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The little book you are
now holding in your hand grew from the faith and
conviction of a Westerner of Jewish extraction, named
Dr. Philip, who came to study Buddhism in Thailand in
1963, when I was staying on Phuket Island. He practiced
meditation with me for a full six months and seemed to
develop not only peace of mind but also a great
appreciation for Buddhism's worth. Before returning to
Hawaii, he asked me to jot down a few short, simple
points for him to take and continue practicing, so I
wrote down ten points. Afterwards, I learned that he had
had them printed abroad in a periodical whose name slips
my mind at the moment.
The thought has occurred
to me that this little book might be of use to those who
are interested in practicing meditation, as it is small,
easy to carry and read through quickly without taxing
the brain. So I have edited it, polishing the style and
adding more points -- in particular,
point 11 and onwards (i.e., how to deal with visions
and signs in meditation) -- in order to make the book
more complete, fit to be a guide to the practice of
meditation: showing the worth of meditation, the way to
meditate, which ways of meditation are right, which are
wrong, and in detail how to correct those things that
should be corrected in the practice. I hope this little
book will be of use to those who are interested.
If anything written here
deviates from the truth, I ask for all the
responsibility to be placed on me alone, as I still lack
experience in terms of education, practice, writing
skills, and knowledge of many fields. If knowledgeable
people should come across this book, I would be very
grateful if they would correct and enlighten me.
A basic tenet of the
Buddha's teachings is that the mind and body work
together, but that the body lies under the control of
the mind. The mind is what orders the body to do this or
that activity, but when the body wears down, the mind is
of necessity put to some hardship as well. It doesn't
lie under the control of the nervous system, although
the brain can be regarded as a central office. When the
body dies, disintegrating in line with the nature of its
various elements, the mind -- if the necessary
conditions of unawareness, craving, attachment, and
kamma are still present -- will have to reappear in this
or that plane of existence and to continue experiencing
suffering and stress.
In order to do away with
unawareness, craving, attachment, and kamma -- which are
the chief instigators -- we must first of all practice
abandoning the elementary evils of word and deed by
observing the principles of morality corresponding to
our station in life. In other words, lay people should
observe the five precepts and, periodically, the eight
precepts; novices should observe the ten or the twenty
precepts; and monks, all 227 precepts of the basic
monastic code, together with the principles of pure
livelihood, restraint of the senses, and proper use of
the requisites of life as formulated by the Buddha.
As long as your precepts
aren't being kept pure, your mind isn't yet ready for
training. Even if it is trained, its training won't lead
to progress and development in the Dhamma, for its
foundations aren't yet firm enough to advance along the
Noble Path -- and we can say that it hasn't yet reached
the refuge of the Triple Gem (ti-ratana). A true
Buddhist must before all else be firmly based in the
Triple Gem and the principles of morality.
The Noble Eightfold Path
and the three teachings at the heart of Buddhism -- the
avoidance of all evil, the perfection of skillfulness,
and the purification the heart -- have to be established
first on the principles of morality. This is why, for
the Buddha's teachings, morality forms the beginning of
the religious life.
The next step is to
train the mind to develop concentration (samadhi)
and absorption (jhana) through the practice of
tranquillity meditation. Once the mind is adept at
maintaining a steady focus, we can then develop clear
insight (vipassana) based on an understanding of
the Three Characteristics of inconstancy, stress, and
not-self. This will lead us to pure knowledge and vision
of things as they actually are, and thus to release from
all things detrimental and defiling.
For Buddhism, the true
aim in developing concentration and absorption is to
gather one's mental energies and make them steady and
strong in a single point. This then forms the basis for
the knowledge and discernment capable of gaining true
insight into all conditions of nature and eliminating
all that is detrimental and defiling from the heart.
Thus, stillness of mind is developed not simply for
other, external purposes, such as the various fields of
science. Instead, it's meant specifically for use in
cleansing the heart of such defilements as the five
Hindrances (nivarana). But when you have
practiced to the point of proficiency, you can use your
stillness of mind in any way you like, as long as that
use isn't detrimental to yourself or to others.
In training the mind --
which is a mental phenomenon -- material objects such as
chains and leashes are of no use. The mind has to be
trained by tutoring it, first by listening to the
explanations of those who are already skilled, and then
by being determined to practice in line with those
explanations, basing your initial efforts on a sense of
trust and conviction if your own independent
explorations into cause and effect don't succeed.
By and large, people who
start out by exploring cause and effect on their own
don't reach their desired goal because they lack the
proper approach. They miss the true path, tending
instead to be biased in favor of their own opinions. To
develop first a sense of trust in the individual giving
the training and in the practices in which one is being
trained until the mind is firm and unwavering, and
then to begin exploring and figuring things out, in
line with the way they really are: This is what will
give satisfactory results.
This is because any
beginning exploration of cause and effect is usually a
matter of looking at things from the outside, following
external influences -- i.e., "This person says that...
That person says this." But to investigate and explore
cause and effect exclusively within the bounds of the
body -- i.e., "What is this body of mine made of? How
does it come about so that its parts are complete and
able to perform their functions well? What is it to be
used for? What keeps it going? Is its fate to develop or
to deteriorate? Is it really mine?" -- and then, going
on to mental phenomena -- "Do greed, anger, delusion,
love, hatred, and so forth, arise at the body or at the
mind? What do they come from? When they arise, are they
pleasant or stressful?" -- to reason and explore things
strictly internally in this way is, in and of itself,
training the mind.
But if your stillness of
mind isn't yet strong enough, don't go reasoning in line
with the books you may have read or the things you may
have heard other people say, because even though you may
think things through, it won't lead you to the truth. In
other words, it won't lead you to a sense of dispassion
and detachment. So instead, explore and investigate
things in line with the causes and effects that actually
arise from the mind in the present.
The mind investigating
and figuring things out in line with its own personal
reasonings in this way will tend to focus exclusively on
examining a single spot in a single object. This is
called one-pointed concentration. This is a gathering of
the mind's energies so that they have great strength,
able to uproot attachments -- mistaken assumptions --
and to cleanse the mind so that it is, for the moment,
bright and clear. At the very least, you will experience
peace -- an extreme sense of well-being in body and mind
-- and perhaps knowledge of one sort or another:
knowledge of a strange and striking sort, for it arises,
not from mental imaginings, but from the causes and
effects of the truth acting in the present, in a way
that has never happened before. Even if it is knowledge
of something you may have suspected all along, only now
is it your own, making your mind bright, driving away
all doubt and uncertainty about matters that may have
been occupying your thoughts. You will say to yourself
with a sense of deep satisfaction and relief, "So
that's how it is!"
Those whose
sensitivities are dull, though, won't be convinced and
delighted with their knowledge until someone else
confirms it or they see teachings of the Buddha in books
bearing witness to what they have learned. This is in
line with the fact that the Buddha's followers are of
various sorts.
This type of knowledge
-- no matter how much or how wide-ranging it is -- won't
weigh on your nerves. On the contrary, it's a form of
calm and true well-being that will greatly brighten and
refresh your nerves. At the same time, it will refine
your mind and manners in a way that will be very
inspiring to others. Whatever you say or do, you will do
mindfully, with hardly any careless lapses. Once this
happens to you, you should then try to maintain all
these traits and not grow careless or complacent.
These are all individual
matters and won't occur in every case. But at any rate,
when you have trained the mind as explained above, even
if you don't gain the results in full measure, you will
still experience a striking sense of peace and
well-being in proportion to the extent of your own
individual practice. You should then try to maintain
this mental state. Don't let feelings of greed or
desire, disappointment or dejection arise. Keep the mind
neutral and continue practicing as I have explained from
the beginning, with a sense of trust and conviction. Be
mindful, careful, and observant at every stage of your
practice, and you will then meet with the results you
hope for.
If training the mind in
line with points
4 and
5 doesn't produce results, then gather your
awareness and focus it firmly with a single object or
mental image as its target. For example, focus on an
aspect of the body -- the bones or one of its internal
organs -- so as to see its objectionable nature. Or you
may simply focus the mind on bare awareness itself --
for the mind is something that can't be seen with the
physical eyes. If it isn't focused on a single spot, you
won't know whether or not it's present. The mind is like
the wind: If the wind doesn't come into contact with
anything, you won't know whether or not it's there.
So it is with the mind.
If a new trainee doesn't have a target for the mind, he
or she won't really be able to catch hold of the mind.
But please don't choose anything outside of the body as
your target. Make your target -- i.e., the object of the
mind -- an aspect of the body, as already mentioned. And
when you take aim, focus on a single object which seems
right for you. Don't be greedy, first taking some of
this and then a little of that.
In focusing, examine the
object in line with the principles of the foundations of
mindfulness (satipatthana). In other words, sort
out the body's various aspects until you can see, "This
isn't me. This isn't myself."
There are two ways of
doing the focused examination that prompts this
realization:
a.
When focused exclusively on the target, don't give any
thought to what the target is or who is focusing. Let
there simply be awareness and the act of focusing. Don't
let there be any naming or labeling of anything at all.
There will simply be the single sensation that makes you
feel that you are sticking with the target, but don't
think about what the target is.
b.
When focused exclusively on the target, at the same time
keep yourself aware that, "This is the target of the
mind. This is the mind examining. This is mindfulness,
i.e., the act of remembering to keep the target in mind.
This is discernment, which sees into the truth of the
object under consideration."
Both methods work,
although method (a) is suited for beginners and those
whose sensitivities are not yet developed, while method
(b) is suited for those who are sensitive and
experienced. Both methods, though, if you practice them
diligently, give rise to the same results, namely
concentration and discernment.
In training the mind as
explained above, no matter which method you choose,
please don't let yourself wonder about whether or not
you're going to attain concentration and discernment.
And put aside all desires based on the various rumors
and reports that get passed around by word of mouth.
Just follow correctly the method mentioned in
point 6, and you'll be doing fine.
At the same time,
observe the approach you've taken to see how you brought
the mind to the object, how you maintained mindfulness,
and what happened to the mind as a result. If acting in
that particular manner made the mind open and bright,
keep at it until you're adept and able to do it all the
time. But if the results weren't like that, i.e., just
the opposite, then without delay use your powers of
observation, in the way already mentioned, to make
adjustments and corrections.
In observing how the
mind behaves under training, some people will be able to
observe their state of mind while the mind is still in
that state; others, only after the mind has withdrawn
from that state and stopped still for a moment. Both
ways work. They are simply a matter of individual
temperament. But if you don't use your powers of
observation at all, progress in mental training will be
hard to achieve and -- even if you do happen to achieve
it -- hard to maintain.
While you are training
the mind, one thing -- strange and striking -- may occur
without your intending it. That is, the mind will
withdraw from its external objects and gather into a
single whole, letting go of all labels and attachments
dealing with past or future. There will be just bare
awareness paired with its preoccupation in the present.
This is something with no sense of "inside" or "outside"
-- a condition whose features are peculiar to the mind
itself. It is as if everything has undergone a
revolution.
This is the mind coming
to its own level: the bhavanga. In this moment,
everything has reference only to the mind. Even though
life may still be going on, the mind when it reaches
this level lets go of all attachments to the body, and
goes inward to experience nothing but its own object,
all by itself. This is termed bhava-citta, the
mind on its own level. The mind on its own level still
has a refined version of the five khandhas
complete within it, and so can still experience birth
and states of becoming, and give rise to continued
births in the future.
Reaching this state is
somewhat like dozing off and dreaming. The difference
depends on how much alertness there is. Those who are
collected and perceptive will -- when the event first
occurs -- be aware of what is happening and what they
are experiencing, and so won't get excited or upset.
Those who are gullible and not very mindful, though,
will be just like a person who dozes off and dreams.
When they come to, they will tend to be startled or get
misled by the visions they may happen to see. But when
they have trained themselves until they are skilled at
giving rise to this state often, their sense of
mindfulness will improve and their various visions will
go away. Gradually they will gain insight until they see
into natural conditions as they actually are.
The phenomenon discussed
in
point 8 -- even though it doesn't give rise to
discernment capable of exploring into the patterns of
cause and effect in a wide-ranging way -- is still a
preliminary stage in training the mind. It can suppress
the five Hindrances and at the same time give rise to a
sense of peace and well-being in the present. If it is
properly developed so that it doesn't deteriorate, it
will lead to a good rebirth in the future, in line with
one's karmic background.
Incidentally, when
visions and signs of various sorts appear, it's usually
in the mental moment we are discussing here. But this
doesn't mean that when the mind reaches this stage there
will have to be visions or signs in every case. With
some people and at some times, they will occur. With
others and at other times, they won't. This is another
matter of individual temperament -- and of other factors
as well.
To be perfectly
truthful, when it comes to the question of visions and
signs that arise in the course of meditation, you can
say that they're good only in the case of meditators who
are quick-witted and astute enough to see through them;
who -- when they see visions -- don't fall for them or
latch onto them as being the self or as really belonging
to themselves. They see the visions simply as visions,
enough to use them as tools or a temporary dwelling
place for the mind, and then let them go.
As for people who aren't
especially mindful or alert -- and who are gullible to
boot -- when a vision arises they will get extremely
excited and may even become so deluded as to lose touch
with reality because they believe the vision to
something real and true. (I will discuss how to deal
with visions and signs in
point 11, below.)
In addition, people who
have trained their minds to this stage are usually
stubborn and bull-headed in their opinions, due to their
strength of mind. When they think about something, they
tend to see it from one side only. They won't easily
give any heed to the opinions of others, because they
believe that their own opinions are perfectly reasonable
and trustworthy -- even though their opinions are
actually self-serving and very much lacking in reason,
and can easily pervert the way they see things.
But at any rate, whether
or not visions and signs arise, they're not really what
you want here, because aside from being defilements,
clouding your discernment, they are also obstacles to
the development of clear insight. The aim of training
the mind is to let go of the five Hindrances and then to
examine the khandhas so that they become clear,
to see them as they actually are to the point where you
grow disenchanted with them, loosen your passion and
fascination with them, and let them go, never to enter
into and take hold of them again.
When you have trained
the mind to be firmly enough established in absorption
and concentration to suppress the five Hindrances, then
you should work at developing clear insight. Actually,
clear insight may arise at the same time you are working
on tranquillity. In other words, discernment may
brighten so as to know and see clearly the truth that
all conditioned things (sankhara) that arise are
bound to disintegrate and pass away. They can't last.
They aren't "me" or "myself," but are simply natural
conditions acting on their own.
When this sort of
knowledge arises, it will make the mind become
disenchanted and dispassionate towards to all
conditioned things. The mind will dwell entirely in a
state of matured and chastened dispassion, no matter
what it sees or hears, and no matter where. This is
called clear insight occurring together with
tranquillity.
If, however, insight
doesn't arise in this way, then when you have practiced
tranquillity meditation until the mind is firmly
established, then you can select either a part of the
body -- such as the bones or the intestines -- or else a
topic that's occupying your thoughts at the moment, and
examine it so as to see that all the things which the
mind fastens onto as stable and real, as leading to true
happiness, actually fall under the sway of the Three
Characteristics. The way we assume things, saying, "This
is this, and that is that," in line with our imaginings,
is not in any way true. All conditioned things simply
arise from their causes: unawareness, craving,
attachment, and kamma. When their causes are exhausted,
they disband of their own accord. No one forces them to
disband. Even the body we are living in is able to
survive only in dependence on causes, such as breath and
food. When these things are exhausted, the body has no
meaning at all.
When you examine things
in this way, using the power of a fully concentrated
mind, you will reach the goal of the mind's training.
The light of discernment will arise, complete with the
insight into cause and effect you have discovered
totally on your own. This is something that arises not
from appropriating labels or theories remembered from
other people, but from realizing the causes and effects
entirely within your own heart. The mind will never
again be deluded into becoming attached, passionate,
pleased, or displeased with any conditioned thing at
all.
Incidentally, we can say
that if the mind hasn't truly and clearly seen into the
object of its meditation, then it hasn't really yet
gathered itself together and settled down. But the
reason why the training of the mind isn't called insight
meditation before this point is because discernment is
still weak in terms of cause and effect, and lacks
circumspection.
To summarize: The
purification of our words and deeds has to begin with
training in moral virtue. The purification of the mind
has to begin with training in tranquillity --
concentration and absorption -- until the mind has
enough strength to suppress the five Hindrances. When
the mind is adept at concentration and absorption, able
to enter, withdraw, and stay in place at will, then
discernment -- the light of knowledge seeing into the
truth of all natural conditions (sabhava dhamma),
together with the causes for their arising and passing
away -- will arise in a remarkable way.
This sort of knowledge
may arise only to certain individuals in certain
circumstances. But in any case, those who have trained
their minds to this level should realize that a mind
that has reached this point is fit to be trained to give
rise to clear insight. They should thus take any aspect
of the body or any mental phenomenon that occupies their
thoughts, and examine it from the standpoint of the
Three Characteristics, as explained above. Then they too
will develop the light of insight, seeing clearly into
all conditioned things -- and be able to uproot
attachments to physical and mental phenomena of every
sort.
Even though the mind is
intangible, it has influence over the body and all
things in the world. It is capable of bringing
everything in the world under its power. Still, it isn't
so vicious or savage as to lack all sense of good and
evil. When a person of good intentions trains the mind
to enter correctly into the path of the Buddha's
teachings as explained above, it will be tractable and
quick to learn, developing the wisdom to bring the body,
which may be behaving without any principles, back into
line. In addition, it can cleanse itself to be bright
and clean, free from defilements, able to realize by
itself truths that are subtle and profound, and to bring
dazzling light into this world so dark with blindness.
This is because the true
substance of the mind has been, from the very beginning,
something bright and clear. But because of the
preoccupations that have seeped into it and clouded it,
the brightness of the mind has been temporarily
darkened, making the world dark as well. If the mind
were originally dark, there probably wouldn't be anyone
able to cleanse it to the point where it could give rise
to the light of discernment at all.
So whether the world
is to be dark or bright, whether it is to experience
well-being or suffering, depends on the mind of each
individual.
We as individuals should thus first train our own minds
well, and then train the minds of others. The world will
then be free from turmoil.
he visions and signs
that arise from the practice of meditation are a strange
and uncanny affair. They may delude a gullible person of
weak judgment into being so convinced of their truth as
to lose touch with reality. For this reason, those who
practice meditation should be cautious, examining and
reflecting on them carefully, as I will now explain.
The signs arising from
meditation are of two sorts: visions and signs.
a.
Visions: Sometimes, when the mind gathers itself into
its own level while we are considering our own body to
see its unattractiveness, we will see the body as
completely foul and decomposing, or as nothing more than
a skeleton or a pile of ashes, etc. There are cases
where this has caused people to become so repelled that
they commit suicide.
In other cases, visions
of divine beings or of hell and hungry shades may
sometimes appear.
b.
As for signs: When the mind gathers, as already
mentioned, a whispering voice may appear. It may be the
voice of a person we respect, telling us to examine a
particular truth, or to beware of a coming event; or
else it may be the voice of an enemy who means to harm
us, appearing to us just before he/she will come to do
us harm -- which shows how the mental currents of
different individuals impinge on one another. On the
other hand, the same sort of thing may occur involving a
person who means us well. Sometimes an unidentified
voice may come to tell a truth that's thought-provoking
and worthy of consideration, which meditators in general
call the teachings and warnings of the Dhamma, or
abhiñña.
It's not the case that
visions and signs will occur to all meditators. With
some people, no matter how refined a level their minds
attain, visions and signs won't appear. With others, the
mind may gather in a flash for a brief moment, and all
sorts of visions and signs will appear. (Be careful not
to concoct too many, though.) This depends on the
individual's temperament. With people who are gullible
and don't give much thought to what is reasonable,
visions and signs tend to occur quickly and grow all out
of bounds, to the point where they can lose their
bearings. So treat them with caution.
Question:
Are visions and signs true?
Answer:
Sometimes yes and sometimes no, because they arise
exclusively from jhana, and jhana is a
mundane phenomenon -- and thus undependable. That is to
say, they arise to a person practicing meditation whose
mind gathers into the bhavanga without knowing
what level it has reached or how it focused on,
examined, and put down its object. Visions and signs,
whether or not they arise intentionally, are composed of
a great deal of mental concocting and attachment, and
are therefore unreliable -- because the visions and
signs arising when the mind is in the bhavanga
are like the dreams of a person who lies down to sleep
or simply dozes off. By and large, when they first
occur, there tends to be some truth to them, but not
much.
Question:
Is jhana mundane or transcendent?
Answer:
Jhana has only twelve or thirteen component
factors, and they are entirely mundane. But if the
person entering jhana is a Noble One using it as
a tool or a dwelling place for the mind, then he or she
will be able to use this mundane jhana at will,
and dependably as well -- like an expert sharpshooter as
opposed to a person just learning how to shoot; or like
a king, whose sword is part of his regalia, as opposed
to a commoner, whose sword is just a sword.
Question:
Are visions and signs a good thing?
Answer:
Only for a person who knows how to make use of them in
the proper way, without being taken in by them or
attached to them. They aren't good for a person who
doesn't know how to use them properly, who gets taken in
by them, believing them to be true. Once attachment
latches on, the act of mental concoction can make these
visions and signs proliferate to the point where a
meditator may lose control over his or her sense of
reality. So they should be treated with caution and
care, as I will now explain.
Visions and signs arise
from the power of mundane jhana and are sustained
by attachment and mental concocting. They thus fall
under the Three Characteristics: They're inconstant --
they can't last; they're stressful; and they're not-self
-- i.e., they aren't yours or anyone else's. They are
conditions that do nothing but constantly arise and fall
away in their own way at all times. Examine them to see
their true nature in this way and then let them go.
Don't be deluded into latching onto visions and signs,
which are the results. Instead, work at the cause,
jhana, so that you become more and more adept to the
point where you can attain it at will. The visions and
signs will then take care of themselves.
Also, learn to see the
drawbacks of visions and signs. Once they arise and we
get fooled into latching onto them, they will cause our
jhana to deteriorate, just as sound waves are an
obstacle to a person trying to quiet the mind and
explore phenomena that are subtle and deep, or as waves
in clear water prevent us from seeing our reflection on
the water's surface.
The visions and signs
that appear to a meditator just beginning to attain
jhana tend to be extraordinary and amazing. The acts
of mental grasping and concocting will tend to fasten
tightly to them, and they will be indelibly impressed on
one's inner eye. If the above methods for curing and
removing these visions and signs don't produce results,
then try not to have the mind enter jhana. In
other words, don't put your mind to it, don't let the
mind be still, don't take a liking to the visions or
signs. Sleep and eat as much as you like, perform heavy
tasks until the body is very tired, think of objects
that will give rise to defilements, such as beautiful
sights or sounds that will give rise to desire -- and
once the mind withdraws from its absorption, the visions
and signs will disappear of their own accord.
If the student meditator
can't solve the problem with these methods, then the
teacher should try to help by using the same sort of
approach. The quickest and most effective way is to find
an issue that will provoke the person attached to
visions and signs to extreme anger. The visions and
signs will immediately disappear.
The basis for giving
rise to knowledge into the Dhamma is threshold
concentration (upacara samadhi), which is of two
sorts:
a.
As a meditator is working with a particular object of
meditation, the mind will gradually withdraw from
external preoccupations and gather into one spot, right
at the mind itself, but without being completely cut off
from all objects. It is still sensing, thinking, and
considering, trying to withdraw from its very refined
object, but as yet unable to let go completely. This is
threshold concentration before reaching fixed
penetration (appana samadhi).
b.
The mind becomes more and more refined until it is able
to let go and withdraw from the object it is
considering, so that the object disappears. This is
called fixed penetration. There is full mindfulness and
alertness to a sense of emptiness, not grasping after or
fastening onto anything at all, simply partaking of its
own exclusive object. When the mind comes out of this
state and is again considering the Dhamma -- objects,
cause and effect -- this is threshold concentration
coming out of fixed penetration.
Both sorts of threshold
concentration can form a good basis for insight into
particular truths and various events, which is different
from the knowledge arising from the visions and signs
mentioned above, because visions and signs arise from
mundane jhana, whereas the knowledge we are
discussing here, even though it arises from mundane
concentration, gives more dependable results.
(Scientists use this level in doing their research.) And
if your concentration becomes transcendent, it will do
away, step by step, with all the effluents (asava)
of the mind.
In short, the knowledge
arising from visions and signs, and the knowledge
arising from threshold concentration, differ in terms
both of origin and of quality.
An item deserving a
little more explanation here is the term fixed
penetration (appana samadhi). Fixed penetration
is a superior human attainment. By and large, people who
reach fixed penetration tend to focus on the in-and-out
breath (anapana) as their object of meditation.
As they focus on the breath and come to pay attention to
its arising and falling away, or just to its falling
away, the mind gradually becomes more and more refined
until, step by step, it lets go of all its
preoccupations and gathers together to become fixed, as
explained above. The stilling of the in-and-out breath
is what indicates fixed penetration. In some instances
it is called fixed jhana because it comes from
the act of becoming absorbed in the breath. It is called
fixed concentration because even though there is no
in-and-out breath when the mind reaches that point,
mindfulness is still absolutely full.
When you're in this
state you can't examine anything, because the mind is
totally uninvolved with anything at all. Only when the
mind comes out of this state and enters threshold
concentration can you begin examining things again. You
will then see clearly into all the truths that the
Buddha said are to be known, and into other matters as
well. There will be no visions and signs, as mentioned
above, but the knowledge here will be based on cause and
effect, complete with analogies and similes that will
utterly erase all doubt.
In some cases,
meditators will be considering objects of meditation
other than the in-and-out breath, and yet will still be
able to reach fixed penetration in the same way as those
who practice mindfulness of breathing. When the mind
gathers to a point where there is no more in-and-out
breathing, that's fixed penetration.
This, at any rate, is my
opinion on the matter. Meditators shouldn't take my
opinion as their criterion, because the thoughts and
opinions of people in this world -- even when we see the
same things under the same conditions in the same place
-- can formulate different names for, and reach
different understandings about, those same things, and
thus give rise to endless disputes and arguments. Simply
let us all work with our own objects of meditation so as
to reach fixed penetration as discussed above and then
-- with a fair mind free from bias -- compare what we
experience with what has been formulated in the various
texts. Our knowledge will then be paccattam --
arising exclusively from within ourselves. That is what
I would like to see in this regard.
All transcendent
phenomena are rooted in mundane phenomena. The 37 Wings
to Awakening (bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma), which are
classified entirely as transcendent, have to begin first
with mental and physical phenomena, i.e., this mundane
body and mind.
Visions, signs, and the
knowledge resulting from jhana are obstacles to
the one-eyed -- those who are simply developing jhana
-- but can provoke insight for those with two eyes,
i.e., those who are developing discernment along with
concentration.
Every sword and ax is
made with both a sharp and a dull edge, each with its
own different uses, but a person who confuses those
uses, aside from getting nowhere with the sword or ax,
may actually harm himself or the work he is doing.
Insight and the defilements of insight come from one and
the same basis. When people without discernment consider
things wrongly, they will give rise to the defilements
of insight; but when they consider things rightly, using
the proper approach, the same things will become true
insight.
Mundane phenomena --
when we clearly see and know them and their causes for
what they are, and when seeing their drawbacks we grow
disenchanted with them, not being deluded into latching
onto them -- then turn into Dhamma. But when we get
taken in by them and are unwilling to let them go...
It's not the case that the world will stay the way it is
forever. The world of the Brahmas may degenerate into
the world of the Devas; the world of the Devas, into the
human world; the human world, into the lower realms.
Just as liquids tend to seek out low-lying places, so it
is easy for the minds of living beings to seek out
what's low -- namely, evil.
Even though the practice
of meditation is a self-revolution, you must be willing
to risk your life. At the very least, if you don't
succeed, you should threaten yourself with self-exile.
Those who don't make such a vow can look forward only to
being a slave to others -- the defilements -- throughout
time.
Abhiñña:
Intuitive powers that come from the practice of
concentration.
Asava:
Mental effluent; fermentation; defilement in its role of
giving rise to the flood of the cycle of rebirth. There
are four sorts: sensuality, becoming, views, and
unawareness.
Bhavanga:
The mind's underlying preoccupation or resting state,
which determines its state of being and to which it
reverts in between its responses to stimuli.
Bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma:
"Wings to Awakening"; principles conducive to
enlightenment. There are 37 in all, and they constitute
the Buddha's own summary of the essential points of his
teachings: four foundations of mindfulness, four right
exertions, four bases for achievement, five strengths,
five faculties, seven factors for Awakening, and the
Noble Eightfold Path.
Brahma:
An inhabitant of the heavens of form and formlessness.
Deva:
An inhabitant of the heavens of sensual bliss.
Dhamma:
Phenomenon; event; things as they are in and of
themselves; the right natural order of things. By
extension, Dhamma is used also to refer to any doctrine
that teaches such matters.
Jhana:
Meditative absorption in a single sensation or mental
notion.
Kamma:
Intentional acts leading to states of becoming and
birth.
Khandha:
Heap, aggregate, group; the component factors of the
personality, and of sensory experience in general --
physical phenomena, feelings, mental labels,
thought-formations (see sankhara), and
consciousness.
Nivarana:
Hindrance to concentration -- sensual desire, ill will,
torpor & lethargy, restlessness & anxiety, and
uncertainty.
Sabhava dhamma: Natural condition; phenomenon; qualities and events as they are directly
experienced in and of themselves.
Samadhi:
Concentration; the act of centering the mind in a single
object or topic.
Sankhara:
Conditioned phenomenon; fabrication; fashioning. This
term covers all things, physical or mental, fashioned by
causes or conditions, as well as the forces fashioning
them and the processes by which they are fashioned.
Satipatthana: Foundation of mindfulness; frame of reference. The contemplation of
body, feelings, mind, and mental events as they are in
and of themselves.
Ti-ratana:
The triple Gem -- the Buddha, the Dhamma (his teachings,
their practice and the realization of liberation at
which they are aimed), and the Sangha (those of his
followers who have gained at least a glimpse of that
liberation). To take refuge in the Triple Gem means to
take them as guide in one's pursuit of happiness and to
give rise to their qualities in one's life and heart.
Vipassana:
Clear insight into things as they actually are, seeing
them in terms of the characteristics of inconstancy,
stress and not-selfness.
Copyright © 1994 The
Abbot, Metta Forest Monastery
For free distribution
only.
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Otherwise, all rights reserved.
This electronic edition was transcribed from the print
edition in 1994 by Eileen Santer under the auspices of
the DharmaNet Dharma Book Transcription Project, with
the kind permission of the translator.
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