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31. HOW YOU ATTAIN JHâNA_2
This way you will be able to attain the second jhàna, possessed of only those three factors, joy, bliss, and one-pointedness. You should then de- velop the five masteries of the second jhàna.
When you have succeeded, and want to develop the third jhàna, you should emerge from the now familiar second jhàna, reflect on its faults, and reflect on the advantages of the third jhàna. That is: the second jhàna is close to the first jhàna, which has the gross jhàna factor of applied- and sustainment. And the second jhàna itself has the gross jhàna factor of joy, making it less tranquil than the third jhàna, which is without it. So, with no desire now for that gross factor, a desire for only the peaceful factors, you should again concentrate on the pañibhàga-nimitta, and attain the second jhàna. When you now emerge from the second jhàna, and again review the jhana factors, the jhàna factor of joy will appear gross to you, while bliss and one-pointedness appear peaceful. So, in order to abandon the gross factor and obtain the peaceful factors, you should again concentrate on the pañibhàga-nimitta. This way you will be able to attain the third jhàna, possessed of only happiness and one-pointedness. You should then develop the five masteries of the third jhàna.
With the attainment of the fourth jhàna, the breath stops completely. This completes the fourth stage in the development of anapanasati
[4] Tranquillizing the body-formation, I shall breathe in': thus he trains.
Tranquillizing the body-formation, I shall breathe out': thus he trains.
This stage began just before the nimitta appeared, and as concentration developed through the four jhànas, the breath became progressively more and more tranquil, until it stopped in the fourth jhàna. The four jhànas are also called fine-material-sphere jhànas, because they may cause rebirth in the fine-material realm. But here we do not encourage you to develop jhànas for the sake of attaining rebirth in the fine-mat- erial realm, but for the sake of using them to develop vipassanà meditation.
When a yogi has reached the fourth jhàna by using anapanasati, and has developed the five masteries, the light of concentration is bright, brilliant and radiant, and he can, if he wishes, move on to develop vipassanà meditation. The yogi can, on the other hand, continue to develop samatha meditation. That will be the subject of our next talk, namely, how you develop samatha meditation on the thirty-two parts of the body, the skeleton, ten kasinas, etc.
32. Question 1.1
Question 1.1 How do we, in the four stages of anapanasati (mindfulness- of-breathing), decide when to go from one stage to another?
Answer 1.1 The Buddha taught anapanasati step by step: long breath, short breath, whole breath and subtle breath, only for easy understanding. At the time of actual practice, all four stages may occur at the same time.
Then, if you can concentrate on the whole long breath, and the whole short breath for about one hour, then (as your concentration improves) the breath will automatically become subtle, and you can change to concentrate on the subtle breath. When the subtle breath is long, you should try to know the whole, long, subtle breath; when the subtle breath is short, you should try to know the whole, short, subtle breath.
If the breath does not become subtle by itself, you should concentrate on it with the decision that it should be subtle. That way it will become subtle, but you must not make the breath subtle on purpose, nor make it long or short on purpose; just decide that it should be tranquil. In this way, long breath, short breath, whole breath and subtle breath, all the four stages, are included in a single stage.
At the early part of the fourth stage, the breath becomes only very subtle. It does not cease entirely. The breath ceases entirely only at the fourth jhàna. This is the subtlest stage.
33. Question 1.2
Is it necessary, in meditation, to have a nimitta?
Answer 1.2
In some meditation subjects like anapanasati(mindfulness-of-breathing), kasina meditation and repulsiveness meditation , a nimitta is necessary. If one wants to attain jhàna in other meditation subjects, like Buddha Recollection, a nimitta is not possible. In loving-kindness meditation, breaking down the barriers is called the nimitta.
34. Question 1.3_1
Question 1.3 Some say that while practising (mindfulness-of- breathing) their soul goes out of the body. Is that true, or are they on the wrong path?
Answer 1.3 A concentrated mind can usually create a nimitta. When concentration is deep, strong, and powerful, then because of different perceptions, different nimittas appear. For example, if you want the nimitta to be long, it will be long; if you want it to be short, it will be short; if you want it to be round, it will be round; if you want it to be red, it will be red. So, various perceptions may arise while practicing anapanasati . You may perceive yourself as outside the body. It is simply a mental creation, not because of a soul. It is not a problem. Just ignore it, and return to being mindful of your breath.
Only when you discern ultimate mentality-materiality internally and externally, can you solve the problem of a soul: you will not find a soul anywhere. So, you need to break down the compactness of mentality and materiality, and realize ultimate mentality and materiality.
When compactness is broken down with the breaking down into different elements, the non- self characteristic in its true nature will arise.
It is because of the perception of compactness, that the perception of a soul arises.
In the case of materiality, there are three types of compactness :
1) Continuity compactness : because materiality seems to be one compact continuity, a continuous whole, one may think one's body and limbs have actual existence. And one may think the same self migrates' from life to life, taking different forms. To overcome this delusion, we need to resolve the seeming compactness of the body. We need to see that the body comprises råpa kalàpas that arise and perish. That way, we see that a kalàpa has no continuity; as soon as it arises, it perishes. There is no time for a kalàpa to go anywhere, not from life to life, not even from second to second.
2) Synthesis compactness: because materiality seems to be a synthetic whole, one may think the kalàpas are ultimate materiality. And one may think they are one's self. To overcome this delusion, we need to resolve the seeming compactness of the individual type of kalàpa: we need to analyse the individual type of kalàpa. That way, we see that a kalàpa comprises elements: earth element, water element, fire element, wind element, colour, odour, flavour, nutritive-essence, life faculty, etc. There is no synthetic whole anywhere.
3) Function compactness : because of insufficient understanding about ultimate materiality, one may think the elements rest upon a self, like seeds and plants rest upon earth. To overcome this delusion, we need to see that each element has its own characteristic , function , manifestation , and proximate cause : it does not depend on any external thing such as a self.
35. Question 1.3_2
How do you break down the compactness of materiality? You must first discern the råpa-kalàpas (small particles). Then you must analyse the different råpa-kalàpas, and see that they comprise different types of materiality, which are at least eight in each råpa-kalàpa. And then you need to analyse each type of materiality. Without doing this the perception of a soul will not disappear.
Similarly, without breaking down the compactness of mentality, the perception of a soul will not disappear. For example, when your mind wanders, you may think that the wandering mind is your soul.
There are four types of compactness in such a mental process that need to be broken down by vipassanà knowledge:
1) Continuity compactness : because mentality seems to be one compact continuity, a continuous whole, one may think it is the same mind' that cognizes objects through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. And one may think it is the same self, the same mind', the same pure consciousness', etc., that migrates' from life to life, entering different bodies. And in this life, one may think one's mind wanders outside the body. To overcome this delusion, we need to resolve the seeming compactness of the mind. We need to see that cognition takes place by way of mental processes that arise and perish. That way, we see that the mind has no continuity; as soon as it arises, it perishes. There is no time for consciousness to go anywhere, not from life to life, not even from second to second.
2) Synthesis compactness : because mentality seems to be a synthetic whole, one may think it is pure consciousness that cognizes the object. And one may think it is one's self. To overcome this delusion, we need to resolve the seeming compactness of the individual type of consciousness: we need to analyse the individual type of consciousness in each type of mental process. That way, we see that a consciousness comprises consciousness and a given number mental factors, such as feeling, perception, and volition, and application, and sustainment, or hatred, delusion, wrong view, conceit, and scepticism, or non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, happiness, mindfulness, faith and Right View. There is no synthetic whole anywhere.
3) Function compactness : because of insufficient understanding about ultimate mentality, one may think it rests upon a self, like seeds and plants rest upon earth. To overcome this delusion, we need to see that each consciousness and mental factor has its own characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause: it does not depend on any external thing such as a self.
4) Subject compactness : having penetrated the previous three compactnesses, one may think, for example, I saw ultimate materiality and mentality', or, the knowing self saw ultimate materiality and mentality.' To overcome this delusion, we need to resolve the three types of compactness in the vipassanà mental-processes that penetrated the three types of compactness, with subsequent vipassanà knowledge. We need to see that the mentality that is the object of our vipassanà knowledge was also the subject of vipassanà knowledge: it penetrated the three types of compactness of mentality that also was a subject with an object.
And how do you break down the compactness of mentality? Take, for example a mind-door process of access concentration that has the an-apana patibhaga-nimitta as object.
Such a mental process has one mind-door adverting consciousness and seven impulsion consciousnesses . In the mind-door adverting consciousness moment there are twelve mental formations, and in each impulsion moment there are thirty-four mental formations.
If you break down the four types of compactness of mentality this way, you will see only the rapid arising and perishing of consciousnesses and their associated mental factors.
With that perception of impermanence, one can no longer think one's consciousness is one's soul, because with the perception of impermanence comes the perception of non-self. As said by The Buddha, in the Meghiya' sutta:
For those who have powerful vipassanà knowledge of impermanence, vipassanà knowledge of non-self will also appear clearly.
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