Early Buddhist Meditation
Page 19
The other two references in which the term ekagatta is mentioned as a quality of the first jhāna are from the Mahāvedalla Sutta (MN I.294) and the Anupada Sutta (MN III.25). As I have already pointed out, both Martin Stuart-Fox and Govid Chandra Pande have discerned correctly the anomalies of these two records. In the Mahāvedalla Sutta, there is a discrepancy in Sāriputta’s answer concerning the first jhāna. His description of the first jhāna is identical to the formulaic one, but when he lists the factors of the first jhāna, immediately after he depicts his own attainment, he mysteriously adds ekagatta as one of the qualities although he did not mention it before.69
The account from the Anupada Sutta is also problematic. It states that there are sixteen dhammas present in the first jhāna: vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, cittekagatta, phassa, vedanā, saññā, cetanā cittaṃ, chanda, adhimokkha, vīriyaṃ, sati, upekkhā, manasikāra. To the best of my knowledge, these dhammas do not occur in any other sutta as factors of the first jhāna. The reason for this is the obvious fact that some of the factors, according to Buddhist thought, cannot coexist with other factors in this list. For example, upekkhā and chanda cannot arise at the same moment of consciousness.70 Also, to claim that citta-ekagatta (together with samādhi) can characterize a state of mind in which vitakka and vicāra are still present is problematic in my view. In light of all this, Pande’s suggestion that both suttas seem to be of late composition, probably an early Abhidhammic text, seems to be very plausible.71
Notes
1 MN I.174: puna ca paraṃ bhikkhave bhikkhu vitakkavicārānaṃ vūpasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pītisukhaṃ dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
2 Gimello 1978, 188; Griffiths 1981, 618.
3 E.g., MN I.112.
4 AN II.52.
5 E.g., SN II.66.
6 In Sn 1119 the Buddha instructs Mogharāja to destroy the view of one’s self (attānudiṭṭhaṃ ūhacca) so he could cross beyond death (evaṃ maccutaro siyā). It is plausible to argue that a ‘view’ (diṭṭhi) is a type of thought.
7 E.g., MN I.111–12.
8 See, for example, AN II.45: ‘And what is the development of samādhi that, when developed and pursued, leads to mindfulness and clear knowing?… Thoughts are known to him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they fade away. This is the development of samādhi that, when developed and pursued, leads to mindfulness and clear knowing.’ Katamā ca bhikkhave samādhibhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satisampajaññāya saṃvattati… Viditā vitakkā uppajjanti viditā upaṭṭhahanti. Viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti. Ayaṃ bhikkhave samādhibhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satisampajaññāya saṃvattati.
9 E.g., AN II.14. This view of how to still thoughts is also presented by the Korean Master Chinul. In his work ‘Secret on Cultivating the Mind’ (Susim Kyŏl) Chinul explains, ‘Do not fear the arising of thoughts: only be concerned lest your awareness of them be tardy.’ It is also said, ‘If we are aware of thought at the moment it arises, then through that awareness it will vanish’ (Buswell 199, 107).
10 Ud.34: khuddā vitakka sukhumā vitakka, anugatā manaso uppilāvā. Ete avidvā manaso vitakke, hurā huraṃ dhāvati bhatacitto. Ete ca vidvā manaso vitakke, ātāpiyo saṃvaratī satīmā; anugate manaso uppilāve, asesamete pajahāsi buddho’ti.
11 Gethin 2001, 53.
12 SN V.301.
13 See SN V.143 where the Buddha declares that based upon sīla, one should develop the four satipaṭṭhānas. By this development, one should expect only growth in wholesome states, not decline. These wholesome states seem to be the four jhānas, as the foundation on which nibbāna might be realized.
14 MN III.136: Tamenaṃ tathāgato uttariṃ vineti: ehi tvaṃ bhikkhu, kāye kāyānupassī viharāhi. Mā ca kāyūpasaṃhitaṃ vitakkaṃ vitakkesi. Vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharāhi. Mā ca vedanūpasaṃhitaṃ vitakkaṃ vitakkesi. Citte cittānupassī viharāhi. Mā ca cittūpasaṃhitaṃ vitakkaṃ vitakkesi. Dhammesu dhammānupassi viharāhi. Mā ca dhammūpasaṃhitaṃ vitakkaṃ vitakkesī’ti. So vitakkavicāranaṃ vupasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pītisukhaṃ dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
15 E.g., Pa-Auk Sayadaw 2003, 56.
16 In her article on dhyāna in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, Karin Meyers points out that ‘the AKBh is clearly of the view that one can and should practice vipaśyanā while in dhyāna’. Meyers ‘The Pleasant Way’. Retrieved April 15 2012, 12.
17 E.g., MN III.136.
18 MN II.28.
19 Wholesome saṇkhāras also lead to meritorious destination (SN II.82).
20 See MN III.73.
21 E.g., MN III.244.
22 A more dominant path structure in the Nikāyas is the one that depicts a gradual training path: the training in morality (sīla-khandha); the practice of guarding and restraining the impressions brought about by sense experience (indriya-saṃvara); and the practice of full awareness sampajāna. See, for example, MN I.179ff, I.268–70, I.271–7, I.346ff, III.1–5; III.33–6; III.134–6; DN I.63ff, III.270; AN II.208ff, V.206.
23 E.g., Gimello 1978, 184.
24 See, for example, Gimello’s argument that the practice of vipassanā is an intellectual operation that might be performed upon mystical experiences (i.e., the jhānas and the arūpa samāpattis) (Gimello 1978, 189).
25 E.g., Gimello 1978, 188.
26 Gimello 1978, 188.
27 Note that the term vipassanā-bhāvanā does not appear in the Nikāyas material, only in the commentarial tradition.
28 Sarbacker 2005, 37.
29 Klein 1992, 295.
30 E.g., MN III.252.
31 E.g., MN III.252: Katamo cāvuso, sammāsamādhi: idhāvuso, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pitisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Vitakkavicāranaṃ vūpasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pitisukhaṃ dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhāko ca viharati. Sato ca sampajāno sukhaṃ ca kāyena paṭisaṃvesedeti. Yantaṃ ariyā ācikkhanti upekkhāko satimā sukhavihārīti tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassa domanassānaṃ atthaṃgamā adukkhaṃ asukhaṃ upekkhā sati pārisuddhiṃ catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Ayaṃ vuccatāvuso sammāsamādhi. See also SN V.9 and SN V.196.
32 MN III.71: ariyaṃ vo bhikkhave, sammāsamādhi desessāmi sa-upanisaṃ saparikkhāraṃ… katamo ca, bhikkhave, ariyo sammāsamādhi sa-upaniso saparikkhāro? Seyyathidaṃ sammāsdiṭṭhi, sammāsaṅkappo, sammāvācā. Sammākammanto, sammā-āvījo, sammāvāyāmo, sammāsati. Yā kho, bhikkhave, imehi sattāṅgehi citassa ekagatta parikkhatā. Ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, ariyo sammāsamādhi sa-upaniso saparikkhāro itipi. This statement appears also in SN V.21, AN IV.40, DN II.216–7, DN III.252–3. See also AN V.214.
33 This ‘hierarchy’ also appears in reference to the development of the seven factors of awakening, an issue I have mentioned before.
34 AN V.212: sammādiṭṭhikassa bhikkhave sammāsaṅkappo pahoti, sammāsaṅkappassa sammāvācā pahoti, sammāvācassa sammākammanto pahoti, sammākammantassa sammā ājīvo pahoti, sammā ājīvassa sammāvāyāmo pahoti, sammā vāyāmassa sammāsati pahoti, sammāsatissa sammā samādhi pahoti, sammāsamādhissa sammāñāṇaṃ pahoti, sammāñāṇissa2 sammāvimutti pahoti. See also AN V.214 and DN II.217.
35 See also AN IV.337.
36 MN I.301.
37 Vetter 1988, 3–32.
38 E.g., DN III.242.
39 See my discussion in the Introduction. Note, however, that in Vibaṅga 265, it is said that one gains the first stage of awakening by any of the four lokuttara jhānas.
40 SN IV.144: samādhiṃ bhikkhave bhāvetha, samāhitassa bhikkhave bhikkhuno yathābhūtaṃ okkhāyati. See also AN IV.337, AN II.45, SN III.14, SN IV.78, SN IV.80, SN
IV.144 and SN V.414 (samādhi leads to understanding the Four Noble Truths). It is interesting to note Robert Buswell’s observation that according to Tsung-mi, the fifth patriarch of the Hua-yen School in China, samādhi is actually an abbreviation for both samādhi and prajñā (Ch’an-yuan chi tu-hsu 1, T 48.399a18) (Buswell 1987, 329).
41 SN III.13–14: samādhiṃ bhikkhave, bhāvetha. Samāhito bhikkhave, bhikkhu yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti. Kiñca yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti? Rūpassa samudayañca atthagamañca, vedanāya samudayañca atthagamañca, saññāya samudayañca atthagamañca, saṃkhārānaṃ samudayañca atthagamañca, viññāṇassa samudayañca atthagamañca. See also SN IV.80, AN II.202 and AN II.45, which call for the observation of the rise and fall of the five aggregates: samādhibhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā āsavānaṃ khayāya saṃvattati. DN II.216 also explains that when the practitioner observes the four satipaṭṭhānas internally, he develops right samādhi and right clarity. From that right samādhi and right clarity, one gains knowledge and vision about the external bodies of others. These insights arise when one develops samādhi through the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas, which were taught by the Buddha. Here we find an explanation about the problematic instruction in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta to observe internally and externally the four satipaṭṭhānas.
42 SN IV.78 also states that only when the mind has gladness, mental happiness and tranquillity, the mind is free from dukkha. This freedom from dukkha enables the mind to be truly concentrated (samādhiyati) and to see phenomena as it is.
43 I am grateful to Peter Harvey for pointing out this observation.
44 See, for example, Vism XI, which clearly sees the jhānas as states that do not allow for the meditator to see change or different objects. For Buddhaghosa (as for contemporary meditation teacher such as Pa-Auk Sayadaw), meditation practice such as element meditation cannot lead to jhāna since one observes different objects.
45 Gimello 1978, 183. Gustaaf Houtman has also indicated that in Burma, the practice of concentration (i.e., the jhānas) was perceived as a way to obtain special powers such as healing, supernatural abilities, alchemical and mundane success. He points out that the government ‘was not pleased with the unorthodox concentration meditator whose aspirations to power introduce an element of political instability. Many concentration meditation practitioners, both laymen and monks, have been arrested over the last few years, and the powers derived from concentration meditation, such as those of flight and transformation are censored from Burmese films’(Houtman 1990, 184).
46 Sarbacker 2005, 91, 128.
47 E.g., Yoga Sūtra 1.51; 3.3.
48 E.g., DN III.219. The animitta samādhi and suññata samādhi are also declared in the Nikāyas as ‘deliverances of mind’ (cetovimutti) (MN I 296–8).
49 DN I.153.
50 DN I.155.
51 SN V. 144: etha tumhe āvuso, kāye kāyānupassino viharatha, ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā kāyassa yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya. Vedanāsu vedanānupassino viharatha, ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā vedanānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya. Citte cittānupassino viharatha, ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā cittassa yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya. Dhammesu dhammānupassino viharatha, ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā dhammānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya.
52 Gimello 1978, 184.
53 Gimello 1978, 177. See his basic features of mystical experiences in Gimello 1978, 178.
54 Gimello 1978, 179.
55 For Gimello, the four jhānas and the four arūpa samāpatti are part of the same meditative procedure that he calls ‘absorption’; moreover, as he puts it, ‘these eight levels of absorption fall also under another, perhaps better known, meditative rubric – that of “concentration” or “collectedness” (samādhi) – a term which is in many circumstances synonymous with samatha’ (Gimello 1978, 182–3).
56 Gimello 1978, 188
57 Gimello 1978, 188. Note also, that the classification of certain experiences as ‘mystical’ or not-mystical, as with the religious category ‘mysticism’, is extraneous to Buddhist analysis and its framework.
58 See also SN V.151–2.
59 See also AN V.3: ‘[F]or one who attains the imperturbable [mind], there is no need for the intentional thought: “may I know and see things as they really are”. Monks, this is the natural way, when one has attained the imperturbable [mind], one knows and sees things as they really are.’ (Samāhitassa bhikkhave na cetanāya karaṇīyaṃ’yathābhūtaṃ taṃ jānāmi passāmī’ti. Dhammatā esā bhikkhave yaṃ samāhito yathābhūtaṃ jānāti passati).
60 Gimello 1978, 184.
61 E.g., as a yogic absorption into the true Self (puruṣa) that is separated from experience (prakṛti).
62 Pande [1957]1999, 134, 138; Stuart-Fox 1989, 89–90.
63 SN IV.263.
64 SN IV.263: moggallāna, moggallāna… paṭhame jhāne cittaṃ saṇṭhapehi, paṭhame jhāne cittaṃ ekodiṃ karohi, paṭhame jhāne cittaṃ samādahāti.
65 SN IV.263: tassa mayhaṃ āvuso iminā vihārena viharato kāmasahagatā saññāmanasikārā samudācaranti.
66 SN IV.263: so khvāhaṃ āvuso vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi.
67 Stuart-Fox 1989, 89–90.
68 See MN III.136.
69 MN I.294.
70 Note also that upekkhā is always described as a quality which arises only when one enters into the third jhāna.
71 Pande [1957]1999, 134, 138.
4
Awakening-Jhāna Factors
Before passing on to the analysis of the third and fourth jhānas, this chapter will call attention to the noticeable parallelism between the development of the seven factors of awakening (bojjhaṅgas) and the attainment of the first three jhānas. This will be done by a close textual analysis of what Rupert Gethin has termed ‘the bojjhaṅga process formula’.1 My aim is to demonstrate the essential connection and interdependency of these two unique Buddhist models. I hope to show that the seven factors of awakening (bojjhaṅgas) and the four jhānas should be construed as parallel models of spiritual ascension. In other words, they should be viewed as different formulations or expressions of the same spiritual process. I shall illustrate that by showing how by progressing from one jhāna to the next, the mind develops and gradually fulfils the seven factors of awakening. I will suggest that one cannot develop and fulfil the qualities of the seven bojjhaṅgas, as ‘factors of awakening’, without attaining the jhānas. Correspondingly, one cannot attain the jhānas without the fulfilment of the seven bojjhaṅgas. Looking at both models in parallel will enable us to understand more clearly the process of liberation as it is envisioned in the Pāli Nikāyas.
As pointed out by Rupert Gethin, the parallelism between the seven bojjhaṅgas and the attainment of the jhānas is not accidental.2 Looking at the four jhānas in parallel with the bojjhaṅga process formula can shed light on several issues. Among these issues is the similitude between certain jhānic and bojjhaṅga factors, which at first glance seem to designate different mental qualities. Parallel comparison will also show that the bojjhaṅga process formula presents a process-oriented perspective in which the ‘factors of awakening’ can be developed in various levels of stability and strength. This will support my contention that the bojjhaṅgas can be developed to a certain extent before one attains the jhānas but they can be fulfilled as ‘factors of awakening’ only when the jhānas are attained. Lastly, paralleling the two models will clarify the obscure relation between the second and third jhānas. This last point will be addressed here only succinctly since it will be discussed thoroughly in the next chapter.
I The bojjhaṅga process formula and sati
Looking at the seven factors of awakening3 in parallel with the four jhānas follows
Gethin’s observation that the successive development of the seven bojjhaṅgas corresponds with the model of the four jhānas.4 SN V.331–3 will be our source text for this analysis. It lays out the bojjhaṅga process formula by describing the seven factors of awakening as qualities that are cultivated and fulfilled successively.5 In my view, this presentation of the bojjhaṅgas (contrary to the ‘bare’ list)6 is meaningful, since it describes more precisely the subtle spiritual process taking place in the mind-body complex when one observes phenomena, abandons unwholesome states, cultivates wholesome qualities and progresses on the path of awakening. It also lends insight, I believe, into the mechanism of the jhānas as a process in which the factors of awakening are developed successively until full completion as ‘factors of awakening’. When this occurs, which I would argue does so in the fourth jhāna, the mind might slant and slope into the attainment of nibbāna.7
The bojjhaṅga process formula explains that each bojjhaṅga serves as a condition for the arising of the next bojjhaṅga. This, however (as with the successive descriptions of the eightfold and tenfold paths),8 should not be mistaken as describing a strict causal relationship between the bojjhaṅgas. It is obvious that this process is more complex. However, it does show that certain qualities are seen as the foundation and condition for the arising and development of other qualities, most likely as their proximate causes.
The bojjhaṅga process formula starts with a straightforward statement that the practice of observing the four satipaṭṭhānas (what we traditionally call vipassanā meditation) is aimed at the establishment (upaṭṭhitā), arousal (āraddha) and fulfilment (pāripūri) of mindfulness (sati)9 as a foundation for the arousal (āraddha), development (bhāveti) and ‘fulfilment by development’ (bhāvanāpāripūri) of the other factors of awakening: