Chapter 21

(Tape 43 / Ps: 1 -60)

Today we have come to chapter 21. Now let’s say a meditator was meditating and practicing vipassanÈ meditation. Up until now he has reached the Knowledge of Seeing Rise and Fall. So first he gets momentary concentration and after that he comes to see mind and matter clearly. Then he sees the causes of mind and matter. Next he contemplates on mental and physical phenomena by the use of comprehending by groups. That is called ‘inferential vipassanÈ’. And then he tries to see the rising and falling of mental and physical phenomena. He observes the rising and falling of things.

His knowledge of vipassanÈ was somewhat developed. At that moment he was troubled by these ten imperfections of vipassanÈ or the ten impediments like illumination, joy, happiness, tranquillity and so on. They are called impediments or obstacles of vipassanÈ because if he thinks that they are indications of enlightenment, then he will not practice anymore. So he will not get any more progress. They are impediments or obstacles to the progress in vipassanÈ. Therefore he has to surmount them. He has to regard them as just passing phenomena. He has to stick to the contemplation on the rising and falling of mental and physical phenomena. The previous chapter ends with his being able to decide which is the right path and which is not the right path. That means these ten impediments are not the right path. He is not to be pleased with them; he is not to retain them. Contemplation on the rise and fall is the right path. So his contemplation of rise and fall has not finished yet. He was disturbed by these ten impediments. Now free from impediments, he must go on. So in today’s chapter he will go on, first practicing contemplation on rise and fall again.

There are two parts in the contemplation on rise and fall, the immature stage and the mature stage. First he practiced contemplation of rise and fall and it was not so mature. At that point he was disturbed with these ten impediments. Now he has cleared those impediments and so he is going to practice more. “Insight reaches its culmination with the Eight Knowledges, and Knowledge in Conformity with Truth is ninth.” So all together there are nine vipassanÈ knowledges. These are what is called ‘Purification by Knowledge and vision of the Way’. Until the end of the last chapter that is Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What is the Path and What is not the Path. That purification he has reached, and so the next purification is called ‘Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way’. And this stage of purity will consist of many stages of vipassanÈ knowledge. So here we have nine.

“The Eight should be understood as follows: (1) Knowledge of Contemplation of rise and fall, which is insight free from imperfections and steady on its course (It is that which is more mature.), (2) Knowledge of Contemplation of Dissolution, (3) Knowledge of Appearance as Terror, (4) Knowledge of Contemplation of Danger, (5) Knowledge of Contemplation of Dispassion, (6) Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance (or desire to get free from it), (7) Knowledge of Contemplation of Reflection, and (9) Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations.” So these states of knowledge he will get one after another.

“ ‘Knowledge of Conformity with Truth as ninth’ is a term for Conformity.” It will become clear later. “So one who wants to perfect this should make these kinds of knowledge his task, starting with Knowledge of Rise and Fall free from imperfections.” So he has to practice the Knowledge of Rise and Fall or Contemplation of Rise and Fall again. “Why does he pursue knowledge of rise and fall? To observe the three characteristics.” He has been observing the three characteristics, but his observation of the three characteristics is not yet strong enough. In order to make that observation strong, he has to practice observing the three characteristics again. “The knowledge of rise and fall already dealt with, disabled by the ten imperfections (He was troubled previously by the ten imperfections of obstacles.), was not capable of observing the three characteristics in their true nature; but once freed from imperfections, it is able to do so. So he should pursue it again here in order to observe the characteristics.” He practices contemplation of rise and fall again. When he practices meditation, he sees the rising and falling or the rising and disappearing of things, that is the rising and disappearing of what he observes at the present moment.

Then the book explains the three characteristics - when they fail to become apparent and for what reason. So first “The characteristics fail to become apparent when something is not given attention and so something conceals them. What is that? Firstly, the characteristic of impermanence does not become apparent because, when rise and fall are not given attention, it is concealed by continuity.” Because it is concealed by continuity, we cannot see the impermanence of things. That is because we cannot get rid of this notion of continuity, so we are unable to see the impermanence of things. Impermanence is concealed by continuity because we do not see the rise and fall of things.

“The (second) characteristic of pain does not become apparent (That means we are unable to see it.); because, when continuous oppression is not given attention (when we do not concentrate on being oppressed by rising and falling continuously), it is concealed by the postures.” That means we change from one posture to another very often. When we change from one posture to another, the next posture is said to be unable to make known the pain. That means when we have a little pain, then we change the posture. That is when we are not meditating especially. Let us say that we sit for some time, and there is pain or something inconvenient; then we change to be free from it. So when we change, the pain is gone. The pain does not become clear or apparent because we change posture every now and then. We fail to see that physical phenomena are always oppressed by arising and disappearing. When we see the arising and disappearing and when we see that it is painful, and also when we sit in one posture for some time, then we will come to see that it is really painful. There is suffering always.

The third characteristic is not self. It does not become apparent because resolution into the various elements is not given attention. That means when we do not see the mental and physical phenomena in bits, or in elements, or in different components, there is the notion of compactness. We see things as compact. They are put together or they are held together by something. That dissolution into various elements we do not give attention to; so that is concealed by compactness. Since it is concealed by compactness, we fail to analyze them into their components. Therefore we fail to see the third characteristic of anatta or not self.

“However, when continuity is disrupted by discerning rise and fall” - when you practice meditation and you really see the rise and fall of things, then the continuity is disrupted. The continuity is broken for you. When the continuity is broken, then the characteristic of impermanence becomes clear. “When the postures are exposed by attention to continuous oppression, the characteristic of pain becomes apparent in its true nature.” There is an explanation down in footnote 3. We will read that later. “When the resolution of the compact is effected by resolution into elements (when we break them down into pieces), the characteristic of not self becomes apparent in its true nature.” So if we want to see the three characteristics, what we have to do is see the rise and fall of things and see the perpetual oppression by rise and fall. And also we have to break everything down into the component elements.

Now let us look at footnote 3, the last paragraph. “Commenting on this paragraph in the Visuddhi Magga the Sub-Commentator says: “‘When continuity is disrupted’ means when continuity is exposed by observing the perpetual otherness of states (States are different at every moment. One state at this moment is not the same at the next moment.) as they go on occurring in succession. For it is not through the connectedness of states” and so on. That sentence is not so good. What we should understand is that a person who rightly observes rise and fall, who really sees the rise and fall, to such a person these mental and physical states do not manifest in a state of connectedness. That is because that person sees things rising and falling, rising and falling. That means at every moment there is a new thing coming up and then disappearing. Then at the next moment there is another new thing appearing and so on. So when he is seeing the rise and fall of things, then states do not manifest to him in a state of connectedness. They appear to him bit by bit or as disconnected like iron darts. That means that they appear like sparks, here and there, not connected as a whole. Therefore the characteristic of impermanence becomes very apparent to the meditator who pays attention to or who sees the rise and fall clearly.

“ ‘When the postures are exposed’ means when the concealment of the pain that is actually inherent in the postures is exposed. For when pain arises in a posture, the next posture adopted removes the pain, as it were, concealing it. But once it is correctly known how the pain in any posture is shifted by substituting another posture for that one, then the concealment of the pain that is in them is exposed because it has become evident that formations are being incessantly overwhelmed by pain. ‘Resolution of the compact’ is effected by resolving [what appears compact] in this way ‘The earth element is one, the water element is another’, etc.” In our meditation we note that this is the earth element, this is the water element, this is the fire element and so on, or this is feeling, this is perception and so on.

“ ‘When the resolution of the compact is effected’ means that what is compact as a mass and what is compact as a function (That means ‘as to function’.) what is compact as to object has been analyzed.” There are three kinds of compactness here - compact as to mass, compact as to function, and compact as to object. “For when material and immaterial stages have arisen mutually steadying each other (That means mutually supporting each other.) [mentality and materiality, for example,] then, owing to misinterpreting that as a unity, compactness of mass is assumed through failure to subject formations to pressure.” ‘Failure to subject formations to pressure’ means failure to contemplate on the formations. The PÈÄi word used here is ‘maddana’. It means ‘pressing or what is called ‘kneading’, like kneading dough. The PÈÄi word used is ‘pressing’. So he translated it as ‘pressure’ here. But it is to be understood as contemplating. ‘One who has pressed the formations’ means one who has contemplated on the formations. So we can just say that compactness of mass is assured through failure to contemplate on the formations. That is when we fail to contemplate on the formations, contemplate on them as impermanent and so on.

“And likewise compactness of function is assumed when, although definite differences exist in such and such states’ functions, they are taken as one.” When we see something, the eye has one function and seeing consciousness has another function. And what is seen has yet another function. So they have different functions and they are doing their different functions at the moment. But when we see something, we don’t see them as different functions. We just see them. We think that we see with the physical eyes and also with seeing consciousness. If we pay no attention, if we do not practice meditation, we see the functions as a whole. We don’t see that it is the function of the eye, it is the function of seeing consciousness and so on. When we see these functions as a whole, then it is the compact as to function.

The next one is ‘compact as to object’. Let us say at one time we se a visible object and at another time we hear an audible object, and at yet another time we smell some scent. Although taking different objects, although cittas are taking different objects, we take it to be just one and the same thing. We think that it is the same consciousness that sees, that hears, smells and so on. We think that it is all the same consciousness. We think that we have the same consciousness from the beginning of our life until today. It is something like that. So when we take it like that, it is called ‘compact with regard to object’. But when we try to see one by one, that is breaking them down into their respective elements, the compactness is gone. And so there can be no misinterpretation as a single unit.

“But when they are seen after resolving them by means of knowledge into these elements, they disintegrate like froth subjected to compression by the hand. They are mere states occurring due to conditions and void. In this way the characteristic of not self becomes more evident.” So here we should understand that what conceals the three characteristics, and failing what they are concealed. If we fail to see the rise and fall, then the continuity will conceal the impermanence. If we fail to make clear the postures, then we will fail to see the perpetual oppression. And so we will fail to see the second nature. If we cannot break them down into their elements, then the compactness will conceal them. So we will not be able to see them as just dhammas, just the phenomena going on.

In connection with this the author gives us the information on what it is that we call ‘impermanent’ and what is the characteristic of impermanence. The author tells us what is the mark to decide that something is impermanent, or what is painful, or what the characteristic of pain is, and what is not self, and what is the characteristic of not self. The five aggregates are impermanent. The five aggregates are what we call impermanent because when we say that it is impermanent, we mean the five aggregates. There are five aggregates in the world. These five aggregates have a beginning and an end, and so they are impermanent. Why are the impermanent? Because they rise and fall and change. That is one mark. Or because of their non-existence after having been, that is another mark. Because they rise and fall and change they are impermanent. And they do not exist after coming into being. That means immediately after coming into being they disappear. Since they disappear immediately after coming into being, they are impermanent. So there are two characteristics or two marks given here. One is that they rise and fall and change, and so they are impermanent. The other is that they disappear after coming into being. That is why they are impermanent.

“Rise and fall and change are the characteristic of impermanence; or mode alteration (That is very awkward. It just means a particular mode.), in other words non-existence after having been, is the characteristic of impermanence.” So we should say “a particular mode which is known as non-existence after having been, is the characteristic of impermanence.”

“The same five aggregates are painful.” What is dukkha? The five aggregates. “Because of the words ‘What is impermanent is painful’. Why? Because of continuous oppression.” So they are always oppressed by rising and falling, rising and falling. “The mode of being continually oppressed is the characteristic of pain.” If we want to say something is painful, we have to see whether it is always oppressed by rising and disappearing.

“Those same five aggregates are not self because of the words, ‘What is painful is not self’. Why? Because there is no exercising of power over them. The mode of insusceptibility to the exercise of power is the characteristic of not self.” So we have no power over them: by their own nature they just arise and disappear and we cannot make them not disappear after they have arisen. So we have no exercise of power over them. That is the characteristic of not self.

“The meditator observes all this in its true nature with the knowledge of the contemplation of rise and fall, in other words, with insight free from imperfections and steady on its course.” He sees rise and fall clearly, and also sees the three characteristics clearly. That is only possible when he has overcome the imperfections of vipassanÈ and his meditation is steady on its course.

Now let’s read footnote 4. “These modes, [that is, the three characteristics,] are not included in the aggregates because they are states without individual essence.” They are just marks. They are just the signs of the aggregates. That is why the characteristics are not included in the aggregates. “They are not separate from the aggregates because they are unapprehendible without the aggregates.” That is because they are the arising and disappearing of the aggregates. Without the aggregates we do not see the arising and disappearing at all. Although they are different from the five aggregates, they cannot be apprehended, they cannot be known, without the five aggregates. “But they should be understood as appropriate conceptual differences.” Again it is an unsatisfactory translation. ‘PaÒÒati visesÈ’ means a particular concept. They are particular appropriate concepts. That means the characteristic of impermanence, the characteristic of pain, and the characteristic of not self are particular appropriate concepts. They are themselves concepts. They do not have their own individual essence. They are just the marks or signs of the impermanent, painful and not self nature of the five aggregates. Instead of saying ‘appropriate conceptual differences’, we should say “particular appropriate concepts that are reasons for differentiation in the explaining of dangers in the five aggregates, and which are allowable by common usage in respect of the five aggregates.”

In the next paragraph we have Knowledge of Contemplation of Dissolution. “After a yogi repeatedly observes in this way, and examines, and investigates material and immaterial states, [to see] that they are impermanent, painful, and not self, then if his knowledge works keenly, formations quickly become apparent.” That means his knowledge of arising and falling becomes stronger and stronger. As it gets stronger, the formations become more apparent more quickly and also his knowledge becomes more and more keen. “Once his knowledge works keenly and formations quickly become apparent, he no longer extends his mindfulness to their arising, or presence, or occurrence, or sign, but brings it to bear only on their cessation as destruction, fall and breakup.”

That means his knowledge becomes keener and keener. When knowledge becomes keener and keener, the formations appear to him more quickly. Formations rise and fall at their own speed. It is not that formations rise and fall slowly and now formations rise and fall quickly. They are rising and falling at their own pace. But before his mind becomes mature or before his knowledge becomes strong, his seeing of these formations is not so swift. Now his knowledge or his mind is very keen and so he can see formations very quickly. Formations come and go very quickly. In fact he cannot see the beginning, the middle and the end or all three phases of their existence clearly. Because they are going fast, what he notices is just their disappearance. It is like you are standing on the side of a freeway and the cars are going past you at very high speed. What you notice is just one car disappearing, and another car disappearing, not the beginning of the cars, but just the disappearing of them.

When your knowledge becomes stronger and stronger, you see the formations coming and going very quickly. When you see them quickly, then you see only the disappearing of them, not the arising, or their sign. Do you see the word ‘sign’ there? That means you will lose seeing forms and shapes. Before you reach this stage, when you observe things, you observe with the shapes and forms. When you are aware of the breath, you see the breath as something going in and out, something like a pencil or something like a rod. When you concentrate on the movement of the abdomen, you see the abdomen, the shape and form of the abdomen, along with the movement. But when you reach this stage, you no longer see the form or shape. You just see the pure phenomena. So sometimes a yogis will think that they have lost meditation all together because formerly they were seeing things in connection with the shape and form. Now they don’t see any shape or form, and so they think that they have lost meditation or lost objects all together. But actually it is not the case; it is just losing the signs, or shapes, or forms. So a yogi is able to take the ultimate reality as object of his meditation, not mixed with concepts. Before he reaches that stage, his understanding is mixed with concepts. He understands mental and physical phenomena mixed with concepts. Now when he reaches this stage, he is able to see mental and physical phenomena purely, not mixed with shape, or form, or whatever, the concepts. So he sees only the falling or the disappearance of things at this stage. This is called ‘Knowledge of Contemplation of Dissolution’.

“When insight knowledge has arisen in him in this way so that he sees how the field of formations, having arisen thus, ceases thus, it is called ‘Contemplation of Dissolution’ at that stage, with reference to which it is said.” So the following is a quotation from one of the books and there is an explanation of that quotation. The style in the quotation (It is from the PaÔisambhidÈmagga.) is a little different from the style in other books, like those in the Sutta PiÔaka. It is often not so easy to understand as the Sutta passages. So the commentator or author has to explain them in detail.

We may skip some passages or some paragraphs. Let’s go to paragraph 14. “He contemplates (anupassati).” Now the word ‘anupassati’ is translated as ‘he contemplates’ here. And it is commented upon or he explains it as ‘he sees always accordingly’. That is because it is commented upon ‘anu anu passati’. ‘Anu anu passati’ means he sees more or he sees much, not always ‘accordingly’. And ‘he sees much’ means he sees again and again in various modes. That is what is meant. He contemplates only on the disappearing of what he observes or on the disappearing of mental and physical phenomena.

Paragraph 18 “Progressing in this way, he relinquishes, he does not grasp. What is meant? [What is meant is that] this contemplation of impermanence, etc., is also called both ‘relinquishment as giving up’ and ‘relinquishment as entering into’ because, by substitution of opposite qualities, it gives up defilements along with aggregate producing kamma formations.” ‘Substitution of opposite qualities’ - that means temporary abandonment. “And because, by seeing the unsatisfactoriness of what is formed, it also enters into, by inclining towards, NibbÈna, which is the opposite of the formed.” So the meditator relinquishes everything and does not grasp at anything.

There are three kinds of abandonment. I hope you remember these three - momentary abandonment, temporary abandonment, and absolute abandonment. ‘Momentary abandonment’ means substituting wholesome states for defilements. At the moment of studying, at the moment of taking the class, you do not have mental defilements like attachment, anger, hatred, or whatever. They are replaced by understanding. That is momentary. If there are some conditions for anger to arise, then it will arise. So ‘he relinquishes’ means that through vipassanÈ meditation he is able to abandon mental defilements by way of substitution of opposite qualities. That means it can momentarily abandon the mental defilements.

There is another abandonment called what? Temporary abandonment. That means is lasts longer than the momentary abandonment. So it is able to keep those defilements at bay for a longer period of time. When you practice vipassanÈ meditation, you observe something. When you see it clearly and when you see that it arises and disappears, you are able to get rid of mental defilements with regard to that object. When you have practiced meditation and when you have gained experience, then at that moment you can also abandon defilements with regard to those which you do not observe. Just as you can abandon mental defilements with regard to objects you observe, so you are able to abandon mental defilements with regard to those that you do not observe. They still remain suppressed or something like that. That is what is called ‘temporary abandonment by vipassanÈ meditation’.

These two kinds of vipassanÈ can be achieved, but absolute abandonment comes only at the moment of enlightenment. “Therefore the bhikkhu who possesses that [contemplation] gives up defilements and enters into NibbÈna in the way stated, he does not grasp (cling to) defilements by causing rebirth, nor does he grasp (cling to) a formed object through failing to see its unsatisfactoriness. Hence it was said he relinquishes, he does not grasp.” This is Contemplation of Dissolution.

Paragraph 27 “When he no longer vacillates and so constantly bears in mind that the unceased will also cease, the undissolved will also dissolve, then he disregards the arising, presence, occurrence, and sign, of all formations, which keep on breaking up, like fragile pottery being smashed, like fine dust being dispersed, like sesame seeds being roasted, and he sees only their break-up. Just as a man with eyes standing on the bank of a pond or on the bank of a river during heavy rain would see large bubbles appearing on the surface of the water and breaking up as soon as they appeared, so too he sees how formations break up all the time. The Blessed One said of such a meditator:

‘And he who looks upon the world

As one who looks upon a bubble,

As one who looks upon a mirage,

Is out of sight of Death the King’.”

“When he constantly sees that all formations thus break up all the time, then contemplation of dissolution grows strong in him, bringing eight advantages, which are these: (So a person who has reached this stage of knowledge gets these eight advantages.) abandoning of [false] view of becoming, giving up attachment to life, constant application (That means always practicing.), a purified livelihood, no more anxiety or no more concern, absence of fear, acquisition of patience and gentleness, and conquest of aversion and sensual delight (That means neither glad nor sad.) Hence the Ancients said:

‘On seeing these eight perfect qualities

He contemplates formations constantly

Seeing break-up in order to attain

The Deathless, like the sage with burning turban’.”

What the verse says is: “The sage on seeing these eight perfect qualities, comprehends formations constantly, seeing breaking-up in order to attain the Deathless, like a man whose clothes or head are burning.” It is strange that all the translators misunderstood the passage here. The PÈÄi words used are ‘cela’ and ‘cira’. ‘Cela’ means just cloth or clothes, not necessarily a turban. So there are two similes - a man whose clothes are on fire and a man whose head is on fire. If your clothes are on fire, you don’t need any other things, but you try to put the fire out. And also if your head is burning, then you try to extinguish the burning on the head and don’t do any other things. So it should be a person with clothes or head burning or something like that. The reference given here is SaÑyutta NikÈya, 440. I read this passage, not this verse, but the passage referred to there. I read the English translations and I saw there also a turban on the head. But the word ‘cela’ does not mean ‘turban’ but just ‘clothes’ or ‘cloth’. So this is the Knowledge of Dissolution.

Next is the Knowledge of Appearance as Terror. “As he repeats, develops and cultivates in this way the contemplation of dissolution, the object of which is cessation consisting in the destruction, fall and break-up of all formations, then formations classed according to all kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode of beings, appear to him in the form of great terror.” That means when he has developed this knowledge of seeing the dissolution of things, then he comes to see all life this way, all kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station or abode of beings. They all mean just life. Buddha described them with different names and so all these are taken here. You can just say lives or existences. He sees existence or life as a great terror, full of danger - "“s lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas, spirits, ogres, fierce bulls, savage dogs, rut-maddened wild elephants, hideous venomous serpents, thunderbolts, charnel grounds, battle fields, flaming coal pits, etc., appear to a timid man who wants to live in peace.” A yogi will not see all these things, but we must understand that in the books it is given in all its diversity. A particular yogi will not see all of them; he may see one or two of them. “When he sees how past formations have ceased, present ones are ceasing, and those to be generated in the future will cease, in just the same way, then what is called ‘Knowledge as Appearance as Terror’ arises in him at that stage.” So he sees all phenomena or existence as terrible. Then a simile is given. I will not read this simile. There are two similes.

The second simile is in paragraph 31. “A woman with an infected womb” - the PÈÄi word used is ‘putipaja’. ‘Puti’ means rotten and ‘paja’ means offspring. Literally translated it means a woman with rotten offspring. It may mean the same thing as ‘with an infected womb’. It is a woman whose offspring do not live. Whenever a son or a daughter is born, he or she dies sooner or later. That is what is meant.

Paragraph 32 is important. “But does the knowledge of appearance as terror, fear or does it not fear?” That means when a yogi has reached this stage, is he afraid? Does he fear or is he afraid? No. If he is afraid or if he fears, then he has fallen away from meditation because fear is an unwholesome mental state. So when fear is in your mind or in the mind of a yogi, he is not doing meditation at that moment. So he does not fear.

“For it is simply the mere judgment that past formations have ceased, present ones are ceasing, and future ones will cease. Just as a man with eyes looking at three charcoal pits at a city gate is not himself afraid, since he only forms the mere judgment that all who fall into them will suffer no little pain” and so on. Although he sees the existence or formations of mental and physical phenomena as terrible or as fearful, he himself does not fear them; he is not afraid of them.

Then paragraph 33 “But it is called ‘appearance as terror’ only because formations in all kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode, are fearful in being bound for destruction, and so they appear only as terror. “Here is the text about its appearance to him as terror” and so on. “He sees both the sign and the occurrence as empty, vain, void, without power or guide, like an empty village, a mirage, a goblin city, etc., when he brings [them] to mind as not self, and so the sign and occurrence appear to him as a terror.” The ‘sign’ means the shape and form of mental and physical phenomena. And then occurrence, do you understand what is meant by occurrence? He uses ‘occurrence’ many times in this chapter. ‘Occurrence’ really means not just arising, it means arising and continuing to stay for some time. The PÈÄi word is ‘pavatta’. It does not means just arising; it means arising and then continuing for some time. This is the Knowledge of Appearance as Terror.

Next is the Knowledge of Contemplation of Danger. “As he repeats, develops and cultivates the Knowledge of Appearance as Terror, he finds no asylum, no shelter, no place to go to, no refuge in any kind of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode.” When he sees all these as terrible, then he finds no shelter, no place, no solace because whatever phenomena he contemplates on, he sees them as all disintegrating. So there is no shelter, no refuge. “In all kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station, and abode there is not a single formation that he can place his hopes in or hold on to. The three kinds of becoming appear like charcoal pits full of glowing coals, the four primary elements like hideous venomous snakes, the five aggregates like murderers with raised weapons, the six internal bases like an empty village, the six external bases like village-raiding robbers, the seven stations of consciousness and the nine abodes of beings as though burning, blazing and glowing with the eleven fires, and all formations appear as a huge mass of dangers destitute of satisfaction or substance like a tumor, a disease, a dart, a calamity, an affliction. How?”

During this stage, actually, he sees everything as faulty. He cannot see anything to hold on to, anything to place his hopes on and so on. So he feels very helpless during this stage of meditation. “They appear as a forest thicket of seemingly pleasant aspect but infested with wild beasts” and so on. The place is seemingly good but there are “wild beasts, a cave full of tigers, water haunted by monsters and ogres, an enemy with raised sword, poisoned food, a road beset by robbers, a burning coal, a battle field between contending armies, appear to a timid man who wants to live in peace.” So during this stage of knowledge, whatever he sees, he sees it as faulty, as dangerous, and there is no refuge or consolation for him at that time. Sometimes when yogis reach this stage, they don’t know what to do because they feel like they are depressed or something like that. Whatever they observe seems to be going away. So there is no solace for them. Some even leave meditation and go back to their houses because they feel so helpless at this stage of practice.

There is a long quotation and the explanation. We will skip those. Then we come to paragraph 42. “Ten Knowledges he understands: one who understands knowledge of danger understands, penetrates, realizes, ten kinds of knowledge, that is, the five based on arising, etc., and the five on non-arising and so on. When skilled in these two kinds of knowledge: with skill in the two, that is, knowledge of danger and knowledge of the state of peace. The various views will shake him not: he does not vacillate about views that occur such as ‘The ultimate NibbÈna is here and now’. The rest is clear.” This is Contemplation of Danger. At this stage he sees danger and also he has the knowledge of the state of peace. ‘NibbÈna is good. NibbÈna is peaceful and the world is full of danger’. So he sees there are two kinds of seeing here. One is positive and the other is negative. After seeing phenomena as dangerous, he goes on and he comes to another stage.

“When he sees all formations in this way as dangerous, he becomes dispassionate towards, (Some authors translate it as ‘turning away from’. So he turns away from.) is dissatisfied with, takes no delight in, the manifold field of formations belonging to any kind of becoming” and so on. When he sees dangers in them, he is dispassionate towards them; he turns away from them. “Just as a golden swan that loves the foothills of Citta Peak finds delight, not in a filthy puddle at the gate of a village of outcastes, but only in the Seven Great Lakes, so too this meditator swan finds delight, not in the manifold formations seen clearly as danger, but only in the Seven contemplations, because he delights in development.” That means he delights in the practice. “And just as the lion, King of Beasts, finds delight, not when put into a gold cage, but only in Himalaya with its three thousand leagues’ extent, so too the meditator lion finds delight, not in the triple becoming of the happy destiny, but only in the three contemplations. And just as Chaddanta, King of Elephants, all white with sevenfold stance, possessed of supernormal power, who travels through the air, finds pleasure, not in the midst of a town, but only in the Chaddanta Lake and Wood in the Himalaya, so too this meditator elephant finds delight, not in any formation, but only in the stage of peace seen in the way beginning ‘Non-arising is safety’, and his mind tends, inclines, and leans towards that.”

Now there is footnote 15 regarding Chaddanta. It is not an important thing, but we should understand this Chaddanta. ‘Danta’ means the tusk of an elephant and ‘cha’ means six. So Chaddanta could mean an elephant with six tusks. In the JÈtaka it is explained that it is not that the elephant has six tusks, but the elephant has tusks which emit six colored rays. So when people paint Chaddanta Elephant, they paint only with two tusks. However in one of the paintings I remember seeing in a book, (I think they were paintings in the Ajanta caves or some other caves in India.) they drew the elephant with six tusks. But in the JÈtaka book it is stated that the elephant has tusks emitting rays of six colors. That is why he is called ‘Chaddanta’. Chaddanta was one incarnation of the Bodhisatta. Before he became the Buddha, he was born as a white elephant. So this refers to him. “All white with sevenfold stance, possessed of supernormal power, who travels through the air, finds pleasure, not in the midst of a town, but only in the Chaddanta Lake and Wood in the Himalayas, so too this meditator elephant finds delight, not in any formation, but only in the stage of peace seen in the way beginning ‘Non-arising is safety’, and his mind tends, inclines, and leans towards that.”

Now I didn’t intend to talk about this. In footnote 15 “On the expression ‘with sevenfold stance’ PaÔisambhidÈmagga says” - then he does not translate it, ‘sevenfold stance’, believe it or not. You see the PÈÄi sentence there: “hattha-pÈda-vÈla-vatthikosehi bh|miphusanehi sattahi patiÔÔhito ti sattapatiÔÔho.” He touches the ground with seven of his limbs: ‘hattha’, the trunk is one, ‘pÈda’ four feet, ‘vÈla’ means the tail, ‘vatthikosa’ means the male member. It is explained this way in another Commentary too. That is not important here.

So this Knowledge of Dispassion. This Knowledge of Dispassion or Knowledge of Turning Away comes after Knowledge of Danger. So it is logical. You first see the arising and disappearing and then after that you see only the disappearing. When you see things disappearing or disintegrating, you see that they are fearful, or that they are dangerous, or that they are terrible. And then you find fault with them because they are dangerous. You see danger in them or you find fault with them. After finding fault with them, you are dispassioned towards them. You don’t want anything to do with them. That is Knowledge of Dispassion.

“Knowledge of Contemplation of Danger is the same as the last two kinds of knowledge in meaning.” ‘In meaning’ means in essence. In reality they are the same. “Hence the Ancients said: ‘Knowledge of Appearance as Terror while one only has three names: It saw all formations as terror, thus the name “Appearance as Terror” arose; it aroused the [appearance of] danger in those same formations, thus the name “Contemplation of Danger” arose; becoming dispassionate towards those same formations, thus the name “Contemplation of Dispassion” arose’. Also it is said in the text: ‘Understanding of Appearance as Terror, Knowledge of Danger, and Dispassion: these things are one in meaning, only the letter is different’.” So only the words are different, but the meaning is one. They mean the same vipassanÈ knowledge.

When one sees danger in them and wants to turn away from them, the next thing is Desire for Deliverance to get out of it. First you see danger and then you become dispassionate towards it and now you want to get rid of it, to get out of it. This is desire for deliverance. “When, owing to this knowledge of dispassion, this clansman becomes dispassionate towards, is dissatisfied with, takes no delight in, any single one of all the manifold formations in any kind of becoming, generation, destiny, station of consciousness or abode of beings, his mind no longer sticks fast, cleaves, fastens on to them.” So whatever object he observes, his mind does not want to take it actually; his mind is not stuck to them. “And he becomes desirous of being delivered from the whole field of formations and escaping from it.”

So when we really see the danger of something, we want to get rid of it, we want to get out of it. It is natural. And so here the similes are given - just as a fish in a net, a frog in a snake’s jaws, a jungle fowl shut into a cage and so on. There is mentioned here the moon inside RÈhu’s mouth. And then in footnote 16 he said: “RÈhu is the name for the eclipse of the sun or moon, personalized as a demon who takes them in his mouth.” So whenever there is an eclipse, we say “RÈhu has swallowed the moon” or “RÈhu has swallowed the sun.” At the end of the eclipse we say “Oh, RÈhu has thrown up the sun or the moon.” RÈhu is a demon. Prince Siddhatta gave the name ‘RÈhula’ to his son because a demon is a hindrance or an obstacle. So when his son was born, he thought that there was another attachment for him, another object of attachment for him. So he is like RÈhu for him. So he gave his son the name ‘RÈhula’. This is desire for deliverance or desire to get rid of formations, to get rid of existence all together.

After that there is Knowledge of Contemplation of Reflection. He is doing it again here. “Being thus desirous of deliverance from all the manifold formations in any kind of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode, in order to be delivered from the whole field of formations he again discerns those same formations, attributing to them the three characteristics by knowledge of contemplation of reflection.” He wants to get rid of the existence and all these things, but he cannot just leave them alone. He has to take them as the object of meditation again. So he has to see the impermanence, suffering and no self nature of these formations again. In PÈÄi the word is ‘paÔisankhÈ’. ‘PaÔi’ means again and ‘sankhÈ’ means knowing, so knowing again, contemplating or observing the three characteristics again. “He sees all formations as impermanent for the following reasons” and so on. You can compare these passages with those in the section on comprehending by groups. So he again sees mental and physical phenomena as impermanent, as painful, and as not self in different ways as they are non-continuous, temporary, limited by rise and fall and so on.

Here a simile is given. This is a very good simile. I often tell this simile to people. Paragraph 49 “But why does he discern them in this way? In order to contrive the means to deliverance.” Why does he observe these mental and physical phenomena again? Because he must have some means of deliverance. “Here is a simile: a man thought to catch a fish, it seems, so he took a fishing net and cast it in the water.” Here a ‘fishing net’ really means something like a basket. You put it in the water and then the fish is caught in the basket. Then you lower your hand and take hold of the fish. Actually it is not a basket. It has the shape of a funnel, but it is something like a basket. You put it in the water and the fish are caught in it. There is a hole to take them out. “So he took a fishing net and cast it in the water. He put his hand into the mouth of the net under the water and seized a snake by the neck (thinking it was a fish). He was glad, thinking ‘I have caught a fish’. In the belief that he had caught a big fish, he lifted it up to see. When he saw three marks (three lines on the neck of the snake), he perceived that it was a snake, and he was terrified. He saw danger, felt dispassion (revulsion) for what he had seized, and desired to be delivered from it.” So he wanted to throw it away, but he was afraid that it might bite him if he threw it away as it was. “Contriving a means to deliverance, he unwrapped the coils from his hand, starting from the tip of the tail. Then he raised his arm, and when he had weakened the snake by swinging it two or three times round his head, he flung it away, crying ‘Go, foul snake’.” So his swinging the snake two or three times is like his contemplating on the impermanence and so on in the formations again. “Then quickly scrambling up on to dry land, he stood looking back whence he had come, thinking ‘Goodness, I have been delivered from the jaws of a huge snake’!” And then applying of the simile to the actual experience is in the next paragraph.

“At this point knowledge of reflection has arisen in him, with reference to which it is said” and so on. This is called ‘Knowledge of Reflection’. I think in that book the word used is not ‘reflection but some other thing. It is the Knowledge of Re-Observation. That is very good.

Next is Discerning Formations as Void. “Having thus discerned by Knowledge of Contemplation of Reflection that ‘All formations are void’, he again discerns voidness in the double logical relation” and so on. They are not easy to understand. The double is easy to understand but not the quadruple logical relation. The Text itself is very strange. Let’s talk about the double. ‘The double logical relation’ means this is void of self or of what belongs to self. Here ‘this is void of self’ is one and ‘this is void of what belongs to self’ is another. So there are two ways of discerning the voidness. It is void of self and it is void of what belongs to self.

Now the quadruple logical relation is very difficult to understand. Do you see that in paragraph 53? In footnote 19 he says “The passage is a difficult one”. It is indeed. The PÈÄi text is: “NÈhaÑ kvacani kassaci kiÒcanat’ asmiÑ na ca mama kvacani kismiÒci kiÒcanat’ atthi”. This passage actually as suggested by the translator was used by those of other faiths during the time of the Buddha. It may not be pure PÈÄi actually. Do you know Prakrit languages? Prakrit languages are similar to PÈÄi, but they are different from PÈÄi. It is something like a corrupt form of Sanskrit or PÈÄi. So that is why this is very difficult to understand. But the footnote is very good, the last paragraph on that page. “The Commentarial interpretation given here is summed up by PaÔisambhidÈmagga as follows: Now seeing in four ways. Right? The quadruple logical relation. The first way is what? He sees the non-existence of a self of his own; that means there is no self of me. That is one seeing. And second he sees of his own self itself (not ‘too’) that it is not the property of another’s self. There is no self of me and I am not the property of another person’s self. That is the second one. The third one is that there is no self of another person and I am not the property of that person. There are four: (1) There is no self in me, (2) somebody is not the property of myself, (3) there is no self of others, (4) and I am not the property of the self of others. In these four ways, he has to contemplate. He sees the non-existence of another’s self; that is one thing. He sees of another that that other is not the property of his own self. So in four ways he contemplates.

And then paragraph 55 in six modes again he contemplates that eye is void of self, or of the property of a self and so on. And next paragraph he contemplates in ten modes , and then in the next paragraph he contemplates in twelve modes, and then in the next paragraph in forty-two modes.

“When he has discerned formations by attributing the three characteristics to them and seeing them as void in this way, he abandons both terror and delight, he becomes indifferent to them and neutral, he neither takes them as ‘I’ nor as ‘mine’, he is like a man who has divorced his wife” and so on. So we will go to that next time. During this stage of knowledge he re-observes the mental and physical phenomena in many different ways, say to see the impermanent, suffering and soulless nature of them. And MahÈsi SayÈdaw said again here that a person need not go through all the modes given here; it is impossible. But as a book all the methods of observing are given, but a person should not do all these in order to get the next higher stage. He may do one or two, and then he can go to the higher stages.

Oh! One thing please, in paragraph 57, about 4 line down “as incapable of being had [as one wishes], as insusceptible to the exercise of mastery, as alien, as secluded [from past and future]” - in fact it is ‘as secluded from cause and result.

And then in footnote 25 “A meaning such as ‘what in common usage in the world is called a being is not materiality’ is not intended here because it is not implied by what is said.” The actual meaning is a little different. ‘Because it is established without saying anything’, what do you call that? It is so evident that it does not need any explanation.

Student: Self-evident.

Teacher: Oh, yes! Self-evident. So we can just say ‘because it is self-evident’, not ‘it is not implied by what is said’. It is so plain that it does not need any explanation. That is what is meant. “For common usage of the world does not speak of mere materiality as a being.” When common people say, ‘This is a being’, they do not mean that matter is a being. When they someone or something is a being, they mean both mind and matter. The word ‘satta’ in PÈÄi here should not be understood as meaning ‘a being’, but as meaning atman or attÈ. That is what the Commentator is writing about. What is intended as a being is the self that is conjectured by outsiders. That means non-Buddhists.

We will go to Equanimity about Formations next time. As I said before, this book is very good because it gives what a yogi really experiences during practice of meditation without quotations. And so it is simpler and better reading than the Visuddhi Magga. But Visuddhi Magga is the basis for that book.

Student: Bhante, can we skip any of these stages?

SayÈdaw: No. We cannot skip the stages, but sometimes what happens is a person may go through two or three stages in one day. That can happen but we cannot skip any stages because they are logical, one after the other. But a person may go through three stages in only one day, sometimes maybe even more than three stages in one day of meditation.

SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!

, (Tape 44 / Ps: 49 – 128)

We will begin with paragraph 53, chapter 21. From that paragraph begins actually Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations. Let me tell you something before that. A meditator of vipassanÈ goes through different stages of vipassanÈ knowledge. The first knowledge he experiences is the knowledge of defining mind and matter, or the knowledge of discrimination of discrimination of mind and matter, or seeing mind and matter clearly. After that knowledge he gains the knowledge of seeing the causes of mind and matter. And after that there is the knowledge of comprehension. And at that stage he sees the common characteristic of phenomena, that is impermanence, suffering, and soullessness. And then he reaches another stage where he sees arising and disappearing of whatever he observes. Going from that stage, he reaches another stage where only the dissolution or only disappearing vividly appears to him or he is able to comprehend the dissolution or disappearing more evidently.

And after that there are two stages in the knowledge of arising and disappearing. The first is called ‘the immature stage’ and the other stage is called ‘mature stage’. In between these two stages, there is another stage not necessarily in vipassanÈ knowledge, the arising of impediments. So ten impediments come to him during the immature stage of knowledge of rise and fall. He surmounts them or decides that they are not the right path and that meditation is the only right path. And then he practices again. He reaches the second or the mature stage of rise and fall. After that he sees only the dissolution, and then he sees danger in the mental and physical phenomena that are rising and falling or that are always disappearing. It is a little difficult to be consistent with the translation of the PÈÄi word. It is said in this book that knowledge of fearful comes after the knowledge of seeing dissolution. So when you see things dissolving before your eyes, then you see them as fearful. After seeing them as fearful, you get another kind of knowledge, that is seeing danger in them or seeing faults in them. And then you become dispassioned towards them. You don’t want to be attached to them; you don’t want to hold on to them, and then you want to get out of them; you want to get free from them.

And then after that the yogi practices again on the three characteristics of mental and physical phenomena. After that he reaches this stage, the stage of Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations. There is a very good simile given in paragraph 49. So we should read that paragraph again.

“A man thought to catch a fish, it seems, so he took a fishing net and cast it in the water. He put his hand into the mouth of the net under the water and seized a snake by the neck. He was glad, thinking ‘I have caught a fish’. In the belief that he had caught a big fish, he lifted it up to see. When he saw three marks, he perceived that it was a snake, and he was terrified. He saw danger, felt dispassion (revulsion) for what he had seized, and desired to be delivered from it. Contriving a means to deliverance, he unwrapped the coils from his hand, starting from the tip of its tail. Then he raised his arm, and when he had weakened the snake by swinging it two or three times round his head, he flung it away, crying ‘Go, foul snake’. Then quickly scrambling up on to dry land, he stood looking back whence he had come, thinking ‘Goodness, I have been delivered from the jaws of a huge snake!’” This is the simile and then the application of the simile to the practice is given in paragraph 50. So he wants to get rid of it and he has to find a means to get rid of it. That is contemplation on mental and physical phenomena again as impermanent, suffering and soulless. After that he reaches this stage. We have done this before, but I want to begin from here.

Paragraph 53 “Having thus discerned by knowledge of contemplation of reflection (That means re-observation or re-contemplation.) that ‘All formations are void’, he again discerns voidness in the double logical relation thus. (So he contemplates on formations or mental and physical phenomena in double logical relation.) That is ‘This is void of self’ or ‘This is void of what belongs to self’.” And then he discerns voidness in the quadruple logical relation. That means in four ways: ‘There is no ‘I’ and ‘me’; it is not the property of another person; another has no ‘I’ or no atman; what he thinks to be his atman is not part of me or something like that. This is called ‘the four quadruple logical relation’. The text given here is very difficult to understand and peculiar.

And then paragraph 55 he discerns voidness in six modes. And next in how many modes? In paragraph 56 in eight modes, then in ten modes, then in twelve modes, then in forty-two modes through full understanding as investigation and so on. So he contemplates on the formations of voidness in different ways to thoroughly see the three characteristics of them.

Then paragraph 61 “When he has discerned formations by attributing the three characteristics to them and seeing them as void in this way, he abandons both terror and delight, he becomes indifferent to them and neutral, he neither takes them as ‘I’ nor as ‘mine’, he is like a man who has divorced his wife.” Now this description is important. This is the description of the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations. When a person has reached the Knowledge of Equanimity about formations, he abandons both terror and delight. He is not afraid of anything and he is not attached to anything. His mind is always neutral. However attractive a thing may be, he doesn’t see it as attractive and however provocative it may be, he doesn’t see it as provocative. And he becomes indifferent to them and neutral. He becomes indifferent to formations, indifferent to what he observes through his practice of meditation. Now ‘indifferent to them’ does not mean that he does not pay attention to them. Actually he pays attention to them, but he has no fear about them, or he has no like or dislike with regard to them. That is what is meant here by ‘He becomes indifferent to them’ or ‘he becomes neutral’. He neither takes them as ‘I’ nor as ‘mine’. This is actually the explanation of being indifferent to them. If you take them as ‘I’ or as ‘mine’, then you are not indifferent to them, you are biased. Let us say you take them to be ‘you’ or you take them to be ‘your property’. So when a person doesn’t take them as ‘I’ or as ‘mine’, then he is said to be indifferent to formations and neutral formations.

Then paragraph 63 “When he knows and sees thus, his heart retreats, retracts and recoils from the three kinds of becoming, the four kinds of generation, the five kinds of destiny, the seven stations of consciousness, and the nine abodes of beings, his heart no longer goes out to them.” That means he retreats and recoils from all existences. If he is a human being, he is not attached to human existence and he is not attached to the other kinds of existence. So his heart retreats, retracts, and recoils. Then a simile is given. “Just as water drops, retreats, retracts, and recoils on a lotus leave that slopes a little and do not spread out, so too his heart retreats, retracts, and recoils. Just as a fowl’s feather or a shred of sinew thrown on a fire retreats, retracts and recoils, and does not spread out, so too his heart retreats, retracts, and recoils from the three kinds of becoming.” Either equanimity or repulsiveness is established. “In this way there arises in him what is called ‘Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations’.” Actually this is the highest stage of vipassanÈ knowledge.

Now it is said that his heart or mind retreats, retracts, and recoils. His mind is on the formations because if he practices vipassanÈ meditation, formations are the objects he has to take. So his mind may be on matter, or it may be on mind, or it may be on different mental states and on different kinds of materiality, but his mind always retreats, retracts, and recoils. In actual practice this means your consciousness or mind doesn’t want to go to other objects. Formerly, before a person reaches this stage, there are distractions. The meditator’s mind goes out quite often. And he has to bring it back and so on. But when a yogi reaches this stage, his mind will not go out. Even if he deliberately sends his thought out, it will immediately come back. So his mind is so dispassioned towards things that whatever object he takes, his mind retreats from it. That is when a yogi reaches the stage of Knowledge about Equanimity of Formations.

Paragraph 64 “But if this [knowledge] sees NibbÈna, the state of peace, as peaceful, it rejects the occurrence of all formations and enters only NibbÈna.” That means at this stage a yogi sees NibbÈna, that it is peace, then his mind rejects the occurrence of all formations. ‘Occurrence’ really means continuance of all formations and the mind enters into NibbÈna. That means he becomes enlightened. “If he does not see NibbÈna as peaceful, it occurs again and again with formations as its object, like the sailors’ crow.” At this point a yogi may be practicing at this stage of knowledge and if he is a gifted person, he may reach enlightenment immediately or in a very short time. Sometimes he may not reach enlightenment immediately. He may remain at this stage for a long time, sometimes days or months maybe. When his mind does not see NibbÈna as peaceful, then it (the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations) occurs again and again with formations as its object, like the sailors’ crow.

Then there is the simile of the sailors’ crow. “When traders board a ship, they take with them what is called ‘a land-finding crow’.” There was no radar, so they had to depend on a crow. “When the ship gets blown off its course by gales and goes adrift with no land in sight, then they release the land-finding crow. It takes off from the mast-head, and after exploring all the quarters, if it sees land, it flies straight in the direction of it; if not it returns and alights on the mast-head. So too, if Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations sees NibbÈna, the state of peace as peaceful, it rejects the occurrence of all formations and enters only into NibbÈna.” That means he becomes enlightened. If it does not see it, it occurs again and again with formations as its object. So a yogi may have to spend a considerably long time in that state of knowledge.

Paragraph 66 “Now after discerning formations in the various modes, as though sifting flour on the edge of a tray” - sifting, sometimes ‘sifting’ means letting some particles go through the holes. Isn’t that sifting? Here the action is not letting particles go through the holes. What do you call that making like this? You put flour in the tray, and you turn it round and round so that the grosser particles come up and then let softer particles remain. It is something like that. That is called ‘sifting’?

Student: Yes, that is sifting. But there is still another kind of sifting. They are both called ‘sifting’.

Teacher: Yes, the flour becomes more and more subtle. “As though sifting flour on the edge of tray, as though carding cotton from which the seeds that have picked out, and after abandoning terror and delight, and after becoming neutral in the investigation of formations” - do you notice the difference? On the other page, it says, “He becomes indifferent to them.” That means indifferent to formations. Here he becomes indifferent not only to formations but to the investigation of formations. He doesn’t want to investigate at all. He is indifferent to investigating them. “He still persists in the triple contemplation.” He still does it. “And in so doing, this [insight knowledge] enters upon the state of the triple gateway to liberation, and it becomes a condition for the classification of Noble Persons into seven kinds.” And then the other explanations follow.

There is a lot of digression because the author wants us to know many things about this Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations. He describes many things here, so much, that we lose track of the real practice. Let’s go to paragraph 83, Insight Leading to the Emergence of the Path.

Paragraph 83 “Now when this clansman has reached equanimity about formations thus, his insight has reached its culmination and leads to emergence.” ‘Emergence’ really means ‘to enlightenment’, ‘to the Path’. “ ‘Insight That Has Reached Culmination’ or ‘Insight Leading To Emergence’ are names for the three kinds of knowledge beginning with equanimity about formations, [that is, equanimity about formations, conformity, and change-of-lineage.] It has ‘reached its culmination’ because it has reached the culminating final stage.” This is the definition of the PÈÄi word. “It is called ‘leading to emergence’ because it goes towards emergence. The Path is called ‘emergence’ because it emerges externally from the objective basis interpreted as a sign and also internally from occurrence [of defilement].” Now the Path (Magga) is called ‘emergence’. It is called ‘emergence’ in PÈÄi ‘vuÔÔhÈna’, because it emerges externally from the objective basis interpreted as a sign. Now I am not so happy with the translation of ‘interpreted’ or ‘interpretation’. Actually it means contemplation on the objects of vipassanÈ. The PÈÄi word used is ‘abhinivesa’. So he translates it as ‘interpreted’. It may mean quite a different thing. What it means here is just contemplating on the formations, contemplating on them as impermanent and so on. ‘Externally from the objective basis interpreted as a sign and also internally from occurrence of defilement’ means continuance of defilement. “It goes to that, thus it is called ‘leading to emergence’.” The sentence should read like that. The meaning is that it joins with the Path. So after it there will come the Path consciousness. So ‘insight leading to emergence’ is the common name of the three vipassanÈ knowledges. First there is Equanimity about Formations. After that there is the Knowledge of Conformity and after that there is the Knowledge of Change-of-Lineage. We will come to them later. So these three are called ‘Insight Leading to the Emergence of the Path’. And then there are other explanations.

After this what happens next? Let’s go to paragraph 128. “As he repeats, develops and cultivates that equanimity about formations, his faith becomes more resolute (That means more firm or more established.), his energy better exerted, his mindfulness better established, his mind better concentrated, while his equanimity about formations grows more refined.” So he goes on practicing meditation and his faculties become more developed. His faith becomes more established and so on.

“Now he thinks ‘Now the Path will arise’. Equanimity about formations” and so on. Here the translation should read like this: “When it should be said: ‘Now the Path will arise’”, not ‘he thinks’. It is a PÈÄi idiom. The yogi does not think, “Now the Path will arise.” He does not know that the Path will arise; he doesn’t know when the Path will arise. ‘When the Path will arise’ means when he will get enlightenment. So the moment of enlightenment is what is called ‘Path’ here. So he does not know that the Path will arise at this moment or at any moment. The PÈÄi idiom means ‘when the Path is about to arise’. So he is practicing meditation, and his meditation or his knowledge becomes more and more mature.

When it is the time for the Path to arise, when Path is about to arise, then what happens? “Equanimity about formations after comprehending formations as impermanent, or as painful, or as not self, sinks into the life-continuum.” Now he is practicing meditation, and so his mind is on the formations, seeing the formations as impermanent and so on. Then what happens? When Path is about to arise, equanimity about formations, after comprehending formations as impermanent and so on, sinks into the life-continuum. You know life-continuum? It is bhava~ga. So bhava~ga arise at that time. When bhava~ga arises, equanimity about formations disappears. “Next to the life-continuum (immediately after life-continuum), mind-door adverting arises (ManodvÈrÈjjana arises at that moment.) making formations its object (taking formations as object), taking them as impermanent, or as painful, or as not self according to the way taken by equanimity about formations. Then next to the functional [adverting] consciousness (That means next to manodvÈrÈjjana or mind-door adverting consciousness.) that arose displacing the life-continuum (That means the mind-door adverting consciousness arises displacing the life-continuum.), the first impulsion consciousness arises (So the javana moment arises.) making formations its object in the same say, maintaining the continuity of (the same kind of) consciousness.” That means continuity of the same kind of consciousness because there is always continuity of consciousness. One consciousness is followed by another consciousness. So there is no gap or whatever between two moments of consciousness. But here ‘continuity of consciousness’ means ‘continuity of the same kind of consciousness’.

Now first, say, there are vipassanÈ thought moments. Right? And then there is bhava~ga (life-continuum) because Path is about to arise. After life-continuum there is what? Mind-door adverting. After mind-door adverting what? Impulsion (javana). It is not one javana moment. How many?

Student: Seven.

Teacher: It will be seven all together, but first there are four moments of javana, Now you will see them. “This is called ‘preliminary work’.” The first moment of javana is called ‘preliminary work’. “Next to that a second impulsion consciousness arises making formations its object in the same way. This is called ‘access’.” So we have ‘preliminary’ as one moment and ‘access’ as one moment. “Next to that a third impulsion consciousness also arises making formations its object in the same way. This is called ‘conformity’.” That is the third javana. “These are the individual names. But it is admissible to call all three impulsions ‘repetition’, or ‘preliminary work’, or ‘access’, or ‘conformity’ indiscriminately.” So they can be called by any name.

And then there is another digression. “Conformity to what?” After this will come gotrabhu (change-of-lineage) which is described in the next chapter. So we will stop here. Now you are going to get Path, but we have not yet reached Path. So here we have the four moments of impulsion of the four moments of javana. The first one is what? Preliminary. And the second? Access. And the third? Conformity. Presently we have only three, but another moment which is change-of-lineage will arise. All these three here take the formations as object. It will be different when the thought process reaches the next moment which is gotrabhu (change-of-lineage). The change-of-lineage consciousness will take NibbÈna as object. But these three take formations or mind and matter as object. This is the sequence of real practice. A person reaches the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations, and he practices it again and again. And when it becomes mature, then there will arise Path consciousness. Before Path consciousness there is a series of moments of consciousness. The first is the series of vipassanÈ moments. Then there is bhava~ga. Bhava~ga is followed by mind-door adverting, and mind-door adverting is followed by the first four moments of javana. They belong to kÈmÈvacara javanas. So three have already been mentioned. The last one will be mentioned later.

Now that we have seen the sequence, we will go back to paragraph 66, The Triple Gateway To Liberation. “It enters upon the state of the triple gateway to liberation now with the predominance [of one] of three faculties according as the contemplation occurs in [one of] the three ways” and so on. Now the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations is called ‘the gateway to liberation’, ‘the gateway to Magga’. “For it is the three contemplations that are called the three gateways to liberation, according as it is said.” So there are three kinds of gateways to liberation: “(1) to the seeing of all formations as limited and circumscribed and to the entering of consciousness into the signless element (So signless is one.), (2) to the stirring up of the mind with respect to all formations and to the entering of consciousness into the desireless element (That is the second.), (3) to the seeing of all things (dhammas) as alien and to the entering of consciousness into the voidless element (The third is voidness.). These three gateways to liberation lead to the outlet from the world.” So these are called ‘gateways to liberation’. Actually this is contemplation - contemplation as impermanent, contemplation as painful, and contemplation as no-self. They are given different names as ‘signless’, ‘desireless’ and ‘voidness’.

“Herein, as limited and circumscribed [means] as limited by rise and fall as circumscribed by them: for contemplation of impermanence limits them thus ‘Formations do not exist previous to their rise’ (They do not exist before they arise.), and in seeking their destiny (I would say ‘in seeking their course’. The PÈÄi word ‘gati’ can mean ‘destiny’ or just ‘course’. I think ‘course’ is better.) so in seeking their course, sees them as circumscribed thus ‘They do not go beyond fall, they vanish there.’ (When he sees the formations, he sees in this way. They do not exist before they come into being. After disappearing they are nowhere.) To the stirring up of the mind: (This is the explanation of that phrase.) by giving consciousness a sense of urgency; for with the contemplation of pain consciousness acquires a sense of urgency with respect to formations. To the seeing --- as alien: to contemplating them as not self thus: ‘Not I’, ‘Not mine’.

“So these three clauses should be understood to express the contemplation of impermanence, and so on. Hence in the answer to the next question [asked in the PaÔisambhidÈmagga it is said: ‘When he brings [them] to mind as impermanent, formations appear as liable to destruction. When he brings them to mind as painful (That means when he contemplates on them as painful.), formations appear as a terror, when he brings them to mind as not self, formations appear as void’.”

“What are the liberations to which these contemplations are the gateway? They are these three, namely, the signless, the desireless, and the void.” They come again and again. We have to see that there are the gateways and there are the deliverances. So you enter through a gateway and you reach a particular deliverance. These three deliverances also have the names ‘signless’, ‘desireless’, and ‘void’. What is deliverance? It is explained as the Path. Right? So the Path is deliverance. “When one who has great resolution brings [formations] to mind as impermanent, he acquires the signless liberation. When one who has great tranquillity brings [them] to mind as painful, he acquires the desireless liberation. When one who has great wisdom brings [them] to mind as not self, he acquires he void liberation.” This is from the PaÔisambhidÈmagga.

Now the translation is not what I would like it to be. The meaning is that a person who contemplates the formations as impermanent becomes firm with resolution which means saddha (faith). A person who contemplates on the formations as impermanent makes his faith or confidence grow more and more. That is what is meant here. At first a person practices meditation with faith or something like trust in the teacher. The teacher said or the Buddha said that things are impermanent and so on. When the meditator first practices meditation, he just practices on faith. He does so on the basis of faith. Since the Buddha said these are impermanent, they must be impermanent, but he has not seen for himself. Now through the practice of meditation, he sees for himself. And since he sees them for himself, he gains more faith or more confidence in the Buddha. What the Buddha said is very true that they are impermanent. Now I am seeing them myself that they are really impermanent and so on. ‘When he contemplates on the impermanence of things’ means when he really sees the impermanence of things. At that time his faith in the Buddha increases. That is what is meant here.

“When one who has great tranquillity brings [them] to mind as painful, he acquires the desireless liberation.” Here also if a yogi contemplates on formations as painful, then he increases tranquillity (passaddhi). It is a little difficult to understand. You contemplate on the painfulness of things, and then you get tranquillity. When you concentrate on the painfulness of things, how do you get tranquillity? It is explained in the Sub-Commentary (TÊkÈ) that when you contemplate on things as painful, you also contemplate on the opposite of what is painful. Let us say you contemplate on NibbÈna as happiness. So when you contemplate on formations as painful and on its opposite as happiness, then you get what is called ‘tranquillity’. When a person brings the formations to mind as painful, then he increases his tranquillity. When a person brings to mind the formations as not self, then he develops his wisdom. He makes his wisdom grow. So it is not the other way. It is not because he has great resolution that he contemplates on the impermanence of things. But it is because he contemplates on the impermanence of things that he gets more faith or more confidence. Because he contemplates on the painfulness of things he gets more tranquillity. Because he contemplates on the no-self nature of things he gets more understanding or wisdom. That is what is meant here.

We can refer to paragraph 76. “When he brings formations to mind as impermanent, the faith faculty is in excess in him.” That is the correct meaning to understand. When he brings formations to mind as impermanent, the faith faculty becomes much in him. That is how to understand this passage.

And then paragraph 71 “And here the signless liberation should be understood as the Noble Path that has occurred by making NibbÈna its object through the signless aspect.” So NibbÈna has also these three aspects - signless, desireless, and void. When the Path takes NibbÈna as object through the signless aspect, then it is called ‘signless liberation’ or ‘signless Path’. “For that Path is signless owing to the signless element having arisen.” That is not so. What is meant here is that the Path is signless owing to its occurring on the signless element. ‘Signless element’ means signless NibbÈna here. Because it takes signless NibbÈna as object, it is called ‘signless’; it is not because ‘the signless element has arisen’. NibbÈna cannot be said to have arisen, or to be existing, or to have gone out of existence. NibbÈna is eternal. It has no beginning and no end. So here what is meant is that the Path is signless owing to its occurring on the signless element. It simply means that because it takes signless NibbÈna as object, it is called ‘signless’.

“In the same way the Path that has occurred by making NibbÈna its object through the desireless aspect is desireless. And the Path that has occurred by making NibbÈna its object through the void aspect is void.” These are just the explanations of how the deliverance of Path gets its names such as signless liberation, desireless liberation, and void liberation. When you are actually practicing meditation, you won’t bother about these names. Maybe these are for scholars. Later on you may want to find out what liberation you got or something like that. But in actual practice they won’t come to mind.

Then he poses a question and a problem here. In Abhidhamma ‘signless’ is not mentioned in the first book of Abhidhamma. Only two are mentioned there. The answer is: “This refers to the way in which insight arrives [at the Path] and is expressed literally.” What this means is this refers to the way in which the name of Path comes from literally. Now Path gets names as ‘signless’, or ‘desireless’, or ‘void’. How does Path get these Names? There must be a course or there must be a source for these names, why Path is called ‘signless’, why Path is called ‘desireless’ and so on. That depends upon how the contemplation before Path was done. So if the contemplation is done on a signless aspect, then the Path also gets the name ‘signless’ and so on.

“However, in the PaÔisambhidÈmagga insight knowledge is expressed as follows: (1) It is expressed firstly as the void liberation by its liberation from misinterpreting [formations]” and so on. It is a little confusing here because we understand that liberation is a name for Path. But the PaÔisambhidÈmagga is telling us that the contemplation is called ‘signless’ and so on. Actually it is not the contemplation, but the Path is called in PÈÄi ‘vimokkha (liberation)’. So ‘liberation’ means Path, not contemplation. But in the PaÔisambhidÈmagga it is said that contemplation is called ‘liberation’. There are some grounds for confusion here. So how the Path gets its name depends upon the contemplation made before the Path is attained.

On the next page, 769 “It is however void and desireless. And it is at the moment of the Noble Path that the liberation is distinguished, and that is done according to insight knowledge’s way of arrival at the Path.” That means it is done by way of insight as source. We take insight or contemplation as the source for the name which the Path gets. If the insight or if the contemplation is signless, then the Path is also signless. If the insight or contemplation is desireless, the Path is also called ‘desireless’. If the insight or contemplation is void, the Path is also called ‘void’. So how the Path gets these names depends on how the contemplation was done.

Paragraph 74 “It becomes a condition for the classification of the Noble into seven kinds.” We know that there are eight Noble Persons, eight Ariya Persons. For the first stage there are two, for the second stage there are two, for the third stage two, and for the fourth stage two. We have the person who is at the moment of First Path and then the person after the First Path. Then we have the person at the moment of Second Path and another person after the Second Pat, before the Third Path and so on. So there are eight Noble Persons. But here they are described in a different way, and so according to this there are seven kinds of Noble Persons. These are what? “(1) the Faith Devotee, (2) One Liberated by Faith, (3) the Body Witness, (4) the Both Ways Liberated, (5) the Dhamma Devotee, (6) One Attained to Vision, and (7) One Liberated by Understanding.” There are also different kinds of Noble Persons mentioned in Suttas and also in Abhidhamma. And then the description follows.

In paragraph 75 do you see the #4? “4. He is called ‘Both Ways Liberated’ when he has reached the highest Fruition (That means Arahantship.) after also reaching the immaterial jhÈnas.” I didn’t find the word ‘also’ in the Visuddhi Magga, so we should leave it out. “He is called ‘Both Ways Liberated’ when he has reached the highest Fruition after reaching the immaterial jhÈnas.” That means he practices samatha meditation first, and he gets the four immaterial jhÈnas. And then he contemplates on the four immaterial jhÈnas or some other formations, and then he gets enlightenment. So he is called ‘liberated in both ways’. So there are these seven kinds of Noble Persons. Paragraph 76 I have already read about that. Paragraphs 77 and 78 are the word explanations of the terms in PÈÄi like saddhÈnusÈri, saddhÈvimutta and so on.

Now let’s go to paragraph 79, The Last Three Kinds of Knowledge are One. “This Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations is the same in meaning as the two kinds that precede it. Hence the Ancients said: ‘This Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations is one only and has three names. At the outset it has the name of knowledge of Desire for Deliverance. In the middle it has the name of Knowledge of Reflection. At the end when it has reached its culmination it is called Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations’.” So these three are actually one kind of knowledge. But in the books they are described as three kinds of knowledge. So the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations is one only and has three names. Therefore they can be called the knowledge about formations or they can be called by their respective names.

At the beginning of paragraph 80 something is missing. That is: “It is said in the texts, also.” The translation of that is missing. In the original it said: “PÈÄiyampi vuttaÑ.” That is missing here. So we need ‘It is said in the texts also’ because the following is a formation from the texts. “How is it that understanding of desire for deliverance, of reflection, and of composure, is knowledge of the kinds of equanimity about formations?” and so on. It was taken from the PaÔisambhidÈmagga. Then the explanation of it is given in paragraph 81.

And paragraph 82 “Furthermore, it may be understood that this is so from the following text; for this is said: ‘Desire for Deliverance, and Contemplation of Reflection, and Equanimity about Formations: these things are one in meaning and only the letter is different.” This is another quotation that shows that these three are actually one. Then we have Insight Leading to Emergence of the Path in paragraph 83. We have read that already.

Then in paragraph 84 there is a description of how a yogi contemplates and how he emerges. That means how he becomes enlightened in many different ways. They are: (1) after interpreting the internal, it emerges from the internal, (2) after interpreting the internal, it emerges from the external, (3) after interpreting the external, it emerges from the external, (4) after interpreting the external, it emerges from the internal, (5) after interpreting the material, it emerges from the material, (6) after interpreting the material, it emerges from the immaterial, (7) after interpreting the immaterial, it emerges from the immaterial, (8) after interpreting the immaterial, it emerges from the material, (9) it emerges at one stroke from the five aggregates, (10) after interpreting as impermanent, it emerges from the impermanent, (11) after interpreting as impermanent, it emerges from the painful, (12) after interpreting as impermanent, it emerges from the not self” and so on. Now here ‘interpreting’ means just the same thing that I said before, ‘contemplating’, not really ‘interpreting’. So contemplating the internal, it emerges from the internal and external and so on.

We will read the explanation in paragraph 85. “(1) Someone does his interpreting at the start with his own internal formations.” That means he contemplates on his internal formations, his material properties and his body, and mental states and mind, and so on. So he does his interpreting at the start with his own internal formations. “After interpreting them he sees them. But emergence of the Path does not come about through seeing the bare internal only since the external must be seen too, so he sees that another’s aggregates, as well as un-clung-to formations [inanimate things], are impermanent, painful, not self.” Here he first contemplates on his body and mind and then he contemplates on other persons’ aggregates, so both internally and externally. “At one time he comprehends the internal and at another time the external.” That is because he cannot take internal and external at the same time. So at one time he will be contemplating on his own formations and at another time on other people’s formations. “As he does so, insight joins with the Path while he is comprehending the internal. It is said of him that ‘after interpreting the internal, it emerges from the internal’.” So in the beginning he contemplates on his own formations, and then he contemplates on another person’s formations. He does this during his meditation, sometimes contemplating on his own formations and sometimes contemplating on others’ formations. Then there is emergence or the Path will arise after he contemplates on his own formations or after he contemplates on another’s formations because it can come at any moment. “As he does so, insight joins with the Path, while he is comprehending the internal.” Actually that means immediately after he is comprehending the internal. Then “if his insight joins with the Path at the time when he is comprehending the external (That means immediately after comprehending the external if the Path arises.) it is said of him that ‘after interpreting the internal, it emerges from the external’.” So this is just the different ways of understanding how the emergences are, and how the Path arises. Sometimes it may arise after the yogi has contemplated on his own formations and sometimes after contemplating on others’ formations and so on.

And then paragraph 87 “When he has done his interpreting in this way, ‘All that is subject to arising is subject to cessation’ and so too at the time of emergence, it is said that ‘it emerges at one stroke from the five aggregates’.” Here actually he does not take all five aggregates at one time. VipassanÈ knowledge or vipassanÈ moments of consciousness arise very quickly so that they seem to be taken at one moment. But actually one aggregate is taken by each consciousness. He takes one and then he takes another, and then he takes another. He cannot take all five together. Since VipassanÈ is so fast at that time it is said that he contemplates them at one stroke. Actually it cannot be that way. The other explanations are not difficult to understand.

Now the author wanted us to understand this knowledge very clearly. So he gave us twelve similes. “Now twelve similes should be understood in order to explain this insight leading to emergence and the kinds of knowledge that precede and follow it. Here is the list: (1) The Bat, (2) the Black Snake, (3) the House, (4) the Oxen, (5) the Ghoul (It is like a ghost.), (6) the Child, (7) Hunger, (8) Thirst, (9) cold, (10) Heat, (11) Darkness, and (12) by Poison, too.” Here #2 should not be a ‘black snake’, but a ‘cobra’. The literal translation is ‘black snake’, but it is not used in that sense actually. The PÈÄi word is ‘kaÓhasappa’. ‘KaÓha’ means ‘black’ and ‘sappa’ means ‘snake’. However when these two words are joined, the word means ‘cobra’. It does not mean a snake which is black in color; it means a cobra. Maybe cobras are generally black. No? Actually it doesn’t matter whether we take it as a cobra or just a black snake. The similes are explained one by one.

Let’s read the first simile about the bat. “The Bat. There was a bat, it seems. She had alighted on a madhuka tree with five branches, thinking ‘I shall find flowers or fruits here’. She investigated one branch but saw no flowers or fruits worth taking. And as with the first so too when tries the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth, but saw nothing. She thought ‘This tree is barren; there is nothing worth taking here’, so she lost interest in the tree. She climbed up on a straight branch, and poking her head through a gap in the foliage, she looked upwards, flew up into the air and alighted on another tree.”

Paragraph 92 “Herein the meditator should be regarded as like the bat. The five aggregates as objects of clinging are like the madhuka tree with the five branches. The meditator’s interpreting of the five aggregates is like the bat’s alighting on the tree. His comprehending the materiality aggregate and, seeing nothing there worth taking, comprehending the remaining aggregates is like her trying each branch and, seeing nothing there worth taking, trying the rest. His triple knowledge beginning with desire for deliverance, after he has become dispassionate towards the five aggregates through seeing their characteristic of impermanence, etc., is like her thinking ‘This tree is barren; there is nothing worth taking here’ and losing interest. His conformity knowledge (which comes after the knowledge of equanimity) is like her climbing up the straight branch. His change-of-lineage knowledge is like her poking her head out and looking upwards. His Path Knowledge is like her flying up into the air. His Fruition Knowledge is like her alighting on a different tree.”

And then there is another simile, that of the black snake. This simile has already been given in paragraph 49. But the application of the simile here is this. Change-of-lineage knowledge is like throwing the snake away. Path Knowledge is like the man’s standing and looking whence he had come after getting rid of it. Fruition Knowledge is like his standing in a place free from fear after he had got away. This is the difference. So we have read that simile already. I think this is to be added to that simile because the moments of change-of-lineage and others are not explained there. We can combine these two to get the whole simile. And then the other similes are explained such as the house, the oxen and so on.

The last group, paragraph 102 “Hunger, Thirst, Cold, Heat, Darkness, and By Poison. These six similes, however, are given for the purpose of showing that one with insight that leads to emergence tends, inclines and leans in the direction of the supramundane states.” It is just to show that this person leads towards NibbÈna or supramundane states.

Paragraph 109 “That is why it is said above ‘when he knows and sees thus, his heart retreats, retracts and recoils from the three kinds of becoming, the four kinds of generation, the five kinds of destiny, the seven stations of consciousness, and the nine abodes of beings, his heart no longer goes out to them.” At this stage MahÈsi SayÈdaw said that even if you try to send your thoughts to other objects, they will not go. They just want to be here on the object, not on the other objects - “just as water drops retreat, retract and recoil” and so on. At this point he is called ‘One Who Walks Aloof’, with reference to whom it is said.

Then there is what governs the difference in the Noble Path’s enlightenment factors, etc. This is also for us to understand how the enlightenment or how the Path is governed by or how the quality of Path is determined by vipassanÈ and also by some others.

“This knowledge of equanimity about formations governs the fact that the meditator keeps apart. It furthermore governs the difference in the [number of the] Noble Path’s enlightenment factors, Path factors, and jhÈna factors, the mode of progress, and the kind of liberation. For while some elders say that it is the jhÈna used as the basis for insight [leading to emergence] that governs the difference in the [number of] enlightenment factors, Path factors and jhÈna factors, and some say that it is the aggregates made the object of insight that govern it, and some say that it is the personal bent (or one’s wish) that governs it, yet it is (Let us leave out ‘only’.) this preliminary insight and insight leading to emergence also that should be understood to govern it in their doctrine also.” ‘Also’ has been added twice here.

“There are three opinions on how the Path gets its name. The first group of teachers say what? It will be explained in the following paragraphs. Let me tell you this. There are persons who do not have any jhÈnas, who do not practice samatha meditation at all, but who practice vipassanÈ meditation. And there are those who have jhÈnas, but they don’t use their jhÈnas as the object of vipassanÈ meditation. They have attained the jhÈnas. When they practice vipassanÈ meditation, they do not contemplate on the jhÈnas, but they concentrate on other mental and physical phenomena. And there are others who have jhÈnas but who do not use the jhÈnas at all when they practice vipassanÈ meditation. For them the Path that arises is like the first jhÈna. That means it has all the components of the first jhÈna. I will tell you again. You don’t seem to understand.

Student: Could you explain a little about jhÈna?

Teacher: JhÈnas are the higher states of consciousness. They are attained through the practice of samatha meditation, not through vipassanÈ meditation. You may practice a disk or kasiÓa meditation or you may practice breathing meditation, and then you get jhÈna. So jhÈnas are attained through the practice of samatha meditation. A person who practices vipassanÈ meditation may have not attained any of the jhÈnas at all. Such a person is a pure vipassanÈ meditator and so there are no jhÈnas for him. There is another person who has attained jhÈnas, but he doesn’t make use of the jhÈnas at all when he practices vipassanÈ meditation. So he is more or less like the other person who has no jhÈna. And there is another person who uses his jhÈnas when he practices vipassanÈ meditation. That means he enters into jhÈna but after emerging from that jhÈna, after getting out of the jhÈna, he does not use the jhÈna as object of meditation, but he uses the other formations as the object of meditation. So the Path of such a person is said to resemble the first jhÈna.

Now there are five factors in the first jhÈna - vitakka, vicÈra, pÊti, sukha, ekaggatÈ (initial application, sustained application, joy, happiness and one-pointedness of mind). In the second jhÈna there are four factors, in the third jhÈna there are three factors, in the fourth jhÈna there are two factors, and in the fifth jhÈna there are two factors. When a person who has no jhÈna at all or who does not use jhÈna in his practice of vipassanÈ meditation attains Path, his Path is accompanied by these five factors. You can find some of these in the eight factors of Path. What are the factors of Path? Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. These are all there with the First Path. With First Path we can find vitakka (Vitakka is Right Thought.), vicÈra, pÊti, sukha, ekaggatÈ. So Path resembles first jhÈna.

There is another person who practices samatha meditation and then reaches first, second, third, fourth and fifth jhÈnas. He practices jhÈna as a basis for vipassanÈ, and then he gets out of that jhÈna, and then he takes the jhÈnas as the object of meditation or other formations as the object of meditation and he gets Path. Since he makes first jhÈna, or second jhÈna, or third jhÈna, or fourth jhÈna, or fifth jhÈna as basis for vipassanÈ, his Path resembles the first, second, third, fourth or fifth jhÈna. So if his Path resembles the second jhÈna, then one factor will be missing from the Noble Eightfold Path. The factor vitakka will be missing. Right Thought is vitakka. And if it is the fourth jhÈna, what will be missing? PÊti will be missing and pÊti is one of among the seven factors of enlightenment.

There are three opinions here. One group of teachers says that the jhÈna which is made the basis for vipassanÈ is what determines the quality of the Path. The second group says that it is the jhÈna which is made the object of vipassanÈ meditation that determines the Path. And the third group says that it is the wish of the person which determines the quality of the Path. So the first group emphasizes the jhÈna which is made the basis for vipassanÈ. That means firs the meditator enters into first jhÈna and then emerges from the first jhÈna, and contemplates on the jhÈna or other formations. And the second group emphasizes the jhÈnas which are made the object of vipassanÈ meditation. Let us say he enters first jhÈna, and after getting out of jhÈna, he contemplates on the first jhÈna as impermanent and so on, and then he gets the Path. So the second group emphasizes the jhÈna which is made the object of vipassanÈ meditation.

Now please be clear about the object of vipassanÈ and the basis of vipassanÈ. ‘The basis of vipassanÈ’ means before practicing vipassanÈ, he enters into the jhÈna. And then he emerges from this jhÈna, and takes other things as object of vipassanÈ meditation. ‘Object of vipassanÈ’ means contemplating on the jhÈna as impermanent and so on. So there is the basis jhÈna and the contemplated jhÈna. The first group emphasizes the basis jhÈna and the second group emphasizes the contemplated jhÈna. The third group emphasizes one’s own wish. It is a free country. That does not mean that simply by making a wish you can get Path however.

Suppose you enter into the first jhÈna and then you make the second jhÈna the object of meditation. So what will the Path be like? According to the first group of teachers your Path will be like the first jhÈna. According to the second group of teachers your Path will be like the second jhÈna. What about the third group? They say that it is according to your wish. If you want the Path to resemble the first jhÈna, then your Path will be that way. But if you want your Path to resemble the second jhÈna, then it will be like the second jhÈna. So you have a choice there. That choice or wish comes only for those who possess jhÈnas. First you have to have jhÈnas. Then you make the jhÈna the basis for vipassanÈ meditation and also you make the jhÈna the object of vipassanÈ meditation, and then you choose from these. Sometimes you have a wish “May my Path resemble the first jhÈna” or “May my Path resemble the second jhÈna”. But it is said that if a person has no such wish, then the Path will resemble the higher jhÈna. For example, you enter into the first jhÈna, then you get out of it, and then you make the second jhÈna the object of meditation, and then the Path occurs. If you have no wish - whatever Path comes I don’t mind - then your Path will resemble the second jhÈna because it is the higher one. So the higher jhÈna takes precedence there.

In the following paragraphs you will find factors seven, or six, or whatever. So seven factors means without what? Without Right Thinking (vitakka). And six enlightenment factors mean without pÊti because pÊti is missing in the fourth jhÈna. So there are these three kinds of opinions or theories. The Visuddhi Magga says that even according to these teachers vipassanÈ can be a deciding factor also. Not only jhÈnas but vipassanÈ can also be the deciding factor.

Paragraph 117 deals with progress. Some people can get enlightenment in a short time without much difficulty, but some have difficulty for a short time and still get enlightenment and so on. There are different kinds of people. “But if [insight] has from the start only been able to suppress defilements with difficulty, with effort and with prompting, then it is called ‘of difficult progress’. The opposite kind is called ‘of easy progress” and so on. “and when the manifestation of the Path, the goal of insight, is slowly effected after defilements have been suppressed, then it is called ‘of sluggish direct knowledge’.” Now here ‘the goal of insight’ is not a correct translation of the word. I think the word here means ‘stagnation’, ‘stagnation of insight’. That means the yogi has reached the stage of the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations and he is stuck there. He has to be doing that again and again. If he has to spend a long time in that stage before reaching the Path, then he is said to be of what? Of sluggish direct knowledge. The insight here is called ‘stagnant’. It is stale or something like that because the meditator has to be at this stage for a long time. ‘The manifestation of Path which has this stagnation of insight’ means only after spending a long time with that knowledge, there arises the Path. That is called ‘of sluggish knowledge’. The opposite kind is called ‘of swift direct knowledge’. If you don’t have to spend much time in that stage of Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations, and if you get the Path in a short time, then you are called ‘of swift direct knowledge’. “So this Equanimity about Formations stands at the arrival point (That means as the source of the name for Path.) and gives its own name to the Path in each case, and so the Path has four names [according to the kind of progress.]” Now you will find the phrase ‘at the arrival point’. That is the literal translation of the PÈÄi word, and not even quite literal. The meaning is ‘the source for giving the name’ or ‘the source for the name’ or ‘the cause for the name’.

“For one bhikkhu this progress is different in the four Paths, while for another it is the same. For Buddhas, however, the four Paths are of easy progress and swift direct knowledge.” For Buddhas everything is the best. “Likewise in the case of the General of the Dhamma [the Elder SÈriputta.]” So he is as good as the Buddha and so he also the best. “But in the Elder MahÈ MoggallÈna’s case the first Path was of easy progress and swift direct knowledge.” He became a SotÈpanna just after listening to Venerable SÈriputta uttering a verse. So that time it was of easy progress and swift direct knowledge. “But the others were of difficult progress and sluggish direct knowledge.” He had to spend time practicing meditation. At one time he was sleepy and Buddha went to him and told him how to get rid of sleepiness and so on. For the other stages he is said to be of difficult progress and sluggish direct knowledge.

And then we have predominance. “As with the kinds of progress, so also with the kinds of predominance, which are different in the four Paths for one bhikkhu and the same for another.” The four kinds of predominance are zeal or chanda, energy, consciousness, and inquiry. ‘Inquiry’ really means understanding.

“[Liberation.] but it has already been told how it governs the difference in the liberation. Furthermore the Path gets its names for five reasons.” Then Path gets its name as signless, as desireless, as void and others for five reasons. They are: “(1) owing to its own nature, or (2) owing to what it opposes, or (3) owing to its own special quality, or (4) owing to its object, or (5) owing to the way of arrival.” ‘The way of arrival’ means the source of the name. ‘Owing to its own nature’ means owing to its function, how it functions, what functions it does, and so owing to its own nature. And the explanation follows. If equanimity about formations induces emergence by comprehending formations as impermanent, liberation takes place with the signless liberation” and so on. These are the five reasons, or how the Path gets named as ‘signless’ and so on.

Paragraph 126 “But while this name is inadmissible by the Abhidhamma method, it is however admissible by the Suttanta method.” The name ‘signless’ is not mentioned in the Abhidhamma. So according to Abhidhamma there can be no signless Path. But by the Suttanta method, by the discourse method it is admissible. For the say: “By that method change-of-lineage takes the name ‘signless’ by making the signless NibbÈna its object.” Now change-of-lineage precedes Path. At the moment of change-of-lineage consciousness takes NibbÈna as its object. And NibbÈna is described as ‘signless’, ‘desireless’, and ‘void’. So if we take the signless aspect of NibbÈna, and the change-of-lineage takes that NibbÈna as object, then the Path follows. Then that Path is named through change-of-lineage as being signless. So the path is also named ‘signless’. According to Suttanta method the Path can get the name ‘signless’, but according to Abhidhamma, no. “And it Fruition can be called ‘signless’ too according to the Path’s way of arrival.” Since the Path is called ‘signless’, the Fruition which follows it could also be called ‘signless’. So the change-of-lineage is cause for the path to get the name ‘signless’ and the Path is the cause for the Fruition to get the name ‘signless’. So in the Suttanta method these can be called ‘signless’ or they get the name ‘signless’. But according to Abhidhamma method they cannot be called ‘signless’.

I think we will stop here. Next time we will study conformity knowledge.

Student: Is Abhidhamma method the jhÈna method?

Teacher: No. It is what is taught, what is said in Abhidhamma.

Student: But you talk a lot about jhÈnas.

Teacher: Yes. The jhÈnas are taught in Abhidhamma. Abhidhamma is not necessarily jhÈna method. It can be jhÈna method or not jhÈna method.

Student: And vipassanÈ?

Teacher: VipassanÈ can be practiced unmixed with samatha and it can be practiced with samatha. There are two ways - vipassanÈ yÈnika and samatha yÈnika (one who has the vehicle of vipassanÈ and one who has the vehicle of samatha). When we say ‘one who has the vehicle of samatha’, we mean that he practices samatha meditation first and gets jhÈna or gets samÈdhi. Then he takes that jhÈna or samÈdhi as an object of meditation and he practices vipassanÈ on it.

Student: Both of them are talked about in Abhidhamma?

Teacher: Both of them are taught in the Sutta PiÔaka. In one Sutta in the AÓguttara NikÈya the Buddha talked about these two kinds of persons, one who has samatha as vehicle and the other who has vipassanÈ as vehicle.

SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!

(Tape 45 / Ps: 128 – 136)

We are on page 782. We are almost at the moment of enlightenment. We are very close to the moment of enlightenment. The yogi progresses from one stage of knowledge to another and so the last one is equanimity about formations. When his Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations becomes mature, then there will come a time when he gets enlightenment. “As he repeats, develops, and cultivates that equanimity about formations his faith becomes more resolute, his energy better exerted, his mindfulness better established, his mind better concentrated, while his equanimity about formations grows more refined.”

“He thinks ‘Now the Path will arise’.” As I told you, this PÈÄi idiom was misunderstood by all the English translators, I think. There was one Burmese professor who translated the Visuddhi Magga into English. He also did not get it correct. It is not that he thinks ‘Now the Path will arise’ because the yogi does not know when the Path will arise. The idiom used is ‘when the Path is about to arise’. We can say “When it should be said, now the Path will arise.” It means the same thing. When the Path is about to arise - that means when the person is about to get enlightenment. “Equanimity about formations after comprehending formations as impermanent, or as painful, or as not self, sinks into the life-continuum.” ‘Life-continuum’ means bhava~ga. There are types of consciousness which are called ‘life-continuum’. They are inactive moments of consciousness. They are more prominent when we are asleep, or when we have fainted, or something like that. So when he is about to get enlightenment, then there must come one thought process. In order for that thought process to arise, there must be an interval of life-continuum. The yogi is practicing meditation and his knowledge of equanimity about formations grows and is more refined, and then there comes the life-continuum, maybe not only one moment, but a few moments of life-continuum.

“Next to the life-continuum, mind-door adverting arises making formations its object as impermanent, or as painful, or as not self according to the way taken by equanimity about formations.” So after the life-continuum there arises what is called ‘mind-door adverting consciousness’. That means from that moment on the mind or the consciousness is turned towards the mind-door or turned towards the active moments of consciousness. So there are moments of bhava~ga which are inactive moments. Then after that the mind-door adverting arises. At that moment the consciousness is turned towards the object of that consciousness. It is called ‘mind-door adverting’. From this moment on the active moments arise making formations their object. That mind-door adverting consciousness takes formations as its object, viewing them as impermanent, or as painful, or as not self.

“Then next to the functional [adverting] consciousness that arose displacing the life-continuum (That means next to the mind-door adverting consciousness.), the first impulsion consciousness arises making formations its object in the same way, maintaining the continuity of consciousness.” After the mind-door adverting consciousness, there arises first impulsion (first javana) consciousness. There will be four moments of javana consciousness or sometimes three. “The first impulsion consciousness arises making formations its object.” So it takes the same object as the mind-door adverting consciousness did. “This is called the preliminary work.” The impulsion or javana consciousness is called ‘the preliminary work’. “Next to that a second impulsion consciousness arises making formations its object in the same way (taking the formations as its object). This is called the ‘access’.” That means ‘approaching’ or ‘going into the vicinity of the enlightenment’. “Next to that a third impulsion consciousness also arises making formations its object in the same way. This is called ‘conformity’. These are their individual names.” So ‘preliminary work, ‘access’, ‘conformity’ are their individual names. “But it is admissible to call all three impulsions ‘repetition’, or ‘preliminary work’, or ‘access’, or ‘conformity’, indiscriminately.” So you can call these three by only one name, any name, or you can call them by their individual name. In this thought process first there is mind-door adverting consciousness and then there are three moments of javana (preliminary work, access, and conformity). Next is what is called ‘change-of-lineage’. But before that we have to understand about conformity.

“Conformity to what? To what precedes and to what follows.” So it conforms to what precedes it and also to what follows it. “for it conforms to the functions of truth (actually correct functions or right functions) both in the eight preceding kinds of insight knowledge and in the 37 states partaking of enlightenment that follow.” So this consciousness conforms to the preceding eight kinds of vipassanÈ insight knowledge and also conforms to those that come later. They are the 37 states partaking of enlightenment. Actually they are members of enlightenment. They arise at the moments of enlightenment. So it is in conformity both with preceding knowledges and the succeeding ones.

“Since it s occurrence is contingent upon formations through [comprehending] the characteristic of impermanence, etc., it, so to speak, says ‘Knowledge of rise and fall indeed saw the rise and fall of precisely those states that possess rise and fall” and so on. It is as though this knowledge were saying this. It is to show that it conforms to the previous knowledges.

Student: Are these rather unusual in that they are harmonious with both the conditioned and the unconditioned? Is that what is being said?

Teacher: No. In the series of the moments of consciousness the conformity is one, let’s say in the middle. So it conforms to what precedes it, that is the stages of vipassanÈ knowledge, because the yogi has to go from one stage to another. And then at the moment of enlightenment there will be 37 states partaking of the enlightenment or as the members of enlightenment. So it conforms to these states too. so it is something like a bridge. It conforms to both. It is harmonious both with preceding and succeeding.

Student: Is it harmonious with the unconditioned?

Teacher: Not yet. It takes conditions or formations as object.

Student: They are still conditions?

Teacher: Yes. The object is still conditioned things or formations because it is in the limit of vipassanÈ. It has not yet gone beyond vipassanÈ. It is still vipassanÈ. Since it is still vipassanÈ, it must take conditioned things or formations as object. VipassanÈ does not take NibbÈna as object or the unconditioned as object. This paragraph describes how it conforms to the previous knowledges and then the succeeding ones.

And then a simile is given. “Just as a righteous king, who sits in the place of judgment hearing the pronouncements of the judges while excluding bias and remaining impartial, conforms both to their pronouncements and to the ancient royal custom by saying ‘So be it’, so it is here too.” Now ‘excluding bias’, I want you to mark there. That means the king does not act through attachment, or through anger, or whatever. We will come to this later.

In paragraph 55 in chapter 22 there is a section called ‘Bad Ways’. Actually ‘bad ways’ there means improper action, maybe that is bias. When you do something, you may be biased because you are attached to that person, or you are angry with that person, or you are afraid of some repercussions, or you simply are ignorant. You don’t know anything about that, then you make mistakes there. Here the king is just, so he is not biased and “remaining impartial, conforms both to their pronouncements and to the ancient royal custom” and so on. Conformity is like the king. The eight kinds of knowledge are like the eight judges and so on. This is the Knowledge of Conformity.

I think you remember the Insight Leading to the Emergence. Do you remember these three insights leading to emergence? This is paragraph 134 in chapter 21. “Though this conformity knowledge is the end of the Insight Leading To Emergence that has conformations as its object, still change-of-lineage is the last of all the kinds of Insight Leading To Emergence.” ‘Insight Leading to Emergence’ means ‘desire to get out of it’, and then ‘re-contemplation’, and ‘equanimity about formations’. These three kinds of knowledge are called Insight Leading To Emergence. ‘Emergence’ means enlightenment. It gets our of saÑsÈra or something like that. So there are three insights leading to emergence. “Though this conformity knowledge is the end of the Insight leading to Emergence that has conformations as its object, still change-of-lineage knowledge is the last of all the kinds of Insight Leading To Emergence.” The last one is change-of-lineage (gotrabhu). Right? So change-of-lineage takes NibbÈna as its object, but the others take formations as their object. That is the difference.

Student: So change-of-lineage is the bridge?

Teacher: Yes. It is like a gate to enlightenment. Do you have the chart? Now if you look at the second page, you will see #11 sa~khÈrupekkhÈ ÒÈÓa (Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations), and #12 anuloma ÒÈÓa (Knowledge of Conformity), and #13 gotrabhu ÒÈÓa (Knowledge of Change-of-Lineage). So these three, not the desire for freedom and so on, but these three are called '‘vuÔÔhÈna-gÈminÊ vipassanÈ’. You see the words ‘vuÔÔhÈna-gÈminÊ vipassanÈ’. They mean insight leading to emergence. So these three are called ‘insight leading to emergence’. Among them the first two take formations as object and the last one, knowledge of change-of-lineage or gotrabhu ÒÈÓa, takes NibbÈna as object. That is what this paragraph is saying. “Though this conformity knowledge is the end of the Insight Leading To Emergence that has conformations as its object.” so two of them take formations as object. And #12 the knowledge of conformity is the second or the last. So it is said here “(It) is the end of the Insight Leading To Emergence that has conformations as its object, still change-of-lineage knowledge is the last of all the kinds of Insight Leading To Emergence.” Insight Leading To Emergence is the name of the three vipassanÈ knowledges - Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations, Knowledge of Conformity, and Knowledge of Change-of Lineage. We haven’t come to the change-of-lineage yet.

And then Sutta references are given. In paragraph 135 different words used for this knowledge of conformity are described. Sometimes in some discourses it is called ‘aloofness (atammayatÈ in PÈÄi)’. Then in another Sutta it is called ‘dispassion (nibbida)’, and in another Sutta it is called ‘cultivation of perception (saÒÒaga)’, and then in another it is called ‘principal factor of purity (parisuddhi-padhÈniya~ga)’. “In PaÔisambhidÈmagga it is called by three names thus ‘Desire for deliverance, contemplation of reflection, and equanimity about formations’.” These three are collectively called ‘Conformity Knowledge” in the PaÔisambhidÈmagga. “In the PaÔÔhÈna it is called two names thus ‘conformity to change-of-lineage and conformity to cleansing’. In the RathavinÊta Sutta it is called ‘Purification by knowledge and vision of the way’.” So it has many names and it is described by different names in different discourses. When we read these discourses and when we see these words, we are to understand that these words refer to the conformity knowledge described here. After the conformity knowledge comes change-of-lineage.