Epilogue
I. There are three sets of results arising from the practice.
1. Pubbenivāsānussati-ñāṇa: the ability to remember previous lives.
2. Cutūpapāta-ñāṇa: the ability to know how the living beings of the world die and are reborn.
3. Āsavakkhaya-ñāṇa: understanding how to put an end to the defilements of the heart.
1. Vipassanā-ñāṇa: clear insight, through training the mind, into phenomena in and of themselves, in terms of the four noble truths.
2. Manomayiddhi: psychic power, making things appear in line with your thoughts – for example, thinking of a visual image that then appears to the physical eye. Those who are to develop this skill must first become expert at uggaha nimittas.
3. Iddhividhī: the ability to change such images as you like. Those who are to develop this skill must first become expert in paṭibhāga nimittas.
4. Dibbacakkhu: clairvoyance, the ability to see great distances. Only people with good optic nerves – and who understand how to adjust the physical properties in the body so as to keep the nerves charged and awake – will be able to develop this skill.
5. Dibbasota: clairaudience, the ability to hear sounds at great distances. Only people whose auditory nerves are good – and who understand how to adjust the properties in the body so that they act as a conducting medium – will be able to develop this skill.
6. Cetopariya-ñāṇa: knowing the thoughts and mental states of other people. To do this, you first have to adjust the fluids nourishing your heart muscles so that they’re clean and pure.
7. Pubbenivāsānussati-ñāṇa: the ability to remember previous lives, knowing by means of mental images or intuitive verbal knowledge. To remember past lives, you first have to understand how to interchange the physical properties in the body.
8. Āsavakkhaya-ñāṇa: knowing the causes for mental defilement; knowing the means for putting an end to mental fermentations.
1. Attha-paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa: acumen in understanding the meaning of various teachings.
2. Dhamma-paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa: acumen – acquired by means of your own heart – with regard to all fabricated properties and qualities.
3. Nirutti-paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa: the ability to understand by means of the heart the issues and languages of people and other living beings in the world.
4. Paṭibhāṇa-paṭisambhidā-ñāṇa: the intuitive ability to respond promptly and aptly in situations where you’re called on to speak; the ability to respond to an opponent without having to think: Simply by focusing the mind heavily down, the right response will appear on its own, just as a flashlight gives off light immediately as we press the switch.
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Taken together, all of these skills arise exclusively from training the heart and are called bhāvanāmaya-paññā – discernment developed through training the mind. They can’t be taught. You have to know them on your own. Thus, they can be called paccatta-vijjā, personal skills. If you’re astute enough, they can all become transcendent. If not, they all become mundane. Thus, the principles of discernment are two:
1. Mundane discernment: studying and memorizing a great deal, thinking and evaluating a great deal, and then understanding on the common level of labels and concepts.
2. Transcendent discernment: knowledge that comes from practicing Right Concentration; intuitive understanding that arises naturally on its own within the heart, beyond the scope of the world; clear insight; release from all views, conceits, defilements, and fermentations of the mind.
II. Upakāra dhamma: three sets of qualities that are of help in giving rise to cognitive skill.
1. Sīla-saṁvara: taking good care of your virtue – your manners and conduct in thought, word, and deed – following such principles as the ten guidelines (kammapatha).
2. Indrīya-saṁvara: being constantly mindful of the six ‘gateways’ – the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation – making sure they don’t give rise to anything that would disturb your own peace or that of others.
3. Bhojane mattaññutā: having a sense of moderation in the amount of food you eat – not too much, not too little, eating nothing but food compatible with your physical make-up. And make sure that it’s light food. Otherwise, you’ll have to eat only half-full or on the small side. As far as food is concerned, if you can get by on only one meal a day, you’ll find it much easier to train the mind.
There are three ways of eating –
a. Stuffing yourself full. This interferes with concentration and is termed ‘being greedy.’
b. Eating just enough to keep the body going. This is termed ‘being content with what you have.’
c. Eating no more than half full. This is termed ‘being a person of few wants,’ who has no worries associated with food and whose body weighs lightly. Just as a tree with light heartwood won’t sink when it falls in the water, so the meditation of such a person is not inclined to lead to anything low. The senses of such a person – the nerves of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body – tend toward peacefulness and are well suited for helping the mind attain peace.
4. Jāgariyānuyoga: awakening the physical properties of the body by developing the factor that fabricates the body (kāya-saṅkhāra), i.e., adjusting the in-and-out breath so that it’s thoroughly beneficial to the properties of earth, water, wind, and fire within the body. This is termed developing mindfulness immersed in the body (kāyagatāsati-bhāvanā), as in the verse:
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti sadā gotamasāvakā
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca niccaṁ kāyagātasati.
‘The disciples of the Buddha Gotama are always wide awake, their mindfulness constantly, by day and by night, immersed in the body’… their mindfulness charging the body whether their eyes are open or closed.
At the same time, we have to understand how to keep the mind wide-awake through developing jhāna, starting with directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation (see below). The mind will then awaken from its forgetfulness. With regard to forgetfulness, the Buddha taught that when the mind gets drawn in by its objects, it faints for a spell. If this happens often enough to become a habit, it gives rise to delusion, leaving us no way to give rise to the discernment of liberating insight.
1. Saddhā: conviction, i.e., being convinced of the causes of goodness and of the results that will come from acting in line with those causes.
2. Hiri: inner shame at the thought of doing evil, not daring to do evil either openly or secretly, because we realize that there are no secret places in the world. Even if other people don’t see us doing evil, we ourselves are sure to see.
3. Ottappa: fear of evil, not being attracted to the idea of doing evil; viewing bad kamma as a poisonous cobra raising its head and spreading its hood, and thus not daring to go near it.
4. Bahusacca: studying and training yourself constantly, seeking advice from those who are knowledgeable and expert in the practice. Don’t associate with people who have no knowledge of the matters in which you are interested.
5. Viriya: persistence in abandoning the defilements of the mind – i.e., the hindrances; perseverance in giving rise to good within the mind by developing such things as the first jhāna. Briefly put, there are three ways to do this: being persistent in giving rise to the good, in maintaining the good, and in constantly developing the good that has already arisen.
6. Satipaṭṭhāna: giving your powers of reference a frame and a focal point by developing mindfulness immersed in the body (‘kesā, lomā…’) or mindfulness of breathing, etc.
7. Paññā: discernment; circumspection that’s all-encompassing and fully reasonable in doing good, in maintaining the good, and in using the good so as to be of benefit at large – for low-level benefits, intermediate benefits, and ultimate benefits, with regard to this life, lives to come, and the ultimate benefit, nibbāna. This is what is meant by discernment.
1. The first jhāna. Vitakka: Think of an object for the mind to focus on. Vicāra: Evaluate the object on which you have focused. For example, once you are focused on keeping track of the breath, take a good look at the various breath-sensations in the body. Learn how to adjust and change whichever part or aspect is uncomfortable. Learn how to use whichever part feels good so as to be of benefit to the body and mind. Keep this up continually, and results will appear: The body will feel light and full, permeated with a sense of rapture and refreshment (pīti). Awareness will be full and all-round, with no distracting restlessness. At this point, both mind and body are quiet, just as a child lying in a cradle with a doll to play with won’t cry. The body is thus at ease, and the mind relaxed (sukha). Ekaggataṁ cittaṁ: The mind sticks steadily with a single preoccupation, without grasping after past or future, comfortably focused in the present. This much qualifies as jhāna.
2. The second jhāna. Directed thought and evaluation disappear; awareness settles in on its sense of ease and rapture. The body is relaxed, the mind quiet and serene. The body feels full, like the earth saturated with rain water to the point where puddles form. The mind feels brighter and clearer. As awareness focuses more heavily on its one object, it expands itself even further, letting go of the sense of rapture and entering the third jhāna.
3. The third jhāna has two factors –
a. Sukha, its taste: physical pleasure; cool mental pleasure and peace.
b. Ekaggatārammaṇa: Awareness is firm and fixed in a snug fit with its object. As it focuses strongly and forcibly expands itself, a bright sense of light appears. The mind seems much more open and blooming than before. As you focus in with complete mindfulness and alertness, the sense of pleasure begins to waver. As the mind adjusts its focus slightly, it enters the fourth jhāna.
4. The fourth jhāna has two factors –
a. Upekkhā: equanimity with regard to objects. Past, future, and the grosser sense of the body in the present disappear.
b. Ekaggatārammaṇa: The mind is solitary, its mindfulness full and bright – as if you were sitting in a brightly-lit, empty room with your work finished, free to relax as you like. The mind rests, its energy strong and expansive.
Now withdraw from this level back out to the first and then enter in again. As you do this repeatedly, liberating insight will arise on its own, like a light connected to a battery: When we press down on the switch, the light flashes out on its own. And then we can use whatever color of bulb we want and put it to use in whatever way we like, depending on our own skill and ingenuity. In other words, the skills mentioned above will appear.
People who develop jhāna fall into three classes:
1. Those who attain only the first level and then gain liberating insight right then and there are said to excel in discernment (paññādhika). They awaken quickly, and their release is termed paññā-vimutti, release through discernment.
2. Those who develop jhāna to the fourth level, there gaining liberating insight into the noble truths, are said to excel in conviction (saddhādhika). They develop a moderate number of skills, and their Awakening occurs at a moderate rate. Their release is the first level of ceto-vimutti, release through concentration.
3. Those who become skilled at the four levels of jhāna – adept at entering, staying in place, and withdrawing – and then go all the way to the four levels of arūpa-jhāna, after which they withdraw back to the first jhāna, over and over again, until finally intuitive knowledge, the cognitive skills, and liberating discernment arise, giving release from mental fermentation and defilement: These people are said to excel in persistence (viriyādhika). People who practice jhāna a great deal, developing strong energy and bright inner light, can awaken suddenly in a single mental instant, as soon as discernment first arises. Their release is cetopariyavimutti, release through mastery of concentration.
These are the results to be gained by meditators. But there have to be causes – our own actions – before the results can come fully developed.
