),
which means the replacement of unwholesome states by wholesome ones
specifically opposed to them, and abandoning by eradication (samucchedappahana),
the final destruction of defilements by the supramundane paths. See
Vism.693-96;PP.812-16.
10.
Adapted
from Nyanaponika Thera, The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest
(Wheel No. 26). This booklet contains a full compilation of texts on the
hindrances.
11.
Ven
Ñanamoli, in his translation of the Visuddhimagga, renders piti by
“happiness,” but this rendering can be misleading since most
translators use “happiness” as a rendering for sukha, the pleasurable
feeling present in the jhana. We will render piti by “rapture,” thus
maintaining the connection of the term with ecstatic meditative experience.
12.
Shwe
Zan Aung, Compendium of Philosophy (London: Pali Text Society, 1960),
p243.
13.
Khuddhikapiti,
khanikapiti, okkantikapiti, ubbega piti
and pharana piti. Vism 143-44; PP. 149-51. Dhs.A.158.
14.
Dhs.A.160-61.
Translation by Maung Tin, The Expositor (Atthasalini) (London: Pali Text
Society, 1921), i.155-56.
15.
The
following is based on Vism. 126-35; PP.132-40
16.
Avajjanavasi,
samapajjanavasi, adhitthanavasi, vutthanavasi, paccavekkhanavasi. For a discussion see Vism. 154-55; PP.160-61. The
canonical source for the five masteries is the Patisambhidamagga, i.100.
17.
Based
on the distinction between applied and sustained thought, the Abhidhamma
presents a fivefold division of the jhanas obtained by recognizing the
sequential rather than simultaneous elimination of the two kinds of thought. On
this account a meditator of duller faculties eliminates applied thought first
and attains a second jhana with four factors including sustained thought, and a
third jhana identical with the second jhana of the fourfold scheme. In contrast
a meditator of sharp faculties comprehends quickly the defects of both applied
and sustained thought and so eliminates them both at once.
18.
Akasanañcayatana,
viññanañcayatana, akincaññayatana, nevasaññana saññayatana.
19.
Brahmaparisajja
brahmapurohita, maha brahma.
20.
Paritabha,
appamanabha, abhassara.
21.
Parittasubha,
appamanasubha, subhakinha.
22.
Vehapphala,
asaññasatta, suddhavasa.
23.
A
good summary of Buddhist cosmology and of the connection between kamma and
planes of rebirth can be found in Narada, A Manual of Abhidhamma,
pp.233-55.
24.
Anicca,
dukkha, anatta.
25.
Dhs.A.259.See
Expositor, ii.289-90.
26.
Dhs.A.274.
See Expositor, ii.310.
27.
The
cankers (asava) are four powerful defilements that sustain samsara;
sensual desire, desire for existence, wrong views and ignorance.
28.
The
Visuddhimagga, however says that arahats in whom faith is predominant
can also be called “liberated by faith” (Vism.659; PP.770). Its
commentary points out that this statement is intended only figuratively, in the
sense that those arahats reach their goal after having been liberated by faith
in the intermediate stages. Literally, they would be “liberated by
wisdom”. (Vism.T.ii,468)
29.
The
first three emancipations are: one possessing material form sees material
forms; one not perceiving material forms internally sees material forms
externally; and one is released upon the idea of the beautiful. They are
understood to be variations on the jhanas attained with color kasinas. For the
attainment of cessation, see PP.824-833.
30.
It
should be noted that the Kitagiri Sutta makes no provision in its typology for
a disciple on the first path who gains the immaterial jhanas. Vism.T.(ii,466)
holds that he would have to be considered either a faith-devotee or a
truth-devotee, and at the final fruition would be one liberated in both ways.
31.
The
references are to: A,ii,23; iii,131,135,114; iv,314-15; v,337.
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