How You Develop Mindfulness-of-Breathing to Absorption
Introduction
I am very happy to have come to Taiwan, at the invitation of some Taiwanese monks and nuns who stayed at Pa-Auk Meditation Centre, near Mawlamyine in Myanmar. While in Taiwan I should like to teach you something about the system of meditation taught at PaAuk Meditation Centre. It is based upon instructions found in the Pàëi 1 Buddhist texts and the Visuddhimagga, The Path of Purification. We believe that the meditation taught in the Pàëi Buddhist texts is the same as the meditation practised by the Buddha himself, and taught by him to his disciples during his lifetime. Why Meditate? First we should ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Buddha teach meditation?’ or, ‘What is the purpose of meditation?’ The purpose of Buddhist Meditation is to attain Nibbàna. Nibbàna is the cessation of mentality (nàma) and materiality (råpa). To reach Nibbàna, therefore, we 15 must completely destroy both wholesome mental states, rooted in non-greed, non-anger, and non-delusion, and unwholesome mental states, rooted in greed, anger, and delusion, and which produce new birth, ageing, sickness and death. If we destroy them totally with the insightknowledges and path knowledge (ariyamagga), then we will reach Nibbàna. In other words, Nibbàna is release and freedom from the suffering of the round of rebirths (saÿsàra), and the cessation of rebirth, ageing, sickness, and death. We are all subject to the suffering of rebirth, ageing, sickness, and death, and so to free ourselves from the many forms of suffering we need to meditate. Since we wish to be free from all suffering, we must learn how to meditate in order to attain Nibbàna. What Is Meditation? So what is meditation? Meditation consists of Samatha and Vipassanà meditation, which must both be based upon virtuous conduct of body and speech. In other words, meditation is the development and perfection of the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Right view and right thought taken are together called the training of insight or wisdom. This the Buddha called Vipassanà right view (vipassanà-sammàdiññhi) and path right view (magga-sammà-diññhi). Right speech, right action, and right livelihood are together called the training of virtuous conduct. Right effort, right mind- 16 fulness, and right concentration are together called the training of concentration, which is Samatha meditation (samatha-bhàvanà). The Noble Eightfold Path Now, I would like to explain a little bit more about each of the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. The first factor is right view. What is right view? Right view consists of four kinds of knowledge. First there is the insight-knowledge of the Truth of Suffering, which is the five aggregates of clinging. Second, there is the insight-knowledge of the Cause for Suffering, which discerns the causes for the five aggregates of clinging. In other words, it is the insightknowledge of dependent-origination. Third, there is the realisation and knowledge of Nibbàna, which is the cessation of the five aggregates of clinging. And fourth, there is the knowledge of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the way of practice leading to the realisation of Nibbàna. The second factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right thought. Right thought is: applied thought to the object of the Truth of Suffering, the five aggregates of clinging; applied thought to the object of the Truth of the Cause for Suffering, the causes for the five aggregates of clinging; applied thought to the object of the Cessation of Suffering, Nibbàna; and finally, applied thought to the object of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering, the Noble Eightfold Path. 17 Thus, right thought applies the mind to the object of the Truth of Suffering, the five aggregates of clinging, and right view understands it as it really is. These two factors work together to apply the mind to each of the Four Noble Truths, and to understand them. Since they work together in this way, they are called the training of wisdom (pa¤¤à-sikkhà). The third factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right speech. Right speech is to abstain from lying, slander, harsh speech, and useless talk. The fourth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right action. Right action is to abstain from killing, from theft, and from sexual misconduct. The fifth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right livelihood. This means to abstain from obtaining a living by wrong speech or wrong actions, such as killing, stealing, or lying. For laypeople it includes to abstain from the five types of wrong trade: trade in weapons, humans, animals for slaughter, intoxicants, and poisons. The three factors of right speech, right action, and right livelihood are called the training of virtuous conduct (sãla-sikkhà). The sixth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right effort. Right effort is of four kinds: the effort to stop the arising of unwholesome states that have not yet arisen; the effort to remove unwholesome states that have already arisen; the effort to arouse the arising of wholesome states that have not yet arisen; and the effort to increase wholesome states that have already arisen. In order to develop these four types of right effort, we 18 must practise and develop the three trainings of virtuous conduct, concentration, and wisdom. The seventh factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right mindfulness. Right mindfulness is of four kinds: mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of feelings, mindfulness of consciousnesses, and mindfulness of dhammas. Here, the dhammas are the fifty-one mental-concomitants excluding feeling, or another way, the five aggregates of clinging, the twelve internal and external sense-bases, the eighteen elements, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Four Noble Truths, etc. But the four types of mindfulness can be reduced to just two, mindfulness of materiality and mindfulness of mentality. The eighth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right concentration. Right concentration is the first jhàna (absorption), second jhàna, third jhàna, and fourth jhàna. These are called right concentration according to the Mahàsatipaññhàna Sutta, the Greater Discourse on Foundations of Mindfulness. In the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), right concentration is explained in more detail as the four fine-material jhànas (råpa-jhàna), the four immaterial jhànas (aråpa-jhàna) and access concentration (upacàra-samàdhi). Some people have a great accumulation of pàramãs, and can attain Nibbàna by simply listening to a brief or detailed talk on the Dhamma. Most people, however, do not have such pàramã, and must practise the Noble Eightfold Path in the gradual order. They are called person-to-be-led (neyya-puggala), and must develop the Noble Eightfold Path step by step, in the order of 19 virtue, concentration, and wisdom. After purifying their virtue they must train in concentration, and after purifying their mind by way of concentration practice they must train in wisdom. How You Develop Concentration How should they develop concentration? There are forty subjects of Samatha meditation, and a person can develop any of these to attain concentration. Those who cannot decide which meditation subject to develop should start with mindfulness-of-breathing (ànàpànasati). Most people succeed in meditation by using either mindfulness-of-breathing or the fourelements meditation. Therefore, I shall now explain briefly how to practise mindfulness-of-breathing. How You Develop Mindfulness-of-Breathing The development of mindfulness-of-breathing (ànàpànasati) is taught by the Buddha in the Mahàsatipaññhàna Sutta (The Greater Discourse on Foundations of Mindfulness) of Digha Nikaya (Long Discourses). He says: ‘Bhikkhus, here in this Teaching a bhikkhu having gone to the forest, or to the foot of a tree, or to an empty place, sits down cross-legged and keeps his body erect and establishes mindfulness on the meditation object; only mindfully he breathes in and only mindfully he breathes out. 20 1. Breathing in a long breath he knows, “I am breathing in a long breath”, or breathing out a long breath he knows, “I am breathing out a long breath”. 2. Breathing in a short breath he knows, “I am breathing in a short breath”, or breathing out a short breath he knows, “I am breathing out a short breath”. 3. “Experiencing the whole breath body I will breathe in”, thus he trains himself, and, “Experiencing the whole breath body I will breathe out”, thus he trains himself. 4. “Calming the breath body I will breathe in”, thus he trains himself, and, “Calming the breath body I will breathe out”, thus he trains himself.’ To begin meditating, sit in a comfortable position and try to be aware of the breath as it enters and leaves the body through the nostrils. You should be able to feel it either just below the nose or somewhere around the nostrils. Do not follow the breath into the body or out of the body, because then you will not be able to perfect your concentration. Just be aware of the breath at the most obvious place it brushes against or touches, either the top of the upper lip or around the nostrils. Then you will be able to develop and perfect your concentration. Do not pay attention to the individual characteristics (sabhàva-lakkhaõa), general characteristics (samma¤¤alakkhaõa) or colour of the nimitta (sign of concentration). The individual characteristics are the characteristics of the four elements in the breath: hardness, roughness, flowing, heat, supporting, pushing, etc. The general 21 characteristics are the impermanent (anicca), suffering (dukkha), or non-self (anattà) characteristics of the breath. This means do not note ‘in, out, impermanent’, or ‘in, out, suffering’, or ‘in, out, non-self’. Simply be aware of the in-and-out breath as a concept. The concept of the breath is the object of mindfulness-of-breathing. It is this object you must concentrate on to develop concentration. As you concentrate on the concept of the breath in this way, and if you practised this meditation in a previous life, and developed some pàramãs, you will easily be able to concentrate on the in-and-out breath. If not, the Visuddhimagga suggests counting the breaths. You should count after the end of each breath: ‘In-out-one, in-out-two,’ etc. Count up to at least five, but not to more than ten. We suggest you count to eight, because that reminds you of the Noble Eightfold Path, which you are trying to develop. So you should count, as you like, up to any number between five and ten, and determine that during that time you will not let your mind drift, or go elsewhere, but be only calmly aware of the breath. When you count like this, you find that you are able to concentrate your mind, and make it calmly aware of only the breath. After concentrating your mind like this for at least half an hour, you should proceed to the second stage: 1. ‘Breathing in a long breath he knows, “I am breathing in a long breath”, or breathing out a long breath he knows, “I am breathing out a long breath”. 22 2. ‘Breathing in a short breath he knows, “I am breathing in a short breath”, breathing out a short breath he knows, “I am breathing out a short breath”.’ At this stage you have to develop awareness of whether the in-and-out breaths are long or short. ‘Long’ or ‘short’ here do not refer to length in feet and inches, but length in time, the duration. You should decide for yourself what length of time you will call ‘long’, and what length of time you will call ‘short’. Be aware of the duration of each in-and-out breath. You will notice that the breath is sometimes long in time, and sometimes short. Just knowing this is all you have to do at this stage. Do not note, ‘In, out, long - In, out, short’, just ‘In, out’, and be aware of whether the breaths are long or short. You should know this by being just aware of the length of time that the breath brushes and touches the upper lip, or around the nostrils, as it enters and leaves the body. Sometimes the breath may be long throughout the sitting, and sometimes short, but do not purposely try to make it long or short. At this stage the nimitta may appear, but if you can do this calmly for about one hour, and no nimitta appears, you should move on to the third stage: 3. ‘“Experiencing the whole breath body I will breathe in”, thus he trains himself and, “Experiencing the whole breath body I will breathe out”, thus he trains himself.’ Here the Buddha is instructing you to be aware of the 23 whole breath from beginning to end. As you do this the nimitta may now appear. If it does, do not immediately shift your mind to it, but stay with the breath. If you are calmly aware of the breath from beginning to end for about an hour, and no nimitta appears, you should move on to the fourth stage: 4. ‘“Calming the breath body I will breathe in”, thus he trains himself and, “Calming the breath body I will breathe out”, thus he trains himself.’ To do this, you should decide to make the breath calm, but go on being aware of the breath from beginning to end, and do nothing else to make the breath calm. If you do, your concentration will break and fall away. The Visuddhimagga give four factors that make the breath calm: reflection (àbhoga), repeated recollection (samannàhàra), attention (manasikàra), and investigation (vãmaÿsa). So all you need to do at this stage is to decide to calm the breath, and to be continuously aware of it. This way, you will find that the breath becomes calmer, and the nimitta may appear. Just before the nimitta appears, a lot of meditators encounter difficulties. Mostly they find that the breath becomes very subtle, and not clear; they may think the breath has stopped. If this happens, you should keep your awareness where you last noticed the breath, and wait for it there. A dead person, a foetus in the womb, a drowned person, an unconscious person, a person in the fourth jhàna, a person in the attainment of cessation (nirodha- 24 samàpatti) 2 , and a brahmà: only these seven types of person do not breathe. Reflect on the fact that you are not one of them, that you are in reality breathing, and that it is just your mindfulness which is not strong enough to be aware of the breath. When it is subtle, you should not change the breath to make it more obvious, as the effort will cause agitation, and your concentration will not develop. Just be aware of the breath as it is, and if it is not clear, simply wait for it where you last noticed it. You will find that, as you apply your mindfulness and wisdom this way, the breath will reappear. The nimitta of mindfulness-of-breathing varies according to the individual. To some the nimitta is pure and fine like cotton wool, drawn out cotton, moving air or draught, a bright light like the morning star Venus, a bright ruby or gem, or a bright pearl. To others it is like the stem of cotton plant, a sharpened piece of wood. To yet others it is like a long rope or string, a wreath of flowers, a puff of smoke, a stretched out cobweb, a film of mist, a lotus, a chariot wheel, a moon, or a sun. In most cases, a pure white nimitta like cotton wool is the uggaha-nimitta (taken-up sign or learning sign), which is usually dull and opaque. When the nimitta becomes bright like the morning star, brilliant and clear, it is the pañibhàga-nimitta (counterpart sign). When like a dull ruby or gem, it is the uggaha-nimitta, but when bright and sparkling, it is the pañibhàga2. When consciousness, mental-concomitants, and materiality produced by consciousness are suspended. 25 nimitta. The other images should be understood in this way. The nimitta appears to different people in different ways, because it is produced by perception. The different perceptions of different meditators before the arising of the nimitta produce different types of nimitta. Even though mindfulness-of-breathing is a single meditation subject, it produces various types of nimitta, depending on the individual. When you have reached this stage it is important to not play with your nimitta. Do not let it go away, and do not intentionally change its shape or appearance. If you do, your concentration will not develop any further, and your progress will stop. Your nimitta will probably disappear. So when your nimitta first appears, do not move your mind from the breath to the nimitta. If you do, you will find it disappears. If you find that the nimitta is stable, and your mind by itself has become fixed on it, then just leave your mind there. If you force your mind to come away from it, you will probably lose your concentration. If your nimitta appears far away in front of you, ignore it, as it will probably disappear. If you ignore it, and simply concentrate on the breath at the place where the breath touches, the nimitta will come and stay there. If your nimitta appears at the place where the breath touches, is stable, and appears as if it is the breath itself, and the breath as if it is the nimitta, then forget about the breath, and be just aware of the nimitta. By moving your mind from the breath to the nimitta, you will be able to make further progress. As you keep 26 your mind on the nimitta, the nimitta becomes whiter and whiter, and when it is white like cotton wool, it is the uggaha-nimitta. You should determine to keep your mind calmly concentrated on the white uggaha-nimitta for one, two, three hours, or more. If you can keep your mind fixed on the uggaha-nimitta for one or two hours, it should become clear, bright, and brilliant. This is then the pañibhàga-nimitta (counterpart sign). Determine and practise to keep your mind on the pañibhàga-nimitta for one, two, or three hours. Practise until you succeed. At this stage you will reach either access (upacàra) or absorption (appanà) concentration. It is called access concentration because it is close to and precedes jhàna. Absorption concentration is jhàna. Both types of concentration have the pañibhàganimitta as their object. The only difference between them is that in access concentration the jhàna factors are not fully developed. For this reason bhavaïga mind states still occur, and one can fall into bhavaïga (lifecontinuum consciousness). The meditator will say that everything stopped, and may even think it is Nibbàna. In reality the mind has not stopped, but the meditator is just not sufficiently skilled to discern this, because the bhavaïga mind states are very subtle. To avoid dropping into bhavaïga, and to develop further, you need the help of the five controlling faculties: faith (saddhà), effort (vãriya), mindfulness (sati), concentration (samàdhi), and understanding (pa¤¤à) to push the mind and fix it on the pañibhàga-nimitta. It takes effort to make the mind know the pañibhàga- 27 nimitta again and again, mindfulness to not forget it, and understanding to know it. How You Balance the Five Controlling Faculties The five controlling faculties (pa¤cindriyà) are the five powers that control the mind, and keep it from straying off the path of Samatha (tranquillity) and Vipassanà (insight) that leads to Nibbàna. If one or more are in excess, this leads to imbalance. The first one is faith in what one should have faith in, such as the Triple Gem, or faith in kamma and its results. It is important to have faith in the enlightenment of the Buddha, because without it, a person will regress from the work in meditation. It is also important to have faith in the teachings of the Buddha, namely the Four Paths, the Four Fruits, Nibbàna, etc. The teachings of the Buddha show us the way of meditation, so at this stage it is important to have complete faith in that teaching. Let us say the meditator thinks, ‘Can jhàna really be attained by just watching the in-breath and out-breath? Is it really true that the uggaha-nimitta is like white cotton wool, and the pañibhàga-nimitta like clear ice or glass?’ If these kinds of thought persist, they result in views such as, ‘Jhàna cannot be attained in the present age,’ and the meditator’s faith in the teaching will decline, and he will be unable to stop himself from giving up the development of Samatha. 28 So a person who is developing concentration with a meditation subject like mindfulness-of-breathing needs to have strong faith. He should develop mindfulness-ofbreathing without any doubts. He should think, ‘Jhàna can be achieved, if I follow the instructions of the Fully Enlightened Buddha systematically.’ If, however, a person lets his faith in objects that he should have faith in become excessive, and here it is the meditation subject of mindfulness-of-breathing, then because excessive faith has decided on the object, wisdom is not clear, and also the remaining faculties, effort, mindfulness, and concentration are weakened: Effort is unable to raise associated mental formations 3 to the pañibhàga-nimitta, and keep them there; mindfulness is unable to establish knowledge of the pañibhàga-nimitta; concentration is unable to prevent the mind from going to another object; and wisdom is unable to see penetratively the pañibhàga-nimitta. Because wisdom is unable to understand the pañibhàganimitta, and support the faculty of faith, excessive faith leads actually to a decrease in faith. If effort is too strong, the remaining faculties, faith, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom, will be unable respectively decide, establish, prevent distraction, and discern penetratively. Thus excessive effort causes the mind to not stay calmly concentrated on the pañibhàga-nimitta, and the enlightenment factors of tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity do not arise with sufficient strength. 3. Mental formations (nàma-dhammà) include both consciousnesses (città) and their mental-concomitants (cetasikà). 29 To balance faith with wisdom, and concentration with effort, is praised by the wise. If, for instance, faith is strong and wisdom is weak, a person will develop faith in, and respect for objects without use and essence. For instance, he will develop faith in, and reverence for objects revered and respected by religions outside orthodox Buddhism, for example, guardian spirits or protective deities. If, on the other hand, wisdom is strong and faith is weak, a person can become quite crafty. Without meditating, they will spend their time simply passing judgements. This is as difficult to cure, as to cure a disease caused by an overdose of medicine. If faith and wisdom are balanced, a person will have faith in objects he should have faith in: however, the Triple Gem, kamma, and its effects. He will believe that if he meditates, in accordance with the Buddha’s instructions, he will be able to attain the pañibhàganimitta, and jhàna. Again, if concentration is strong and effort is weak, a person can become lazy. If effort is strong, and concentration weak, however, he can become agitated. But when concentration and effort are balanced, he will become neither lazy, nor agitated, and will be able to attain jhàna. When a person wishes to cultivate a Samatha subject, it is good to have very strong faith. If he thinks, ‘I will certainly reach jhàna, if I develop concentration on the pañibhàga-nimitta’, then by the power of that faith, and by concentrating on the pañibhàga-nimitta, he will definitely achieve jhàna. This is because jhàna is based primarily on concentration. 30 For a person developing Vipassanà it is good that wisdom be strong, because when wisdom is strong he will be able to know and see the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering, and non-self penetratively. When concentration and wisdom are balanced, mundane jhànas (lokiya-jhàna) can arise. Because the Buddha taught to develop Samatha and Vipassanà together, supramundane jhànas (lokuttara-jhàna) can also arise only when concentration and wisdom are balanced. Mindfulness is necessary under all circumstances, because it protects the mind from agitation due to excess faith, effort, or wisdom, and from laziness due to excess concentration. It balances faith with wisdom, concentration with effort, and concentration with wisdom. So mindfulness is always necessary, as is the seasoning of salt in all sauces, and a prime minister for all the king’s affairs. Hence it says in the ancient commentaries, that the Blessed One said, ‘Mindfulness is always necessary in any meditation subject.’ Why? Because it is a refuge and protection for the meditating mind. Mindfulness is a refuge, because it helps the mind arrive at special and high states, it has never reached or known before. Without mindfulness the mind is incapable of attaining any special and extraordinary states. Mindfulness protects the mind, and keeps the object of meditation from being lost. That is why to one discerning it, with insight-knowledge, mindfulness appears as that which protects the object of meditation, as well as the mind of the meditator. Without mindfulness, 31 a person is unable to lift the mind up or restrain the mind. That is why the Buddha has said it is necessary in all instances. (See also Visuddhimagga Chapter IV, para. 49. Mahàñãkà 1, 150-154.) How You Balance the Seven Factors of Enlightenment If one is to achieve jhàna using mindfulness-ofbreathing, it is also important to balance the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. They are the Enlightenment Factors of: 1. Mindfulness (sati); which remembers the pañibhàganimitta, and discerns it again and again. 2. Investigation of Phenomena (dhammavicaya); which understands the pañibhàga-nimitta penetratively. 3. Effort (vãriya); which is brings the enlightenment factors together, and balances them on the pañibhàganimitta; and especially reinforces itself, and the Factor of Investigation of Phenomena. 4. Joy (pãti); gladness of the mind when experiencing the pañibhàga-nimitta. 5. Tranquillity (passaddhi); calmness of the mind and mental-concomitants, that have the pañibhàganimitta as their object. 6. Concentration (samàdhi); one-pointedness of the mind on the pañibhàga-nimitta. 32 7. Equanimity (upekkhà); evenness of mind that neither becomes excited, nor withdraws from the pañibhàga-nimitta. A meditator must develop and balance all seven enlightenment factors. With insufficient effort, however, the mind will fall away from the object of meditation, which in this case is the pañibhàga-nimitta. Then one should not develop tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity, but develop investigation of phenomena, effort, and joy. This way the mind is raised up again. When there is too much effort, however, the mind will become agitated and distracted. Then one should do the opposite, and not develop investigation of phenomena, effort, and joy, but tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity. This way the agitated and distracted mind becomes restrained and calmed. This is how the five controlling faculties, and seven factors of enlightenment are balanced. How You Attain Jhàna When the five controlling faculties, faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding are sufficiently developed, concentration will go beyond access, up to absorption concentration. When you reach jhàna, your mind will know the pañibhàga-nimitta without interruption. This can continue for several hours, even all night, or for a whole day. When your mind stays continuously concentrated on the pañibhàga-nimitta for one or two hours, you 33 should try to discern the area in the heart where the mind-door (bhavaïga consciousness) rests, that is the heart-base materiality. The bhavaïga consciousness is bright and luminous, and the commentaries explain that it is the mind-door (manodvàra). If you try many times, again and again, you will eventually discern both the mind-door, and pañibhàga-nimitta as it appears there. You should then discern the five jhàna factors one at a time. With continued practice, you will be able to discern them all together at once. The five jhàna factors are: 1. Applied thought (vitakka): directing and placing the mind on the pañibhàga-nimitta of the in-andout breath. 2. Sustained thought (vicàra): maintaining the mind on the pañibhàga-nimitta of the in-and-out breath. 3. Joy (pãti): liking for the pañibhàga-nimitta of the in-and-out breath. 4. Bliss (sukha): happiness about the pañibhàganimitta of the in-and-out breath. 5. One-pointedness (ekaggatà): one-pointedness of mind on the pañibhàga-nimitta of the in-and-out breath. The jhàna factors are as a group called jhàna. When you are just beginning to practise jhàna, you should practise to enter jhàna for a long time, and not spend too much 34 time discerning the jhàna factors. You should practise mastery (vasã-bhàva) of the jhànas. There are five kinds of mastery: 1. To advert to the jhàna factors. 2. To enter jhàna whenever desired. 3. To resolve (adhiññhàna) to stay in jhàna for a determined duration, and to keep the resolve. 4. To emerge from jhàna at the determined time. 5. To review the jhàna factors.4 In the Pabbateyyagàvã Sutta in the Aïguttara Nikàya (Numerical Discourses), the Buddha says that one should not try going to the second jhàna without mastering the first jhàna. He explains that if one does not master the first jhàna thoroughly, but tries to go to higher jhànas, one will lose the first jhàna, as well as be unable to attain the other jhànas. One will lose all the jhànas. When you master the first jhàna, you can try to progress to the second jhàna. You need to enter the first 4. Adverting and reviewing occur in the same mind-door thought-process (manodvàra-vãthi). Adverting is performed by the mind-door adverting consciousness (manodvàràvajjana), which in this case takes as object one of the five jhàna factors, such as applied thought. Reviewing is performed by the four, five, six, or seven reviewing impulsion consciousnesses, that occur immediately after the mind-door adverting consciousness, and which have the same object. See Talk Five for more detailed explanation. 35 jhàna, emerge from it, and reflect on its faults, and on the advantages of the second jhàna. That is, the first jhàna is close to the five hindrances, has gross jhàna factors of applied and sustained thought, and is thus less calm than the second jhàna, which is without them. So, with no desire now for those two jhàna factors, for only joy, happiness, and one-pointedness, you should again concentrate on the pañibhàga-nimitta. 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 practise the five masteries of the second jhàna. When you have succeeded, and want to develop the third jhàna, you should emerge from the second jhàna, and reflect on its faults, and on the advantages of the third jhàna. That is, the second jhàna is close to the first jhàna, and has the gross jhàna factor of joy, and is thus less calm than the third jhàna, which is without joy. With the desire now to attain the third jhàna, 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 practise the five masteries of the third jhàna. When you have succeeded, and want to develop the fourth jhàna, you should emerge from the third jhàna, and reflect on its faults and on the advantages of the fourth jhàna. That is, the third jhàna has the gross jhàna factor of happiness, and is thus less calm than the fourth jhàna, which is without happiness. With the desire now to attain the fourth jhàna, you should again concentrate on the pañibhàga-nimitta. This way 36 you will be able to attain the fourth jhàna, possessed of only equanimity and one-pointedness. You should then practise the five masteries of the fourth jhàna. With the attainment of the fourth jhàna, the breath stops completely. This completes the fourth stage in the development of mindfulness-of-breathing (ànàpànasati): 4. ‘“Calming the breath body I will breathe in”, thus he trains himself, and, “Calming the breath body I will breathe out”, thus he trains himself.’ This stage began just before the nimitta appeared, and as concentration developed through the four jhànas, the breath became progressively calmer and calmer, until it stopped in the fourth jhàna. When a meditator has reached the fourth jhàna by using mindfulness-of-breathing, 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 meditator can, on the other hand, continue to develop Samatha meditation. That will be the subject of my next talk, namely, how to develop the ten kasiõas.