This book,
Ajaan Lee's first, is like a catalog: In it, he gives the
full range of his teachings on the practice of the Buddha's
craft, from the observance of the five precepts to the
attainment of total liberation. Thus the different parts are
written for different people at different stages in the
practice, and the reader is advised to read, not
judgmentally, but judiciously taking whatever is useful
for his or her own practice, and leaving the rest for
others.
The structure
of the book, with its two over-lapping parts, is explained
by the fact that the two parts were originally written and
published separately, Part II appearing in 1936 as The
Training of the Heart, and Part I the following year as
Precepts for Laypeople. In 1939 Ajaan Lee revised and
expanded both parts, putting them into their present form as
self-sufficient but complementary halves of a single volume.
Later, in the early 1950's, he revised the book once more,
this final revised version being the one translated here.
Although Ajaan
Lee's teachings continued to develop over the course of
later years, the basic outlines remained constant. Most of
his later teachings are simply elaborations on themes
already given in this book. One of these later developments,
though, deserves special mention here: It concerns the
question of how a beginner should get started in practicing
meditation. Ajaan Lee's eventual solution to this question,
given in his book, Keeping the Breath in Mind: Method II,
can briefly be stated as follows: Start right in developing
the factors of Jhana by (1) being clearly aware of each
breath, (2) evaluating and adjusting the breath so that it
is as comfortable and satisfying as possible, and (3)
letting this comfortable sensation spread, along with a
sense of present awareness, throughout the entire body. If
an individual meditator had trouble sticking with step (1),
Ajaan Lee might recommend some of the methods given in this
book the repetition of the word "buddho" in conjunction
with the breath, the contemplation of the basic properties
of the body, etc. but these methods were regarded as
ancillary to the central practice of keeping the breath in
mind.
Yet even though
Ajaan Lee's later teachings developed new perspectives on
some of the individual themes contained in this book, none
of his later writings have its scope or completeness. For
this reason it remains to this day one of his most popular
and esteemed works.
But for all its
scope, it is only a preliminary guide a map or a mirror
for the true craft of the heart lies, not within its covers,
but within the reader.
To quote from
one of Ajaan Lee's later sermons: "What does discernment
come from? You might compare it with learning to become a
potter, a tailor, or a basket weaver. The teacher will start
out by telling you how to make a pot, sew a shirt or a pair
of pants, or weave different patterns, but the proportions
and beauty of the object you make will have to depend on
your own powers of observation. Suppose you weave a basket
and then take a good look at its proportions, to see if it's
too short or too tall. If it's too short, weave another one,
a little taller, and then take a good look at it to see if
there's anything that still needs improving, to see if it's
too thin or too fat. Then weave another one, better-looking
than the last. Keep this up until you have one that's as
beautiful and well-proportioned as possible, one with
nothing to criticize from any angle. This last basket you
can take as your standard. You can now set yourself up in
business. What you've done is learn from your own actions.
As for your earlier efforts, you needn't concern yourself
with them any longer. Throw them out. This is a sense of
discernment that arises of its own accord, an ingenuity and
a sense of judgment that come not from anything your
teachers have taught you, but from observing and evaluating
on your own what you yourself have done."
Hopefully this
book will be of help to all those who hope to master the
craft of the heart.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
Metta Forest
Monastery
PO Box 1409
Valley Center, CA 92082 U.S.A.
In the first
part of this book I will discuss virtue, before going on to
discuss the practice of meditation in the second. I put
together this first section as a cure for my own sense of
dismay. I.e., there have been times when I've asked lay
Buddhists to tell me what exactly is forbidden by the five
precepts, the eight precepts, and the ten guidelines (kammapatha)
that people observe, and their answers have been a jumble of
right and wrong. When I ask them how long they've been
observing the precepts, some say they've never observed
them, others say "two years," "five years," etc. The
ignorance of those who've never observed the precepts is
understandable; as for those who have taken the precepts,
there are all kinds: Some people who've taken them for three
years understand them better than others who have taken them
for five. Some people have repeated the precepts against
taking life for three years now, and yet keep on taking
life, with no idea of what the precept is for. Of course,
there are many people who are better informed than this, but
even so I can't help feeling dismayed because their behavior
isn't really in keeping with their knowledge. Now, I say
this is not to be critical, but simply to be truthful. For
this reason, I have put together this book as a way of
relieving my sense of dismay, and have arranged to have it
printed for distribution to practicing Buddhists, as a
guideline for honoring our Teacher through the practice of
his teachings, and for fostering the prosperity of those
teachings for a long time to come.
In conclusion,
I ask the reader to read reflectively. Some things here may
be to your liking, others may not. But at any rate, I feel
certain that you could find it well worth your while to
bring your conduct into line with the various teachings
mentioned here.
If anything I
have written in this book is incorrect in terms of the
Dhamma, please forgive me.
The physical
and mental energy used in writing this book I dedicate to
those who have felt inspired to provide the financial energy
for its printing. As long as they are not yet totally
liberated from all suffering and stress, may they be
perceptive and discerning with regard to everything of every
sort that pertains to their genuine welfare in whatever
realm they may be reborn.
Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
The Forest
Temple
Shrimp Canal
Chanthaburi
Part I
Mastering Virtue
There are three
sets of precepts for laypeople: the five precepts, the eight
precepts, and the ten guidelines. Here we will discuss the
five and the eight precepts first, saving the ten guidelines
for later. The five precepts can be divided into two sorts:
those dealing with bodily action and those dealing with
speech. Normalcy in bodily action is expressed by three
precepts: refraining from taking life, from stealing and
from engaging in illicit sex. Normalcy in speech is
expressed by the precept against lying, which involves
refraining not only from lying, but also from divisive
tale-bearing, from coarse or abusive speech, and from
aimless or idle talk. As for the precept against taking
intoxicants, it fits in with the third precept against
illicit sex in that both deal with forms of intoxication.
The eight
precepts are derived from the five and, like the five, can
be divided into two sorts. Seven deal with bodily action:
refraining from taking life; from stealing the possessions
of others; from any and all sexual intercourse; from eating
food from the period from noon until the following dawn;
from watching dancing, singing, instrumental music, and
other shows, and from using garlands, perfumes, cosmetics,
and jewelry; and from using high and luxurious beds and
seats.
The precepts,
whether five or eight, are ultimately two: right normalcy in
bodily action and right normalcy in speech. Sila, the
Pali word for virtue and precept, literally means normalcy
a quality that can be separated into either five or eight
component virtues. The eight uposatha precepts do
away with more defilements of bodily action than do either
the five precepts or the ten guidelines. The bodily actions
of a person who observes them weigh lightly, like those of
one who is ordained. (Speaking of ordination, for women at
least, it would appear that a person who observes the eight
precepts does away with more greed, anger, and delusion in
terms of bodily action than did the sikkhamanas
(aspirants to nunhood) of the past. Although as a novice the
sikkhamana was expected to observe the ten precepts,
still when she was about to be ordained as a nun she had to
be strict in observing only the first six). So whoever
observes the eight precepts can be said to lead one form of
the chaste life kala-brahmacariya, temporary
renunciation the only difference being that one doesn't
have to change one's mode of dress.
It's a rare man
or woman who will act in this way. Whoever does can be
counted as a person of value, a vessel for what is wise and
worthwhile, into which the practice of concentration
(samadhi) should be placed.
The ten
guidelines, unlike the five and eight precepts, don't have
to be taken as vows. Once you understand them, simply go
ahead and follow them. Altogether, they are of three sorts;
three principles dealing with bodily action, four with
speech, and three with the heart. The three principles
dealing with bodily action are: not taking life, not
stealing, and not engaging in illicit sex or taking
intoxicants (the last two being counted as one). The four
principles dealing with speech are derived from the precept
against lying: refraining from lying, from divisive
tale-bearing, from coarse or abusive speech, and from idle,
aimless and useless chatter.
The three
principles dealing with the heart are: anabhijjha
not coveting the possessions of others; abyapada
not feeling ill will, i.e., not wanting others to suffer
misfortune; and samma-ditthi right view, being
convinced that the pleasure and pain we experience come from
our own good and bad actions: Whoever does good will meet
with good, whoever does evil will meet with evil.
So altogether
there are ten guidelines. These guidelines are termed
kusala kammapatha, wise policies or clean actions. They
are policies that should be adopted and followed the more
constantly, the better. Defilements related to greed will
die away; those related to anger and delusion won't have a
chance to arise. Greed arises from the thought of coveting
the focusing of desire which is then expressed as greed in
one's thoughts, words, and deeds. One's thoughts thus become
restless and disturbed; one's words and deeds, unwise and
defiled. As for anger, it arises from ill will, which then
gives rise to hostility and finally to anger, fury, and
violence. One's thoughts, words, and deeds thus become
unwise and defiled. Delusion arises from wrong views, from
ignorance of right and wrong, good and evil, making one's
thoughts, words, and deeds unwise and defiled.
So you should
kill these things off at their source. Kill off covetousness
by sharing your possessions with others with your
children, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends, monks,
nuns, and recluses which in the long run will be to your
own benefit. This is termed generosity (dana). Kill
off ill will by developing thoughts of benevolence,
compassion, appreciation, and equanimity; and avoid
detrimental actions by observing the precepts (sila).
Kill off wrong views by associating with people who are
knowledgeable and wise, learning from them so as to develop
your own insight and discernment. This is termed mental
development (bhavana).
These are the
techniques for curing greed, anger, and delusion.
Covetousness, ill will, and wrong views are the tap roots of
defilement; greed, anger, and delusion are the crown. The
thoughts, words, and deeds that express these qualities form
the trunk and branches, and the fruit is pain: the pain of
birth, aging, illness, and death; of sorrow, lamentation,
pain, distress, and despair. Normally, when we've eaten the
flesh of a fruit, if we don't destroy the seed, it will have
a chance to sprout and form another tree. So it is with
defilement: If we don't destroy the seed, it will produce
more fruit. Thoughts that fasten and cling: These are the
seed. People who don't realize this, imagine this fruit to
be something tasty and delicious, and so are unwilling to
abandon and destroy covetousness, greed, ill will, and wrong
views. As a result, they spin around in this cycle in
various ways, under the influence of these three sorts of
defilement. When these defilements arise in full force,
whatever status one may have will be shattered, whatever
wealth one has will be lost, the good opinion of others will
turn to censure, one's happiness will turn to misery, one's
friends will flee, and one's family will fall apart or
even if it doesn't fall apart, it will be pained with
sorrow, as if its heart had been scalded with boiling water.
So we should
kill off these defilements by being generous with our
belongings; by observing the five precepts, the eight
precepts, or the ten guidelines; and by practicing
concentration to develop the mind, making it firm,
unwavering, and still. Once these defilements die, then even
if you've never had wealth, you'll be wealthy; even if
you've never reached heaven, you'll attain it, constant and
unchanging, in line with the Buddha's verse on the rewards
of the five precepts:
silena
sugatim yanti
Through virtue they go to heaven.
silena bhoga-sampada
Through virtue wealth is attained.
silena nibbutim yanti
Through virtue they go to liberation
secure happiness, free from all suffering and stress.
tasma silam visodhaye
Thus we should all purify our virtue.
* * *
Question:
At what times should the five precepts, the eight precepts,
and the ten guidelines be observed?
Answer:
The five precepts and ten guidelines should be observed at
all times without any reference to morning, evening, noon,
or night as constant or timeless principles (nicca-sila,
akalika-sila). As for the eight uposatha precepts, a
pattern has been established in line with the varying
abilities and opportunities of laypeople of gathering to
observe the precepts together once every seven or eight days
on the lunar sabbath: the day of the new moon, the full
moon, and the eighth day of the waxing and waning moons
altogether four times a month. This pattern is for people
who don't have much time or opportunity. If, however, you
have plenty of time and opportunity, let your own conviction
be your guide. Focus on goodness, and not on the calendar,
observing the precepts on your own, making whatever day you
observe them no matter what the date or season your own
personal uposatha day.
Someone might
object here, saying, "If it isn't the lunar sabbath, then
you can't say you're observing the uposatha precepts."
"If they're not
uposatha precepts, what are they?"
"Just the
ordinary eight precepts."
"Is it good or
bad to observe the eight precepts?"
"...Good."
"And we observe
the precepts for the sake of the good, don't we? So if we've
hit the good right on the nose, what does it matter if we've
hit the wrong day?"
Here we should
translate the word "uposatha." Literally, it means
"approaching respite" from all that is corrupt and unwise.
So by definitions, if there's no respite from corruption in
your actions, then it's not uposatha day. There's no way you
can guarantee that this or that date is an uposatha day or
whatever. Still, the pattern of observing the eight precepts
on the lunar sabbath is a good one for people who don't have
much opportunity. But if you do have the opportunity, you
shouldn't limit yourself just to those days, because virtue,
by its nature, isn't too particular about the date.
This being the
case, we should set up gradations so that those who feel
inspired to practice can do so as they are able:
1. The
first group observes the eight precepts on each lunar
sabbath during the rainy season: three months, four days a
month, thus twelve days. This is termed mudu, the
weak level.
2. The
intermediate level majjhima uposatha observes
the eight precepts on each lunar sabbath, without fail,
throughout the year: twelve months, four days a month,
thus 48 days a year.
3. The
highest level ukkattha uposatha observes the
eight precepts on each lunar sabbath, and on the day
before and the day after each sabbath, without reference
to month or season: twelve months, twelve days a month,
thus 144 days a year. This is for people of firm
conviction. Or, if you want, you can aim higher than that
and observe the eight precepts at all times and in every
season, focusing on the quality of virtue itself instead
of on the ordinances and conventions of the world just
like the Buddhist nuns who, in our day and times, observe
these very same eight precepts.
* * *
Virtue can be
established on one of two bases: either through (1) making a
vow (samadana-virati), as when we repeat the precepts
after a monk or novice (here it is also necessary to learn
exactly what vices and misdeeds are forbidden by each of the
five or eight precepts); or (2) simply deciding on our own
to abstain from a particular vice or misdeed (sampatta-virati).
In other words, when you want to keep your character pure,
you can go ahead and decide to refrain from misconduct on
your own. Once virtue is established, and you are careful to
safeguard it out of a sense of conscience so that it doesn't
lapse, this is termed samuccheda-virati: absolute
abstinence.
For virtue to
be kept pure depends on two factors: perseverance and the
four Sublime Attitudes (benevolence, compassion,
appreciation, and equanimity). An example of keeping the
precepts through perseverance would be: Suppose you're
accustomed to killing animals. If you decide to observe the
precepts, you hold off for a day or so, but you have no
strong sense of perseverance to get you through. Once you
get past your self-imposed time limit, you go back to your
old ways. Observing the precepts through perseverance in
this way means to exercise self-control so as not to commit
whatever misdeeds you've been accustomed to.
Question:
Is there any value in observing the precepts in this way?
Answer:
There can be as far as that particular day is concerned.
Seeing the light every once in a long while is better than
never seeing it at all.
To observe the
precepts through the Sublime Attitudes, though, means to
wish for the happiness of other living beings, to sympathize
with the fact that no one wants to suffer, that we all
desire well-being and freedom from harm. Once you realize
this, and a sense of compassion arises, you wouldn't dare
transgress the precepts you've undertaken. Observing the
precepts through benevolence in this way bears powerful
rewards.
Whoever puts
virtue fully and completely into practice can aspire to any
attainment: rebirth as a human being, rebirth in heaven, or
nibbana. Such a person can aspire to a beautiful
appearance and voice, fragrant aromas, delicious tastes,
delicate sensations, and delightful moods. To have virtue is
to have wealth: The five precepts are equal to 50 pounds of
gold bullion; the eight precepts, 80 pounds; the ten
guidelines, 100. Actually, moral virtue is something
valuable beyond price. Virtue and generosity, taken
together, are the qualifying factors for rebirth as a human
being and rebirth in heaven. Virtue, generosity, and the
development of the mind through meditation are the
qualifying factors for nibbana. So we should all try to find
the time to perform those actions that will lead to our true
welfare in the coming future.
* * *
Before taking
the precepts, first pay respect to the Triple Gem the
Buddha, the Dhamma (the Truth he taught), and the Sangha
(those of his followers who attained that Truth)
Araham
samma-sambuddho bhagava
The Blessed One is Worthy & Rightly Self-awakened
Buddham bhagavantam abhivademi
I bow down before the Awakened, Blessed One.
(bow down)
Svakkhato
bhagavata dhammo
The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One.
Dhammam namassami
I pay homage to the Dhamma
(bow down)
Supatipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho
The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples has practiced
well.
Sangham namami
I pay respect to the Sangha.
(bow down)
Now the group
will chant the standard morning service. If you don't know
it, simply remain silent. When the group has finished, it
will chant the request for the precepts in unison. Again, if
you don't know it, remain silent. The request for the five
precepts is as follows:
Mayam
bhante ti-saranena saha paρca silani yacama
Venerable sir, we request the five precepts together with
the Three Refuges.
Dutiyampi
mayam bhante... yacama
A second time...
Tatiyampi
mayam bhante... yacama
A third time...
The request for
the eight uposatha precepts:
Mayam
bhante ti-saranena saha atthanga-samannagatam uposatham
yacama
Venerable sir, we request the eight-factored uposatha
observance together with the Three Refuges.
Dutiyampi
mayam bhante... yacama
A second time...
Tatiyampi
mayam bhante... yacama
A third time...
Then repeat the
phrase paying homage to the Buddha:
Namo tassa
bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa (three times)
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Rightly
Self-awakened One.
And then the
phrases for taking refuge in the Triple Gem:
Buddham
saranam gacchami
I go to the Buddha for refuge.
Dhammam saranam gacchami
I go to the Dhamma for refuge.
Sangham saranam gacchami
I go to the Sangha for refuge.
Dutiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
A second time, I go to the Buddha for refuge.
Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
A second time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge.
Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
A second time, I go to the Sangha for refuge.
Tatiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
A third time, I go to the Buddha for refuge.
Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
A third time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge.
Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
A third time, I go to the Sangha for refuge.
This finished,
the monk who is officiating will say, Ti-sarana-gamanam
nitthitam ("The taking of the three refuges is now
completed"). You say, Ama, bhante (Yes, sir). Now
repeat the precepts after him (translations are given
below):
1.
Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
2. Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
3. Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam
samadiyami
(If you are taking the eight precepts replace this with:
Abrahma-cariya veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami)
4. Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
5. Sura-meraya-majja-pamadatthana veramani
sikkhapadam samadiyami
(If you are
taking the five precepts, stop here. If you are taking the
eight precepts, continue:
6.
Vikala-bhojana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
7. Nacca-gita-vadita-visuka-dassana
mala-gandha-vilepana-dharana-mandana-vibhusanatthana
veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
8. Uccasayana-mahasayana veramani sikkhapadam
samadiyami
If you are
taking the uposatha precepts, the monk will announce the
duration of the uposatha period. Repeat after him:
Imam
atthanga-samannagatam
Buddha-paρρattam uposatham
Imaρca rattim imaρca divasam
Sammadeva abhirakkhitum samadiyami
(which
means: I undertake to maintain, perfect and pure for
today and tonight, this uposatha observance formulated
by the Buddha and composed of eight factors.)
The monk will
counsel heedfulness and announce the rewards of observing
the precepts:
Imani
attha sikkhapadani accekam rattin-divam
uposathasila-vasena sadhukam rakkhitabbani
(These
eight training rules are to be well maintained for the
entire day & night of the Uposatha period.)
(you say,
Ama bhante (Yes, sir.)) The monk will continue:
Silena
sugatim yanti silena bhoga-sampada silena nibbutim yanti
tasma silam visodhaye
Through
virtue they go to heaven.
Through virtue wealth is attained.
Through virtue they go to liberation Thus we should all
purify our virtue.
This ends the
taking of the precepts.
* * *
The precepts
translated are as follows:
1. I
undertake the training rule to refrain from taking life.
2. To
refrain from stealing.
3. To
refrain from illicit sex. (This is for those who are
taking the five precepts. The precept, Abrahma-cariya...,
for those taking the eight precepts, forbids all forms of
sexual intercourse.)
4. To
refrain from speaking falsehood.
5. To
refrain from taking intoxicants.
6. To
refrain from eating food during the period from noon until
the following dawn.
7. To
refrain from watching shows (e.g., dancing, singing,
instrumental music) and from ornamenting the body with
flowers, scents, cosmetics, or jewelry.
8. To
refrain from using high and luxurious beds and seats.
"Luxurious" means having a stuffed cushion or mattress.
"High" means more than ten inches high. Armchairs and
couches with arms, however, even if they are more than ten
inches high, are not prohibited by this precept.
* * *
The precepts,
whether five or eight, have two foundations. In other words,
for them to be broken, they must be transgressed by either
(1) the body in conjunction with the mind, or (2) speech in
conjunction with the mind. A precept transgressed
unintentionally with a bodily action is nevertheless still
intact. Say, for instance, you cut a tree or gather flowers
to place on an altar, and it so happens that the insects
living in the tree or flower stem die. You had no idea they
were there in the first place. In this case, your precepts
are still intact because you had no intention in mind for
them to die. As for verbal acts, suppose that you speak
hurriedly, and what you end up saying is different from what
you had meant to say, out of either carelessness or
inattention. For example, you meant to say three words, but
ended up saying four; you meant to tell the truth, but what
you actually said was false. Since it was simply a verbal
act, and you didn't have it in mind to speak misleadingly,
your precepts are still intact.
A breach of the
ten guidelines can be effected with one of as many as three
factors: the body in conjunction with the mind, speech in
conjunction with the mind, or the mind acting alone. In
other words, a transgression of any sort in thought, word,
or deed has to be intentional for there to be a breach in
one's virtue, because the intention the will to abstain
(cetana-virati) forms the essence of virtue. This can
be checked against any of the various precepts. Intention is
the essence of virtue; aspects of virtue apart from that
intention are simply its expressions and applications.
The intention
that qualifies as virtue is the will to abstain in line with
the five or eight precepts. As for the precepts, they give
expression to the intention, while the rules that detail
exactly what actions are forbidden by the various precepts
indicate the scope of its application. Virtue is normalcy.
Normalcy and right equilibrium in word and deed is expressed
by the five precepts and eight uposatha precepts. Normalcy
and right equilibrium in thought, word, and deed is
expressed by the ten guidelines.
The statement
that intention is the essence of virtue is supported by the
passage in the Canon where the Buddha says,
cetanaham
bhikkhave kammam vadami
The intention, monks, is what I maintain to be action.
* * *
Virtue, as
practiced by Buddhists in general, can be summarized into
three categories: hina-sila, gocara-sila and
anagocara-sila.
1.
Hina-sila means simply obeying the precepts. For
instance, the first precept tells you not to kill, so you
hope to gain merit by looking out for the lives of others,
not causing them to die. The second precept tells you not
to steal, so you hope to get some good out of taking care
of the possessions of others, not causing them to
disappear. The third precept rules out illicit sex, so you
go around looking out for other people's spouses and
children. The fourth precept rules out lying, so you go
around looking after other people's ears by not putting
lies in them. The fifth precept rules out alcohol, so you
do your part for other people's liquor bottles by not
making them go empty. The same holds true for the other
precepts. Practicing virtue in this way is tantamount to
being a watchman for other people's goods. You put
yourself on the level of a slave or hired cow-hand.
Whether you observe the five or even the eight precepts,
this is classed as the lowest level of virtue, or as
silabbatupadana, attachment to external forms of
goodness.
2.
Gocara-sila means making sure that the mind occupies
itself only with good intentions, such as thinking of ways
to act that will be wise and meritorious. Whether your
thoughts deal with the past or the future, with visual
objects, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, or
ideas, you are careful to keep them in line with wise
intentions, not letting them fall into ways that are
corrupt or ill-considered.
3.
Anagocara-sila means keeping the mind in the present,
not letting it wander among distracting thoughts. You are
mindful and alert, keeping watch over the mind so that it
stays exclusively in the present. This is virtue
when virtue reaches a state of normalcy the sort of
virtue worthy of heaven and nibbana.
The virtue that
is careful not to break the precepts can counter the cruder
forms of greed. The virtue that guards the mind's train of
thought, keeping it from traveling in the area of shoddy
intentions, can do away with anger and aversion. The virtue
that enters into the present i.e., virtue in a state of
normalcy can do away with delusion. Thus we can say that
virtue can do away with the cruder forms of defilement,
i.e., certain levels of greed, anger, and delusion.
* * *
To continue
with the service for the lunar sabbath: Now you have the
opportunity to hear a sermon. The request for a sermon is as
follows:
Brahma ca
lokadhipati sahampati
kataρjali andhivaram ayacatha
santidha sattapparajakkha-jatika
desetu dhammam anukampimam pajam
(The Brahma
Sahampati, lord of the world,
With hands palm-to-palm before his heart
[approached the Lord Buddha and] requested a blessing:
There are beings here with only a little dust in their
eyes.
Please teach the Dhamma out of compassion for them.)
Now compose
your thoughts and keep them fixed on absorbing the
nourishment of the Dhamma. Once the sermon is finished, you
may proclaim yourself to be a lay adherent of the Buddha, as
follows:
Aham
buddhaρca dhammaρca sanghaρca saranam gato
I have gone to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha for refuge.
Upasakattam desesim bhikkhu-sanghassa samukkha
I have declared my adherence in the presence of the
Bhikkhu Sangha.
Etam me saranam khemam
Etam saranam-uttamam
This is my secure refuge,
This is my highest refuge
Etam saranam-agamma
Sabba-dukkha pamuccaye
This is the refuge, having gone to which,
One is released from all suffering & stress.
Yatha-balam careyyaham
Samma-sambuddha-sasanam
I will follow, as well as I am able
The teachings of the Rightly Self-awakened One
Dukkha-nissaranasseva
Bhagi assam anagate
So that in the future I will have a part
Of the escape from suffering & stress.
(Women should
substitute gata for gato, upasikattam
for upasakattam, and bhaginissam for bhagi
assam.)
The Pali word
for adherent, upasaka (fem. upasika),
literally means "one who is close." There are ten qualities
looked for in adherent: five activities to be refrained from
and five qualities to possess. The five to be refrained from
are:
1.
selling weapons,
2. selling human beings,
3. selling animals to be killed for food, or the
flesh of animals that one has killed oneself,
4. selling intoxicants,
5. selling poison.
The five
qualities to possess:
1.
conviction,
2. observance of the precepts,
3. belief in nothing but the principle of kamma
that those who do good will meet with good, those who do
evil will meet with evil,
4. an unwillingness to look for merit in ways
excluded by the Buddha's teachings,
5. performance of merit in ways particular to the
Buddha's teachings.
To possess
these qualifications means by definition that one is an
adherent to generosity, virtue, and meditation.
* * *
Now that the
service is over, you should take the opportunity to develop
peace and respite of mind. Don't let the day go to waste.
Take the word buddho as your meditation exercise. To
be intent on repeating the word buddho in your mind
is one form of concentration (samadhi). Discernment
(paρρa) means thorough comprehension of all fashioned
and conditioned things. The value of discernment is that it
abandons all forms of defilement. Virtue, concentration, and
discernment: These qualities form the heart of the Buddha's
message, which we should all try to develop to the best of
our abilities.
Now we will
pose a number of questions dealing with virtue and
concentration as a way of further elaborating on these
topics.
* * *
1.
What are the benefits of observing the precepts? What are
the drawbacks of not observing them?
2.
What is meant by virtue?
3. How
many kinds of virtue are there?
4.
What is the essence of virtue?
5.
What is needed for virtue to be maintained?
1. To
answer the first question: People observing the precepts can
perceive the following benefits as far as this lifetime is
concerned: They are not distrusted or despised by people at
large; they can enter with confidence into the company of
sages and people in general. After they die, they are sure
to qualify for rebirth on the human plane at the very least.
For these reasons, virtuous people are not willing to let
their virtue be defiled.
Another answer
is that virtuous people are admired throughout the world.
Why is this so? Because no one in the world likes abuse, not
even the least little bit. Not to mention good people, even
thieves and robbers complain about people who have no
principles, as when they get together to commit a robbery:
The members of the band are sure to find fault with each
other because of the hardships involved in what they're
doing. Still, they go ahead and do it, out of their own
ignorance, stupidity, and lack of judgment.
Another answer
is that people who observe the precepts work for the
prosperity of this world and the next. Most of us overlook
this aspect of virtue. Wrong looks right to us, and we think
that observing the precepts retards progress, that people
who observe the precepts are old-fashioned and behind the
times, or that the precepts make it impossible to earn a
living. All of these views have no basis in truth. Exactly
how do the precepts retard progress? Consider this
carefully: The nature of the world is that not a single
person likes to suffer. Even common animals don't set their
sights on pain. So to be virtuous means not to ruin the
world, but to protect it and help it advance. When the
Buddha established the precepts, he did so not merely in
line with his own opinions, but rather in line with the ways
and opinions of people throughout the world. How can we know
that this is so? We needn't ask the Buddha himself; we can
consider the matter on our own:
(a) Take a
simple example, like killing: Fishermen make their living
by killing, and some of them end up making money by the
fistfuls from it. Still, they complain about the hardships
of their work and sometimes they even fall in the ocean
and drown. The fact that they complain about their work
shows they don't like it. As for the fish, they don't like
it either. Even gnats and mosquitoes don't like being
abused. So why do we abuse them? Because we haven't
associated with wise people. We see the harm and the pain,
yet we still go ahead and do it out of our own darkness
and delusion. This is one example to show that the Buddha
established the precepts in line with the views of the
world.
Example (b):
Stealing, Is there anyone in the world who likes it? If
the world liked stealing, there probably wouldn't be laws
forbidding it and what human society doesn't have such
laws? The fact that we have these laws shows that we don't
like stealing. Even things about to be stolen don't like
to have people steal them. Animals, for instance, when
they're cornered by thieves, will try to run away. Thieves
and robbers usually complain that their work is hard
always having to lurk and keep out of sight, going without
food and sleep. The fact that they complain shows that
they don't like their work. So why do they do it? Because
they haven't associated with wise people. Wrong looks
right to them because of their own darkness and delusion.
Example (c):
Adultery. Who in the world likes it? Go ask those who do
it, and they'll complain that they suffer from it. Ask
those who are done to, and they'll complain that they
suffer from it and don't like it. Sometimes they end up
killing themselves. This shows that the world doesn't care
for it. So why do people do it? Because they haven't
associated with wise people. Wrong looks right to them,
and so they bring about the ruin of the world. They get
fined or put in jail, and get into difficulties with their
families, knocking one another over the skull just for the
fun of it. To do wrong in this way will bring tears to a
parent's eyes and ears, and trouble to the hearts of the
authorities. These are things that bring about the ruin of
the world.
Example (d):
Lying. Is there anyone in the world who likes it? When a
person is lying, he has to be wary out of fear that others
will find him out. When he's about to lie, he suffers in
trying to figure out how to get away with it. Once he's
lied, he suffers out of fear that no one will believe him.
A person who is lied to has to question and cross-examine,
out of fear that what he's heard may not be true. Even
small children don't like to be lied to. Say that a child
is crying for its mother, and its father lies to it,
saying, "There your mother's coming." When it doesn't
see its mother, it'll cry without stopping. Why? Because
it can't trust its father. But not to mention human
beings, even animals don't like to be lied to. Say that we
take some cooked rice and lure a dog with it. Once it sees
the rice, it'll think we're going to feed it, so it comes
prancing up with its rear high and its tail wagging but
instead of feeding it, we take the rice and run off. If we
do this three or four times, after that it probably won't
come, because it knows we're lying. This shows that no one
likes lies. So why do people lie? Because they haven't
associated with wise people. Wrong looks right to them,
and so they cause the world to degenerate.
Example (e):
Alcohol. There is one who likes the drinking of alcohol.
People who brew it complain of their difficulties: that
it's a losing business, that they're afraid they'll be
seen by the police or cheated by their customers. People
who drink alcohol complain that it makes them dizzy, or
that it eats up their salaries and leaves them poor. I
have yet to hear anyone extol drinking as a way to health,
wealth, and happiness. If people who drink really thought
it were good, they probably wouldn't come back to drinking
plain old water or eating plain old food again. Once
people get drunk, they start acting rowdy and disgusting
in ways that people in general neither praise nor admire.
Even their own families get disgusted with them, and they
themselves complain that they're in debt or don't have
enough money to spend, which shows that they themselves
don't like or admire their habit.
In some
places the government, acting out of concern for the
public well-being, has established laws to prevent the
damages that come from the drinking of alcohol. (I
personally have wondered whether the money the government
makes from taxing alcohol is enough to cover the damages
caused by people who drink. I doubt that it is, but this
is simply my own opinion. You might want to consider the
matter for yourself. One common example is when people get
together to drink either legal whiskey or bootleg and
get to talking: One bottle of whiskey, and maybe one of
them ends up killed. The pittance the government gets from
the bottle of whiskey is probably nowhere near enough to
pay for the costs of tracking down the guilty parties in a
case like this.)
Thus the
Buddha saw the evils in this sort of behavior: that it
causes the world to degenerate and hampers people from
making a living. A drunk person, for instance, can't do
any steady labor. All he can do is brag. I don't mean to
be critical here, but it's something I've often seen. For
instance, when a farmer has his neighbors over to help
harvest his rice, they'll make plenty of noise, but when
you go to take a look at their work, you'll find the rice
scattered all over the place.
Once I came
across a well dug at a crazy angle, but when I peered down
at the water, it looked clean and fresh. So I said to the
owner, "The water looks good. Why didn't you do a good job
of digging the well? Was it because you ran into a rock?
Or a tree root? When was it dug? Who dug it? Did you do it
yourself, or hire someone to do it for you?"
So the owner
answered, "I had some friends over to help dig it."
"How did you
get them to dig so deep? It must have cost a lot of
money."
"I served
whiskey until we were all good and drunk, and then we got
down to digging the well, which is why it ended up so
crooked."
This goes to
show how liquor can spoil a job.
All of the
examples I've mentioned here brief, but enough to serve as
food for thought show that the world doesn't like these
things, that they cause damage and loss, putting money,
labor and people to waste. And this goes to show that the
Buddha forbade these things in line with the views of the
world. Not one of the precepts runs counter to those views.
This being so, which one of the precepts retards progress or
creates trouble?
Then why don't
people perceive this? Because they haven't associated with
wise people, and so wrong looks right to them. They go
counter to the world, and suffer for it. The Buddha taught
in line with the aspirations of the world, for the progress
of people and nations. If people were truly to abstain in
line with the precepts, life on earth would be happy in the
visible present.
This ends the
discussion of the first topic, the benefits and drawbacks of
observing and not observing the precepts.
2. The
second question "What is meant by virtue?" can be
answered as follows: The Pali word for virtue, sila, means
normalcy. "Normalcy" refers to a lack of deviation in
thought, word, and deed, while "lack of deviation" refers to
the act of not doing evil with one's deeds, not speaking
evil with one's words, and not thinking evil with one's
thoughts: in other words, abstaining from three types of
harmful bodily action, four types of harmful speech, and
three types of harmful thought. The three bodily actions to
be avoided are taking life, stealing, and taking intoxicants
and engaging in illicit sex. To avoid these things, not
letting the body deviate in their direction, is for the body
to be in a state of normalcy. The four types of speech to be
avoided are lies, divisive tale-bearing, coarse and abusive
speech, and idle, aimless chatter. To keep one's speech from
deviating in the direction of these things is for speech to
be in a state of normalcy. For thought to be in a state of
normalcy means (a) not coveting the belongings of others,
(b) not feeling ill will toward those people or living
beings whose actions are displeasing, and (c) viewing things
rightly: seeing that all living beings fare according to
their actions those with good intentions will meet with
good, those with evil intentions will meet with evil and
that no one aspires to suffering. Once you see things in
this way, maintain this viewpoint. Don't let it deviate into
ways that are wrong.
To keep one's
thoughts, words and deeds in a state of normalcy and
equilibrium like this is what is meant by virtue. The word
"equilibrium" here, though, doesn't rule out all action; it
rules out only the types of action that cause one's words
and deeds to move in ways that are wrong. Apart from such
deviations, whoever has the energy to perform work of
whatever sort in making a living is free to do so, because
the precepts of the Buddha aren't lazy precepts or
faint-hearted precepts, down-and out or bump-on-the-log
precepts i.e., precepts that don't let you do anything at
all. That's not the sort of thing the Buddha taught. As for
speech, whoever has anything to say that is free from harm
is free to go ahead and say it. The precepts of the Buddha
aren't mute precepts or dumb precepts; they're precepts that
let you speak what is proper. And as for the mind, whoever
has ideas that will lead to knowledge or ingenuity in making
a living is free to think them through. The Buddha didn't
forbid this sort of thinking. He forbade only those things
that are harmful, because the basic principle of virtue in
Buddhism is to abstain from what is evil or crooked in
thought, word, and deed, and to develop what is upright and
honest in thought, word, and deed. This shows that the
Buddha taught to abstain from those things that ought to be
abstained from, and to do those things that ought to be
done. This point is substantiated by such factors of the
Noble Path as Right Undertaking and Right Livelihood. But
most of us believe that to maintain the precepts confines
you to a monastery and prevents you from making a living or
even wiggling a finger. This belief is wrong: counter to the
Buddha's teaching and detrimental to the progress of the
world.
To maintain the
precepts to be virtuous means to keep one's words and
deeds in a state of normalcy. Whatever work virtuous people
perform is pure. The wealth they obtain as a result is solid
and lasting. Whatever virtuous people say no matter how
much they speak won't grate on the ears of their
listeners. It can bring fortune their way, as well as
leaving the ears of their listeners soothed. Whatever
virtuous people contemplate, if it's a difficult job, it
will become easier; if it's an object to be made, it may
become beautiful, all because of the very principles of
virtue. Most of us, though, tend to be too contemptuous of
virtue to put it to use in our work and activities, which is
why we act as a deadweight and can't keep up with the
progress of the world.
A person whose
thoughts, words and deeds are not governed by virtue is like
a person covered with germs or soot: Whatever work he or she
touches is soiled and will rarely succeed in its aims. Even
if it does succeed, its success won't be lasting. The same
holds true for speech: A person whose speech isn't
consistently virtuous will usually be distrusted and
despised by his listeners. If he tries to talk them out of
their money, it will come with difficulty; once he gets it,
it won't stay with him for long. And so it is with the mind:
If a person doesn't have virtue in charge of his heart, his
thinking is darkened. Whatever projects he contemplates will
succeed with difficulty and even if they do succeed will
be neither good nor lasting.
People who want
to keep their thoughts, words, and deeds in a state of
normalcy have to be mindful. In other words, they have to
keep check over their actions in all they do sitting,
standing, walking, and lying down so they can know that
they haven't done anything evil. A person who doesn't keep
his actions in check is like a person without any clothes:
Wherever he goes, he offends people. There's even the story
of the man who was so absent-minded that he went out wearing
his wife's blouse and sarong, which goes to show what
happens to a person who doesn't keep his actions in check.
A person who
doesn't keep his speech in check is like a rice pot without
a lid. When the water boils, it will overflow and put out
the fire. A person who doesn't always keep his thoughts in
check thinking endlessly of how to make money, of how to
get rich, until he loses touch with reality is bound to do
himself harm. Some people think so much that they can't eat
or sleep, to the point where they damage their nerves and
become mentally unbalanced, all because their thinking has
nothing to act as a basis, nothing to keep it in check.
Thus people who
lack mindfulness can harm themselves, in line with the fact
that they are at the same time people without virtue.
This ends the
discussion of the second topic.
3. The
third question "How many kinds of virtue are there?" can
be answered as follows: To divide them in precise terms,
there are five kinds, corresponding to the five precepts,
the eight precepts, the ten guidelines, the ten precepts,
and the 227 precepts. To divide them in broad terms, there
are two: The virtues for laypeople on the one hand, and for
monks and novices on the other.
From another
standpoint, there are three: those dealing with bodily
action, those dealing with speech, and those dealing with
the mind.
From another
standpoint, there are two: primary virtues (adi-brahma-cariya-sikkha),
i.e., the five basic precepts that have to be studied and
observed first, such as the precepts against taking life;
and then, once these are mastered, the next level: mannerly
behavior (abhisamacara) dealing with personal conduct
in such areas as having one's meals, etc.
From still
another standpoint, there are two sorts of virtue: mundane
(lokiya) and transcendent (lokuttara).
Transcendent virtues can be either the lay virtues or the
virtues for monks. If a person, lay or ordained, has
attained true normalcy of mind, his or her virtues are
transcendent. The virtues of a person who has yet to attain
the normalcy of stream-entry, though no matter whether
that person is a layperson or a monk, strict in observing
the precepts or not are merely mundane. Mundane virtues
are by nature inconstant, sometimes pure and sometimes not;
some people who observe them go to heaven, others who do go
to hell. The transcendent virtues, however, are constant and
lead straight to nibbana. They are virtues that can rule out
rebirth in the four realms of deprivation (apaya-bhumi).
The virtues of
a person who has reached the transcendent level are the
genuine virtues taught by the Buddha, which are nobler and
more valuable than all other virtues. The mundane virtues,
even the 227 precepts of a monk, are no match in quality for
the five virtues of a lay stream-winner: That's how valuable
the transcendent virtues are. Why is it that a
stream-winner's virtues are constant, while those of
ordinary run-of-the-mill people aren't? Because
stream-winners have shed self-identification (sakkaya-ditthi)
once and for all through the power of discernment. What does
their discernment come from? From having developed
concentration, making the mind firm to the point where
discernment arises and washes self-identification away for
good. They've seen the harm that comes from being deluded
about the mind and body, and can realize that these things
aren't the self. They've investigated the body until they've
seen that it's nothing but the four physical properties
(dhatu), that they didn't bring it with them when they
came and won't take it with them when they go. Thus they are
able to let it go, without attachment or false assumptions.
(a) If we
view the body as our own, we become possessive of it and
are unwilling to expend it in ways that are wise and
worthwhile. We get stuck on the level of physical pleasure
and that pleasure is what kills off our merit and
welfare. When physical pain arises, that pain is what
kills off the merit we should make. This can be classed as
a form of panatipata (taking life): using pleasure
and pain to kill off the merit and welfare that living
beings are looking for. This is one aspect of
self-identification that stream-winners have abandoned.
(b)
Adinnadana: Stream-winners don't fasten onto the body
as being their own, because they've realized that it's
nothing but a compound of the four physical properties,
that these properties are part and parcel of the world and
can't be taken from it. As a result, they don't try to
cheat or swindle the world by laying claim to its
properties as being their own, and in this way they
abandon another aspect of self-identification.
(c) Kamesu
micchacara: Stream-winners have seen the harm that
comes from sensual preoccupations sights, sounds,
smells, flavors, tactile sensations, and ideas. Whatever
is right to indulge in, they indulge in; whatever isn't,
they don't. This means that they don't misconduct
themselves with regard to sensual matters. Thus they
abandon another aspect of self-identification.
(d)
Musavada: Stream-winners have seen the absolute truth
that doesn't lie. In other words, they've seen the four
Noble Truths and so have abandoned another aspect of
self-identification.
(e)
Surameraya: Stream-winners are not intoxicated or
heedless with regard to sights, sounds, smells, flavors,
tactile sensations, or ideas. Thus they abandon another
aspect of self-identification.
This is called
virtue on the level of discernment. Once this level is
reached, the more common forms of virtue become constant and
lasting, because self-identification has been shed through
the power of discernment. As for silabbata-paramasa
("groping" with regard to precepts and practices),
stream-winners no longer grope in their behavior, because
they've seen for sure that it's right. And as for
vicikiccha (uncertainty), they've abandoned all doubts
concerning the value of discernment, their way of life, and
their path of practice: They no longer wonder as to whether
they're right or wrong. Once they can do this, they set
themselves apart from mundane virtues. Mundane virtues are
inconstant because they lack discernment. Why do they lack
discernment? Because we don't practice concentration in the
heart, and so we take stubborn possession of the body,
latching onto it and wrongly assuming it to be the self, to
the point where even the slightest touch from mosquitoes or
horseflies, sun or rain, can cause our goodness to wither
and die.
Transcendent
virtues are thus supreme; mundane virtues are not yet
lasting. As to whether virtue will be transcendent or
mundane, the matter lies entirely with the heart.
A dull-witted
heart, lacking discernment,
Latches onto the body,
But once it dies, it doesn't get to eat the meat
Or sit on the skin
It'll choke on the bones.
Lacking training, it lies sunk in pain.
But a trained
heart gives rise to discernment,
Lets go of the body,
Discards it at death without regret.
Having seen the truth,
It's called noble, supreme.
This ends the
discussion of the third topic.
4. To
answer the fourth question "What is the essence of
virtue?" we first have to distinguish the essence of
virtue, the intention to abstain (cetana-virati),
from the expressions of virtue, which are of three kinds:
sampatta-virati, samadana virati and
samuchheda-virati. These three are called expressions of
virtue because they follow on the precepts.
Sampatta-virati means to restrain one's behavior on
one's own, without taking a vow for example, going out
into the wide open fields or into the forest and seeing an
animal that would be good to kill, but not killing it, for
fear of the sin; or seeing another person's belongings that
would be good to take, but not taking them, for fear of
doing evil.
Samadana-virati means to take the precepts as a vow
either on one's own or repeating them after another person
and then being careful not to violate them.
Samuccheda-virati means to keep one's precepts pure and
unblemished, regardless of whether or not one has taken them
as vows.
For these
expressions of virtue to be pure or impure depends on a
number of minor factors arising from the exercise of
thought, word, and deed that either run counter to these
expressions (thus blemishing them) or are careful to follow
them (thus keeping them pure).
As for the
essence of virtue "essence" here meaning the chief agent
or determining factor the essence is the heart that wills
to abstain from harm in thought, word, or deed the five
forms of harm, the eight, the ten, or what-have-you and is
mindful to keep the mind in a state of normalcy. Thus there
are two kinds of virtue: pure virtue, i.e., spotlessness in
thought, word, and deed; and blemished virtue, i.e., virtue
torn into pieces or cut into holes. For example, to observe
two precepts but to break three that come in succession, is
virtue torn into pieces. If the precepts that are broken
don't come in succession, this is called stained virtue or
virtue cut into holes.
This is how to
develop a bad character. People of bad character do have
virtue, but they don't take care of it. They don't make the
effort to maintain the precepts and so let evil come flowing
in through their words and deeds. Stained virtue, torn
virtue, and virtue cut into holes: Even though these are
classed as evil, they're still better than having no virtue
at all. To have torn virtue is better than having no virtue
to tear, just as wearing torn clothes is better than wearing
no clothes at all. Everyone born has virtue built into them;
the only exceptions are those who have died.
If this is the
case, why do we have to observe precepts? To observe
precepts means that we take the virtue we already have and
cleanse it, not that we go gathering the virtues that grow
on monks and novices.
We've already
seen that virtue means a mind with sound intentions;
blemished virtue means a mind with unsound intentions. This
is enough to show that all of us in the world have virtue,
because who doesn't have a mind? Even crazy people have
minds. The only person without a mind is a corpse. Any and
every human being who breathes in and out has virtue, the
only difference being whether or not that virtue is pure. As
the Buddha said to his followers,
cetanaham
bhikkhave kammam vadami:
The intention, monks, is what I maintain to be the action.
An evil
intention blemishes virtue. A good intention helps keep it
pure. This ends the discussion of the fourth topic.
5. The
fifth question "What is needed for virtue to be
maintained?" can be answered as follows: Virtue here means
purity of virtue. For purity to be firm and lasting depends
on the support of causal factors, just as a new-born child
depends on the support of its parents to survive and grow.
If its parents feed it plenty of food, it will escape from
the dangers of malnutrition and grow to be healthy and
strong; if they underfeed it, it'll become thin and frail.
In the same way, for virtue to be maintained depends on our
being mindful and alert: These two qualities are the
guardians of purity. At the same time, we have to nourish
virtue and give it food. If it isn't fed, it'll wither away
and die. Even if it has mindfulness and alertness watching
over it, it can never grow plump, just as a child who has
parents but isn't fed is sure to waste and wither away. For
virtue to grow strong requires food, and the food of virtue
is:
a.
metta good will, love for oneself and all others,
hoping that all living beings will be happy;
b.
karuna compassion for oneself and others, hoping
that we will all escape from suffering;
c.
mudita appreciation, ungrudging delight in the
goodness of all living beings;
d.
upekkha equanimity, letting go in those cases where
we should remain indifferent, being unruffled neither
pleased nor upset where we are no longer able to be of
help, as when an executioner is beheading a criminal who
has broken the law.
These four
Sublime Attitudes are the food of virtue.
Mindfulness is
the father,
alertness, the mother,
And the "immeasurables" are the food.
Whoever can do
this will have virtues that are fat and strong. In other
words, when good will, compassion, appreciation, and
equanimity are expressed in thought, word, and deed, then
virtue will be firm and lasting and will head straight
toward nibbana. This translates as fat virtues, plump
virtues, rich virtues, the virtues taught by the Buddha
Gotama. Whoever can't do this will end up with poor virtues,
sickly virtues, orphaned virtues, withered-and-wasting-away
virtues.
To have virtue
is to have character,
To have character is to have wealth,
To have wealth is to be happy;
The happiness of virtue is something supreme.
Virtue is an
adornment that can be worn by people of every variety. Young
and old alike are attractive when wearing it, for no matter
who wears it, it never looks incongruous or out-of-place,
unlike external ornaments. External ornaments look good only
in the right circumstances, but virtue can be worn at all
times. Whoever can maintain virtue will escape from danger
and animosity in this life and the next. For this reason,
people of discernment are careful to safeguard their virtue.
People without discernment go looking for chains: golden
chains for snaring their wrists, ankles, necks, and
earlobes. Even if they watch after them carefully and wear
them only on the right occasions, they still can't escape
from harm as when a thief rips off the chains, tearing
their ears, scraping the skin from their arms and legs.
Consider, then, just how much good comes from external
adornment.
As for virtue,
when it encircles our thoughts, encircles our words, and
encircles our deeds, who can destroy it, what thief can
steal it, what fires can burn it away? After we die, we'll
enjoy ourselves in heaven, as guaranteed by the verse,
silena
sugatim yanti silena bhogasampada
silena nibbutim yanti
The attainment of heaven, wealth and nibbana all depend on
virtue.
silam loke
anuttaram
Virtue is unexcelled in the world.
candanadinam
gandhanam sila-gandho anuttaro
Among all scents, such as sandalwood, the scent of virtue is
supreme.
silo rahado
akuddamo
Virtue is like a limpid pool.
sukham yava
jara silam
Virtue brings happiness to the end of old age.
silam yava
jara sadhu
Virtue is good to the end of old age.
Thus all who
aspire to goodness that is limpid and pure should be
diligent in nourishing their virtues to the full with the
four Sublime Attitudes. Having done this, whoever then
aspires to the middle part of the Path concentration
will attain quick results.
This ends the
discussion of the fifth topic.
* * *
1. How
does one go about practicing concentration?
2.
What benefits come from practicing it?
3. How
many kinds of concentration are there?
4.
What is needed for concentration to be maintained?
5.
What is the essence of concentration?
1. The
first question "How does one go about practicing
concentration?" can be answered as follows: The first step
is to kneel down with your hands palm-to-palm in front of
your heart, and sincerely pay respect to the Triple Gem,
saying as follows:
Araham
samma-sambuddho bhagava
Buddham bhagavantam abhivademi (bow down)
Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo
Dhammam namassami (bow down)
Supatipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho
Sangham namami (bow down)
Then showing
respect with your thought, words, and deeds, pay homage to
the Buddha:
Namo tassa
bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa (three times)
And then take
refuge in the Triple Gem:
Buddham
saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
Make the
following resolution: "I take refuge in the Buddha, the Pure
One, completely free from defilement; and in his Dhamma
doctrine, practice, and attainment; and in the Sangha, the
four levels of his Noble Disciples, from now until the end
of my life." Then formulate the intention to observe the
five precepts, the eight precepts, or the ten guidelines
according to how many you are normally able to observe
expressing them in a single vow. For those observing the
five precepts:
Imani
paρca sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the eight precepts:
Imani
attha sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the ten precepts:
Imani dasa
sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the 227 precepts:
Parisuddho
aham bhante parisuddhoti
Mam buddho dhammo sangho dharetu
Now that you
have professed the purity of your thoughts, words, and deeds
toward the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, bow
down three times and sit down. Place your hands palm-to-palm
in front of your heart, steady your thoughts and develop the
four Sublime Attitudes: good will, compassion, appreciation,
and equanimity. To spread these thoughts to all living
beings without distinction is called the immeasurable
Sublime Attitude. A short Pali formula, for those who have
trouble memorizing, is:
"Metta"
thoughts of good will (benevolence and love for oneself
and others, hoping for their welfare),
"Karuna"
thoughts of compassion (for oneself and others),
"Mudita"
thoughts of appreciation (taking delight in one's own
goodness and that of others),
"Upekkha"
thoughts of equanimity (imperturbability with regard to
those things that should be let go).
This finished,
sit in a half-lotus position, right leg on top of the left,
your hands placed palm-up on your lap, right hand on top of
the left. Keep your body straight and your mind on the task
before you. Raise your hands in respect, palm-to-palm in
front of the heart, and think of the qualities of the
Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha: buddho me natho, dhammo me
natho, sangho me natho (The Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
are my mainstay). Then repeat, buddho buddho, dhammo
dhammo, sangho sangho. Return your hands to your lap,
and repeat one word buddho over and over in your
mind, at the same time focusing on your in-and-out breath
until your mind settles down into one-pointedness.
This is the
beginning step in practicing concentration. If you're steady
and persistent, the desired results will appear in your
heart. For people who are really intent, even just this is
enough to start seeing results. Those who don't see results
either aren't intent on what they're doing or, if they are
intent, aren't doing it right. If you're intent and you do
it right, you're sure to reap rewards in proportion to the
strength of your persistence.
This ends the
discussion of the first topic.
2. To
answer the second question "What benefits come from
practicing concentration?" A person who practices
concentration benefits in the following ways:
a. The
heart of a person who practices concentration is radiant,
steady, and fearless. Whatever projects such a person may
contemplate can succeed because the mind has a solid
footing for its thinking. Whatever work such a person may
undertake will yield results that are substantial,
worthwhile, and long-lasting.
b.
Whoever has trained the mind to be steady and firm will be
solid from the standpoint both of the world and of the
Dhamma. A solid heart can be compared to a slab of rock:
No matter whether the wind blows, the rain falls or the
sun shines, rock doesn't waver or flinch. To put it
briefly: the eight fetters, i.e., the eight ways of the
world (lokadhamma) gain and loss, status and
disgrace, praise and censure, pleasure and pain can't
chain the heart of a person who has concentration. The
five weevils, i.e., the five hindrances (nivarana)
sensual desires, ill will, drowsiness, restlessness, and
uncertainty can't bore into such a person's heart.
c. A
heart made firm is like a tree with solid heartwood
Indian rosewood or teak which, once it has died, is of
use to people of ingenuity. The goodness of people who
have trained their hearts in concentration can be of
substantial use, even after they've died, both to
themselves and to those surviving, an example being the
Buddha who even though he has nibbana-ed has set an
example that people still follow today. A person who
practices concentration is like someone with a home and
family; a person without concentration is like a vagrant
with no place to sleep: Even though he may have
belongings, he has nowhere to keep them.
A person with
a mind made firm in concentration, though, has a place for
his belongings. In other words, all major and minor acts
of merit and wisdom come together in a mind that has
concentration. A person without concentration is like a
softwood tree with a hollow trunk: Poisonous animals, like
cobras or crocodile birds, will come and make their nests
in the hollow, laying their eggs and filling the hollow
with their urine and dung. When such a tree dies, there's
no use for it but to throw it into the fire. If people
haven't trained their hearts with concentration, all the
defilements greed, anger and delusion will come and
make their nest there, causing harm and pain. When these
people die, they are of no use except as food for worms or
fuel for a pyre.
d. A
person without concentration is like a boat without a dock
or a train without a station: The passengers are put to
all sorts of hardships.
Concentration
is not something exclusive to Buddhism. Even in mundane
activities, people use concentration. No matter what work
you do, if you're not intent on it, you won't succeed.
Even our ordinary everyday expressions teach
concentration: "Set your heart on a goal." "Set your mind
on your work." "Set yourself up in business." Whoever
follows this sort of advice is bound to succeed.
But apart from
mundane activities, whoever comes to put the Buddha's
teachings into practice is sure to perceive the great worth
of concentration. To be brief: It forms the basis for
discernment, which is the central principle in the craft
taught by the Buddha, the craft of the heart. "Discernment"
here refers to the wisdom and insight that come only from
training the heart. People who haven't practiced
concentration even if they're ingenious can't really be
classed as discerning. Their ingenuity is nothing more than
restless distraction an example being the person who
thinks to the point where his nerves break down, which goes
to show that his thoughts have no place to rest. They run
loose, with no concentration.
People with
responsibilities on the level of the world or of the Dhamma
should train their hearts and minds to a state of
concentration. Then when the time comes to think, they can
put their thinking to work. When the time is past, they can
put their thinking away in concentration. In other words,
they have a sense of time and place, of when and where to
think. People without concentration, who haven't developed
this sense, can wear out their minds; and when their minds
are worn out, everything breaks down. Even though they may
have the energy to speak and act, yet if their minds are
exhausted, they can't accomplish their purpose. Most of us
use our minds without caring for them. Morning, noon, and
night; sitting, standing, walking, and lying down, we don't
rest for a moment. We're like a man who drives a car or a
boat: If he doesn't let it rest, he's headed for trouble.
The boat may rust out or the parts may break down, and when
this happens, he's in for a difficult time. When a person's
mind hasn't been developed in concentration, it can create
difficulties for its owner's body, as well as for the bodies
of others.
Thus the Buddha
saw that concentration can be of value on the level of the
world and on the level of the Dhamma, which is why he taught
it in various ways to the people of the world. But some
people are deaf, i.e., they can't understand what
concentration is about; or else they're blind, i.e., they
can't stand to look at the example of those who practice,
and so they become detractors and fault-finders.
Those of us who
hope to secure ourselves on either the level of the world
or the level of the Dhamma should thus give firm support
to the message of the Buddha. We shouldn't claim to be his
followers simply because we've been ordained in his order or
have studied his teachings, without putting those teachings
into practice. If we let ourselves be parasites like this,
we'll do nothing but cause Buddhism to degenerate.
Thus people who
train their minds to attain concentration are of use to
themselves and to others; people who don't train their minds
to attain concentration will cause harm to themselves and to
others. To attain concentration is like having a strategic
fortress with a good vantage point: If enemies come from
within or without, you'll be able to see them in time. The
discernment that comes from concentration will be the weapon
enabling you to wage war and destroy defilement. Whatever is
worthwhile, you will keep in your heart. Whatever is
harmful, you will throw out. The discernment that comes from
concentration will enable you to tell which is which.
These, then,
are the benefits reaped by those who practice concentration,
and the drawbacks suffered by those who don't.
This ends the
discussion of the second topic.
3. To
answer the third question:
a. There
are two kinds of concentration, general (sadharana)
and exclusive (asadharana). General concentration
refers to the type of mental training found throughout the
world and not restricted to any particular religion,
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism. All of these
religions are based on concentration, which can thus be
called "general concentration." Exclusive concentration is a
type of concentration specifically Buddhist and not shared
by other religions. When practiced, it gives to the
transcendent states: the paths, their fruitions, and
nibbana. Thus it can be called "exclusive
concentration."
General and
exclusive, though can be understood in still another sense:
General concentration means concentration that can be
focused on any of your postures sitting, standing,
walking, or lying down. Exclusive concentration has nothing
to do with your posture, but is done exclusively in the
heart: You focus attention solely on the in-and-out breath,
without getting involved in actions or speech; your
attention is directed solely to the activities of the mind.
b. With
regard to its levels, there are three kinds of
concentration: momentary (khanika), threshold (upacara),
and fixed (appana).
Momentary
concentration can arise when you're intent on your work or
when you see a visual object, hear a sound, smell an aroma,
taste a flavor, when the body comes into contact with a
tactile sensation, or a mental notion arises to the mind
as when you become firm in your repetition of buddho.
When the mind becomes still for a moment under conditions
like these, this is classed as momentary concentration.
Momentary concentration is like a person diving down into a
pond and then climbing up onto the bank when he resurfaces.
Threshold
concentration: When you practice mindfulness immersed in the
body (kayagatasati), mentally scrutinizing the parts
of the body until you are struck by the fact that they are
filthy and repulsive, simply compounds of the four physical
properties of earth, water, fire, and wind: Thinking in this
way is termed vitakka; to come to this sort of
realization is termed vicara. The mind will then come
to a halt, still and at ease for a short period, and then
withdraw, like a person who dives down into a pond,
resurfaces, and then swims around for a while before
climbing up onto the bank. This is called threshold
concentration because it comes on the verge of fixed
penetration.
Fixed
penetration: The mind is steady and firmly concentrated
paying no attention at all to sights, sounds, smells,
tastes, or tactile sensations being completely absorbed in
a single mental notion. It takes shelter in a subtle
preoccupation (arammana), and so is able to hide away
from the five hindrances, although it can't yet kill them
off absolutely. Even so, this is still termed fixed
penetration because it can be entered for long periods of
time, like a person who dives down to the bottom of a pond,
resurfaces, and then swims around in all four directions
(the four levels of jhana).
All three of
these levels of concentration are classed as general.
They're practiced all over the world. The only form of
concentration particular to Buddhism is transcendent
concentration. Viewed from this standpoint, the forms of
concentration are only two: mundane and transcendent.
Mundane concentration is further divided into two sorts:
that which is accompanied by the hindrances, and that which
is accompanied by the discernment of liberating insight (vipassana).
Transcendent concentration is also divided into two sorts:
that which has abandoned the five lower fetters (sanyojana)
but is still accompanied by a number of the hindrances; and
that which is accompanied by the realization of liberating
insight, eradicating all the hindrances.
The three
levels of concentration (momentary, threshold, and fixed)
form the basis of discernment. Both mundane and transcendent
discernment have to depend on one or another of these three
levels of concentration, but concentration is not what
constitutes Awakening. Awakening is accomplished by
discernment. If discernment is lacking, no amount of
concentration, however great, can lead to Awakening.
Once you have
attained concentration, the arising of discernment can
depend on one of two factors: an experienced friend makes a
suggestion that sparks a realization of the opening leading
onto discernment; or external events sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, or tactile sensations strike the mind,
which stirs for a moment and sets out to scrutinize them
(this is called vitakka and vicara) so as to
ferret out an understanding of their nature. If you see that
any of these two kinds of events give beneficial results,
then fix your attention on them and keep after them, using
the power of your discernment and ingenuity to gain true
insight into their nature. But if you see that your
discernment is still no match for them, focus back on the
original object of your concentration. If you focus back and
forth in this manner, you'll give rise to liberating
insight; and once you've given rise to liberating insight,
you will attain transcendent discernment, the understanding
that will enable you to abandon once and for all your views
of self-identification.
Transcendent
concentration derives its name from the discernment it gives
rise to: The discernment itself is what constitutes
Awakening. But for discernment to be effective in line with
the aims of the Buddha's teachings, it requires the back-up
and support of concentration.
This ends the
discussion of the third topic.
4. The
fourth question "What is needed for concentration to be
maintained?" can be answered as follows: Concentration
means for the mind to be firmly intent on a single
preoccupation, but for the mind to be firm, it needs a
footing to hold onto. In general, if your mind lacks a solid
footing, nothing you attempt will succeed. Just as the body
needs a shelter as a basis for its well-being, and speech
needs a listener as a basis for being effective, in a
similar way, the mind if it's to become trained and firm
in concentration needs a kammatthana: an assignment
or exercise. A kammatthana is like medicine or food.
To know the theme of your exercise is enough to start
getting results in your practice of concentration.
Here we will
first divide the exercises into two categories: external and
internal. External exercises deal with sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas; the internal
exercises deal with the five aggregates (khandha):
physical phenomena (rupa), feelings (vedana),
labels (saρρa), mental fashionings (sankhara),
and consciousness (viρρana). If you're alert and
discerning, both categories external as well as internal
are enough to achieve concentration unless you neglect to
treat them as exercises. If you attend to them, they are all
you need to attain concentration. But beginners, whose
powers of discernment are still weak, should start first
with the internal exercises. Start out by studying the body
"physiology from the inside" by scrutinizing the four
properties of earth, water, fire, and wind. People whose
powers of discernment have been sufficiently developed can
then give rise to concentration using any of the themes of
meditation, whether internal or external.
The internal
exercises should be done as follows: Focus on the properties
of earth, water, fire, and wind that appear in the body.
Don't let your thoughts wander outside. Focus exclusively on
your own body and mind, fixing your attention first on five
examples of the earth property: kesa hair of the
head; loma hair of the body; nakha nails;
danta teeth; taco skin, which wraps up the
body and bones. Scrutinize these five parts until you see
that they are unattractive, filthy, and repulsive, either
with regard to where they come from, where they are, their
color, their shape, or their smell.
If, after
focusing your thoughts in this way, your mind doesn't become
still, go on to scrutinize five examples of the water
property: pittam gall, bitter and green; semham
phlegm, which prevents the smell of digesting food from
rising to the mouth; pubbo pus, decayed and
decomposing, which comes from wounds; lohitam blood
and lymph, which permeate throughout the body; sedo
sweat, which is exuded whenever the body is heated.
Scrutinize these things until you see that with regard to
origin, location, color, smell and the above-mentioned
aspects they are enough to make your skin crawl. Focus on
them until you're convinced that that's how they really are,
and the mind should settle down and be still.
If it doesn't,
go on to examine four aspects of the fire property: the heat
that keeps the body warm; the heat that inflames the body,
making it feverish and restless; the heat that digests food,
distilling the nutritive essence so as to send it throughout
the body (of the food we eat, one part is burned away by the
fires of digestion, one part becomes refuse, one part feeds
our parasites, and the remaining part nourishes the body);
the heat that ages the body and wastes it away. Consider
these four aspects of the fire property until you see their
three inherent characteristics, i.e., that they are
inconstant (aniccam), stressful (dukkham) and
not-self (anatta).
If the mind
doesn't settle down, go on to consider the wind property:
the up-going breath sensations, the down-going breath
sensations, the breath sensations in the stomach, the breath
sensations in the intestines, the breath sensations flowing
throughout the entire body, and the in-and-out breath.
Examine the wind property from the viewpoint of any one of
its three inherent characteristics, as inconstant,
stressful, or not-self. If the mind doesn't develop a sense
of dispassion and detachment, gather all four properties
together earth, water, fire and wind and consider them
as a single whole: a physical phenomenon. That's all they
are, just physical phenomena. There's nothing of any
substance or lasting worth to them at all.
If this doesn't
lead to a sense of dispassion and detachment, go on to
consider mental phenomena (nama), which are formless:
vedana the experiencing of feelings and moods,
likes and dislikes; saρρa labels, names, allusions;
sankhara mental fashionings; and viρρana
consciousness.
Once you understand what these terms refer to, focus on the
feelings that appear in your own heart and mind. In other
words, observe the mental states that experience moods and
feelings, to see at which moments there are feelings of
pleasure, pain, or indifference. Be aware that, "Right now
I'm experiencing pleasure," "Right now I'm experiencing
pain," "Right now I'm experiencing a feeling that's neither
pleasure nor pain." Be constantly aware of these three
alternatives (the feeling that's neither pleasure nor pain
doesn't last for very long). If you're really composed and
observant, you'll come to see that all three of these
feelings are, without exception, fleeting, stressful, and
not-self; neither long nor lasting, always shifting and
changing out of necessity: sometimes pleasure, sometimes
pain, never satisfying your wants or desires. Once you see
this, let go of them. Don't fasten onto them. Fix your mind
on a single preoccupation.
If your mind
still isn't firm, though, consider mental labels next. What,
at the moment, are your thoughts alluding to: things past,
present, or future? Good or bad? Keep your awareness right
with the body and mind. If you happen to be labeling or
alluding to a feeling of pleasure, be aware of the pleasure.
If pain, be aware of the pain. Focus on whatever you are
labeling in the present, to see which will disappear first:
your awareness or the act of labeling. Before long, you'll
see that the act of labeling is fleeting, stressful, and
not-self. When you see this, let go of labels and concepts.
Don't latch onto them. Fix your mind on a single
preoccupation.
If your mind
still isn't firm, go on to consider mental fashionings: What
issues are your thoughts forming at the moment: past or
future? Are your thoughts running in a good direction or
bad? About issues outside the body and mind, or inside?
Leading to peace of mind or to restlessness? Make yourself
constantly alert, and once you're aware of the act of mental
fashioning, you'll see that all thinking is fleeting,
stressful, and not-self. Focus your thoughts down on the
body and mind, and then let go of all aspects of thinking,
fixing your attention on a single preoccupation.
If the mind
still doesn't settle down, though, consider consciousness
next: What, at the moment, are you cognizant of things
within or without? Past, present, or future? Good or bad?
Worthwhile or worthless? Make yourself constantly alert.
Once your powers of reference and alertness are constant,
you'll see immediately that all acts of consciousness are
fleeting, stressful, and not-self. Then focus on the
absolute present, being aware of the body and mind. Whatever
appears in the body, focus on it. Whatever appears in the
mind, focus on just what appears. Keep your attention fixed
until the mind becomes firm, steady, and still in a single
preoccupation either as momentary concentration, threshold
concentration, or fixed penetration
so
as to form a basis for liberating insight.
Thus for
concentration or steadiness of mind to arise in a fully
developed form and to be firmly maintained depends on the
sort of internal exercises mentioned here, dealing with the
body, feelings, labels, mental fashionings, and acts of
consciousness. These are the foods of concentration. The
four frames of reference (satipatthana) are its
guardian nurses. Whoever wants his or her concentration to
be strong should nourish it well. Once the mind has been
properly nourished and put into shape, it can be put to
effective use.
This ends the
discussion of the fourth topic.
5. The
fifth question -"What is the essence of concentration?"
can be answered as follows: Concentration means for the mind
to be firmly intent. To be firmly intent can mean either (a)
intent on a mental prop or preoccupation, which is termed
appana jhana, fixed absorption; or (b) intent
exclusively on the mind itself, which is termed appana
citta, the fixed mind. The mind that's intent forms the
essence of concentration.
If we were to
put this another way, we could make a distinction between
cetana samadhi, concentration that is intent on
concentration, and cetana-virati samadhi,
concentration that is intent on abstinence. In cetana
samadhi, the mind has cut itself off from external
preoccupations through the power of concentration. In
cetana-virati samadhi, the mind is set on finding a
technique for letting go of all preoccupations, both within
and without. Cetana samadhi means to be focused
directly on the mind. In other words, the mind doesn't think
of using any other way to straighten itself out. Simply
focusing down is enough to repress the defilements, because
we all are bound to have defilements intermixed in our
minds, and the very mind that has defilements can cure the
mind of its defilements, without having to look for any
other means just like using heat to cure heat, cold to
cure cold, or wind to cure wind.
For example,
suppose a man is slightly singed by a small flame, but then
is burned by a glowing ember or lantern flame: The pain from
the first burn will disappear. Or suppose you feel a little
chilly and have to wrap yourself up in a blanket: If you
then get exposed to a bitter cold winter wind, you'll feel
that the slight chill you had earlier didn't warrant getting
wrapped up in a blanket at all. As for an example of wind
curing wind: Suppose a person suffers a slight disorder of
the internal wind element, causing him to belch. If he then
suffers a violent disorder of the wind element, causing
cramps in a part of his body, his belching will immediately
disappear. In the same way, the mind can use defilement to
suppress defilement. This is called cetana samadhi.
In cetana-virati samadhi, though, the mind has to
search for strategies both within and without, using a good
preoccupation to cure a bad one, such as making reference to
the ten themes for recollection (anussati).
The mind is
what is intent; the intent mind forms the essence of
concentration. The term "fixed mind" (appana citta)
refers to the mind that is resilient, firm, and uninfluenced
by its preoccupations. In fixed penetration or fixed
absorption, though, the mind is firmly implanted in its
preoccupation, but is still in bad straits because it
doesn't yet know the true nature of that preoccupation. It
can't yet let it go. For the mind to let go of its
preoccupations, you have to use discernment to keep after
it, safeguarding it so that it doesn't move in line with
them. Only then will the mind be on the verge of purity, in
line with the statement, "The mind, when disciplined by
discernment, is freed from all mental effluents."
For the mind to
arrive at these two forms of concentration which we have
termed cetana samadhi and cetana-virati samadhi
it must first be disciplined by virtue. Concentration then
disciplines discernment; discernment disciplines virtue;
discernment disciplines concentration; discernment
disciplines the mind. Once we are able to follow through
with this, we are bound to see the true essence of
concentration. Most of us, though, simply use virtue to
discipline concentration, and concentration to discipline
discernment, without using discernment to discipline the
mind, which is why we get attached to our own views and our
own way of doing things. This is called self-identification
(sakkaya-ditthi), the way of viewing things that
leads us to latch onto them as belonging to us or as being
the self. We're unable to let go and so get stuck on virtue,
or stuck on concentration, or infatuated with our own
discernment. We drown in a flood of views and opinions (ditthi
ogha) simply because we don't know what lies at the
essence of concentration.
To be able to
know, we have to vary our practice slightly, by cleansing
virtue so as to foster concentration, cleansing
concentration so as to foster discernment, cleansing
discernment so that our views are right, and then using that
discernment to cleanse virtue and concentration once more.
Once virtue and concentration have been made pure, we don't
need to use discernment to cleanse them any further. We
simply practice them as a matter of course, and use
discernment to cleanse directly at the mind. The aspects of
virtue and concentration that are concerned with methods and
rules will disappear, leaving just discernment working at
cleansing the mind until it is steady and firm but not
firm in the preoccupations of concentration, though; firm in
the preoccupations of discernment.
If we were to
classify the mind at this stage, it is appana citta,
the fixed mind. As for concentration, it is momentary
concentration. Momentary concentration is the basis for the
tempered discernment of liberating insight. The mind can't
stay long with any preoccupations, for it is constantly
wiping them out, like the bubbles formed by rain on the
surface of a lake: As soon as they appear, they vanish flat
away, like a sea without the striking of waves. When
discernment is tempered through the power of a fixed mind,
the preoccupations of momentary concentration constantly
disband and disappear, not letting the heart get caught up
on them. This is termed release (vimutti): The mind
is freed from all preoccupations, among them the effluents
of sensuality, becoming, views, and unawareness. It becomes
a mind beyond all effluents. Thus it is said,
khina jati
vusitam brahmacariyam
katam karaniyam
naparam itthattayati pajanatiti
which means,
"The Noble Disciple discerns that birth is ended, the holy
life is completed, the task done. There is nothing further
to be done for the sake of this state."
So ultimately,
when the practice of concentration reaches the true essence
of the mind, discernment is attained.
This ends the
discussion of the fifth topic.
The issues
discussed here
People of wisdom should chew over well.
Chew them up fine
So they don't stick in your throat.
If they aren't well-chewed, they'll have no flavor.
If you chew them well, you'll know their taste.
Like eating:
If you have no teeth, you'll waste away.
If you don't crack open the Dhamma,
You'll end up in doubt,
And won't get out and away from stress.
If you don't get release,
You'll only get to heaven.
The worthiness
of our own actions
Is what counts
Both in the Dhamma and in the world.
So inspect this
And yourself,
Thoroughly.
With this,
Mastering Virtue is completed.
Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
The Forest
Temple
Shrimp Canal
Chanthaburi
Part II:
The Craft of The Heart
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When I first
became aware of the conflicting views held by people who
practice and of how ill-informed they are I felt
inspired by their desire to learn the truth, but at the same
time dismayed over their views: right mixed with wrong, some
people saying that nibbana and the paths leading to
it still exist, others maintaining that nibbana has
passed away and can no longer be attained. This latter
belief is a particular cause for dismay, because a desire
for nibbana is what has led us all to submit
ourselves to the practice of the Buddha's teachings in the
first place. If we don't have such a desire, we aren't
likely to be especially sincere in our practice; and if we
aren't sincere, our practice will be in vain as far as the
benefits the Buddha intended for us are concerned, because
the Buddha's sole purpose in teaching was to liberate living
beings from suffering and stress. If we were to worm our way
in as parasites on his religion, it would run counter to his
compassionate intentions toward us. Each and every one of us
aims for what is good, so we should pay heed to whatever
factors may lead to release from suffering and stress. Don't
let the Buddha's teaching pass you by in vain.
By and large,
from what I've seen of people who practice, a great many of
them train themselves in ways that mix right with wrong, and
then set themselves up as teachers, instructing their pupils
in line with their various theories about jhana,
concentration, nibbana, and the stream leading to it.
The lowest level are those who get so caught up with their
own views and opinions that their teachings can become
detrimental saying, for example, that we don't have enough
merit to practice, that we've been born too late for
nibbana and the paths leading to it, and so have to give
up our practice. (Opinions of this sort run the gamut from
crude to middling to subtle.)
But no matter
what level a person may know, if he doesn't know the hearts
and minds of others, he'll have great difficulty in making
his teachings effective and beneficial. Even though he may
have good intentions, if he lacks knowledge of those he is
teaching, progress will be difficult. The Buddha, whenever
he taught, knew the capabilities and dispositions of his
listeners, and the level of teaching for which they were
ripe. He then tailored his teachings to suit their
condition, which was why he was able to get good results.
Even though he had a lot of seed to sow, he planted it only
where he knew it would sprout. If he saw that the soil was
barren or the climate harsh, he wouldn't plant any seed at
all. But as for us, we have only a fistful of rice and yet
we cast it along a mountain spine or in the belly of the
sea, and so get either meager results or none at all.
Thus in this
book, I have included teachings on every level elementary,
intermediate, and advanced leaving it up to the reader to
pick out the teachings intended for his or her own level of
attainment.
In practicing
meditation, if you direct your mind along the right path,
you'll see results in the immediate present. At the same
time, if you lead yourself astray, you'll reap harm in the
immediate present as well. For the most part, if meditators
lack the training that comes from associating with those who
are truly expert and experienced, they can become deluded or
schizoid in a variety of ways. How so? By letting themselves
get carried away with the signs or visions that appear to
them, to the point where they lose sense of their own bodies
and minds. Playing around with an external kasina is
a special culprit in this regard. Those who lack sufficient
training will tend to hallucinate, convinced of the truth of
whatever they focus on, letting themselves get carried away
by what they know and see until they lose touch with
reality, making it difficult for any sort of discernment to
arise. For this reason, in this guide I have taught to focus
exclusively on the body and mind, the important point being
not to fasten on or become obsessed with whatever may appear
in the course of your practice.
There are a
wide variety of meditation teachers who deviate from the
basic principles taught by the Buddha. Some of them, hoping
for gain, status, or praise, set up their own creeds with
magical formulae and strict observances, teaching their
students to invoke the aid of the Buddha. (Our Lord Buddha
isn't a god of any sort who is going to come to our aid.
Rather, we have to develop ourselves so as to reach his
level.) Some teachers invoke the five forms of rapture, or
else visions of this or that color or shape. If you see such
and such vision, you attain the first level of the path, and
so on until you attain the second, third, and fourth levels,
and then once a year you present your teacher with offerings
of rice, fruit, and a pig's head. (The Buddha's purpose in
spreading his teachings was not that we would propitiate him
with offerings. He was beyond the sway of material objects
of any sort whatsoever.) Once the pupils of such teachers
come to the end of their observances, they run out of levels
to attain, and so can assume themselves to be Buddhas,
Private Buddhas or Noble Disciples, and thus they become
instant arahants. Their ears prick up, their hair stands on
end, and they get excited all out of proportion to any basis
in reality.
When you study
with some teachers, you have to start out with an offering
of five candles and incense sticks, or maybe ten, plus
so-and-so many flowers and so-and-so much puffed rice, on
this or that day of the week, at this or that time of day,
depending on the teacher's preferences. (If you can afford
it, there's nothing really wrong with this, but it means
that poor people or people with little free time will have
trouble getting to learn how to meditate.) Once you finish
the ceremony, the teacher tells you to meditate araham,
araham, or buddho, buddho, until you get the
vision he teaches you to look for such as white, blue,
red, yellow, a corpse, water, fire, a person, the Buddha, a
Noble Disciple, heaven, hell and then you start making
assumptions that follow the drift of the objects you see.
You jump to the conclusion that you've seen something
special or have attained nibbana. Sometimes the mind
gathers to the point where you sit still, in a daze, with no
sense of alertness at all. Or else pleasure arises and you
become attached to the pleasure, or stillness arises and you
become attached to the stillness, or a vision or a color
arises and you become attached to that. (All of these things
are nothing more than uggaha nimitta.)
Perhaps a
thought arises and you think that it's insight, and then you
really get carried away. You may decide that you're a
stream-winner, a once-returner, or an arahant, and no one in
the world can match you. You latch onto your views as
correct in every way, giving rise to pride and conceit. (All
of the things mentioned here, if you get attached to them,
are wrong.) When this happens, liberating insight won't have
a chance to arise.
So you have to
keep digging away for decades and then get fixated on the
fact that you've been practicing a full twenty years, and so
won't stand for it if anyone comes along and thinks he's
better than you. So, out of fear that others will look down
on you, you become even more stubborn and proud, and that's
as far as your knowledge and ingenuity will get you.
When it comes
to actual attainment, some people of this sort haven't even
brought the Triple Gem into their hearts. Of course, there
are probably many people who know better than this. I don't
mean to cast aspersions on those who know.
For this
reason, I have drawn up this book in line with what I have
studied and practiced, If you see that this might be the
path you are looking for, give it a good look. My teacher
didn't teach like the examples mentioned above. He taught in
line with what was readily available, without requiring that
you had to offer five incense sticks or ten candles or a
pig's head or puffed rice or flowers or whatever. All he
asked was that you have conviction in the Buddha and a
willingness to practice his teachings. If you wanted to make
an offering, some candles and incense as an offering to the
Triple Gem would do one candle if you had one, two if you
had two; if you didn't have any, you could dedicate your
life instead. Then he would have you repeat the formula for
taking refuge in the Triple Gem as in the method given in
this book. His approach to teaching in this way has always
struck me as conducive to the practice.
I have been
practicing for a number of years now, and what I have
observed all along has led me to have a sense of pity, both
for myself and for my fellow human beings. If we practice
along the right lines, we may very likely attain the
benefits we hope for quickly. We'll gain knowledge that will
make us marvel at the good that comes from the practice of
meditation, or we may even see the paths and fruitions
leading to nibbana in this present life because
nibbana is always present. It lacks only the people who
will uncover it within themselves. Some people don't know
how; others know, but aren't interested and have mistaken
assumptions about it to boot: thinking, for example, that
nibbana is extinct, doesn't exist, can't be attained, is
beyond the powers of people in the present day; saying that
since we aren't Noble Disciples, how could we possibly
attain it. This last is especially deluded. If we were
already good, already Noble Disciples, what purpose would we
have in going around trying to attain nibbana?
If we don't
despise the Buddha's teachings, then we can all practice
them. But the truth of the matter is that though we worship
the Dhamma, we don't practice the Dhamma, which is the same
as despising it. If we feel well-enough situated in the
present, we may tell ourselves that we can wait to practice
the Dhamma in our next lifetime, or at least anytime but
right now. Or we may take our defilements as an excuse,
saying that we'll have to abandon greed, anger, and delusion
before we can practice the Buddha's teachings. Or else we
take our work as an excuse, saying that we'll have to stop
working first. Actually, there's no reason that meditation
should get in the way of our work, because it's strictly an
activity of the heart. There's no need to dismantle our
homes or abandon our belongings before practicing it; and if
we did throw away our belongings in this way, it would
probably end up causing harm.
Even though
it's true that we love ourselves, yet if we don't work for
our own benefit, if we vacillate and hesitate, loading
ourselves down with ballast and bricks, we make our days and
nights go to waste. So we should develop and perfect the
factors that bring about the paths and fruitions leading to
nibbana. If you're interested, then examine the
procedures explained in the following sections. Pick out
whichever section seems to correspond to your own level and
abilities, and take that as your guide.
As for myself,
I was first attracted to the Buddha's teachings by his
statement that to lay claim to physical and mental phenomena
as our own is suffering. After considering his teaching that
the body is anatta not-self I began to be struck
by a sense of dismay over the nature of the body. I examined
it to see in what way it was not-self, and as far as my
understanding allowed the Buddha's teaching began to make
very clear sense to me. I considered how the body arises, is
sustained and passes away, and I came to the conclusion
that:
(1) it arises
from upadana clinging through mistaken
assumptions which forms the essence of kamma.
(2) It is
sustained by nourishment provided by our parents; and
since our parents have nothing of their own with which to
nourish us, they have to search for food two-footed
animals, four-footed animals, animals in the water, and
animals on land either buying this food or else killing
it on their own and then feeding it to us. The animals
abused in this way are bound to curse and seek revenge
against those who kill and eat them, just as we are
possessive of our belongings and seek revenge against
those who rob us.
Those who
don't know the truth of the body take it to be the self,
but after considering the diseases we suffer in our eyes,
nose, mouth, and throughout the various parts of the body,
I concluded that we've probably been cursed by the animals
we've eaten, because all of these parts come from the food
we've made of their bodies. And so our body, cursed in
this way, suffers pain with no recourse for begging mercy.
Thus, victim to the spirits of these animals, we suffer
pains in the eyes, pains in the ears, pains in the nose
and mouth and throughout the body, until in the end we
have to relinquish the whole thing so they can eat it all
up. Even while we're still living, some of them like
mosquitoes and sandflies come and try to take it by
force. If we don't let go of our attachments to the body,
we're bound to suffer for many lives to come. This is one
reason why I felt attracted to the Buddha's teachings on
not-self.
(3) The body
passes away from being denied nourishment. The fact that
this happens to us is without a doubt a result of our past
actions. We've probably been harsh with other living
beings, denying them food to the point where they've had
to part with the bodies they feel such affection for. When
the results of such actions bear fruit, our bodies will
have to break up and disband in the same way.
Considering
things in this manner caused me to feel even more attracted
to the practical methods recommended by the Buddha for
seeing not-self and letting go of our clinging assumptions
so that we no longer have to be possessive of the treasures
claimed by ignorant and fixated animals. If we persist in
holding onto the body as our own, it's the same as cheating
others of their belongings, turning them into our own flesh
and blood and then, forgetting where these things came from,
latching onto them as our very own. When this happens, we're
like a child who, born in one family and then taken and
raised in another family with a different language, is sure
to forget his original language and family name. If someone
comes along and calls him by his original name, he most
likely won't stand for it, because of his ignorance of his
own origins. So it is with the body: Once it has grown, we
latch onto it, assuming it to be the self. We forget its
origins and so become drugged, addicted to physical and
mental phenomena, enduring pain for countless lifetimes.
These thoughts
are what led me to start practicing the teachings of the
Buddha so as to liberate myself from this mass of suffering
and stress.
Thus those of
us who are still undeveloped and at a tender age should
practice the Dhamma in line with the strength of their
understanding.
If there is
anything defective or incomplete in what I have written, or
if there are any passages that don't rest well on your ears,
please make corrections in line with the aims of the Blessed
One, the Lord Buddha.
* * *
The first step
is to kneel down with your hands palm-to-palm in front of
your heart and sincerely pay respect to the Triple Gem,
saying as follows:
araham
samma-sambuddho bhagava
buddham bhagavantam abhivademi
(bow down)
svakkhato
bhagavata dhammo
dhammam namassami
(bow down)
supatipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho
sangham namami
(bow down)
Then, showing
respect with your thoughts, words and deed, pay homage to
the Buddha:
Namo tassa
bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa (three times)
And then take
refuge in the Triple Gem:
Buddham
saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi
buddham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
Make the
following resolution: "I take refuge in the Buddha, the Pure
One, completely free from defilement; and in his Dhamma
doctrine, practice and attainment; and in the Sangha, the
four levels of his Noble Disciples, from now until the end
of my life." Then make the following vow:
Etena
sacca-vajjena hotu me jayamangalam
which means,
"By making this vow of truth, may the good fortune of
victory be mine." Bow down once. This ends the step of
taking refuge.
The next step
is to take the precepts five, eight, or ten and abstain
from the five, eight, or ten forms of harm. If you already
understand the precepts, you can formulate the intention to
observe them using a single vow. For those observing the
five precepts:
Imani
paρca sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the eight precepts:
Imani
attha sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the ten precepts:
Imani dasa
sikkhapadani samadiyami (three times)
For those
observing the 227 precepts:
Parisuddho
aham bhante parisuddhoti
Mam buddho dhammo sangho dharetu
If you know
what is forbidden by the precepts, you can take them on your
own and then go ahead and abandon any form of behavior that
runs counter to the five, eight, ten or 227 precepts you've
taken. Once you've examined your precepts to see that
they're pure, examine your heart. Once you see that it has
entered the sphere of virtue and the Triple Gem, you should
recollect the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
both mentally and out loud so as to nurture a sense of
conviction in the heart.
The
Recollection of the Virtues of the Buddha: Repeat the
following passage from the Canon, at the same time nurturing
a sense of conviction:
Itipi so
bhagava araham samma-sambuddho, Vijja-carana-sampanno
sugato lokavidu, Anuttaro purisa-damma-sarathi Sattha
deva-manussanam buddho bhagavati
(He is
indeed the Blessed One, worthy and rightly
self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and conduct, one
who has gone the good way, knower of cosmos, the
unexcelled trainer of those who can be taught, teacher
of human and divine beings, awakened, blessed.)
Then showing
respect with body, speech and mind, pay homage to the
virtues of the Buddha, saying, "I now ask to pay homage
through practice to the three virtues of the Buddha:
discernment, purity, and compassion. I ask to pay homage
through practice in thought, word, and deed, without being
negligent, as far as my alertness and abilities will allow,
now and in the time to come. May the virtues of the Buddha
appear in my life and heart: Buddham jivitam yava
nibbanam saranam gacchami I go to the Buddha as life
and refuge until reaching nibbana." (bow down).
The
Recollection of the Virtues of the Dhamma: Repeat the
following passage from the Canon, at the same time nurturing
a sense of conviction:
Svakkhato
bhagavata dhammo, sanditthiko akaliko ehipassiko,
opanayiko paccattam veditabbo vinnuhiti
(The Dhamma
well-expounded by the Blessed One is visible here and
now, timeless, inviting all to come and see, leading
inward, to be seen by the wise for themselves.)
Then showing
respect with body, speech, and mind, pay homage to the
virtues of the Dhamma, saying, "I now ask to pay homage
through practice to the virtues of the three forms of the
Dhamma: doctrine, practice, and the attainment that appeared
in the Buddha. I ask to pay homage through practice in
thought, word and deed, without being negligent, as far as
my alertness and abilities will allow, now and in the time
to come. May the virtues of the Dhamma appear in my life and
heart: Dhammam jivitam yava nibbanam saranam gacchami
I go to the Dhamma as life and refuge until reaching
nibbana." (bow down).
The
Recollection of the Virtues of the Sangha: Repeat the
following passage from the Canon, at the same time nurturing
a sense of conviction:
Supatipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho,
uju-patipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho,
ρaya-patipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho,
samici-patipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho,
yadidam cattari purisa-yugani attha
purisa-puggala, esa bhagavato savaka-sangho,
ahuneyyo pahuneyyo dakkhineyyo aρjali-karaniyo,
anuttaram puρρakkhettam lokassati
(The
community of the Blessed One's disciples who have
practiced well... who have practiced uprightly... who
have practiced methodically... who have practiced
masterfully the four pairs, the eight types of Noble
Ones: That is the community of the Blessed One's
disciples, worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality,
worthy of offerings, worthy of heartfelt respect, the
incomparable field of merit for the world.)
"I now ask to
pay homage through practice to the virtues of the Sangha
eight when counted individually, four when counted in pairs
in whomever they have arisen. I ask to pay homage through
practice in thought, word and deed, without being negligent,
as far as my alertness and abilities will allow, now and in
the time to come. May the virtues of the Sangha appear in my
life and heart: Sangham jivitam yava nibbanam saranam
gacchami I go to the Sangha as life and refuge until
reaching nibbana." (bow down).
Now sit down,
place your hands palm-to-palm in front of your heart, steady
your thoughts, and develop the four Sublime Attitudes: good
will, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity. To spread
these thoughts to all living beings without distinction is
called the immeasurable Sublime Attitude. A short Pali
formula, for those who have trouble memorizing, is:
"Metta"
thoughts of good will
"Karuna" thoughts of compassion
"Mudita" thoughts of appreciation
"Upekkha" thoughts of equanimity
This finished,
sit in a half-lotus position, right leg on top of the left,
with your hands placed palm-up on your lap, right hand on
top of the left. Keep your body straight and your mind on
the task before you. Raise your hands in respect,
palm-to-palm in front of the heart, and think of the
qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha: Buddho me
natho, dhammo me natho, sangho me natho (The Buddha,
Dhamma, and Sangha are my mainstay). Then repeat, Buddho
buddho, dhammo dhammo, sangho sangho. Return your hands
to your lap and repeat one word Buddho over and
over in your mind, at the same time making yourself
conscious of your in-and-out breath.
This is the
beginning step in practicing concentration. If you're steady
and persistent, the desired results will appear in your
heart. For people who are really intent, even just this is
enough to start seeing results. But by and large, most
meditators want to know the results before they've assembled
the causes. Yet even if you know about the results in this
way, they're nothing more than concepts or names, and so
there's nothing extraordinary about them. So at this point
I've given just the preliminary steps. Discussions have been
saved for the following sections. If they were included in
this section, beginners would be overwhelmed and wouldn't be
able to pick out what they needed. Thus people who are
intent on practicing should make a note of just this much to
begin with. Then if anything arises in the course of your
practice, you can refer to the discussions given below.
* * *
The Triple Gem
is a potent refuge for those who have firm faith in it and
make it arise in their thoughts, words and deeds i.e., for
those who make the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
actually appear in their hearts. Most people at present take
refuge only in the shadow of the Buddha, by worshipping a
Buddha image. The Dhamma they take refuge in is simply the
thought of the scriptures, with hardly any notion of
practicing to the point of attainment. The Sangha they take
refuge in is simply the sight of shaven heads and yellow
robes. If this is the extent of our refuge, it won't be able
to protect us from falling into the realms of deprivation.
Thus those who really believe in the Triple Gem should make
its qualities reach their hearts if their faith is to be
firm and not blind.
Most people at
present tend to overlook the virtues of the Triple Gem
because their ears are pricked for the latest news of
amulets and protective charms. At the drop of a hat, they
forget the Triple Gem, their eyes light up, their hair
stands on end, and they get all excited like the rabbit who
went running around because he thought the sky was falling.
Those who have
firm and proper faith in the Triple Gem, though, will truly
be able to ward off the dangers that cause them worry and
dread. In terms of the future, those who have brought the
qualities of the Triple Gem firmly into their hearts will
have a superior refuge that will absolutely insure them
against rebirth in any of the four realms of deprivation, as
stated in the verse from the Maha-samaya Sutta that reads:
"Those who have reached the refuge of the Buddha (in the
virtues of their hearts) will not go to the realms of
deprivation (i.e., rebirth as a denizen of hell, as a hungry
shade, a demon, or a common animal). When they have
abandoned the human body, they will fill the ranks of the
gods."
If we are truly
convinced of the Triple Gem, we shouldn't give credence to
external objects that we assume to be sacred without any
basis in reason. If we close our eyes and simply follow the
crowd, we could very well make our inner refuge corrode
away. Our hearts will have no principles to serve as a firm
foundation and so will be prey to doubts and distraction,
easily deceived and led astray.
Those who
depend on the Triple Gem as their refuge will be gentle in
word and deed. Their thoughts will refer to their refuge as
a constant theme, at the same time pondering the truth of
their condition: "We are born because of our acts, live
because of our acts, die because of our acts. If we do good
we will meet with good; if we do evil, we will meet with
evil. No one else can come and provide for our fate." When
we develop this theme constantly, convinced of its truth, it
is as if we were repeating an invincible protective spell.
This qualifies as one kind of foundation which Buddhism
provides for the heart.
* * *
Metta:
Develop thoughts of love and good will, hoping for your own
happiness and that of others. This is like a fortress wall
or a cardinal point.
Karuna:
Develop thoughts of compassion toward yourself and others,
aiming at helping yourself and others gain release from all
forms of suffering and pain. This is another wall or
cardinal point.
Mudita:
Develop thoughts of appreciation, taking delight in the
happiness you experience and in that experienced by others.
This is another fortress wall or cardinal point.
Upekkha:
Develop equanimity, keeping your mind unruffled when your
activities or those of others go astray or lead to trouble
in ways that are beyond your power to help. Keep watch over
your mind to prevent it from being upset or affected in any
way. This doesn't mean being cold or hard-hearted. If you
can be of help, you should offer what help you can. Develop
indifference only in those cases that are beyond help.
For these
Sublime Attitudes to be fully developed, they must pervade
your thoughts, words, and deeds. Only then will they be
effective. Good will expressed in your deeds is like a wall
one league thick; good will expressed in your words is still
another league; good will expressed in your thoughts is
still another league: altogether, three leagues thick. With
compassion another three leagues, appreciation another
three, and equanimity still another, you have a wall twelve
leagues thick. When your thoughts, words, and deeds are
protected on all sides in this manner, what do you have to
fear?
This, of
course, is simply an analogy. If you actually develop these
qualities within yourself, you will see for yourself exactly
how valuable they are. When your heart is free from fear, it
will be able to reach concentration quickly and easily.
* * *
If you want to,
you can radiate thoughts of good will, etc., in extended
form, either in Pali or in translation. Your thoughts should
be directed in two directions: inwardly and outwardly.
Inwardly:
Radiating good will, compassion, and appreciation to
yourself means to do no evil, to take pity on yourself by
abandoning evil, and to be appreciative of the aims of
virtue and morality. To develop equanimity toward yourself
means to be unruffled when the occasion calls for it. For
instance, when you are ill and have done all you can to
treat the illness, you should then limit your attention to
the goodness in the heart.
Outwardly:
To radiate thoughts of good will, etc., to others can be
done in two ways: (a) radiating such thoughts specifically
to those you know and love your parents, teachers,
relatives, and close friends; and (b) radiating such
thoughts in general to all living beings of all kinds,
without specifying anyone in particular: seeing that we are
all alike in having bodies and minds and in feeling pain,
and so radiating thoughts of good will throughout the three
realms the sensual realm, the realm of form, and the realm
of formlessness without making distinctions or drawing
lines. To radiate good will in this way is very powerful and
gives the mind enormous strength.
The extended
formula, in Pali and in translation, is as follows:
Aham
sukhito homi (May I be happy.)
Niddukkho homi (May I be free from stress and
pain.)
Avero homi (May I be free from animosity.)
Abyapajjho homi (May I free from oppression.)
Anigho homi (May I be free from trouble.)
Sukhi attanam pariharami (May I look after myself
with ease.)
Once you feel
complete good will toward yourself, you should share these
feelings, spreading them to all others in general:
(METTA)
Sabbe
satta sukhita hontu (May all living beings be happy).
Sabbe
satta avera hontu (May all living beings be free from
animosity.)
Sabbe
satta abyapajjha hontu (May all living beings be free
from oppression.)
Sabbe
satta anigha hontu (May all living beings be free from
trouble.)
Sabbe
satta sukhi attanam pariharantu (May all living beings
look after themselves with ease.)
(KARUNA)
Sabbe
satta sabba-dukkha pamuccantu (May all living beings
be freed from all suffering.)
(MUDITA)
Sabbe
satta laddha-sampattito ma vigacchantu (May all living
beings not be deprived of the good fortune they have
attained.)
(UPEKKHA)
sabbe
satta kammassaka kamma-dayada kamma-yoni kamma-bandhu
kamma-patisarana
(All living
beings are owners of their actions, are heirs to their
actions, born of their actions, related through their
actions, and live dependent on their actions. )
Yam kammam
karissanti kalyanam va papakam va tassa dayada bhavissanti
(Whatever
they do, for good or for evil, to that will they fall
heir.)
This ends the
formula for radiating the four Sublime Attitudes. To spread
these thoughts without specifying this or that particular
person is called developing the quality of immeasurability
(appamanna dhamma).
If you have
trouble memorizing the extended formula, you can reduce it
to:
"Metta"
thoughts of good will
"Karuna" thoughts of compassion
"Mudita" thoughts of appreciation
"Upekkha" thoughts of equanimity
Or if you want,
you can simply express these thoughts in your own words.
* * *
The four
immeasurable Sublime Attitudes are genuinely worth
developing because they are qualities that soothe the hearts
of living beings in general throughout the world our
parents, relatives, friends, companions, and all living
beings of every sort. In addition, when the Sublime
Attitudes are truly present in the heart, they can bring
absolute respite from enmity, fear, and animosity. Thus the
Buddha taught his followers: "Monks, when the release of the
mind (from enmity, fear, and animosity) through good will is
cultivated, developed, practiced often, used as a vehicle
(leading to the desired goal), used as a foundation,
nurtured unceasingly, made habitual, and constantly brought
to mind, eleven rewards can be expected: One sleeps with
ease, wakes with ease, and dreams no evil dreams. One is
dear to human beings, dear to non-human beings, guarded by
deities, and untouched by fire, poison, and weapons. One's
mind is easily concentrated and one's complexion bright. One
dies unconfused and if penetrating no higher is reborn
in the Brahma worlds."
When a person
acts, speaks, and thinks with good will, it soothes his or
her own heart and is conducive to release from suffering.
Those who develop these qualities as a constant practice
will have the power to soothe the hearts of other living
beings through the power of their good will. Thus to develop
these qualities in thought, word, and deed is a genuine
necessity for those who practice concentration.
In some places
this practice is recommended only for those who are prone to
anger. But as far as we are concerned here, you should
practice this step first no matter what your disposition. If
you are prone to anger, this practice will make it
that much easier for you to concentrate your mind.
The four
Sublime Attitudes have been compared to the four faces of
Brahma surveying the four directions, or to fortress walls
on all four sides of the heart. Whoever develops them will
free the heart from fear and danger.
The development
of the four Sublime Attitudes is especially beneficial in
connection with the performance of meritorious acts. You
should give alms with an attitude of good will, observe the
precepts with an attitude of good will, and practice
meditation with an attitude of good will. When done in this
way, your activities will bring powerful rewards. Thoughts
of good will are like clean drops of rain that fall from the
sky, refreshing and nourishing the grasses and trees. Such
thoughts are desired by all human races. Thus if you hope to
develop merit, you should examine your heart at all times to
see whether or not it is benevolent, so that whatever merit
you may perform in thought, word, or deed will be truly
conducive to future happiness.
The crucial
element lies with the heart: If the heart lacks benevolence,
you'll have a hard time protecting your words and deeds; but
if the heart is truly benevolent, your words and deeds are
bound not to be defiled. If words and deeds are defiled,
though, they won't suffer the consequences of their
defilement. The heart will. The heart is what reaps the
results of all good and evil. This being the case, your next
step should be to practice concentration so as to develop
the heart.
* * *
Concentration
should be practiced in a systematic and orderly way. The
Buddha thus set down a civilized and flexible pattern of
four postures, in line with what he himself had practiced:
sitting meditation, standing meditation, walking meditation,
and meditation lying down. When you practice concentration
in any of these four postures, you are said to acquire merit
through meditation. The Pali word for meditation
bhavana literally means to develop what is good and
worthwhile within the heart. Meditation is a duty for all
Buddhists, lay as well as ordained. The wisdom and
well-being arising from meditation are the exclusive
possession of those who do it. Those of us who believe in
the doctrine, its practice, and the resulting attainments,
should thus practice accordingly.
Sitting:
Here we will review the basic method once more: Begin by
formulating the intention to observe perfectly the five,
eight, ten, or 227 precepts, in line with your position and
abilities. Once you see that your virtues are pure, sit in a
half-lotus position with your right leg on top of your left.
Hold your hands palm-to-palm in front of your heart and call
to mind the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha as
your refuge. Repeat the formula for the four Sublime
Attitudes, then Buddho me natho, dhammo me natho, sangho
me natho, then Buddho buddho, dhammo dhammo, sangho
sangho. Lower your hands to your lap and silently repeat
a single word Buddho in conjunction with your
in-and-out breath as your mind's preoccupation.
Limit your
attention to the body. Don't pay attention to anything
outside. Focus on the physical properties present in the
body the properties of earth, water, wind and fire and
then let go of these aspects, bringing your attention to the
breath, co-ordinating Buddho with its in-and-out
movements. Be constantly and fully aware. Only if you don't
let your attention wander will you be true to the word "buddho,"
because "buddho" means one who is awake, mindful and
alert.
Standing:
Meditate in the same way as above, simply changing the
posture. Stand in a way that is composed and self-possessed,
keeping your body erect and your mind on what you're doing.
Place your hands down before you, your right hand covering
your left. You may keep your eyes closed or leave them open,
as you like. Focus your mind on Buddho, keeping your
attention restricted to the body and to your sense of
immediate awareness until your mind is firmly established.
Walking:
Walking meditation, termed cankama, is done as
follows: Decide on a path as long, short, broad, or narrow
as you like, making it level and even, with no ups or downs,
so as not to interfere with your walking. You can walk fast
or slowly, taking short steps or long, whatever is most
comfortable. Hold your head on an even keel, neither lowered
nor tilted back, and keep your gaze on the path before you.
Place your hands down in front of you, as in the standing
posture, and meditate in the same way as in the postures
already mentioned.
Lying down:
Lie on your right side, your right hand pillowing your head,
your left arm placed straight down the side of your body.
Don't curl up, lie on your stomach, or lie on your back: Lie
on your right side. This is the posture of a noble person,
brave, victorious, and virtuous; not the posture of a
miserable person at his wits' end. Once you're in position,
keep your mind on the repetition of your meditation word as
in the other postures.
* * *
The purpose of
meditating in four postures is to provide rest and relief
for the body. The actual meditation exercise is always kept
the same. No matter what the posture, don't let go of your
original theme. Keep watch over your mind at all times.
Beginners,
though, should devote most of their time to two postures:
sitting and walking. Meditate in these two postures as much
and as often as possible, and concentration will come
easily. As for the other two postures, they aren't very
conducive to collecting the mind. When you lie down,
concentration can easily turn into sleep. When you stand,
the mind has trouble setting snugly down. But once you're
skilled and find that the posture is no obstacle in reaching
concentration, there's nothing against your dividing your
time in a balanced way among all four postures. And if you
can meditate with every breath, so much the better.
Lying on the
right side is called siha-sayasa, the position of a
reclining lion. Lying on the left side is called
kama-bhogi, the position of a person intent on sensual
pleasure. To lie on one's stomach is called
tiracchana-sayasa, the posture of dogs and other common
animals. It's also called moha-kiriya, an attitude
expressing dullness and delusion. To lie on one's back is
called peta-sayasa, the posture of hungry shades, the
posture of the dead, the attitude of a loser, of one who has
let all his defenses down. A person who falls asleep in this
position tends to let his mouth fall open, to breathe
heavily, and to snore. Strictly speaking, though, none of
these postures is ruled out. You can shift around as you
like, to relieve feelings of weariness. But when you decide
to meditate in earnest, you should return to the correct
posture, make yourself alert and then watch over the mind to
keep it firm and uncompromising until it reaches
concentration.
* * *
The techniques
mentioned so far can lead the mind to any of the three
levels of concentration: momentary, threshold, or fixed
penetration. Concentration is a tool for overcoming the
defilements termed the five hindrances (nivarana).
The hindrances are the true enemies of concentration. They
keep blocking the mind, preventing it from settling down and
getting firmly established. When any one of them arises, the
mind is unable to see the truth. The fact that they act as
obstacles, obstructing the mind from attaining the good, is
why they are called the enemies of concentration.
* * *
1.
Kama-chanda: sensual desires; an attraction to sensual
objects. For the mind to be attracted to sensual objects, a
sensual state such as passion must first arise within the
mind, followed by longing, and then the sense of attraction
for an object. In other words, the mind longs for and falls
for forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and
mental notions, any of which can be either skillful or
detrimental.
2.
Byapada: ill will. The mind formulates a desire for
forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, or mental
notions, but is then thwarted and so feels ill will toward
whomever it finds disagreeable. Thoughts of ill will are
classed as a form of Wrong View and thus are a hindrance.
3.
Thina-middha: torpor, drowsiness, depression, lethargy.
Once this overcomes the mind, it prevents the mind from
doing good and thus is a hindrance.
4.
Uddhacca-kukkucca: mental restlessness and anxiety. The
mind lets its attention stream out to take hold of external
objects because it doesn't know the true nature of the
senses and their objects or the techniques for keeping its
attention established on a single meditation theme. This
mental state arises from sensual desire in that the mind
forms a desire that is then unfulfilled, and so it becomes
anxious and restless.
5.
Vicikiccha: uncertainty, indecision, a lack of
conviction. The mind has doubts about its objects, unable to
decide whether they are good or bad, right or wrong.
Assuming right to be wrong, and wrong to be right, it is
unable to come to a firm decision.
* * *
Techniques for
dealing with the hindrances are as follows:
1.
Sensual desires can be dealt with in three ways (taking
sexual lust as an example):
a.
Examine the object of your desires until you see that it's
inconstant (aniccam), continually prey to disease
(dukkham) examine it until you see all the way to
the fact that there's no self, nothing of your's or anyone
else's, to it at all (anatta). Even if you were to
gain the object of your desires, you wouldn't hold any
rights over it. Someday it would be sure to throw you away
and leave you.
b. If
the desire remains active, then focus on the repulsive
aspects of the object, the aspects that are unappealing,
filthy, and disgusting. See that it is full of disgusting
things and is a dwelling place for worms and other
parasites. No matter how you try to dress up the body, you
can't escape from its repulsiveness for long.
c. If
the desire persists, then consider the true nature of the
body until the mind realizes that it is just a compound of
physical properties into which a deluded mind has strayed
and taken up temporary residence, like a hermit crab
moving from shell to shell: nothing with any truth or
fidelity. Then forcibly focus the mind on a single
meditation object until concentration of one level or
another arises, and the desire will fade or disappear.
2. Ill
will arises or becomes active when mindfulness is weak and
you react unwisely or unthinkingly to whatever shows
resistance to the will, giving rise to anger, thoughts of
revenge, and ill will. When this happens, the following
methods should be used to allay such thoughts:
a.
Metta-nimitta-uggaha: Give rise to thoughts of
benevolence, either toward specific people or to all
living beings in general.
b.
Metta-bhavananuyoga: Be intent on developing and
radiating thoughts of benevolence, hoping for your own
happiness and that of others.
c.
Kammassakata paccavekkhanata: Consider the principle
of kamma, that all living beings are possessors of
their actions and will meet with good or evil according to
their actions. Make yourself see that ill will is a bad
action and, since it's bad, who wants it?
d.
Patisankhana-bahulata: Be increasingly circumspect and
astute in applying and using these various techniques.
e.
Kalyana-mittata: Associate with virtuous people who
are kind and considerate.
f.
Sappaya-katha: Be careful to speak and think only of
those topics such as the development of benevolence
that are congenial and useful to yourself and to those
around you.
g.
Sacca-dama: Make the resolution that you will keep
your attention focused on your own faults in thought,
word, and deed and not on the faults of others. Keep
your attention right at the heart, with the realization
that ill will arises at the heart and so will have to be
cured at the heart.
Each of these
seven techniques can work very well in shaking off thoughts
of ill will.
3.
Torpor and lethargy can be overcome in the following ways:
a.
Atibhojana-nimittakata: Don't eat heavily.
b.
Iriyapatha-samparivatta-gahata: Maintain a proper
balance among your postures of sitting, standing, walking,
and lying down.
c.
Alokasaρρa-manasikara: Create in your mind an image of
bright light appearing right before you.
d.
Abbhokasa-vasa: Look for a place to stay out in the
open air or in the forest, away from human habitation.
e.
Kalyana-mittata: Associate with well-behaved friends
in the holy life who aren't given over to lethargy or
drowsiness. If you can associate with someone who has
attained jhana, so much the better.
f.
Sappaya-katha: Think and speak only of congenial
topics making the resolution, for instance, to observe
the ascetic practices and perform other similar acts of
good.
Torpor and
lethargy can be overcome absolutely, once and for all, only
by a person who has attained the path to arahantship, but we
have to start overcoming them step by step right from the
beginning of our practice, using the above methods.
4.
Restlessness and anxiety can be dealt with using the
following methods:
a.
Bahussuta: Make a habit of reading books and listening
to others talk about the practice.
b.
Paripucchata: Make a habit of asking questions about
what you have learned and experienced, and then put the
answers into practice.
c.
Vinaya-pakataρρuta: Be knowledgeable and scrupulous
concerning the precepts and practices you have undertaken.
d.
Vuddha-sevita: Associate with those who are mature in
their virtue and circumspect in their knowledge and
behavior.
e.
Kalyana-mittata: Associate with friends you admire.
f.
Sappaya-katha: Speak of matters that put your mind to
rest, e.g., of what is right and wrong.
Restlessness
and anxiety are abandoned once and for all only with the
attainment of the path to arahantship, but we have to start
overcoming them step by step right from the start.
5.
Uncertainty can be dealt with using the following methods:
a.
Bahussuta: Make yourself well-read and well-informed
concerning the practice.
b.
Paripucchata: Make a habit of asking questions of
those who are experienced.
c.
Vinaya-pakataρρuta: be expert with regard to the
precepts and practices you have undertaken.
d.
Adhimokkha-bahulata: Work on increasing your
enthusiasm for what is good.
e.
Kalyana-mittata: Associate with good people
f.
Sappaya-katha: Speak only of topics that will allay
your uncertainty. For instance, discuss the virtues of the
Triple Gem. (Uncertainty concerning the Triple Gem is
abandoned once and for all with the first attainment of
the stream to nibbana.)
* * *
What all this
comes down to is that the five hindrances all disappear when
you focus on the body to the point where it becomes clear,
and focus on the mind to the point where it becomes firm and
resolute because the hindrances arise right at the body
and mind, and where they arise is where they should be
dispersed.
The hindrances
are an intermediate level of defilement. Only when the mind
attains concentration to counter them are they overcome.
They are also called the direct enemies of concentration.
The indirect enemies are the five forms of rapture (piti),
the meditation syllable, and visions both those that arise
on their own (uggaha nimitta) and those that are
brought under the control of the mind (patibhaga nimitta).
These phenomena, if you are wise to them, can foster the
paths and fruitions leading to nibbana. But if you
aren't wise to them, you're bound to get wrapped up in them,
and they will then turn into enemies of right concentration
and discernment.
These are the
intermediate enemies of concentration. The subtle enemies
are the ten corruptions of insight (vipassanupakkilesa).
If, when any of these arise, your powers of reference and
discernment are weak, you are bound to misconstrue them. You
then let yourself get taken in and carried away by them, to
the point where they seem unassailable in one way or
another, finally leading you to believe that you have become
an arahant. If you aren't wise to these things, you're bound
to fall for them and won't be able to attain the highest
form of good. For this reason, you should let go of all such
knowledge in line with its true nature. Keep your powers of
circumspection in firm place. Don't let these enemies come
in and overcome your mind.
These various
enemies will be discussed below, following the discussion of
concentration, because they arise as phenomena following on
the practice of concentration. Actually though, they're
already present in the mind, but we're not aware of them
until the mind is made firm. Once the mind attains
concentration, they are bound to appear in one form or
another, either as visions or as intuitions. And once they
appear, we tend to get all excited and pleased, because we
think that something new has happened. But if we understand
that they've been there in the mind all along, we won't get
carried away by them or feel excited, pleased, or upset
and so they won't cause our concentration to deteriorate.
Before we make
the mind firm in concentration, we first have to learn about
the meditation exercises, because they are the objects of
concentration. And before we learn about the exercises, we
have to acquaint ourselves with our own propensities,
because these propensities are like the factors causing a
disease. The exercises are like the medicine for curing the
disease.
* * *
1.
Raga-carita: a propensity to desire and longing.
2.
Dosa-carita: a propensity to irritation and anger.
3.
Moha-carita: a propensity to delusion and superstition.
4.
Vitakka-carita: a propensity to excessive thought and
worry.
5.
Saddha-carita: a propensity to gullibility and snap
judgments.
6.
Buddhi-carita: a propensity to curiosity and reasoning
things through.
* * *
These six
propensities are associated with different thoughts and
preoccupations and the truth of the matter is that all of
these propensities exist full-blown in the heart of every
person. The nature of the mind, as long as it's still
deluded, is to range around in these areas. We differ only
in that our minds tend to dwell on particular preoccupations
for differing amounts of time. In other words, we focus more
strongly on some moods and objects than on others. The mind
that tends to dwell on a particular preoccupation often or
for long periods of time is said to have a propensity in
that direction. Observe yourself when you meditate, and
you'll immediately see for yourself. Sometimes the mind
gives rise to desire, sometimes it's quick-tempered,
sometimes it can't think things through, sometimes its
worries get out of hand, sometimes it's gullible and easily
taken in, sometimes its curiosity gets all out of bounds.
This being the case, all six propensities come down to one
single mind which, however, takes after differing
preoccupations.
This is why
different meditators gain Awakening at differing speeds.
Their basic propensities differ, so that some awaken
quickly, some slowly, and others in between. In this
connection, the six propensities come down to three.
1.
People who tend toward anger or curiosity are said to
excel through discernment (paρρadhika). Their minds
tend to develop insight meditation more than tranquillity
meditation, and they gain Awakening quickly. If they reach
the stream to nibbana, they attain the level of
ekabijin, destined to be reborn only once more.
2.
People who tend toward desire or gullibility are said to
excel through conviction (saddhadhika). Their minds
tend to develop insight meditation and tranquillity
meditation in equal measure, and they gain Awakening at
moderate speed. If they reach the stream to nibbana,
they attain the level of kolankola, destined to be
reborn three or four times more.
3.
People who tend toward worry and delusion are said to
excel through persistence (viriyadhika). Their
minds have to develop a great deal of tranquillity before
they can develop insight meditation. They gain Awakening
slowly, but tend to have a lot of special psychic powers
and skills. If they reach the stream, they will be reborn
seven more times.
People of
different propensities gain Awakening at different rates
because they differ in the speed with which they can extract
their minds from sensuality. Those who awaken quickly have
already developed the quality of renunciation (nekkhamma)
to a high degree; those who awaken at a moderate rate have
developed it to a moderate degree; and those who awaken
slowly, to a lower degree. (Here we are referring to those
on the level of stream-entry.) They have practiced in
different ways, or at differing levels of persistence.
But no matter
how many propensities there are, the mind is one and has
only two basic sorts of preoccupation: good and bad. This
being the case, we should classify the meditation exercises
into two basic sorts as well, so as to help the mind attain
concentration. No matter what propensities differing minds
may have, they are all suited to two basic themes.
* * *
1.
Samatha-kammatthana: tranquillity meditation
techniques for stilling the mind;
2.
Vipassana-kammatthana: insight meditation techniques
for developing discernment.
The objects of
tranquillity meditation, according to the authors of the
various commentaries, number up to forty. But although they
are many, they all fall into one of two classes
a.
Rupa-kammatthana: exercises dealing with physical
phenomena;
b.
Arupa-kammatthana: exercises dealing with non-physical
phenomena.
"Physical
phenomena" refers primarily to those phenomena that appear
in one's own body and in the bodies of others, i.e., the
four basic properties of earth, water, fire, and wind, which
taken together make up the physical body. Anything, though,
that appears to the eye is made up of these four properties,
and so belongs in this class as well. "Non-physical
phenomena" refers to those things that are sensed via the
heart and do not appear to the eye, i.e., the four types of
mental events (nama-dhamma): vedana the
experiencing of feelings and moods, pleasant, painful or
indifferent; saρρa the act of labeling or
identifying forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile
sensations, good and evil; sankhara mental
fashioning, the forming of thoughts that are good, bad or
indifferent; viρρana consciousness of what appears
to the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and
ideation.
So, simply
speaking, we have (a) the body and (b) the mind, or as
they are called in Pali form and name (rupa-dhamma,
nama-dhamma).
* * *
Use the body as
a theme for attaining tranquillity as follows: Focus on the
properties of earth, water, fire, and wind that appear in
the body. Don't let your thoughts wander outside. Focus
exclusively on your own body and mind, fixing your attention
first on five examples of the earth property: kesa
hair of the head; loma hair of the body; nakha
nails; danta teeth; taco skin, which
wraps up the body and bones. Scrutinize these five parts
until you see that they are unattractive, filthy, and
repulsive, with regard either to where they come from, where
they are, their color, their shape, or their smell.
If after
focusing your thoughts in this way your mind doesn't become
still, go on to scrutinize five examples of the water
property: pittam gall, bitter and green; semham
phlegm, which prevents the smell of digesting food from
rising to the mouth; pubbo pus, decayed and
decomposing, which comes from wounds; lohitam blood
and lymph, which permeate throughout the body; sedo
sweat, which is exuded whenever the body is heated.
Scrutinize these things until you see that with regard to
origin, location, color, smell and the above-mentioned
aspects they are enough to make your skin crawl. Focus on
them until you're convinced that that's how they really are,
and the mind should settle down and be still.
If it doesn't,
go on to examine four aspects of the fire property: the heat
that keeps the body warm; the heat that inflames the body,
making it feverish and restless; the heat that digests food,
distilling the nutritive essence so as to send it throughout
the body (of the food we eat, one part is burned away by the
fires of digestion, one part becomes refuse, one part feeds
our parasites, and the remaining part nourishes the body);
the heat that ages the body and wastes it away. Consider
these four aspects of the fire property until you see their
three inherent characteristics, i.e., that they are
inconstant (aniccam), stressful (dukkham) and
not-self (anatta).
If the mind
doesn't settle down, go on to consider the wind property:
the up-going breath sensations, the down-going breath
sensations, the breath sensations in the stomach, the breath
sensations in the intestines, the breath sensations flowing
throughout the entire body, and the in-and-out breath.
Examine the wind property from the viewpoint of any one of
its three inherent characteristics, as inconstant, stressful
or not-self. If the mind still doesn't develop a sense of
dispassion and detachment, gather all four properties
earth, water, fire, and wind into a single point and make
that the object of your mental exercise.
All of the
physical phenomena mentioned here should be examined in a
way that makes the heart dispassionate and detached. Make
yourself see these phenomena as disgusting and repulsive, or
as inconstant, stressful, and not-self, not "me" or "them".
When you see things in this way to the point where the mind
settles down and becomes firmly concentrated, this is called
the development of tranquillity (samatha bhavana).
All of the
techniques mentioned here are for making the mind firm and
still, and for strengthening your powers of reference. When
you examine the aspects of the body in this way, you should
refrain from repeating your meditation word. Only when the
mind becomes malleable and calm should you focus on the most
important aspect of the body the in-and-out breath
together with the word "buddho," so as to make the mind
concentrated in a single place. Or, if you are more skilled
at another meditation theme, focus on whatever is most
convenient for you but don't focus on any object outside
the body, and keep watch over the mind so that it doesn't
drag any outside matters in. Even if thoughts do arise,
don't go latching onto their contents. If they're thoughts
that won't aid in calming the mind, suppress them and even
once they're suppressed, you have to keep up your guard.
As for the four
physical properties, when you've perceived any one of them
clearly, you've perceived them all, because they all share
the same inherent characteristics.
Once you see
that the mind has firmly settled down, you can stop your
mental repetition and then fix your attention on the real
culprit: The mind itself. When you fix your attention on the
mind, keep everything focused down on your present
awareness. Whatever arises, consider its three inherent
characteristics inconstancy, stress, and "not-selfness"
until the mind becomes detached and reverts to its
conditioning factor (bhavanga), i.e., the underlying
preoccupation with which the mind identifies and that
determines its basic level, which in this case is either the
level of sensuality or the level of form. (See 'On
The Levels of the Mind,' below.)
This is
experienced in a variety of ways, either suddenly or
gradually. The mind may enter this state for only a moment
and then retreat, or else may stay there for a while. It may
or may not be aware of what's happening. If your powers of
reference are weak, your mind will lose its bearings. If a
vision arises, you may latch onto it. You may lose all sense
of where you are and what you're meditating on. If this
happens, your concentration becomes moha samadhi,
miccha samadhi, or miccha vimutti i.e., deluded
concentration, wrong concentration, or wrong release. So
when your tranquillity of mind reaches this level, you
should be especially careful to keep your alertness always
strong. Don't lose track of your body and mind.
By and large,
when the mind reaches this level, it's apt to lose its
bearings and perceive visions. Perhaps we may decide
beforehand that we want to see a vision, and so when the
desired vision arises we feel pleased, latch onto it, and
drift along after it. If this happens, we miss out on the
level of concentration that's truly resolute, strong, and
discerning simply because a vision got in the way,
preventing insight from arising. So for this reason, you
should let go of your visions and make the mind firmly set,
not letting it be swayed by anything at all.
* * *
Anything not
visible to the eye but experienced as a sensation of the
mind is termed non-physical (arupa). To use these
sensations as a basis for tranquillity meditation, we must
first divide them into types, i.e., vedana the
experiencing of feelings or moods, likes and dislikes;
saρρa labels, names, mental allusions;, sankhara
mental fashionings; and viρρana consciousness.
Once you understand what these terms refer to, focus on the
feelings that appear in your own heart and mind. In other
words, observe the mental states that experience moods and
feelings, to see at which moments there are feelings of
pleasure, pain, or indifference. Be aware that, "Right now
I'm experiencing pleasure," "Right now I'm experiencing
pain," "Right now I'm experiencing a feeling that's neither
pleasure nor pain." Be constantly aware of these three
alternatives (the feeling that's neither pleasure nor pain
doesn't last for very long). If you're really composed and
observant, you'll come to see that all three of these
feelings are, without exception, fleeting, stressful, and
not-self; neither long nor lasting, always shifting and
changing out of necessity: sometimes pleasure, sometimes
pain, never satisfying your wants or desires. Once you see
this, let go of them. Don't fasten onto them. Fix your mind
on a single preoccupation.
If your mind
still isn't firm, though, consider mental labels next. What,
at the moment, are your thoughts alluding to: things past,
present, or future? Good or bad? Keep your awareness right
with the body and mind. If you happen to be labeling or
alluding to a feeling of pleasure, be aware of the pleasure.
If pain, be aware of the pain. Focus on whatever you are
labeling in the present, to see which will disappear first:
your awareness or the act of labeling. Before long, you'll
see that the act of labeling is fleeting, stressful, and
not-self. When you see this, let go of labels and concepts.
Don't latch onto them. Fix your mind on a single
preoccupation.
If your mind
still isn't firm, go on to consider mental fashionings: What
issues are your thoughts forming at the moment: past or
future? Are your thoughts running in a good direction or
bad? About issues outside the body and mind, or inside?
Leading to peace of mind or to restlessness? Make yourself
constantly alert, and once you're aware of the act of mental
fashioning, you'll see that all thinking is fleeting,
stressful, and not-self. Focus your thoughts down on the
body and mind, and then let go of all aspects of thinking,
fixing your attention on a single preoccupation.
If the mind
still doesn't settle down, though, consider consciousness
next: What, at the moment, are you cognizant of things
within or without? Past, present, or future? Good or bad?
Worthwhile or worthless? Make yourself constantly alert.
Once your powers of reference and alertness are constant,
you'll see immediately that all acts of consciousness are
fleeting, stressful, and not-self. Fix your attention simply
on awareness itself, without getting involved in any other
preoccupations. Make that awareness firm and unwavering, and
the mind will experience stillness and peace: That's what's
meant by tranquillity. Then focus on examining the absolute
present, being aware of the body and mind. Whatever appears
in the body, focus on it. Whatever appears in the mind,
focus on just what appears. Keep your attention fixed until
the mind becomes firm, steady, and still in a single
preoccupation either as momentary concentration, threshold
concentration, or fixed penetration.
These three
levels of concentration are the results of the exercises you
have done. Sometimes concentration arises from considering
the body, sometimes from considering feelings, mental
labels, mental fashionings, or consciousness. It all depends
on which theme causes you to develop a sense of dispassion
and detachment.
All the
techniques listed here are simply for you to choose from.
Whichever method seems most suited to you is the one you
should take. There's no need to practice them all.
The two basic
themes for tranquillity meditation mentioned above
physical phenomena and mental phenomena are also called
the five aggregates (khandha). Even though the five
aggregates cover a wide variety of phenomena, they all come
down to the body and mind. You have to keep your attention
firmly established on the body so as to know its nature, and
firmly established at the mind until you know your own mind
thoroughly. If you don't bring things together in this way,
you won't know the taste of concentration and discernment.
Just like food: If you don't bring it together to your mouth
and stomach, you won't know its taste or gain any
nourishment from it at all.
Once you've
gained concentration no matter what the level the
important point is to be continually observant of your own
mind. Be constantly mindful and continually alert. When you
can maintain alertness on the level of momentary or
threshold concentration and can keep track of these two
levels so as to keep them going, they will gain strength and
turn into fixed penetration, the level of concentration
that's resolute, strong, and endowed with clear discernment.
When your
discernment is developed, you will see how this one mind can
take on birth in various levels of being, knowing that, 'Now
the mind is on the sensual level now on the level of form
now on the formless level.'
* * *
1. A
mind whose underlying preoccupation is coupled with sadness
or pain is bound for rebirth in the four realms of
deprivation.
2. A
mind whose underlying preoccupation is coupled with a low
level of pleasure and happiness is bound for rebirth on the
human level.
3. A
mind whose underlying preoccupation is coupled with a
stronger level of pleasure and happiness is bound for
rebirth in the heavenly realms.
4. A
mind whose underlying preoccupation is coupled with the
level of pleasure and happiness that arises from
concentration i.e., the strong sense of rapture that
arises from jhana is bound for rebirth in the
Brahma worlds on the level of form.
5. A
mind whose underlying preoccupation is coupled with a subtle
level of equanimity, with no form appearing as the sign or
focal point of concentration, is bound for rebirth in the
Brahma worlds on the formless level.
Thus the
differing levels of tranquillity can lead to different
results.
All of this
refers to the aspects of the mind that arise, decay, and
disappear. These aspects are brought about through the power
of two levels of concentration.
* * *
1.
Momentary concentration: the act of the mind's growing still
for a moment, like a person walking along: One foot takes a
step while the other foot stops still for a moment before
taking the next step.
2.
Threshold concentration: the act of the mind's settling down
deeper than that, like a person who is walking along, meets
with something, and stops to look for a moment with
neither foot taking a step before he resumes walking.
These two types
of concentration are not without their dangers or enemies.
If you're not proficient enough at them, they may
deteriorate or you may get hooked on them. The dangers
that arise in the wake of these types of concentration are
(a) growing attached to the meditation syllable, having no
sense of when to stop repeating it; (b) being taken in by
the five forms of rapture; (c) playing around with visions
and signs that appear, regarding them as especially true or
potent.
All of these
phenomena, if you're wise to them, can help lead to the
paths and fruitions leading to nibbana. If you aren't
wise to them and become attached to them as something
special, the mind is sure to fall for the various forms of
rapture and to start drifting astray. You might start
behaving under the influence of what you see in your
meditation or intimate to others that you have invincible
powers or clairvoyant abilities. All of this can destroy
your concentration. Your mindfulness and self-restraint will
become weak and you'll drift along under the influence of
whatever occurs to the mind self-indulgent, dreaming, and
drifting. These phenomena thus become your enemies, killing
off the level of concentration that's resolute and endowed
with the discernment capable of seeing through all three
levels of being.
This is why the
above phenomena are termed enemies. When we begin
meditating, though, we have to start out by clinging to
these very same enemies. But in clinging to them, don't be
complacent, because they're only a path. Ordinarily, when we
walk along a path, we don't have to pull it up and carry it
along behind us. We just leave it where it is. In the same
way, the meditation syllable, rapture, and visions are
things we have to pass through, but not that we have to
latch onto thinking, for instance, that we've already
reached the goal.
* * *
The meditation
syllable used as a preliminary basis for concentration
buddho, araham or whatever is something that
eventually should be let go of. Once you see that the mind
is firm, mindful and ready to investigate, stop the
repetition and fix your attention solely on the awareness of
the knowing mind.
* * *
1. Minor
rapture (khuddaka piti): Your hair stands on end, and
tears come to your eyes, either with or without your being
aware of the fact. This happens, not through a sense of
sadness, but through a feeling of pleasure, fullness, and
satisfaction in a skillful object.
2.
Momentary rapture (khanika piti): A shiver runs
through the body, and a feeling of satisfaction appears for
a flash in the heart, like a flash of lightning or the
flicker of lightning bugs.
3.
Recurrent rapture (okkantika piti): A stronger sense
of thrill comes over the body, like waves washing over a
shore.
4.
Transporting rapture (ubbega piti): A sense of
transporting joy comes welling up through the body to the
point where you lose control and start acting or speaking in
various ways. For instance, sitting in concentration, you
may suddenly raise your hands in adoration or bow down. If
the feeling grows really strong, you may not be conscious of
what you're doing. You may start speaking, the words coming
out on their own without any forethought on your part.
5.
Pervading rapture (pharana piti): A flush or tingling
sensation spreads through and permeates the body. Sometimes
the body itself appears to grow and swell, or else to become
very small.
When any one of
these forms of rapture arises, you should keep your powers
of reference firm. Don't give in to the feeling and don't
let it take over. Keep your mind unaffected. Don't lose your
sense of your body and mind. Keep your words and actions
firmly under control. Don't act under the influence of the
feeling. If the sense of rapture comes in a gentle form,
well and good; but if it comes in a strong form, and you
give in to its power, you can easily get hooked and start
jumping to false conclusions. Don't go assuming that you've
gained this or reached that, because all of these feelings
are inconstant, stressful, and not-self. If you get fixated
on them, the mind won't be able to attain proper
concentration of any worth or value. If you fall for them,
they'll become enemies of your concentration and
discernment.
* * *
1.
Acquired images (uggaha nimitta): Sometimes when the
mind settles down, a vision of one sort or another may
appear a lump or a cloud of black, red, or white, etc.; a
vision of one's own body or of a person acting in one way or
another; a vision of the Buddha or of one of the Noble
Disciples, or of heaven or hell there's no end to what may
appear. In short, when we sit with our eyes closed
meditating, whatever images arise in the mind are classed as
acquired images. If we see a good one, we tend to assume
that it's a sign that we've attained a good level, and so we
fasten onto it. If we see an unpleasant one, we tend to
become fearful or upset.
So we should
make ourselves wise to the fact that there is no truth to
these visions. They're simply illusions, deceiving the
heart. They come under the laws of all that is inconstant,
stressful, and not-self. Their nature is to arise and then
pass away. To latch onto them and take them seriously is a
form of defilement and attachment, called nimittupadana,
clinging to signs. So if a vision arises, you should leave
it alone. Keep conscious of your own body and mind.
Actually, these
visions don't come from anywhere other than your own heart.
To fall for them is like being duped by your own reflection.
Just as when a bird is eating food and we show it its
reflection in a mirror, it'll open its beak out of greed
or envy and try to steal the food in its reflection's
beak, dropping the food in its own beak, so it is with
acquired images: If we latch onto them and take them
seriously, right concentration and discernment will drop
from our grasp.
This being the
case, we should leave these visions alone. If we start
making assumptions based on them, they will turn into a form
of attachment and so become our enemies. If an ugly or
frightening image arises, we may get unnerved. So no matter
what sort of image arises, don't get involved in it. Remind
yourself that there's nothing constant or dependable about
it, that it's simply a camp-follower of defilement,
attachment, and unawareness. Visions of this sort have also
been termed kilesa-mara, the demons of defilement,
tempting the mind to become fixated on their contents.
The important
point is not to bring them into the mind, because our
purpose in meditating is to train the mind to be pure. We're
not trying to "get" anything at all. Focus on the body and
mind, know your own body and mind, until you know that
you're free from defilement, suffering and stress: Once you
truly know this, you've reached what you're here to know.
Everything else, you should let pass. Don't fasten or dwell
on it.
2.
Divided images (patibhaga nimitta): This means that
you separate the image from the mind and the mind from the
image so as to see the true nature of the image as
inconstant, stressful, and not-self. If you can't separate
things in this way and instead get caught up in playing
along with the vision, your mind will go astray from right
concentration.
If you really
want to know the mind, you have to get the mind out of the
vision and the vision out of the mind. And before you can do
this, you have to consider the vision from the standpoint of
its three inherent characteristics, as inconstant,
stressful, and not-self. For instance, the various visions
that appear can be small, large, broad, narrow, bright,
murky, near or far. This shows that they're inconstant. So
separate the mind from them. The mind will then be freed
from them, and you should then return your attention
exclusively to the body and mind as before. As your powers
of mindfulness become firmer and stronger, mindfulness will
turn into fixed penetration. And when fixed penetration
acquires enough power, you will be ready for the exercises
of insight meditation.
Not everyone
experiences visions of this sort. Some people have a lot of
them; others never have any at all, or at most only rarely,
because they're things that are inconstant and undependable.
If the power of your tranquillity is strong, there tend to
be a lot of them. If the power of your insight is strong,
they most likely won't appear. At any rate, the important
point is that if you're constantly aware of your body and
mind, you're on the right track. If you can be aware to the
point where you know that your mind is released from its
mass of defilements, so much the better.
Even if you
don't experience visions, concentration still has its
rewards. Even the lower levels of concentration momentary
concentration and threshold concentration are enough to
provide a basis for the arising insight.
The highest
level of concentration fixed penetration follows on
threshold concentration. If mindfulness and alertness arise
while you are in threshold concentration, they turn it into
jhana.
Jhana
means focusing the mind, making it absorbed in a single
object, such as the internal sense of the form of the body.
If you want jhana to arise and not deteriorate, you
have to practice until you are skilled. Here's how it's
done: Think of a single object, such as the breath. Don't
think of anything else. Practice focusing on your single
object. Now add the other factors: Vitakka think
about the object; and vicara evaluate it until you
arrive at an understanding of it, e.g., seeing the body as
unclean or as composed of impersonal properties. The mind
then becomes light; the body becomes light; both body and
mind feel satisfied and refreshed: This is piti,
rapture. The body has no feelings of pain, and the mind
experiences no pain: This is sukha, pleasure and
ease. This is the first level of rupa jhana, which
has five factors appearing in this order; singleness of
object (ekaggata), thought, evaluation, rapture, and
pleasure.
When you
practice, start out by focusing on a single object, such as
the breath. Then think about it, adjusting and expanding it
until it becomes dominant and clear. As for rapture and
pleasure, you don't have to fashion them. They arise on
their own. Singleness of object, thought, and evaluation are
the causes; rapture and pleasure, the results. Together they
form the first level of jhana.
As you become
more skilled, your powers of focusing become stronger. The
activities of thought and evaluation fade away, because
you've already gained a certain level of understanding. As
you focus in on the object, there appears only rapture
refreshment of body and mind; and pleasure ease of body
and mind. Continue focusing in on the object so that you're
skilled at it. Don't withdraw. Keep focusing until the mind
is firm and well-established. Once the mind is firm, this is
the second level of rupa jhana, in which only
rapture, pleasure, and singleness of object remain.
Now focus on
the sense of rapture associated with the grosser physical
body. As the mind becomes more and more firm, it will gain
release from the symptoms of rapture, leaving just pleasure
and singleness of object. This is the third level of rupa
jhana.
Then continue
focusing in on your original object. Don't retreat from it.
Keep focused on it until the mind attains appana jhana,
absolutely fixed absorption, resolute and unwavering. At
this point, your sense of awareness becomes brighter and
clearer, causing you to disregard the grosser sense of the
form of the body and to focus instead on the subtler sense
of the body that remains. This leaves only singleness of
object, the mind being unconcerned and unaffected by any
external objects or preoccupations. This is the fourth level
of rupa jhana, composed of singleness of object and
equanimity.
When you become
skilled and resolute at this stage, your concentration gains
the strength that can give rise to the skill of liberating
insight, which in turn is capable of attaining the noble
paths and fruitions. So keep your mind in this stage as long
as possible. Otherwise it will go on into the levels of
arupa jhana, absorption in formless objects.
If you want to
enter arupa jhana, though, here is how it's done:
Disregard the sense of the form of the body, paying no more
attention to it, so that you are left with just a
comfortable sense of space or emptiness, free from any
sensation of constriction or interference. Focus on that
sense of space. To be focused in this way is the first level
of arupa jhana, called akasanaρcayatana jhana,
absorption in the sense of unbounded space. Your senses
sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation feel
spacious and clear, with no physical image acting as the
focal point of your concentration. If your powers of
discernment are weak, you may mistake this for nibbana,
but actually it's only a level of arupa jhana.
Once you know
and see this, go on to the next level. Let go of the sense
of space and emptiness, and pay attention to whatever
preoccupation is left but attention on this level is
neither good and discerning, nor bad and unwise. It's simply
focused on awareness free from activities. This level is
called viρρanaρcayatana jhana, absorption in the
sense of unbounded consciousness. If you aren't discerning,
you may mistake this for nibbana, but it's actually
only a level of arupa jhana.
Once you know
this, make your focus more refined until you come to the
sense that there is nothing at all to the mind: It's simply
empty and blank, with nothing occurring in it at all. Fix
your attention on this preoccupation with "Nothing is
happening," until you are skilled at it. This is the third
level of arupa jhana, which has a very subtle sense
of pleasure. Still, it's not yet nibbana. Instead,
it's called akiρcaρρayatana jhana, absorption in the
sense of nothingness.
Now focus on
the subtle notion that says that there's nothing at all,
until it changes. If you don't withdraw, but keep focused
right there, only awareness will be left but as for
awareness on this level, you can't really say that it's
awareness and you can't say that it isn't. You can't say
that it's labeling anything and you can't say that it's not.
You can't yet decide one way or another about your
preoccupation. The mind's powers of focused investigation at
this point are weakened, because an extremely refined sense
of pleasure has arisen. You haven't searched for its causes
and, when you're in this state, you can't. So you fall into
the fourth level of arupa jhana:
neva-saρρa-nasaρρayatana jhana, absorption in the sense
of neither perception nor non-perception, a state in which
you can't say that there's any act of labeling left, and you
can't say that there's not.
So when the
mind changes from one of these stages of awareness or points
of view to another, keep close track of it. Be fully aware
of what it's doing and where it's focused, without letting
yourself get caught up with the refined sense of pleasure
that appears. If you can do this, you'll be able to let go
of all sankhara dhamma: all things fashioned and
conditioned.
The four levels of
arupa jhana are nothing other than the mind dwelling on
the four types of mental phenomena (nama). In other
words, the mind starts out by getting caught up with a sense
of pleasure and well-being that isn't focused on any object
or image, but is simply an empty, spacious feeling
(vedana). This is the first level of arupa jhana.
On the second level, the mind is caught up with the act of
consciousness (viρρana). It's focused on an empty
sense of awareness as its object simply the act of
consciousness happening over and over continuously, without
end. This is called absorption in the sense of unbounded
consciousness, i.e., being stuck on the act of
consciousness. On the third level of arupa jhana, the
mind is caught up with the act of mental fashioning (sankhara),
which merely arises and passes away. Nothing, nothing at all
appears as an image, and the mind simply thinks about this
over and over again. This is called absorption in the sense
of nothingness, i.e., being stuck on mental fashioning. On
the fourth level of arupa jhana, the mind is caught
up with the act of labeling (saρρa), seeing that it
can't say that there is a label for what it has just
experienced or is now experiencing, and it can't say that
there isn't. Thus it falls into absorption in the sense of
neither perception nor non-perception.
All four levels
of arupa jhana have a sense of pleasure and
well-being as their common basis. Beginning with the first
level, there is an extremely fine and subtle sense of
pleasure, but your understanding of it isn't true. What this
means is that you can't yet let go of your understanding of
it. You simply remain focused and absorbed in it, without
trying to find out its causes. The mind at this point
doesn't feel inclined to reason or investigate, because the
sense of pleasure is relaxed and exquisite beyond measure.
So if you want
to escape beyond all suffering and stress, you should
practice focusing from one level of arupa jhana to
another, in and out, back and forth, over and over, until
you are skilled at it. Then investigate, searching for the
causes and underlying factors until you can know that, "Here
the mind is stuck on the act of labeling here it is stuck
on the act of mental fashioning here it is stuck on the
act of consciousness."
Consciousness
is the underlying factor for name and form, or physical and
mental phenomena. Physical and mental phenomena, by their
nature, contain each other within themselves. Once you
understand this, focus on the internal sense of the form of
the body. Consider it through and through so that it becomes
more and more refined until the mind is absolutely firm,
absorbed in a single preoccupation, either on the sensual
level (a sensory image of the body) or on the formless
level. Keep the mind fixed, and then examine that particular
preoccupation until you see how it arises and passes away
but don't go assuming yourself to be what arises and passes
away. Keep the mind neutral and unaffected, and in this way
you will be able to know the truth.
The way in
which the four levels of rupa jhana and the four
levels of arupa jhana are fashioned can be put
briefly as follows: Focus on any one of the four properties
making up the sense of the form of the body (earth, water,
fire, and wind). This is rupa jhana. The one object
you focus on can take you all the way to the fourth level,
with the various levels differing only in the nature of the
act of focusing. As for arupa jhana, it comes from
rupa jhana. In other words, you take the sense of
physical pleasure coming from rupa jhana as your
starting point and then focus exclusively on that pleasure
as your object. This can also take you all the way to the
fourth level absorption in the sense of neither perception
nor non-perception with the various levels differing only
in their point of view. Or, to put it in plain English, you
focus (1) on the body and (2) on the mind.
Rupa jhana
is like a mango; arupa jhana, like the mango's taste.
A mango has a shape, but no one can see the shape of its
taste, because it's something subtle and refined. This is
why people who don't practice in line with the levels of
concentration go astray in the way they understand things.
Some people even believe that death is annihilation. This
sort of view comes from the fact that they are so blind that
they can't find themselves. And since they can't find
themselves, they decide that death is annihilation. This is
like the fool who believes that when a fire goes out, fire
has been annihilated. Those who have looked into the matter,
though, say that fire hasn't been annihilated, and they can
even start it up again without having to use glowing embers
the way ordinary people do.
In the same
way, a person's mind and body are not annihilated at death.
Take a blatant example: When a man dies and is cremated,
people say that his body no longer exists. But actually its
elements are still there. The earth is still earth just as
it always was; the water is still water; the fire is still
fire; and the wind, still wind. Only their particular
manifestations hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, etc.
have disappeared. What we supposed them to be has vanished,
but the nature of the primal elements hasn't. It's there as
it always was. People who have fallen for their supposings
are sure to be shocked at death; those who have seen the
truth, see death as nothing strange. It's simply a change in
the manifestations of the elements.
Our fear of
death is based on our assumption that the body is ours. When
it dies, and we feel that it's been annihilated, this only
increases our fears, all because we don't know the truth of
the body. And if we don't know the truth even of this crude
body, we're ripe for all sorts of wrong views, such as the
view that death is annihilation. If death is annihilation,
then there are no heavens, no hells, no Brahma worlds and no
nibbana. And if this true, then the Buddha was even
stupider than we are, because pleasure in the present life
is something everyone knows enough to search for even
common animals know enough to look for food. So why would
the Buddha have to exert himself to the point of sacrificing
his life and mind for the sake of teaching other people?
People who
believe that death is annihilation, who from birth have been
led by necessity to search for a living from their
environment, are like a person blind from birth who when
he gets older and his parents or friends take him by the
hand and lead him into a cave won't know whether he's in
the cave or outside of the cave, because he can't see. And
since he can't see, he'll think that everywhere is probably
dark without exception. Even if they tell him that
in-the-cave is dark and outside-of-the-cave is bright, he
won't believe them, all because of his own darkness. In the
same way, people believe that the body and mind are
annihilated at death and that there are no heavens, hells,
Brahma worlds, or nibbana, all because of their own
darkness. Their knowledge hasn't penetrated into the real
nature of birth and death. They see others speaking of the
practice of virtue, concentration, jhana, and
discernment for the sake of ending death and rebirth, and
they smile to themselves. "What a bunch of fools." they say.
But actually they're the fools.
Those who have
seen that death has to be followed by rebirth have seen that
if defilement, craving, and unawareness still entwine the
heart, rebirth will be endless. People who can't see this
are bound to believe that everything is annihilated at
death.
Our Lord Buddha
was a sage, a man of wisdom endowed with virtue,
concentration, and discernment. He was able to see that
there is no annihilation just like the expert surveyor who
can look at a mountain spring and know that there's gold in
the mountain.
"Look," he
tells some farmers. "There's gold in the spring."
They go and
look, but they don't see any signs of gold. All they see is
water gushing out of the mountain. "That guy is lying," they
think. "He must be out of his mind. He looks at spring water
and sees gold."
But what's
really wrong is that they don't know his craft. Those who
see that death has to be followed by rebirth as long as
there is unawareness (avijja) in the heart are like
the expert surveyor. Those who believe that death is
annihilation are like the farmers who know nothing of the
craft of searching for gold.
Those who want
to see clearly into the nature of birth and death will first
have to learn the craft of the heart. Thought, evaluation,
rapture, pleasure, and singleness of object: These form the
first skill in the Buddha's craft. To focus in until only
rapture, pleasure, and singleness of object are left is the
second skill. To focus in until only pleasure and singleness
of object are left is the third skill. To focus in until
only equanimity and singleness of object are left is the
fourth. When you've reached this point, you've mastered all
the skills offered in that particular school, i.e., you've
mastered the body; you've seen that it's just a matter of
physical properties, unclean and repulsive, inconstant,
stressful, and not-self. Some people, on reaching this
point, don't continue their studies, but set themselves up
in dubious professions, claiming to have special powers, to
be fortune tellers or to know magical incantations, using
their skills to make a living under the sway of delusion.
Those, however,
who have the necessary funds namely, conviction in the
paths and fruitions leading to nibbana will go on
to study in another school, arupa jhana, focusing
directly in on the mind. For example: Right now, what are
you thinking? Good thoughts or bad? When you have the
alertness to know that a thought is bad, stare it down until
it disappears, leaving only good thoughts. When a good
thought arises, there's a sense of ease and well-being.
Focus in on that sense of well-being. Don't withdraw. If
you're going to think, think only of that sense of
well-being. Keep focusing until you are skilled at staying
with that sense of well-being, to the point where, when you
withdraw, you can focus right back in on it. This very sense
of well-being is the basis for all four levels of arupa
jhana. They differ only in their viewpoints on it. Once
you've focused on this same sense of well-being firmly
enough and long enough to go through the first, second,
third, and fourth levels of arupa jhana, you should
then go back and review all the skills you've mastered from
the very beginning, back and forth, until they become
appana jhana, fixed absorption, firm and fully mastered.
Rupa jhana,
once mastered is like being a government official who works
and earns a salary. Arupa jhana, once mastered, is
like being a retired official receiving a pension from the
government. Some people, when they've finished government
service, simply curl up and live off their pensions without
using their skills to provide themselves with any further
benefits. This is like people who master rupa jhana
and arupa jhana and then don't use their skills to
gain the further benefits of the transcendent.
If you do want
to gain those benefits, though, here's how it's done: Focus
your powers of investigation back on your primal sense of
the body and mind until liberating insight arises. The
insight that acts as a stairway to the transcendent level is
based on jhana at the level of fixed penetration,
focusing the mind resolutely to reach the first level of
rupa jhana. Those people who have a good deal of
discernment will once the mind has attained concentration
for only a short while focus directly in on mental
phenomena. I.e., they'll focus on the mind and investigate
its preoccupation until they clearly see the true nature of
physical and mental phenomena. The state of mind that clings
to physical and mental phenomena will vanish, and while it
is vanishing the "state of mind changing lineage (gotarabhu
citta)" is said to arise. When the mind can know what
mundane mental states are like and what transcendent mental
states are like, that's called gotarabhu ρana,
change-of-lineage knowledge, i.e., comprehension of
nibbana.
Here we're
talking about people who are inclined to focus primarily on
the mind, who tend to develop insight meditation more than
tranquillity meditation. Their Awakening is termed release
through discernment (paρρa-vimutti). Although they
don't develop all of the mundane skills that come along with
concentration i.e., they don't master all of the three
skills, the eight skills, or the four forms of acumen they
still master the one crucial skill, the knowledge that does
away with the effluents of defilement (asavakkhaya-ρana).
Those who tend
more toward tranquillity meditation, though, are in no great
hurry. They develop all the levels of jhana, going
back and forth, again and again, until they're expert in
both rupa jhana and arupa jhana. Then they
return to the fourth level of rupa jhana and focus
strongly on it, taking the inner sense of the form of the
body as their object their uggaha nimitta and
then manipulating it back and forth (patibhaga nimitta)
to the point where their powers of mindfulness and alertness
are firm. They focus until their minds are neutral and
still, steady with a single object, uninvolved with any
outside preoccupations. They then will be able to identify
exactly how rupa jhana and arupa jhana differ
and will realize that the fourth level of rupa jhana
is the crucial one, giving the mind strength in a variety of
ways.
When you reach
this point, focus on the fourth level of rupa jhana.
Keep the mind neutral and still, constantly focused on a
single object. Focus on one spot as your frame of reference
(satipatthana), i.e., on the subtle sense of the body
at this level, in and of itself. When you are strongly
focused, a sense of brightness will develop, and a variety
of amazing skills either mundane or transcendent,
depending in part on the power of your jhana will
arise in the mind.
The knowledge
and skills arising from jhana can free you from all
suffering and stress. But most of us, by and large, don't
think of looking for these skills. We're interested only in
those skills and forms of knowledge that will keep us bound
to suffering and stress on and on through time. So those who
aim for well-being that is clear and clean should train
their minds to give rise to jhana, which is one of
the treasures of the Noble Ones.
The four levels
of rupa jhana and the four levels of arupa jhana,
taken together, are called the eight attainments (samapatti),
all of which come down to two sorts: mundane and
transcendent. In mundane jhana, the person who has
attained jhana assumes that, 'This is my self,' or 'I
am that,' and holds fast to these assumptions, not giving
rise to the knowledge that can let go of those things in
line with their true nature. This is classed as
sakkaya-ditthi, the viewpoint that leads us to
self-identification, the feeling that, 'This is me,' or
'This is mine.' This in turn leads to silabbata-paramasa,
attachment to our accustomed practices, i.e., seeing
jhana as something of magical potency, that whatever we
set our minds on attaining will have to come true. As for
our doubts (vicikiccha) about the Buddha, Dhamma and
Sangha, these haven't been cleared up, because we've been
deflected at this level and haven't gotten any further.
Thus whoever
attains jhana without abandoning the three fetters
(sanyojana) is practicing mundane jhana. Mundane
jhana, unless you're really expert at it, is the
easiest thing in the world to lose. It's always ready to
deteriorate at the slightest disturbance from sights,
sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas.
Sometimes you may be sitting in jhana and then, when
you get up and walk away, it's gone.
As for
transcendent jhana: When you've attained rupa
jhana, you go back to examine the various levels until
you are expert at them and then develop insight meditation
so as to see mundane jhana for what it really is. In
other words, you see that the preoccupations of both rupa
jhana and arupa jhana are inconstant, stressful,
and not-self. Once this knowledge arises, you are able to
let go of the various preoccupations of jhana; and
once the mind is set loose from rupa jhana and
arupa jhana, it enters the transcendent level; the
stream to nibbana. It cuts the three fetters
self-identification, grasping at practices and habits, and
uncertainty and is headed straight for nibbana.
When you have cut the three fetters, your jhana is
transcendent jhana; your virtue, concentration, and
discernment are all transcendent.
Once you have
mastered these two modes of jhana, they will give
rise to the various abilities, mundane or transcendent,
taught by Buddhism that differ from worldly skills in that
they can arise only after the attainment of jhana.
Among these skills are the three skills (vijja), the
eight skills, and the four forms of acumen (patisambhida-ρana).
* * *
1.
Pubbenivasanussati-ρana: the ability to remember past
lives.
2.
Cutupapata-ρana: the ability to know where living
beings are reborn after death.
3.
Asavakkhaya-ρana: the ability to do away entirely with
the effluents of defilement.
1. The
ability to remember past lives: First you have to be
proficient in all four frames of reference (satipatthana).
Once your powers of reference are strong, you will know the
truth of the body in the present. That is, you keep focusing
on the body as it appears in the present until there appears
the subtle image of the body that is constantly arising and
falling away. You will then be able to know not only the
present, but also the past and future of the body. With
regard to the past, you will know back to the day it was
conceived in your mother's womb. What it was like after the
first day, the seventh day, one month, three months, seven
months, nine... what it looked like, how it lived, what sort
of food it consumed; and then as it grew one year, two,
three, four, five all the way to the present: You'll be able
to know the truth of the body. As for the future, you'll
know how the body will change if you live to the age of
thirty, forty, eighty, all the way to the day you die. If
your knowledge on this level and your powers of reference
are truly strong, you will be able to remember back one
lifetime, ten lifetimes, one hundred, one thousand...
depending on the power of your mind. As for the mental
phenomena you experienced in past lives, you will be able to
know them as well, just as you can know the body.
2. The
ability to know where living beings are reborn after death:
First you have to be proficient in knowing the movements of
your own mind in the present. Sometimes it takes on the
characteristics of a mind in the realms of deprivation,
sometimes the characteristics of a human mind, a heavenly
mind or a Brahma mind. Once you know your own crude and
subtle mental states in the present and if your knowledge
is truly strong you will be able to know, via the inner
eye, exactly how well or badly different living beings fare
when they die.
3. The
knowledge that does away with the effluents of defilement:
This means clear knowledge of the four Noble Truths the
ability to diagnose stress (dukkha) as arising from
craving (tanha); the ability to pinpoint what will
put an end to craving, i.e., identifying the path (magga),
and then following the path until the disbanding of stress
(nirodha) occurs. You will have clear vision of all
four truths, doing away with defilement, craving, views, and
conceits through the power of your discernment. The
knowledge that does away with mental effluents forms the
essence of liberating insight (vipassana-ρana).
* * *
1.
Vipassana-ρana: clear insight into the elements
(dhatu), the aggregates (khandha), and the
sense media (ayatana).
2.
Manomayiddhi: the ability to project mind-made images.
3.
Iddhividhi: supernormal powers.
4.
Dibba-sota: clairaudience.
5.
Cetopariya-ρana: knowledge of the thoughts and minds
of others.
6.
Dibba-cakkhu: clairvoyance.
7.
Pubbenivasanussati-ρana: knowledge of past lives.
8.
Asavakkhaya-ρana: knowledge which does away with
mental effluents.
1.
Vipassana-ρana: This refers to clear insight into the
six elements the properties of earth, water, fire, wind,
space, and consciousness perceiving their true nature,
e.g., seeing them as equal in terms of their three inherent
characteristics inconstancy, stress and lack of self;
seeing them merely as conditioned formations; knowing them
with regard to all three time periods past, present and
future: what they have been, what they will be, and what
they are at the moment. Only when your insight into these
matters is absolutely clear does it qualify as
vipassana-ρana.
The aggregates
refer to the same range of phenomena as the elements, but
simply classify them in a different way: body, feelings,
mental labels, mental fashionings, and consciousness. These
aggregates can be reduced to two physical and mental
phenomena and these in turn can be redivided into six: the
senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, ideation) and
their corresponding objects. These are termed sense media
(ayatana).
2.
Manomayiddhi: This refers to the ability to make images
of yourself or of others appear to other people. These
images can appear in whatever manner you want them to,
without your having to make a move. This skill depends on
being able to manipulate the four physical properties,
focusing on them with the power of jhana to create
whatever image you have in mind.
3.
Iddhividhi: Examples of supernormal powers are the
ability to make a crowd of people to be only a few people,
or a few people to be a crowd; the ability to walk through
fire, on water, or through the dark if walking in bright
light; the ability to make the body appear small, tall,
short, dark, fair, old, young, etc.; the ability to affect
the weather, causing rain, wind, fire, earthquakes, etc. All
of this can be accomplished through the power of jhana.
4.
Dibba-sota: the ability to hear sounds no matter how
near or far the voices of human beings, the voices of
heavenly beings, or whatever other sound you may focus on
hearing.
5.
Cetopariya-ρana: the ability to know the thoughts of
others good or bad, crude or refined, hateful or
well-meaning. Whatever another person may be thinking will
appear clearly to you.
6.
Dibba-cakkhu: the ability to see anything, no matter
what, near or far, without having to open your eyes.
7.
Pubbenivasanussati-ρana: the ability to remember
previous lives.
8.
Asavakkhaya-ρana: the knowledge that drives such
defilements as passion, aversion, and delusion out of the
heart. (These last two skills are explained under the three
skills above.)
* * *
1.
Attha-patisambhida: acumen with regard to meaning.
2.
Dhamma-patisambhida: acumen with regard to mental
qualities.
3.
Nirutti-patisambhida: acumen with regard to linguistic
conventions.
4.
Patibhana-patisambhida: acumen with regard to
expression.
1.
Acumen with regard to meaning means knowing how to explain
the Buddha's shorter teachings in detail and how to draw out
the gist of a detailed teaching so that listeners will have
a correct understanding in line with the Buddha's aims. Even
if you have a lot to say, you get to the point; even if you
have only a little to say, you don't leave out anything
important. Wrong words you can turn into right ones, and
explanations that are correct but crude you can make more
subtle without leaving anything out.
2.
Acumen with regard to mental qualities means knowing how to
distinguish the wise qualities from unwise ones,
establishing the first as good, which ought to be followed,
and the second as evil, which ought to be avoided. You know
how to explain their various levels, classifying the unwise
as common, intermediate, and subtle, and then know which
wise qualities are suitable for countering each sort: Virtue
does away with common defilements; concentration does away
with intermediate defilements; and discernment, subtle
defilements. This is knowledge about mental
qualities. The next step is to develop virtue to do away
with the more common forms of greed, hatred, and delusion;
to develop concentration to do away with the hindrances; and
discernment to do away with the fetters (sanyojana).
Acumen with
regard to mental qualities thus means to distinguish the
various types of qualities and then to put the wise
qualities into practice until the supreme quality
nibbana is realized. Simply knowing about the wise
qualities, but not developing them, runs counter to the
Buddha's reasons for teaching about them in the first place.
3.
Acumen with regard to linguistic conventions refers to the
ability to know the individual with whom you are speaking
(puggalaρρuta), and how to speak with different types of
people so as to be in keeping with their knowledge and
background (parisaρρuta). You know that you have to
speak this way with that lay person, and that way with this;
that this group of monks and novices has to be addressed in
such and such a way, in line with their various backgrounds.
You know how to make people understand in their own language
how to speak with farmers, merchants, and kings, varying
your language so as to fit the person you are speaking to.
This form of acumen, contrary to what people normally
believe, doesn't refer to the ability to speak the external
language of birds or mice or what-have-you. Even if we could
speak their language, what good would it do? If anyone can
actually speak these languages, good for them. The Buddha's
main interest, though, was probably in having us know how to
speak with people in such a way that our words will meet
their needs. Only those who have this ability qualify as
having acquired this form of acumen.
4.
Acumen with regard to expression refers to being
quick-witted in discussing the Dhamma and its meaning,
knowing how to put things in apt way so as to keep ahead of
your listeners. This doesn't mean being devious, though. It
simply means using strategy so as to be of benefit: putting
common matters in subtle terms, and subtle matters in common
terms; speaking of matters close at hand as if they were far
away, of far away matters as if they were close at hand,
explaining a base statement in high terms or a high
statement in base terms, making difficult matters easy, and
obscure matters plain. You know the right word to cut off a
long winded opponent, and how to put things without saying
anything false or dubious so that no one can catch you. To
be gifted in expression in this way means not to be
talkative, but to be expert at talking. Talkative people
soon run themselves out: people expert at talking never run
out no matter how much they have to say. They can clear up
any doubts in the minds of their listeners, and can find the
one well-chosen word that is worth more than a hundred
words.
The skills
classed as the four forms of acumen refer only to the skills
of this sort that come from the practice of tranquillity and
insight meditation.
The three
skills, the eight skills, and the four forms of acumen arise
only in the wake of jhana. When classed according to
level, they are two: sekha-bhumi, i.e., any of these
skills as mastered by a stream-winner, a once-returner, a
nonreturner, or by a person who has yet to attain any of the
transcendent levels; and asekha-bhumi, any of these
skills as mastered by an arahant.
The only one of
these skills that's really important is asavakkhaya-ρana,
the knowledge that does away with the mental effluents. As
for the others, whether or not they are attained isn't
really important. And it's not the case that all Noble Ones
will attain all of these skills. Not to mention ordinary
people, even some arahants don't attain any of them with the
single exception of the knowledge that does away with mental
effluents.
To master these
skills, you have to have studied meditation under a Buddha
in a previous lifetime.
This ends the
discussion of jhana.
* * *
At this point I
would like to return to the themes of insight meditation,
because some people are bound not to be expert in the
practice of jhana. Even though they may attain
jhana to some extent, it's only for short periods of
time. Some people, for example, tend to be more at home
investigating and figuring out the workings the logic of
cause and effect of physical and mental phenomena,
developing insight into the three inherent characteristics
of inconstancy, stress, and "not-selfness," practicing only
a moderate amount of jhana before heading on to the
development of liberating insight.
Liberating
insight can be developed in either of two ways: For those
experts in jhana, insight will arise dependent on the
fourth level of rupa jhana; for those not expert in
jhana, insight will arise dependent on the first
level of jhana, following the practice of threshold
concentration. Some people, when they reach this point,
start immediately investigating it as a theme of insight
meditation, leading to complete and clear understanding of
physical and mental phenomena or, in terms of the
aggregates, seeing clearly that the body, feelings, mental
labels, mental fashionings, and consciousness are inherently
inconstant, stressful, and not-self, and then making this
insight strong.
If this sort of
discernment becomes powerful at the same time that your
powers of mindfulness and alertness are weak and
slow-acting, though, any one of ten kinds of misapprehension
can occur. These are called vipassanupak-kilesa, the
corruptions of insight. Actually, they are nothing more than
by-products of the practice of insight, but if you fall for
them and latch onto them, they become defilements. They can
make you assume wrongly that you have reached the paths,
fruitions, and nibbana, because they are defilements
of a very subtle sort. They are also termed the enemies of
insight. If your powers of reference aren't equal to your
powers of discernment, you can get attached and be led
astray without your realizing it, believing that you have no
more defilements, that there is nothing more for you to do.
These ten defilements are extremely subtle and fine. If you
fall for them, you're not likely to believe anyone who tells
you that you've gone wrong. Thus you should know about them
beforehand so that you can keep yourself detached when they
arise. But before discussing them, we should first discuss
the exercises for insight meditation, because the
corruptions of insight appear following on the practice of
the exercises.
* * *
These are
techniques for giving rise to knowledge and insight, via the
mind, into the natural workings of physical and mental
phenomena, as expressed in terms of the five aggregates,
seeing them as naturally occurring conditions inherently
inconstant, stressful, and not-self these three
characteristics being the focal point of insight meditation.
If we've come
to the topic of insight, why are we referring again to the
five aggregates, inconstancy, stress, not-selfness, etc.?
Weren't these already covered under tranquillity meditation?
The answer is
that although insight meditation deals with the same raw
material as tranquillity meditation i.e., form and
formless objects, or in other words, physical and mental
phenomena it gives rise to a more refined level of
knowledge and understanding. The treatment of the five
aggregates and the three characteristics on the level of
tranquillity meditation is very crude, simply enough to make
the mind settle down to the point where it is ready for the
practice of insight meditation. Once we reach the level of
insight, though, our understanding and perception into the
five aggregates and the characteristics of inconstancy,
stress, and not-selfness become clearer and more distinct.
We can make the following comparison: The understanding
gained on the level of tranquillity meditation is like
cutting down the trees in a forest but not yet setting them
on fire. The understanding gained on the level of insight
meditation is like taking the trees and burning them up. The
forest in the second case is much more open and clear even
though it's the same forest. This is how the levels of
knowledge gained in tranquillity and insight meditation
differ.
To develop
insight, you first have to distinguish the five aggregates:
physical phenomena, feelings, mental labels, mental
fashionings, and consciousness. Once you have them
distinguished, start out by focusing on and considering all
physical phenomena, whether past those that have occurred
beginning with your conception as an embryo in your mother's
womb; present; or future those that will continue to occur
until the day you die; internal the phenomena of the eye,
ear, nose, tongue, and body, together with the visions that
appear through the power of the mind; or external sights,
sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations: All
of these are inherently inconstant, stressful and not-self.
They arise momentarily and then pass away, never satisfying
the desires of those who want them, never offering anything
of any substance or worth. This holds true equally for any
and all things composed of the physical properties.
This is the
exercise dealing with physical phenomena.
As for
feelings, start out by distinguishing two sorts: external
and internal. External feelings arise when the eye comes
into contact with a visible object, the ear comes into
contact with a sound, the nose comes into contact with an
aroma, the tongue comes into contact with a flavor, or when
tactile sensations heat, cold, etc. come into contact
with the body. All five of these categories are classed as
external feelings. If the mind is displeased, a bad mood is
experienced; if the mind is neither pleased nor displeased,
a mood of indifference is experienced: For the mind to
experience any of these moods is classed as internal
feeling. Both internal and external feelings past,
present, or future should be focused on at a single point:
the fact that they are all inconstant, stressful, and
not-self. By nature they arise only to pass away.
This is the
second exercise.
As for mental
labels, there are two sorts, external and internal. External
labeling refers to the act of identifying visual objects,
sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas when
they come into the range of the senses. Internal labeling
refers to the act of identifying moods of pleasure, pain,
and indifference as they are felt by the heart. Once you can
make this distinction, focus on all acts of labeling past,
present, or future, internal or external at a single
point: the fact that they are all inconstant, stressful and
not-self. By nature they arise only to pass away.
This is the
third exercise.
As for
fashionings, these should first be divided into two sorts:
upadinnaka-sankhara, those that are dependent on the
power of the mind for their sustenance; and
anupadinnaka-sankhara, those that are not. Mountains,
trees, and other inanimate objects fashioned by nature are
examples of the second category; people and common animals
are examples of the first.
Fashionings
dependent on the power of the mind for their sustenance are
two sorts: external and internal. 'External' refers to the
compound of the four physical properties fashioned into a
body through the power of kamma. 'Internal' refers to
the fashioning of thoughts -either good (puρρabhisankhara),
bad (apuρρabhisankhara), or neither good nor bad (aneρjabhisankhara)
in the mind.
All fashionings
past, present, or future, internal or external should be
focused on and considered at a single point, the fact of
their three inherent characteristics, as follows:
anicca vata
sankhara uppada-vaya-dhammino uppajjitva nirujjhanti...
'How inconstant
(and stressful) are fashioned things. Their nature is to
arise and decay. Arising, they disband...' They are all
bound to be inconstant, stressful, and not-self.
This is the
fourth exercise.
As for
consciousness, this should first be divided into two sorts:
internal and external. Internal consciousness refers to the
act of being clearly aware that, 'This is a feeling of
pleasure this is a feeling of pain this is a feeling of
indifference,' as such feelings are experienced in the
heart. External consciousness refers to being clearly aware
by means of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body whenever
visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile
sensations come into range and the mind reacts with notions
of liking, disliking, or being indifferent. All acts of
consciousness should be focused on and considered in terms
of their three inherent characteristics: Whether past
(beginning with the 'connecting consciousness (patisandhi
viρρana)' that gives rise to birth), present, or future,
internal or external, all are inconstant, stressful, and
not-self. There is nothing permanent or lasting to them at
all.
When you
consider these themes until you see them clearly in any of
these ways, you are developing the insight that forms the
way to the paths and fruitions leading to nibbana.
Thus the
exercises of tranquillity and insight meditation give rise
to different levels of knowledge and understanding, even
though they deal with the very same raw material. If you
truly desire to gain release from suffering and stress, you
should begin studying you own aggregates so as to give rise
to tranquillity and insight. You may assume that you already
know them, yet if you can't let them go, then you don't
really know them at all. What you know, you say you don't
know; what you don't know, you say you do. The mind switches
back and forth on itself, and so always has itself deceived.
Knowledge on
the level of information labels and concepts is
inconstant. It can always change into something else. Even
people outside of the religion can know the aggregates on
that level all they have to do is read a few books and
they'll know. So those who really want to know should start
right in, probing down into the aggregates until they
perceive clearly and truly enough to let go. Only then will
they be genuine experts in the religion.
* * *
Now we will
discuss the stages of liberating insight, dealing first with
the seven stages of purification, since these form their
basis.
* * *
1.
Purification of virtue (sila-visuddhi): Cleanse your
virtues in thought, word, and deed in line with your
station in life, so that they are pure and spotless, free
from all five ways of creating enmity, such as taking life,
stealing, etc.
2.
Purification of consciousness (citta-visuddhi): Make
the mind still and resolute, either in momentary
concentration or threshold concentration, enough to form a
basis for the arising of insight.
3.
Purification of view (ditthi-visuddhi): Examine
physical and mental phenomena, analyzing them into their
various parts, seeing them in terms of their three inherent
characteristics as inconstant, stressful, and not-self.
4.
Purification by overcoming doubt (kankha-vitarana-visuddhi):
Focus on the causes and conditions for physical and mental
phenomena, seeing what it is that causes them to arise when
it arises, and what causes them to disappear when it
disappears. Examine both these sides of the question until
all your doubts concerning physical and mental phenomena
past, present and future vanish together in an instant.
The mind that can see through the preoccupation with which
it is involved in the present is much more subtle, resolute,
and firm than it has ever been before, and at this point any
one of the ten corruptions of insight which we referred to
above as enemies of insight will arise. If your powers of
reference, concentration, and discernment aren't equal to
one another, they can lead you to jump to false conclusions,
causing you to latch onto these defilements as something
meaningful and thus going astray, falling away from the
highest levels of truth. The enemies of insight are:
a.
Splendor (obhasa): an amazingly bright light,
blotting out your surroundings e.g., if you're sitting
in a forest or patch of thorns, they won't exist for you
bright to the point where you get carried away, losing all
sense of your body and mind, wrapped up in the brightness.
b.
Knowledge (ρana): intuition of an uncanny sort,
which you then latch onto either to the knowledge itself
or to the object known as beyond refutation. Perhaps you
may decide that you've already reached the goal, that
there's nothing more for you to do. Your knowledge on this
level is true, but you aren't able to let it go in line
with its true nature.
c.
Rapture (piti): an exceedingly strong sense of
rapture and contentment, arising from a sense of solitude
and lack of disturbance for which you have been aiming all
along. Once it arises, you are overcome with rapture to
the point where you latch onto it and lose sense of your
body and mind.
d.
Serenity (passaddhi): an extreme sense of mental
stillness, in which the mind stays motionless, overwhelmed
and addicted to the stillness.
e.
Bliss (sukha): a subtle, exquisite sense of
pleasure, arising from a sense of mental solitude that you
have just met for the first time and that the mind
relishes the pleasure at this point being exceedingly
subtle and relaxed to the point where it becomes
addicted.
f.
Enthusiasm (adhimokkha): a strong sense of
conviction in your knowledge, believing that, 'This must
be nibbana'.
g.
Exertion (paggaha): strong and unwavering
persistence that comes from enjoying the object with which
the mind is preoccupied.
h.
Obsession (upatthana): Your train of thought
becomes fixed strongly on a single object and runs wild,
your powers of mindfulness being strong, but your powers
of discernment too weak to pry the mind away from its
object.
i.
Equanimity (upekkha): The mind is still and
unmoving, focused in a very subtle mental notion of
equanimity. Not knowing the true nature of its state, it
relishes and clings to its sense of indifference and
imperturbability.
j.
Satisfaction (nikanti): contentment with the object
of your knowledge, leading to assumptions of one sort or
another.
These ten
phenomena, if you know them for what they are, can form a
way along which the mind can stride to the paths and
fruitions leading to nibbana. If you fasten onto
them, though, they turn into a form of attachment and thus
become the enemies of liberating insight. All ten of these
corruptions of insight are forms of truth on one level, but
if you can't let go of the truth so that it can follow its
own nature, you will never meet the ultimate truth of
disbanding (nirodha). For the mind to let go, it must
use discerning insight to contemplate these phenomena until
it sees that they are clearly inconstant, stressful and
not-self. When it sees clearly and is no longer attached to
any of these phenomena, knowledge will arise within the mind
as to what is and what isn't the path leading to the
transcendent. Once this awareness arises, the mind enters
the next level of purification:
5.
Purification through knowledge and vision of what is and is
not the path (maggamagga-ρanadassana-visuddhi): Now
that this realization has arisen, look after that knowing
mind to keep it securely in the mental series leading to
insight. Insight will arise in the very next mental moment,
forming a stairway to the great benefits of the
transcendent, the reward coming from having abandoned the
ten corruptions of insight. Liberating insight will arise in
the following stages:
* * *
a.
Contemplation of arising and passing away (udayabbayanu-passana-ρana):
seeing the arising of physical and mental phenomena together
with their falling away.
b.
Contemplation of dissolution (bhanganupassana-ρana):
seeing the falling away of physical and mental phenomena.
c. The
appearance of dread (bhayatupatthana-ρana): seeing
all fashionings (i.e., all physical and mental phenomena) as
something to be dreaded, just as when a man sees a deadly
cobra lying in his path or an executioner about to behead a
criminal who has broken the law.
d.
Contemplation of misery (adinavanupassana-ρana):
seeing all fashionings as a mass of pain and stress, arising
only to age, sicken, disband, and die.
e.
Contemplation of disgust (nibbidanupassana-ρana):
viewing all fashionings with a sense of weariness and
disenchantment with regard to the cycle of birth, aging,
illness, and death through the various way-stations in the
round of existence; seeing the pain and harm, feeling
disdain and estrangement, with no longing to be involved
with any fashionings at all. Just as a golden King Swan
who ordinarily delights only in the foothills of Citta Peak
and the great Himalayan lakes would feel nothing but
disgust at the idea of bathing in a cesspool at the gate of
an outcaste village, in the same way the arising of insight
causes a sense of disgust for all fashionings to appear.
f. The
desire for freedom (muρcitukamyata-ρana): sensing a
desire to escape from all fashionings that appear, just as
when a man goes down to bathe in a pool and meeting a
poisonous snake or a crocodile will aim at nothing but
escape.
g.
Reflective contemplation (patisankhanupassana-ρana):
trying to figure out a way to escape from all fashionings
that appear, in the same way that a caged quail keeps
looking for a way to escape from its cage.
h.
Equanimity with regard to fashionings (sankharupekkha-ρana):
viewing all fashionings with a sense of indifference, just
as a husband and wife might feel indifferent to each other's
activities after they have gained a divorce.
i.
Knowledge in accordance with the truth (saccanulomika-ρana):
seeing all fashionings all five aggregates in terms of
the four Noble truths.
* * *
All of these
stages of insight are nothing other than the sixth level of
purification:
6.
Purification through knowledge and vision of the way (patipada-ρanadassana-visuddhi):
At this point, our way is cleared. Just as a man who has cut
all the tree stumps in his path level to the ground can then
walk with ease, so it is with knowledge on this level: We
have gotten past the corruptions of insight, but the roots
avijja, or unawareness are still in the ground.
The next step
is to develop the mind higher and higher along the lines of
liberating insight until you reach the highest plane of the
mundane level leading to the noble paths, beginning with the
path opening onto the stream to nibbana. This level
is termed:
7.
Purification of knowledge and vision (ρanadassana-visuddhi):
At this point, devote yourself to reviewing the stages of
liberating insight through which you have passed, back and
forth, so that each stage leads on to the next, from the
very beginning all the way to knowledge in accordance with
the truth and back, so that your perception in terms of the
four Noble Truths is absolutely clear. If your powers of
discernment are relatively weak, you will have to review the
series three times in immediate succession before
change-of-lineage knowledge (gotarabhu-ρana,
knowledge of nibbana) will arise as the result. If
your powers of discernment are moderate, change-of- lineage
knowledge will arise after you have reviewed the series
twice in succession. If your powers of discernment are
tempered and strong, it will arise after you have reviewed
the series once. Thus the sages of the past divided those
who reach the first noble path and fruition into three
sorts: Those with relatively weak powers of discernment will
have to be reborn another seven times; those with moderate
powers of discernment will have to be reborn another three
or four times; those with quick powers of discernment will
have to be reborn only once.
The different
speeds at which individuals realize the first path and its
fruition are determined by their temperaments and
propensities. The slowest class are those who have developed
two parts tranquillity to one part insight. The intermediate
class are those who have developed one part tranquillity to
one part insight. Those with the quickest and strongest
insight are those who have developed one part tranquillity
to two parts insight. Having developed the beginning parts
of the path in different ways here we are referring only
to those parts of the path consisting of tranquillity and
insight they see clearly into the four Noble Truths at
different mental moments.
In the end, it
all comes down to seeing the five aggregates clearly and
unmistakably in terms of the four Noble Truths. What does it
mean to see clearly and unmistakably? And what are the terms
of the four Noble Truths? This can be explained as follows:
Start out by fixing your attention on a result and then
trace back to its causes. Focus, for instance, on physical
and mental phenomena as they arise and pass away in the
present. This is the truth of stress (dukkha-sacca),
as in the Pali phrase,
nama-rupam
aniccam,
nama-rupam dukkham,
nama-rupam anatta:
'All physical
and mental phenomena are equally inconstant, stressful, and
not-self.' Fix your attention on their arising and changing,
seeing that birth is stressful, aging is stressful, illness
and death are stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain,
distress, and despair are stressful; in short, the five
aggregates are stressful. What is the cause? When you trace
back to the cause for stress, you'll find that craving for
sensual objects sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile
sensations and ideas is one cause, termed sensual craving
(kama-tanha). Then focus in on the mind so as to see
the intermediate-level cause and you'll see that 'At this
moment the mind is straying, wishing that physical and
mental phenomena form, feelings, labels, fashionings, and
consciousness would be in line with its wants.' This wish
is termed craving for becoming (bhava-tanha). Focus
in again on the mind so as to see the subtle cause and
you'll see that, 'At this moment the mind is flinching,
wishing that physical and mental phenomena wouldn't change,
that they would stay under its control.' This wish is termed
craving for no becoming (vibhava-tanha), i.e.,
craving for things to stay constant in line with one's
wishes.
These three
forms of craving arise when the mind is deluded. Focus in
and investigate that deluded mental state until you can see
that it's inconstant, stressful, and not-self. Tap Craving
on his shoulder and call him by name until, embarrassed and
ashamed, he wanes from the heart, in line with the teaching:
'The lack of involvement with that very craving, the release
from it, the relinquishing of it, the abandonment of it, the
disbanding of it through the lack of any remaining
affection: This is the disbanding of stress.'
The mind that
switches back and forth between knowing and being deluded is
all one and the same mind. Craving lands on it, not allowing
it to develop the path and gain true knowledge, just as
flocks of birds landing on a tall, unsteady, tapering tree
can cause it to shudder and sway and come crashing down.
Thus the Noble Disciples have focused on craving and
discarded it, leaving only nirodha, disbanding. The act of
disbanding can be divided into two the disbanding of
physical and mental phenomena; or into three the
disbanding of sensual craving, craving for becoming, and
craving for no becoming; or into four the disbanding of
feelings, labels, fashionings, and consciousness of various
things. Add the disbanding of physical phenomena to the last
list and you have five. We could keep going on and on: If
you can let go, everything disbands. What this means simply
is that the heart no longer clings to these things, no
longer gives them sustenance.
Letting go,
however, has two levels: mundane and transcendent. Mundane
letting go is only momentary, not once-and-for-all, and so
the disbanding that results is only mundane. It's not yet
constant. As for the path of practice, it's not yet constant
either. It's the noble eightfold path, all right, but on the
mundane level. For example:
1.
Mundane right view: You see into stress, its causes, its
disbanding, and the path to its disbanding, but your
insight isn't yet constant for although your views are
correct, you can't yet let them go. This is thus classed
as mundane right view.
2.
Mundane right resolve: Your attitude is to renounce
sensual pleasures, not to feel ill will, and not to cause
harm. These three attitudes are correct, but you haven't
yet freed yourself in line with them. This is thus classed
as mundane right resolve.
3.
Mundane right speech: right speech is of four types
refraining from lies, from divisive tale-bearing, from
coarse and abusive speech, and from idle, aimless chatter.
You know that these forms of speech are to be avoided, but
you still engage in them out of absent-mindedness. This is
thus classed as mundane right speech.
4.
Mundane right action: Your undertakings aren't yet
constantly right. Sometimes you act uprightly, sometimes
not. This is classed as mundane right action.
5.
Mundane right livelihood: Your maintenance of your
livelihood by way of thought, word, and deed isn't yet
constant. In other words, it's not yet absolutely pure
in some ways it is, and in some it isn't. Thus it is
termed mundane right livelihood.
6.
Mundane right effort: Right effort is of four types the
effort to abandon evil that has already arisen, to avoid
evil that hasn't, to give rise to the good that hasn't yet
arisen, and to maintain the good that has. Your efforts in
these four directions aren't yet really consistent.
Sometimes you make the effort and sometimes you don't.
This is thus termed mundane right effort.
7.
Mundane right mindfulness: Right mindfulness is of four
types reference of the body, to feelings, to the mind,
and to mental qualities. When you aren't consistent in
staying with these frames of reference sometimes keeping
them in mind, sometimes not your practice is classed as
inconstant. This is thus termed mundane right mindfulness.
8.
Mundane right concentration: Right concentration is of
three sorts momentary concentration, threshold
concentration, and fixed penetration. If these can
suppress unwise mental qualities for only certain periods
of time, they're classed as inconstant: sometimes you have
them and sometimes you don't. This is thus termed mundane
right concentration.
These eight
factors can be reduced to three: virtue, concentration, and
discernment i.e., inconstant virtue, inconstant
concentration, inconstant discernment sometimes pure,
sometimes blemished. These in turn reduce ultimately to our
own thoughts, words, and deeds. We're inconstant in thought,
word, and deed, sometimes doing good, sometimes doing evil,
sometimes speaking what is good, sometimes speaking what is
evil, sometimes thinking what is good, sometimes thinking
what is evil.
When we want to
make the path transcendent, we have to bring the principles
of virtue, concentration, and discernment to bear on our
thoughts, words, and deeds, and then focus on cleansing
those thoughts, words, and deeds so that they're in line
with the principles of virtue, concentration, and
discernment to the point where we attain a purity that is
radiant and lasting. Only then can the path become
transcendent.
The results of
each path, whether mundane or transcendent, follow
immediately on the practice of the path, just as your shadow
follows immediately upon you.
To return to
the discussion of the mundane path: Although the mundane
path is said to have eight factors, this eightfold path as
it's put into practice by people in general forks into
two: eight right factors and eight wrong, making a
sixteen-fold path. This is why regress is possible. What
this comes down to is the fact that virtue, concentration,
and discernment aren't in harmony. For example, our virtue
may be right and our concentration wrong, or our discernment
right and our virtue and concentration wrong. In other
words, our words and deeds may be virtuous, but our thoughts
overpowered by the hindrances may not reach singleness;
or the mind may reach stillness, but without being able to
let go of its preoccupations with the elements, aggregates,
or sense media. Sometimes our discernment and insight may be
right, but we haven't abandoned unvirtuous actions. We know
they're harmful and we're able to abstain for a while, but
we still can't help reverting to them even though we know
better. This is why we say the mundane path has sixteen
factors, eight right and eight wrong, sometimes turning this
way and sometimes that.
If, however,
you really decide to train yourself and then watch over
mundane right view so as to keep it right without letting
the wrong path interfere so that your virtue,
concentration, and discernment are right and in harmony
then this very same mundane path, once it is made constant
and consistent, will become transcendent, leading to the
stream to nibbana. Once you reach the transcendent
level, the path has only eight factors: Your virtue,
concentration, and discernment are all entirely right. In
this way they transcend the mundane level. The mundane level
is inconstant: inconsistent, undependable, dishonest with
itself. One moment you do good; the next evil. Then after
you've regressed, you progress again. If you were to
classify people of the mundane level, there are four sorts:
1.
Some people have done evil in the past, are doing evil in
the present, and will continue doing evil in the future.
2.
Some people have done evil in the past, but are doing good
in the present, and aren't willing to abandon their
goodness in the future.
3.
Some people have done good in the past, are doing good in
the present, but will give it up in the future.
4.
Some people have done only good in the past, are keeping
it up in the present in all their actions i.e., virtue,
concentration, and discernment are constantly with them
and they plan to keep on doing good into the future.
So there's
nothing constant about people on the mundane level. They're
greedy, they're rich. They do both good and evil. Two hands
aren't enough for them; they have to carry their goods on a
pole over the shoulder, with one load on the front end and
another on the back. Sometimes the back load the past is
good, but the front load the future is evil. Sometimes
the front and back loads are both evil, but the person in
the middle is good. Sometimes all three are good. When we're
loaded up like this, we're not balanced. One load is heavy
and the other one light. Sometimes we tip over backwards,
and sometimes fall flat on our face back and forth like
this, from one level of being to the next. This is how it is
with virtue, concentration, and discernment on the mundane
level. There's no telling where they'll lead you next. so
once you've come to your senses, you should start right in
keeping watch over the mundane path so that you can bring
mundane virtue, concentration, and discernment into line
with the transcendent.
* * *
The path of the
Noble Ones beginning with the path to stream-entry is to
take the mundane eightfold path and bring it to bear on the
five aggregates body, feelings, labels, fashionings, and
consciousness or, in short, to bring it to bear on
physical and mental phenomena. Focus on these phenomena with
right discernment until you see them all in terms of their
three inherent characteristics, i.e., until you see all the
physical and mental phenomena arising and disbanding in the
present as inconstant, stressful, and not-self. You see with
the eye of intuitive knowledge, the eye of discernment, the
eye of meditative skill, the eye of Dhamma. Your vision is
true and correct. It's Right View, the path in harmony, with
no admixture of wrong view at all. Your vision of physical
phenomena is correct in line with virtue, concentration, and
discernment; your vision of mental phenomena is correct in
line with virtue, concentration, and discernment. You trace
things forward and back. You have an adamantine sword
liberating insight slashing back and forth. You are
engaged in focused investigation: This is what forms the
path.
You fix your
attention on the Noble Truths as two: cause and effect. When
your mind is absolutely focused and fixed on examining cause
and effect, that's the path to stream-entry. Once you have
gained clear insight into cause and effect through the power
of your discernment, making the heart radiant and bright,
destroying whatever mental and physical phenomena are
fetters (sanyojana), the opening to nibbana
will appear. If your powers of discernment are weak, your
mind will then return to its dependence on mental and
physical phenomena, but even so, it will no longer be
deceived or deluded by them, for it has seen their harm. It
will never again dare fall into the three fetters that it
has borne for so long.
Those who reach
this stage have reached the transcendent the path and
fruition of stream-entry and form one class of the Noble
Disciples.
There are nine
transcendent qualities four paths, four fruitions, and one
nibbana: the path to stream-entry and the fruition of
stream-entry; the path to once-returning and the fruition of
once-returning; the path to nonreturning and the fruition of
nonreturning; the path to arahantship and the fruition of
arahantship; all of which come down to the one nibbana,
which makes nine. The term lokuttara dhamma
transcendent qualities means superior qualities, special
and distinct from mundane qualities, reaching a "world"
above and beyond all worlds, destined to go only higher and
higher, never to return to anything low.
The word
magga, or path, refers simply to the way leading to
nibbana. It's called the ariya magga, the path
free from enemies, because it's the path that Death cannot
trace. It's called the eightfold path because on the
transcendent level it has abandoned the eight wrong factors
of the mundane path, leaving only the eight right: Right
View and Right Resolve, which compose right discernment, let
us see physical and mental phenomena that arise and disband
in the present in terms of their three inherent
characteristics, so that we let go of them completely with
no remaining doubts about the truth we have seen. As for
Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, our words
and deeds reach purity, free from the fetter of
self-identification. And as for Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, and Right Concentration, we reach a level of
mind that is firm and imperturbable. Our thoughts, words,
and deeds are free from groping with regard to precepts and
practices, and are truly in keeping with nibbana, not
side-tracking or going slack the way the actions of ordinary
people do.
People who have
attained stream-entry have the following characteristics:
They have unwavering conviction in the virtues of the Triple
Gem. The quality of charity and self-sacrifice is a regular
feature in their hearts. They are not complacent and never
give rein to the power of delusion. They are firmly and
happily dedicated to the cause of their own inner purity.
They love virtue more than life itself. They have no
intention of doing any of the baser forms of evil. Although
some residual shoddy qualities may still be remaining in
their hearts, they never let these qualities ever again come
to the fore.
The stream they
have entered is that leading to nibbana. They have
abandoned the three lower fetters once and for all.
1.
Self-identification (sakkaya-ditthi): They have
uprooted the viewpoint that once caused them to identify
physical and mental phenomena as being the self.
2.
Uncertainty (vicikiccha): They have uprooted all
doubt and indecision concerning the nature of physical and
mental phenomena, and all doubt concerning the virtues of
the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. If anyone were to come and
say that there is no Awakening, that the practice of virtue,
concentration, and discernment doesn't lead to nibbana,
they wouldn't believe that person's words, because they have
seen for certain, with their own discernment, that the paths
and their fruitions are unrelated to time (akaliko)
and can be known only personally, within (paccattam).
Their
conviction is firm
and free from indecision.
Their vision is sure.
3.
Groping at precepts and practices (silabbata-paramasa):
They have uprooted all unreasonable beliefs concerning
physical and mental phenomena, both within and without. They
are no longer groping in their habits, manners, or
practices. Everything they do is done with a reason, not out
of darkness or ignorance. They are convinced of the
principle of kamma. Their concern for their own
thoughts, words, and deeds is paramount: Those who do good
will meet with good, those who do evil will meet with evil.
People who have
reached stream-entry have faith in the virtues of the
Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha that have appeared within them.
They are no longer groping in their virtue. Their virtues
are pure and free from defilement. They have cut off the
three fetters with regard to their bodies and minds right
in their own thoughts, words, and deeds through the
practice of virtue, concentration, and discernment acting in
concert. What this means is that they have made a focused
examination back and forth, over and over, through the power
of their own discernment. They have traced the path back and
forth, cutting away at the grasses and weeds. One mental
moment they trace things forward, and the next moment they
trace them back. In other words, they focus on the
phenomenon of arising and passing away, and then are able to
know through the power of liberating insight that there in
the midst of physical and mental phenomena exists something
that isn't subject to arising and passing away.
The path to
stream-entry is the act of focusing on physical and mental
phenomena, back and forth. When events are traced back and
forth sometimes two times in succession, sometimes three,
depending on the power of one's insight physical and
mental phenomena disband and change-of-lineage knowledge
arises in the same instant, enabling one to see the quality
within one that isn't subject to arising or passing away.
This is the opening onto nibbana, appearing sharp and
clear through the power of one's own discernment, bringing
with it the fruition of stream-entry, the state of being a
Noble Disciple in the Buddha's teaching. One's fetters are
absolutely severed, once and for all. Having seen the pain
and harm coming from the actions that lead to the realms of
deprivation, one is now freed from them and can breathe with
ease.
Such people
have received a treasure: They have attained transcendent
discernment and seen for sure the opening onto nibbana.
They are like a traveler who has seen a palace of gold in
the distance: Although he hasn't yet reached it, he is bound
to think of it at all times. Stream-winners have already
gone three leagues (yojana) on the way, with only
seven leagues left to go. Whoever has the chance to see or
know such people, help them, or associate with them, is
truly fortunate.
There are three
classes of stream-winner: ekabijin,those who will be
reborn only once more; kolankola, those who will be
reborn three or four more times; and sattakkhattu-parama,
those who will be reborn seven more times.
Why are there
three? Because the natural propensities of each individual
determine the way he or she pursues the path. The first
group is comprised of those with a propensity to anger and
irritation. They tend to develop insight meditation more
than tranquillity meditation, reaching Awakening quickly
with few of the mundane skills or powers. The second group
is comprised of those with a propensity to passion and
desire. This group develops insight and tranquillity in
equal measure, reaching Awakening at a moderate rate, along
with a moderate number of mundane powers and skills. The
third group consists of those with a propensity to delusion.
They tend to develop tranquillity in large measure, with
very strong powers in the direction of jhana, before
going on to develop insight meditation. They attain
Awakening along with a large number of powers and skills.
When they reach the transcendent level, they tend to have
mastered the three skills, the six forms of intuitive power
(abhiρρa), and the four forms of acumen.
But if these
three propensities exist in everyone, why do we now assign
them to different individuals? Because the moment you are
about to know the truth, you focus on the good and bad
features of a particular mental state and attain Awakening
then and there. In some cases the state is passion, in some
cases anger, and in some cases delusion. Once you have
focused on knowing a particular state and know its truth for
what it is, then that truth will place you in a particular
class.
Those who reach
this stage are headed straight for the higher paths and
fruitions culminating in nibbana. People who have
attained stream-entry have their virtue completely
developed. They don't have to worry about virtue any longer.
They no longer have to look out for their virtues, for
they've been a slave to virtue long enough. From now on the
quality of their virtue will look out for them, safeguarding
them from the four realms of deprivation. What this means is
that their vices have been tamed, and so they no longer have
to worry about keeping them in line. They still have to work
at concentration and discernment, though. They've wiped out
the cruder forms of unwise behavior, but the medium and
subtle forms which are to be wiped out by higher paths,
beginning with the path to once-returning still remain.
* * *
The path to
once-returning takes the fruition of stream-entry as its
basis. In other words, those who are to attain the state of
once-returning bring their previous activity in making the
mundane path transcendent to bear on the five aggregates,
reducing the aggregates to two classes physical phenomena
and mental phenomena and then making a focused
investigation of both through the power of intuition and
liberating insight in this manner:
Right View:
They contemplate physical and mental phenomena until they
see them clearly as inconstant, stressful, and not-self.
Once they see clearly, they become uncomplacent. They set
their thoughts on doing away with desire for physical and
mental phenomena. They want to withdraw themselves from
these things because they have seen their harm. This is
Right Resolve.
Right Speech
on this level refers to the inner dialogue of vitakka
and vicara, thinking and evaluating, searching
rightly for the causes and conditions of physical and
mental phenomena. (As for external speech, that was made
pure with the attainment of stream-entry, so there is no
need to mention it on this level.)
Right Action
on this level is nothing other than the activity of
focusing on physical and mental phenomena so as to give
rise to tranquillity and insight.
Right
Livelihood here refers to the act of choosing, say, a
physical phenomenon as an object for the mind's activity
this is termed vitakka and then examining and
evaluating it this is vicara. Once you learn its
truth, this leads to mental pleasure. Your focused
examination of physical and mental phenomena is right, and
the state of your mind is right. This thus counts as Right
Livelihood.
Right Effort
refers to the effort of focusing and examining for the
sake of shedding physical and mental phenomena through the
power of liberating insight, making the appropriate effort
without being complacent.
Right
Mindfulness means being mindful of the behavior of
physical and mental phenomena as they arise and disband,
without getting distracted, at the same time maintaining
alertness in short, being mindful and alert with regard
to your body and mind in all your activities, taking the
body and mind as your frame of reference in a way that
leads directly to concentration.
Right
Concentration here refers to the mind's being focused
exclusively and steadily on physical and mental phenomena,
not fixing its attention on anything else. Its activity
centers constantly on a single preoccupation, which it
examines in terms of liberating insight. This type of
concentration, termed appana citta, the fixed mind,
differs in no way at all from the activity of discernment,
searching for the causes and conditions of physical and
mental phenomena in terms of saccanulomika-ρana,
knowledge in accordance with the four Noble Truths.
When all
aspects of the noble path are right, in terms of the
activity of thought, word, and deed, the entire path
converges in a single mental instant. Focus the mind in that
instant and see the truth of physical and mental phenomena.
Physical and mental phenomena will disband and won't appear
as a focal point for the mind. The mind will escape from its
shackles as thoughts of passion, aversion, and delusion
disappear. But only three fetters have been broken, just as
in stream-entry. Passion, aversion, and delusion have merely
been weakened.
This is the
fruition of once-returning. Those who reach this level are
destined to be reborn only once more. They have completely
developed virtue and one aspect of concentration, but they
still have to work on the remaining aspects of
concentration, along with discernment, because these have
been only partially developed. Discernment is still weak. It
has cut away only the twigs and branches, while the roots
are still intact. Still, people who have reached this level
have seen nibbana appear close at hand.
* * *
The path to
nonreturning takes the fruition of once-returning as its
basis. In other words, those who are to attain the state of
nonreturning gather all eight factors of the noble path and
bring them to bear on physical and mental phenomena as
before. They then make a focused examination in terms of
liberating insight. What this means is that Right View and
Right Resolve are brought together at the same point and
applied to physical and mental phenomena so as to see such
phenomena in terms of their three inherent characteristics.
This is termed right discernment.
Right Speech,
Right Action, and Right Livelihood are brought together at
the same point: The mind's normal state is now that of being
focused at the level of physical and mental phenomena. The
activity on this level is reduced to two sorts: "bodily
action," i.e., the act of focusing the mind on the behavior
of physical phenomena; and "speech," the mind's inner
dialogue, directed thought and evaluation (vitakka,
vicara) focused on the behavior of physical and mental
fashionings. Bodily activity is in a state of normalcy;
mental activity is in a state of normalcy: Thus we can say
that heightened virtue (adhisila) has been
established.
As for Right
Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration: The mind
makes a persistent, unwavering examination of physical and
mental phenomena, resolutely intent on them as its single
preoccupation. Once the qualities of virtue, concentration,
and discernment are gathered together and brought to bear on
physical and mental phenomena, use the power of discernment
to make a focused examination back and forth: This is termed
the path to nonreturning. When physical and mental phenomena
disband and disperse from the primal heart, the fourth and
fifth fetters kama-raga, passion and delight for
physical and mental phenomena caused by the power of sensual
defilement; and patigha, mental irritability and
resistance related to physical and mental phenomena are
absolutely abandoned. Once these two qualities have been
shed from the heart through the power of liberating insight,
this is termed the fruition of nonreturning. Nonreturners
have thus put behind them once and for all the rocky,
five-league trail composed of self-identification,
uncertainty, groping at precepts and practices, sensual
passion, and irritation. Never again will they have to be
reborn in any of the sensual worlds.
Forsaking these
things forever,
They savor the fruit of nonreturning,
Earning the title, "Noble One."
According to
the Canon, nonreturners are of five sorts. After they pass
away from the human world, they will appear in the five Pure
Abodes, the highest of the Brahma worlds, there to attain
arahantship, never again to return to the sensual plane.
Nonreturners have only a little work left to do. Their
virtue is completely developed into heightened virtue
(adhisila); their training in concentration is also
complete, so that they no longer have to work at it. The
only thing left for them to develop is discernment.
Everything else will take care of itself. They are Noble
Disciples who are genuinely close to nibbana.
* * *
The path to
arahantship takes the fruition on nonreturning as its basis.
In other words, those who are to become arahants gather all
eight factors of the noble path and bring them to bear as
before on physical and mental phenomena, but now they deal
with a level of these phenomena more subtle than before,
converged into a single point. Once they have gathered the
factors of the path at the level of physical and mental
phenomena, they make a focused examination, back and forth,
using the power of their discernment, bringing this subtler
level of physical and mental phenomena into a single point
as stress, the cause of stress, the path, and disbanding,
all four Noble Truths gathered into one. They focus on
seeing how stress is one with the cause of stress, how the
cause of stress is one with the path, how the path is one
with the disbanding of stress. Once they have seen things
rightly in this way, they make an investigation in terms of
the three characteristics:
namarupam
aniccam,
namarupam dukkham,
namarupam anatta:
"Physical and
mental phenomena are inconstant, physical and mental
phenomena are stressful, physical and mental phenomena are
not-self." To investigate in this way is termed the path to
arahantship.
Once clear
insight arises right at the heart, physical and mental
phenomena disband simultaneously with Right View, and in
that instant one reaches the ultimate quality the
Unconditioned which knows no arising or passing away. The
ten fetters are shattered without leaving a trace. Starting
with the sixth fetter, these are:
6.
Passion for form (rupa-raga): attachment to the sense
of form; contentment, for example, with the objects that can
act as the basis of rupa jhana.
7.
Passion for formless phenomena (arupa-raga):
attachment to non-physical phenomena: contentment, for
example, with feelings and moods of pleasure and well-being
that one has previously experienced.
8.
Conceit (mana): construing oneself to be this or
that. Arahants have put such assumptions aside. (They don't
assume themselves).
9.
Restlessness (uddhacca): obsessive thinking.
10.
Unawareness (avijja): delusion, dullness, ignorance,
immersed in physical and mental phenomena.
All ten of
these fetters have been dispersed from the heart of an
arahant.
To make a
focused investigation using one's discernment, seeing the
disbanding and dissolution of physical and mental phenomena
in the same terms as all fashioned things, i.e.,
sabbe
sankhara anicca,
sabbe sankhara dukkha,
sabbe dhamma anatta:
"All
fashionings (physical and mental phenomena) are inconstant,
all fashionings are stressful, all qualities (physical and
mental qualities) are not-self;" to focus on these things as
the basic danger in all three levels of existence; to see
the three levels of existence as masses of burning embers,
incinerating all those who are engrossed in them; to bring
virtue, concentration, and discernment to bear in this way
exclusively on physical and mental phenomena: This is the
path to arahantship. And at that very moment physical and
mental phenomena disband along with the noble path i.e.,
Right View and the ten fetters are shattered: This is the
fruition of arahantship.
The tasks of
virtue, concentration, and discernment are completed, the
teachings of the Lord Buddha fulfilled. There is no longer
any attachment to the paths or their fruitions, nor is there
any attachment to the Unconditioned. All that remains is
what is there on its own: disbanding. That is to say, mental
states involved with the five aggregates have disbanded;
mental states involved with virtue, concentration, and
discernment have disbanded because when virtue,
concentration, and discernment converge on the level of
physical and mental phenomena the first time, the first
noble attainment is reached; the second time, the second
attainment is reached; the third time, the third; and the
fourth time, the fourth. When the qualities of virtue,
concentration, and discernment are brought together in fully
mature form, the mind is released from physical and mental
phenomena through the power of discernment, in line with the
teaching,
paρρaya
paribhavitam cittam
sammadeva asavehi vimuccati:
"When the mind
has been matured through discernment, it gains complete
release from all mental effluents." The mind is able to let
go of physical and mental phenomena. Physical and mental
phenomena are not the mind; the mind isn't physical and
mental phenomena. The mind isn't virtue, concentration, and
discernment.
sabbe dhamma
anatta:
The mind
doesn't identify any quality as itself, or itself as any of
these qualities. It simply is deathlessness. This is
called disbanding because passion, aversion, and delusion
have disbanded completely. There is no more becoming for the
mind, no more birth, no more involvement with the elements,
aggregates, and sense media, and unlike ordinary
run-of-the-mill people no longer any intoxication with any
of these things. As a passage in the Canon puts it:
mada-nimmadano no longer intoxicated with the three
levels of existence;
pipasa-vinayo no longer thirsting for sensual
pleasures;
alaya-samugghato involvement with the aggregates has
been withdrawn, leaving the aggregates free to follow
their own natural state;
vattupacchedo the cycle through the three levels of
existence has been cut absolutely;
tanhakkhayo craving is done with;
virago
passion is done with;
nirodho
unawareness has disbanded without leaving a trace;
nibbana
the mind is freed from its shackles and bonds.
The Deathless
is reached. Birth, aging, illness, and death are eliminated.
Ultimate, unchanging ease is attained. The aggregates
disband without leaving a trace, in line with the synopsis
of dependent origination: "Simply with the disbanding of
this unawareness with no trace of remaining passion
fashionings disband... consciousness (with regard to the six
senses) disbands... physical and mental phenomena disband...
the six sense media disband... sensory contacts disband...
the three kinds of feeling disband... the three kinds of
craving disband... the four kinds of clinging disband...
becoming disbands... birth disbands... aging, death, sorrow,
lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all disband and no
longer appear as stress."
The mind is
Dhamma, free from effluents, because it has gained insight
into all fashioned things. It is released from all
unawareness, craving, and clinging, and has cut all ten
fetters. This is the fruition of arahantship. Those who have
reached this level have completed the religion. They have no
more defilements or cravings; no one has anything further to
teach them. Even the Buddha himself doesn't have it within
his power to formulate any further instructions for them.
This is why they are said to have completed the religion. If
you were to describe their virtues, they would be infinite.
Arahants are
classified into four groups:
1.
Sukha-vipassako: those who have gained "dry" release
through the power of insight, having developed the bare
minimum of concentration before attaining the knowledge
that does away with mental effluents (asavakkhaya-ρana)
and gaining release. They have no other powers or skills.
2.
Tevijjo: those who have attained the three skills
a.
Pubbenivasanussati-ρana: the ability to remember
their own past lives.
b.
Cutupapata-ρana: the ability to see living beings
as they pass from death to rebirth.
c.
Asavakkhaya-ρana: the knowledge that does away
with the effluents of defilement.
3.
Chalabhiρρo: those who have attained the six intuitive
powers
a.
Iddhividhi: the ability to display supernormal
powers.
b.
Dibba-sota: clairaudience.
c.
Cetopariya-ρana: the ability to know the thoughts
of others.
d.
Pubbenivasanussati-ρana: the ability to remember
previous lives.
e.
Dibba-cakkhu: clairvoyance.
f.
Asavakkhaya-ρana: The ability to do away with
mental effluents.
4.
Patisambhidappatto: those who have mastered the four
forms of acumen
a.
Attha-patisambhida: acumen with regard to
meaning.
b.
Dhamma-patisambhida: acumen with regard to mental
qualities.
c.
Nirutti-patisambhida: acumen with regard to
linguistic conventions.
d.
Patibhana-patisambhida: acumen with regard to
expression.
These are the
different classes of arahants. It's not the case that they
are all alike. Those who have attained release through dry
insight have developed insight meditation more than
tranquillity. Those who attain the three skills have
developed tranquillity and insight in equal measure. Those
who attain the six intuitive powers have developed two parts
tranquillity to one part insight. Those who attain the four
forms of acumen have developed three parts tranquillity to
one part insight. This is why they differ from one another.
(Tranquillity here refers to the eight levels of jhana).
If you want detailed discussions of these various
attainments, see the discussions of the three skills, the
eight skills, and the four forms of acumen given after the
section on jhana. The skills mentioned on this level,
though, are all transcendent, and are completely apart from
the corresponding mundane skills.
* * *
Now I would
like to describe the virtues of the arahants, those who have
gained complete insight into the world, abandoning it once
and for all. Though their aggregates (physical and mental
activities) may still appear to the world, they are pure
aggregates, absolutely free from both good and evil, because
the mind doesn't claim possession of them. The mind is
untouched by the behavior of the aggregates. The ten fetters
have been disbanded completely and no longer entangle the
heart, which is why this state is called nibbana:
liberation. The mind is radiant and clear; passion,
aversion, and delusion can no longer cloud it. It has
reached the radiance of the primal nature of the heart, to
which nothing else can compare.
Once this
radiance is realized, it obliterates the radiance of all
three levels of existence, so that no state of being appears
at all. As long as the mind has yet to gain release from
defilement, it is bound to regard the three levels of
existence as radiant and appealing. Once the mind reaches
stream-entry, the radiance of the three levels of existence
begins to darken and dim. When it reaches the level of
once-returning, that radiance appears even dimmer; and on
the level of nonreturning, it appears dimmer yet, although
it is still there. When arahantship is reached, the radiance
of the three levels of existence is so dim that it has
virtually vanished. When virtue, concentration, and
discernment are gathered at the mind, and unawareness
disbands along with the higher levels of the noble path, the
world doesn't appear at all. You can't tell what features,
colors, or shapes it has, or even where it is. There is only
the pure brilliance of nibbana. All the worlds are
dissolved in the moments of the path and fruition of
arahantship. This brilliance is something always there, but
we don't see it because of our own darkness and delusion.
This very
brilliance, though, can obliterate the darkness of the world
so that only nibbana will appear. The radiance of
nibbana obliterates the radiance of the world just as
the light of the sun, which illumines the world of human
beings and common animals, can obliterate at midday the
light of the stars that appear in the sky at night. Another
comparison is the light of the candle, which in the darkness
appears bright to our eyes: If a burning kerosene lantern is
brought near the candle, the candle's light will appear to
dim. If the lantern's light is really brilliant, the light
of the candle won't even appear. If we aren't observant, we
may think that the candle isn't shedding any light at all,
but actually it's giving off as much light as before, only
now no one pays it any attention. So it is with the mind
that has reached radiant nibbana, which obliterates
the light of the sun and moon, and wipes from the heart the
glittering appeal of heaven and the Brahma worlds. This is
why nibbana is said to be zero or void: None of the
three worlds appears as a preoccupation of the heart; the
heart no longer entangles itself. It zeroes itself from the
world, i.e., it no longer takes part in birth, aging,
illness, and death.
Nibbana
is something genuine and unchanging. It knows nothing of
deterioration. It always stays as it is. As long as there is
birth, aging, illness, and death, there will always be
nibbana, because birthlessness comes from birth, and
deathlessness lies buried in the very midst of dying. The
problem, then, lies with those who don't lay the ground-work
for realizing nibbana. Nibbana doesn't
vacillate back and forth, but most people who practice
virtue, concentration, and discernment do. Just like a man
who is going to walk to a city but, when he gets halfway
there, turns back: Normally he should reach the city in
thirty days, but if he walks back and forth like this even
for three years, he'll never get there. And when he doesn't
reach the city, if he were then to go telling people that it
doesn't exist, he would be making a serious mistake.
So it is with
people who practice virtue, concentration, and discernment
in half measures, back and forth, and when they don't gain
Awakening go telling others that nibbana is null
and void, that the Buddha took it with him when he died.
This is very wrong. We can make a comparison with a field
where our parents have raised rice and always gotten a good
crop. If they die, and our own laziness fills their place so
that we don't do the work, we're bound to go hungry. And
once we're hungry, can we then say that our parents took the
rice or the field with them? In the same way, nibbana
is there, but if we don't assemble the causes for realizing
it and then go denying its existence, you can imagine for
yourself how much harm we're doing.
If we haven't
yet reached or realized nibbana, there's nothing
extraordinary about it. But once we have come close to
nibbana, the world will appear as if full of vipers and
masses of fire. The palaces and mansions of heavenly beings,
if you can see them, will look like the hovels of outcastes.
You won't be attracted to living in them, because you've
already known nibbana.
Nibbana
is nothing else but this ordinary heart, freed from all the
effluents of defilement so that it reaches its primal
nature. The primal nature of the heart is something that
doesn't take birth, age, grow ill, or die. What takes birth
is the act of falling for preoccupations. The heart's nature
is clear and shining, but unawareness keeps it clouded and
opaque. But even on the physical level to say nothing of
the heart if someone were to come along and say that the
water in the ocean is clear by nature, that a person with
any intelligence could see the ocean floor, you'd have a
hard time trying to find anyone to believe him. But what he
says is true. There are plenty of reasons why we can't see
the ocean floor the dust and minute particles floating in
the water, the wind and the sea creatures that interact with
the water but if you could get someone to eliminate these
factors so that there would be nothing but the nature of the
water, it would be crystal clear. You could tell at a glance
how deep or shallow the ocean was without having to waste
your time diving and groping around. So it is with the
heart: If our hearts are still ignorant, we shouldn't go
groping elsewhere for nibbana. Only if we cleanse our
own hearts will we be able to see it.
People who
meditate are by and large extremely prone to conjecture and
speculation, judging nibbana to be like this or that,
but actually there's nothing especially deep, dark, or
mysterious about it. What makes nibbana seem
mysterious is our own lack of discernment. Nibbana is
always present, along with the world. As long as the world
exists, there will always be nibbana. But if no one
explores the truth of nibbana, it will appear
mysterious and far away. And once we give rise to our own
misunderstandings, we're bound to start formulating notions
that nibbana is like this or like that. We may decide
that nibbana is extinguished; that nibbana is
null and void; that nibbana has no birth, aging,
illness, or death; that nibbana is the self; or that
nibbana is not-self. Actually, each of these
expressions is neither right nor wrong. Right and wrong
belong to the person speaking, because nibbana is
something untouched by supposing. No matter what anyone may
call it, it simply stays as it is. If we were to call it
heaven or a Brahma world, it wouldn't object, just as we
suppose names for "sun" and "moon": If we were to call them
stars or clouds or worlds or jewels, whatever they really
are stays as it is; they aren't transformed by our words. At
the same time, they themselves don't announce that they are
sun or moon or anything. They are thiti-dhamma they
simply are what they are.
So it is with
the pure heart that we call nibbana. No matter what
we call it, it simply stays as it is. Thus we say that with
nibbana there is no right and no wrong. Right and
wrong belong to the person speaking. People who don't know
drag out their right and wrong to talk about. Nibbana
is something known exclusively through the heart. Words and
deeds aren't involved. Our talking is merely a matter of the
path. The result, once attained, is something completely
apart. We thus call it release (vimutti) because it's
untouched by supposing, attaining a nature that is pure
heartwood: the heart that neither spins forward nor back,
the heart that attains a quality that doesn't develop or
deteriorate, come or go. It stays as it is what we suppose
as thiti-dhamma, free from the germs of defilement our
very own heart, i.e., the heart's primal nature.
Actually, the
heart is pure by nature, but various moods and objects
various preoccupations are mixed up with it. Once these
preoccupations are cleaned out, there you are: nibbana.
To know nibbana clearly is nothing other than knowing
how this one heart takes its preoccupations as itself. The
heart by nature is one, but if it hasn't been trained by
discernment, it tends to go streaming toward preoccupations,
both within and without, and then we say that this state of
mind differs from that state of mind, and so they begin to
multiply until they are so many that we give up trying to
look after them all. They seem many because we count each
preoccupation as a state of the mind itself. The problem is
that we don't understand the teachings of the ancient
philosophers, and so think that the mind can be called many.
Take a simple example: Suppose a person has many jobs.
Sometimes he sells, so he's called a merchant. If he also
grows rice, he's called a farmer. If he works for the King,
he's called a government official. If he acquires rank, he's
called by his rank. Actually he's only one person, and none
of his titles are wrong. They've been given to him simply in
line with the work he does. But anyone who didn't understand
would think that this man was an awful lot of people.
Another
comparison: When a person is born, we call it a baby. When
it gets older, we call it a child. When it gets still older,
we call it a young man or a young lady, and when its hair
gets gray and its teeth break, we call it Grandma or Gramps.
What gives rise to all these names? One and the same person.
So it is with the mind that is supposed to be many. We don't
understand what the words are supposed to mean, so we go
groping around after our own shadows. When this is the case,
we find it hard to practice. We don't understand the states
of mind that have been supposed into being, and so don't see
the mind that is released, untouched by supposing.
When the mind
is said to have many states, this is what is meant:
Sometimes the mind takes on passion; this is called
saraga-citta, a passionate mind. Sometimes it takes on
irritation and aversion; this is called sadosa-citta,
an angry mind. Sometimes it takes on a deluded state as
itself; this is called samoha-citta, a deluded mind.
These states are all on the unwise side, and are termed
akusala-citta, unskillful mental states. As for the good
side: vitaraga-citta, the mind has reached
satisfaction and so its desires fade; vitadosa-citta,
the mind has had enough and so its anger disappears;
vitamoha-citta, the mind is bright and so withdraws from
its dullness, just as the sun or moon withdraws from an
eclipse and is bright and clear. These are termed
kusala-citta, skillful mental states.
Some people at
this point think that there are six states to the mind, or
even six minds. The true nature of the mind, though, is one.
To count six states or six minds is to count the
preoccupations; the primal mind is radiant. We take a few
things to be many, and so end up poor, just as when a
foolish or poor person thinks that a thousand baht is a lot
of money. An intelligent or rich person, though, realizes
that it's just a little: You can spend it all in two days. A
fool, however, would think that a thousand baht would make
him rich, and so he'll have to continue being poor. So it is
if we see our one mind as many: We'll have to be poor
because we'll be at our wits' end trying to train it.
The nature of
the mind that is clear and one is like clean, clear water
that has been mixed with different colors in different
bottles. We may call it red water, yellow water, green
water, etc., but the water itself is still clear as it
always was. If a fool comes along and falls for the colors,
he wants to taste them all. He may drink five bottles, but
they'll all be just like the first. If he knows beforehand
that it's all the same water, he won't feel any desire to
waste his time drinking this or that bottle. All he has to
do is taste one bottle, and that'll be enough. So it is with
the mind: If we realize that the mind is in charge and is
the determining factor in all good and evil and in the
attainment of nibbana, we won't feel any desire to go
saying that the mind is like this or like that. The mind
seems to be many because it gets entangled in various
preoccupations, and when these preoccupations dye the mind,
we count them as states of the mind itself.
The pure nature
of the heart and mind is like the sun, which shines every
day throughout the year but is concealed by clouds during
the rainy season. Those who don't know its nature then say
that the sun isn't shining. This is wrong. Their vision
can't penetrate the clouds, and so they find fault with the
sun. They suppose that the darkness of the clouds belongs to
the sun, get stuck on their own supposings, and so don't
reach the truth. The true nature of the sun is always
bright, no matter what the season. If you don't believe me,
ask an airplane pilot. If you go up past the clouds in an
airplane on a dark rainy day, you'll know whether the sun is
in fact dark or shining.
So it is with
the mind: No matter how it may be behaving, its nature is
one radiant and clear. If we lack discernment and skill,
we let various preoccupations come flowing into the mind,
which lead it to act sometimes wisely and sometimes not
and then we designate the mind according to its behavior.
Since there is
one mind, it can have only one preoccupation. And if it has
only one preoccupation, then there shouldn't be too much
difficulty in practicing so as to know its truth. Even
though the mind may seem to have many preoccupations, they
don't come all at once in a single instant. They have to
pass by one at a time. A good mood enters as a bad one
leaves; pleasure enters, pain leaves; ingenuity enters,
stupidity, leaves; darkness enters, brightness leaves. They
keep trading places without let-up. Mental moments, though,
are extremely fast. If we aren't discerning, we won't be
able to know our own preoccupations. Only after they've
flared up and spread to affect our words and deeds are we
usually aware of them.
Normally this
one mind is very fast. Just as when we turn on a light: If
we don't look carefully, the light seems to appear, and the
darkness to disperse, the very instant we turn on the
switch. This one mind, when it changes preoccupations, is
that fast. This one mind is what leads to various states of
being because our preoccupations get into the act so that
we're entangled and snared.
It's not the
case that one person will have many minds. Say that a person
goes to heaven: He goes just to heaven. Even if he is to go
on to other levels of being, he has to pass away from heaven
first. It's not the case that he'll go to heaven, hell, and
the Brahma worlds all at the same time. This goes to show
that the mind is one. Only its thoughts and preoccupations
change.
The
preoccupations of the mind come down simply to physical and
mental phenomena that change, causing the mind to experience
birth in various states of being. Since the mind lacks
discernment and doesn't know the true nature of its
preoccupations, it gropes about, experiencing death and
rebirth in the four modes of generation (yoni). If
the mind has the discernment to know its preoccupations and
let go of them all without remainder, leaving only the
primal nature of the heart that doesn't fall for any
preoccupation on the levels of sensuality, form, or
formlessness, it will be able to gain release from suffering
and stress. "Once the mind is fully matured by means of
virtue, concentration and discernment, it gains complete
release from the effluents of defilement."
Khandha-kamo
desire for the five aggregates is over and done with.
Bhava-kamo desire for the three levels of being (the
sensual plane, the plane of form, and the plane of
formlessness) disbands and disperses. The three levels of
being are essentially only two: the aggregate of physical
phenomena, which includes the properties of earth, water,
fire and wind; and the aggregates of mental phenomena, which
include feelings, labels, fashionings, and consciousness
in short, the phenomena that appear in the body and heart
or, if you will, the body and mind. Physical phenomena are
those that can be seen with the eye. Mental phenomena are
those that can't be seen with the eye, but can be sensed
only through the heart and mind. Once we can distinguish
these factors and see how they're related, we will come to
see the truth of the aggregates: They are stress,
they are the cause of stress, they are the path.
Once we understand them correctly, we can deal with them
properly. Whether they arise, fade, or vanish, we won't if
we have any discernment latch onto them with any false
assumptions. The mind will let go. It will simply know,
neutral and undisturbed. It won't feel any need to worry
about the conditions or behavior of the aggregates, because
it sees that the aggregates can't be straightened out. Even
the Buddha didn't straighten out the aggregates. He simply
let them go, in line with their own true nature.
The heart is
what creates the substance of the aggregates. If you try to
straighten out the creations, you'll never be done with
them. If you straighten out the creator, you'll have the job
finished in no time. When the heart is clouded with dullness
and darkness, it creates aggregates or physical and mental
phenomena as its products, to the point where the birth,
aging, illness, and death of the aggregates become
absolutely incurable unless we have the wisdom to leave
them alone in line with their own nature. In other words, we
shouldn't latch onto them.
This is
illustrated in the Canon, where the Buddha says in some
passages that he is free from birth, aging, illness, and
death. If we read further, though, we'll notice that his
body grew old, ill and then died; his mental activity ended.
This shows that the aggregates should be left alone.
Whatever their nature may be, don't try to resist it or go
against it. Keep your mind neutral and aware. Don't go
latching onto the various preoccupations which arise, age,
grow ill and vanish, as pertaining to the self. If you can
do this, you're practicing correctly. Aim only at the purity
of the one heart that doesn't die.
The heart that
is clouded with dullness and darkness lacks a firm base and
so drifts along, taking after the aggregates. When they take
birth, it thinks that it's born; when they age, it thinks
that it's aged; when they grow ill and disband, it gets
mixed up along with them and so experiences stress and pain,
its punishment for drifting along in the wake of its
supposings.
If the mind
doesn't drift in this way, there is only the disbanding of
stress. The cause of stress and the path disband as well,
leaving only the nature that doesn't die: "buddha," a mind
that has bloomed and awakened. For the mind to bloom, it
needs the fertilizer of virtue and concentration. For it to
awaken and come to its senses, it needs discernment. The
fertilizer of concentration is composed of the exercises of
tranquillity and insight meditation. The mind then gains
all-around discernment with regard to the aggregates
seeing the pain and harm they bring and so shakes itself
free and keeps its distance, which is why the term "arahant"
is also translated as "one who is distant." In other words,
the mind has had enough. It has had its fill. It is no
longer flammable, i.e., it offers no fuel to the fires of
passion, aversion, and delusion, which are now dispersed
once and for all through the power of discernment.
This is the
supreme nibbana. Birth has been absolutely destroyed,
but nibbana isn't annihilation. Nibbana is the
name for what still remains: the primal heart. So why isn't
it called the heart? Because it's now a heart with no
preoccupations. Just as with the names we suppose for "tree"
and "steel": If the tree is cut, they call it "lumber." If
it's made into a house, they call it "home." If it's made
into a place to sit, they call it a "chair." You never see
anyone who would still call it a "tree." The same with
steel: Once it's been made into a car or a knife, we call it
a "car" or a "knife." You never see anyone who would still
call it a "steel." But even though they don't call it a
steel, the steel is still there. It hasn't run off anywhere.
It's still steel just as it always was.
So it is with
the heart when the expert craftsman, discernment, has
finished training it: We call it nibbana. We don't
call it by its old name. When we no longer call it the
"heart," some people think that the heart vanishes, but
actually it's simply the heart in its primal state that we
call nibbana. Or, again it's simply the heart
untouched by supposing. No matter what anyone may call it,
it simply stays as it is. It doesn't take on anyone's
suppositions at all. Just as when we correctly suppose a
diamond to be a diamond: No matter what anyone may call it,
its real nature stays as it is. It doesn't advertise itself
as a diamond. It simply is what it is. So it is with the
heart: Once it gains release, it doesn't suppose itself to
be this or that. It's still there. It hasn't been
annihilated. Just as when we call a diamond a diamond, it's
there; and when we don't call it anything, it's still there
it hasn't vanished or disappeared so it is with the hear
that is nibbana: It's there. If we call it a sun, a
moon, heaven, Brahma world, earth, water, wind, fire, woman,
man, or anything at all, it's still there, just as before.
It hasn't changed in any way. It stays as it is: one heart,
one Dhamma, free from the germs of defilement.
This is why the
truest name to suppose for it is release. What we call
heart, mind, intellect, form, feeling, labels, mental
fashionings, consciousness: All these are true as far as
supposing goes. Wherever supposing is, there release can be
found. Take a blatant example: the five aggregates. If you
look at their true nature, you'll see that they've never
said, "Look. We're aggregates," or "Look. We're the heart."
So it is with the heart that is nibbana, that has
reached nibbana: It won't proclaim itself as this or
that, which is why we suppose it to be release. Once someone
has truly reached release, that's the end of speaking.
The mouth is
closed,
Closed the world, the ocean of rebirth,
Fashionings, this mass of suffering and stress
Leaving, yes, the highest, most exalted ease,
Free from birth, aging,
Disease, and death.
This is called
niramisa-sukha, pleasure not of the flesh. Pleasures
of the flesh are dependent on defilement, craving, conceits,
and views, and are unable to let go of the elements,
aggregates, and sense media. As these sorts of pleasure
ripen, they can bring pain, just as ripe fruit or cooked
rice are near to turning rotten and moldy, or as ripening
bananas cause their tree to come crashing down so that only
birds and crows will eat them. So it is with the heart: When
it enters into its various preoccupations and takes them as
belonging to itself, it's bound for pain and suffering. Just
as when an unwary traveler leaves the road to enter the
shade of a bael tree with ripening fruits: If the wind
blows, the ripe fruits are bound to drop on his head, giving
him nothing but pain, so it is with the heart: If it doesn't
have a Dhamma, a timeless principle to give it shelter, it's
bound to be beaten and trampled by suffering and pain. (The
wind blowing through the bael tree stands for the eight ways
of the world (loka-dhamma). The bael tree stands for
the body, and the branches for the senses. The fruits are
visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations,
and ideas, which drop on the heart stupid enough to sit
preoccupied with this mass of elements, aggregates and sense
media.)
People of
wisdom are those who search for the highest form of pleasure
free from defilement, craving, conceits, and views by
cleansing the heart of all its unwise preoccupations. This
is the deathless nibbana, which the Buddha praised:
nibbanam
paramam sukham:
Nibbana
is the ultimate ease.
nibbanam
paramam suρρam:
Nibbana
is the ultimate void (i.e., void of defilement; free
from preoccupations; uninvolved with elements,
aggregates, sense media, passion, aversion, and
delusion; free from the lineage of unawareness and
craving: This is the way in which nibbana is
"void," not the way ordinary people conceive it).
nibbanam
paramam vadanti buddha:
Those who
know say that nibbana is the ultimate.
tanhaya
vippahanena nibbanam iti vuccati:
Because of
the complete abandonment of craving, it is called
nibbana.
akiρcanam
anadanam etam dipam anaparam
nibbanam iti nam brumi jara-maccu-parikkhayam
Free from
entanglements, free from attachments (that fasten and
bind), there is no better island than this. It is called
nibbana, the absolute end of aging and death.
nibbanam
yogakkhemam anuttaram:
Nibbana
is the unexcelled relief from the yoke
(of preoccupations).
etam
santam etam panitam yadidam sabba-sankhara-samatho
sabbupadi-patinissaggo tanhakkhayo virago nirodho
nibbanam:
This is
peace (from the coupling of preoccupations), this is
sublime: i.e., the stilling of all fashionings, the
relinquishment of all mental paraphernalia, the ending
of craving, the fading of passion (for attractions),
dispersal (of the darkness of unawareness), nibbana.
We who say we
are Buddhists, who believe in the teachings of the Lord
Buddha theory, practice, attainment, paths, fruitions, and
nibbana should search for techniques to rectify our
hearts through the practice of tranquillity and insight
meditation, at the same time nurturing:
conviction
in the theory, practice, and attainment taught by the
Buddha;
persistence in persevering with virtue,
concentration, and discernment until they are complete;
mindfulness so as not to be complacent or careless
in virtue, concentration, and discernment;
concentration so as to make the mind resolute and
firm, giving rise to
discernment within our hearts.
The discernment
that comes from the six teachers i.e., from the senses of
sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation is
inconstant and may leave us free to do evil again. But the
discernment that comes from concentration is capable of
doing away with the defilements that lie within. So by all
means we should show respect for the virtues of the Triple
Gem by putting them into practice so that we can taste the
nourishment of the Buddha's teachings. Don't be like the
ladle that mingles with the curry but never knows the
curry's taste. We've mingled ourselves with Buddhism, so we
should learn its taste. Don't be like the frog sitting among
the lotuses who never gets to know their scent. It sits
there pissing, its eyes all bright and wide open. A bee
comes past and it jumps Kroam! into the water: stupid,
even though its eyes are open. We human beings can really be
ignorant, even when we know better.
* * *
We've discussed
the wisdom that comes from meditation, from the beginning to
the end of the exercises of tranquillity and insight.
uttamam:
These exercises
are superlative and supreme strategies for lifting yourself
across the ocean of the world, the swirling flood of
rebirth.
samma-patirasassadam patthayante:
You who are
intent on the savor of right attainment, who desire the
happiness of nibbana, should devote yourselves to the
practices mentioned above. Don't let yourselves grow weary,
don't let yourselves be faint in the practice of these two
forms of meditation.
They are
ornaments,
the highest
adornment for the heirs of the Buddha's teaching, and are
truly worthy of constant practice.
They will form
an island,
a shore, a
refuge and a home for you. Even if you aren't yet in a
position to gain vision of nibbana in this lifetime,
they will form habits leading to progress in the future, or
may help you escape the torments of the realms of
deprivation; they will lead you to mundane happiness and
relief from the dread of sorrow. But if your perfections are
fully developed, you will gain
the heartwood
of release
release from
the five temptations of mortality (mara), release from the
range of birth, aging, illness, and death, reaching
nibbana, following the custom of the Noble Ones.
May people of
judgment consider carefully all that has been written here.
In conclusion,
may all those who read this, take it to heart and put it
into practice meet only with happiness and joy, free from
danger and fear. May you grow day and night in the practice
of the Buddha's teachings, in peace and well-being.
sangaha-ditthi:
Views have been
included
Without alluding to any claims.
Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
The Forest
Temple
Shrimp Canal
Chanthaburi
This glossary
contains Pali terms which aren't translated when they first
appear in the text, as well as terms which require further
background explanation even when they are. Dhatu in
particular is discussed at length because an acquaintance
with traditional Thai physics is needed to understand a
number of similes given in the text, even though they don't
explicitly refer to the term.
Some Pali terms
carry a weight of associations which can't be borne by
single English equivalents. In some such cases, where the
terms form the connecting thread in the discussion (e.g.,
sammati, arammana), I have used a single equivalent
throughout the text, and have given a variety of readings
here which if the reader feels inclined can be read into
the text in place of the equivalents used. In other cases
(e.g., sati, nirodha) I have used a number of
different equivalents in the text, as called for by the
context, all of which have been gathered here so that the
reader will see that they are meant to be related.
In choosing
English equivalents for the Pali terms used in the book, I
have been guided primarily by the meanings Ajaan Lee himself
gives to those terms either directly, through the way he
explains and defines them; or indirectly, through the way he
uses them. Some of these meanings differ from those
generally accepted at present, in which cases it is up to
the reader to discover which interpretations are best by
experimenting to see which is most useful in practice.
* * *
abhiρρa:
Intuitive powers which come from the practice of
concentration: the ability to display psychic powers,
clairvoyance, clairaudience, the ability to know the
thoughts of others, recollection of past lifetimes, and the
knowledge which does away with mental effluents (see
asava).
anatta:
Not-self; ownerless.
anicca(m):
Inconstant, unstable, impermanent.
anussati:
Recollection as a meditation exercise. Strictly speaking,
there are seven themes recommended for recollection: the
virtues of the Buddha, of the Dhamma, and of the Sangha;
moral virtue; generosity; the qualities which lead to
rebirth as a heavenly being; and the peace of nibbana. (This
last topic is for those who have already experienced a
glimpse of nibbana, but have not yet attained arahantship.)
In addition, the following practices are also sometimes
classified as "anussati": mindfulness of death, mindfulness
of breathing, and mindfulness immersed in the body.
apaya-bhumi:
Realms of deprivation; the four lower states of existence:
rebirth in hell, as a hungry shade, as an angry demon, or as
a common animal. In Buddhism, none of these states is
regarded as an eternal condition.
arahant:
A person who has abandoned all ten of the fetters which bind
the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see sanyojana),
whose heart is free of mental effluents (see asava),
and is thus not destined for future rebirth. As this word
bears a resemblance to the Pali word for "distant" (ara),
it is sometimes translated as "one far from evil." An
epithet for the Buddha and the highest of his Noble
Disciples.
arammana:
Preoccupation; object or issue of the will; anything the
mind takes as a theme or prop for its activity.
asava:
Mental effluent or pollutant sensuality, becoming, views,
and unawareness.
avijja:
Unawareness; ignorance; counterfeit knowledge; delusion
about the nature of the mind.
ayatana:
Sense medium. The inner sense media are the sense organs
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and intellect. The outer
sense media are their respective objects.
brahma:
"Great One" an inhabitant of the heavens of form or
formlessness.
buddho
(buddha): Awake; enlightened.
dhamma
(dharma): Event; phenomenon; the way things are in and
of themselves; their inherent qualities; the basic
principles underlying their behavior. Also, principles of
behavior which human beings should follow so as to fit in
with the right natural order of things; qualities of mind
they should develop so as to realize the inherent quality of
the mind in and of itself. By extension, "dhamma" is used to
refer also to any doctrine which teaches such things. Thus
the Dhamma of the Buddha refers to his teachings, their
practice, and to the direct experience of the quality of
nibbana at which they are aimed.
dhatu:
Element; property; potential. In the Pali Canon this word
occurs primarily in discussions of the causes of activity,
in which it forms the ultimate precondition underlying the
causal chain leading to the activity in question. The
arousal or irritation of the dhatu is what causes the
activity to take place. Thus on the psychological level, the
properties of sensuality, anger, or delusion in a person's
mind are the basic conditions underlying unwise action on
his or her part. On the level of nature at large, phenomena
such as windstorms, fires, floods, and earthquakes are
explained as resulting from the arousal of the properties of
wind, fire, and water. Such disorders cease when the
disturbed property grows calm. Thus, for instance, when the
fire property runs out of sustenance to cling to, it grows
calm and the individual fire goes out. On the level of the
human body, diseases are explained as resulting from the
aggravation of any of these properties, all of which
permeate the entire body. For example, in Thai medicine,
belching, fainting, cramps, convulsions, and paralysis are
associated with disorders of the internal wind element.
All of this
explanation may make the notion of dhatu seem rather
foreign, but when used as an object of meditation, the four
physical dhatu are simply a way of viewing the body
in impersonal, purely physical terms. they are experienced
as the elementary sensations and potentials warmth,
movement, etc. which permeate and make up the internal
sense of the body (see rupa). Thus the meditation
exercise of spreading the breath throughout the body is
simply the feeling of linking the sensations of the
in-and-out breath with the subtle sense of motion that
permeates the body at all times. The six dhatu the
four physical dhatu plus space and consciousness
constitute the elementary properties or potentials which
underlie the experience of physical and mental phenomena.
dukkha(m):
Stress; suffering; pain; discontent.
jhana:
Meditative absorption in a single object, notion or
sensation (see rupa).
kamma
(karma): Acts of intention which result in states of
being and birth. The law of kamma is the principle that a
person's own intentional acts form the power which
determines the good and evil that he or she meets with.
kasina:
An object which is stared at with the purpose of fixing an
image of it in one's consciousness and then manipulating the
image to make it fill the totality of one's awareness.
khandha:
Component parts of sensory perception; physical and mental
phenomena as they are directly experienced: rupa (see
below); vedana feelings of pleasure, pain, or
indifference which result from the mind's interaction with
its objects; saρρa labels, concepts, allusions;
sankhara (see below); and viρρana consciousness, the
acting of taking note of sense data and ideas as they occur.
lokadhamma:
Worldly phenomena fortune, loss of fortune, status, loss
of status, praise, censure, pleasure, and pain.
mara:
Temptation; mortality. The five forms in which temptation
appears, deflecting the practitioner from the path, are as:
defilement, the vicissitudes of the khandha, fear of
death, urges & habitual tendencies, and as deities.
nibbana
(nirvana): Liberation; the unbinding of the mind from
greed, anger, and delusion, from physical sensations and
mental acts. As the term is used to refer also to the
extinguishing of a fire, it carries connotations of
stilling, cooling, and peace. (According to the physics
taught at the time of the Buddha, the property of fire
exists in a latent state to a greater or lesser degree in
all objects. When activated, it seizes and sticks to its
fuel. As long as it remains latent or is extinguished, it is
"unbound.")
nimitta:
Mental sign or image. Uggaha nimitta refers to any
image which arises in the course of meditation. Paribhaga
nimitta refers to the mental manipulation of the image.
nirodha:
Disbanding; cessation; dispersal; stopping (of stress and
its causes).
paρρa:
Discernment; insight; wisdom; common sense; ingenuity.
rupa:
The basic meaning of this word is "appearance" or "form." It
is used, however, in a number of different contexts, taking
on different shades of meaning in each. In lists of the
objects of the senses, it is given as the object of the
sense of sight. As one of the khandha, it refers to
physical phenomena or sensations (visible appearance or form
being the defining characteristics of what is physical).
This is also the meaning it carries when opposed to nama,
or mental phenomena. The act of focusing on the level of
physical and mental phenomena (literally, form and name)
means focusing on the primary sensation of such phenomena in
and of themselves, before the mind elaborates on them
further. In the list, "kama, rupa, arupa" the types
of object which the mind can take as its preoccupation and
the states of being which result kama refers to
images derived from the external senses, rupa refers
to the internal sense of the form of the body, and arupa
to strictly mental phenomena. This last sense of rupa
is also what is meant in the term "rupa jhana."
samadhi:
Concentration; the act of centering the mind on a single
object.
sammati:
In Thai, the primary meaning of this word is "supposing,"
which is how it is translated here, but it also conveys the
meaning of convention (i.e., usages which are commonly
designated or agreed upon), make-believe and conjuring into
being with the mind.
sankhara:
Fashioning the forces and factors which fashion things,
the process of fashioning, and the fashioned things which
result; all things conditioned, compounded or concocted by
nature, whether on the physical or the mental level. In some
contexts this word is used as a blanket term for all five
khandha. As the fourth khandha, it refers
specifically to the fashioning or forming of urges,
thoughts, etc., within the mind.
sanyojana:
Fetters which bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth
self-identification views, uncertainty, grasping at precepts
and practices; sensual passion, irritability; passion for
form, passion for formless phenomena, conceit, restlessness
and unawareness.
sati:
Powers of reference and retention; mindfulness; composure.
In Thai, this word can also mean "restraint."
satipatthana: Frame of reference; foundation of
mindfulness body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities.
upadana:
Clinging; attachment; sustenance for becoming and birth
attachment to sensuality, to views, to precepts & practices,
and to theories of the self.
uposatha:
Observance day, corresponding to the phases of the moon, on
which Buddhist laypeople gather to listen to the Dhamma and
observe the eight precepts.
vicara:
Evaluation; investigation. A factor of rupa jhana.
vimutti:
Release; freedom from the suppositions and fabrications of
the mind.
vipassana:
Liberating insight; clear intuitive understanding of how
physical and mental phenomena are caused and experienced,
seeing them as they are, in and of themselves, arising and
passing away, in terms of the four Noble Truths and the
characteristics of inconstancy, stress, and lack of self.
vitakka:
Thinking about an object; keeping an object in mind. A
factor of rupa jhana.
yoni:
Mode of generation. In the Pali Canon, four modes of
generation are listed: birth from a womb, birth from an egg,
birth from moisture, and spontaneous appearance (this last
refers to the birth of heavenly beings).
If anything in
this translation is inaccurate or misleading, I ask
forgiveness of the author and reader for having unwittingly
stood in their way. As for whatever may be accurate, I hope
the reader will make the best use of it, translating it a
few steps further, into the heart, so as to attain the truth
at which it points.
The translator
Sabbe satta
sada hontu
avera sukha-jivino
katam puρρa-phalam mayham
sabbe bhagi bhavantu te
May all beings
always live happily,
free from enmity.
May all share in the blessings
springing from the good I have done.
