Chapter 23
(Tape 47 / Ps: 1-49)
The last chapter is a description of the benefits in developing understanding. That means the benefits of meditation.
Student: I want to note something. Most people when they
come want to know what they can get out of meditation. In
Teacher: Right. We have to wait until the end. ‘Developing understanding’ means the practice of vipassanÈ meditation. What benefit can you get? Removal of the various defilements, experience of the taste of cessation, ability to attain the attainment of cessation, and achievement of worthiness to receive gifts and so on. There are four benefits to be derived from the practice of meditation, especially the practice of vipassanÈ meditation. I say ‘especially vipassanÈ’ because it says developing understanding or wisdom.
Paragraph 2 “It should be understood that one of the benefits of the mundane development of understanding is the removal of the various defilements beginning with mistaken view of individuality. This starts with the Delimitation of Mentality-Materiality.” When you get to that stage of knowledge, when you see mind and matter clearly and nothing else, then you abandon the mistaken view of individuality, the mistaken view that there is a person, there is an individual and so on. “Then one of the benefits of the supramundane development of understanding is the removal, at the Path moment, of the various defilements beginning with the fetters.” That is at the Path moment, you abandon defilements or fetters all together. This is the benefit of supramundane development.
“With dreadful thump the thunderbolt
Annihilates the rock.
The fire whipped by the driving wind
Annihilates the wood.
The radiant orb of solar flame
Annihilates the dark.
Developed understanding, too,
Annihilates inveterate
Defilements’ netted overgrowth,
The source of every woe.
This blessing in this very life
A man himself may know.”
So you will get this benefit in this very life.
Paragraph 3 Next is the experience of the taste of the Noble Fruit. Now after Path follows Fruition immediately. “Not only the removal of the various defilements but also the experience of the taste of the Noble Fruit is a benefit of the development of understanding. For it is the fruitions of Stream Entry, etc., - the Fruits of Asceticism -, that are called the ‘Noble Fruit’.” The Noble Fruits or the Four Fruitions are called ‘the Fruits of Asceticism’ or ‘the Fruits of Monkhood’. In PÈÄi they are called ‘sÈmaÒÒa-phala’. There is a discourse by that name, ‘SÈmaÒÒaphala Sutta’, in the DÊgha NikÈya (The Collection of Long Discourses). In that discourse the Buddha explained the benefits of being a monk, something like worldly benefits. For example, he does not have to worry about his livelihood and so on. Step by step Buddha explained the benefits of the life of a monk until the Arahantship or until the person becomes an Arahant. So reaching the Fruition state is called ‘the benefit of being a monk or an ascetic’. “Its taste is experienced in two ways, that is to say, in its occurrence in the cognitive series of the Path, and in its occurrence in the attainment of Fruition.” At the moment of enlightenment there is one thought process. So in that thought process there is the Path consciousness for one moment. And that Path consciousness moment is followed by two or three moments of Fruition. So ‘in the cognitive series of the Path’ means in that first moment of enlightenment. After that the cognitive series or thought process stops and the consciousness falls into life-continuum. Then later on, maybe on the same day or a few days later, he wants to experience that Fruition again. Then he practices vipassanÈ meditation. At that time only the Fruition consciousness arises, not Path consciousness although he practices vipassanÈ meditation. That is because his aim is not to reach Path, but his aim is for Fruition consciousness to arise in him for some period of time. So the taste of Fruition is twofold - first at the moment of enlightenment, later on when he enters into Fruition attainment. When he enters into Fruition attainment, then this Fruition consciousness arises in his mind, say millions of times without any interruption. So he is like in jhÈna state. When a person is in jhÈna, he doesn’t know any other thing. The functions of the five senses are temporarily suspended when he is in the jhÈna state. So the same thing happens when a person is in a state of Fruition attainment. There are two kinds of experiencing of the taste. One is during the Path thought process and the other is at the attainment of Fruition later on. It is similar to entering into a jhÈna state. “Of these, only its occurrence in the cognitive series of the Path has been shown.” That means it has been shown before in the previous chapter.
Now the author in paragraph 4 is going to describe the Fruition attainment in detail. “Furthermore, when people say that the Fruit is the mere abandoning of fetters” - this is the opinion of some teachers. The Venerable Buddhaghosa did not approve. So the people say that Fruit is the mere abandoning of the fetters and nothing more than that. The following Sutta can be cited in order to convince them that they are wrong. So this is something like a debate or a controversy. According to these teachers, there is no separate this that is Fruit. Just the mere abandoning of fetters is called ‘Fruit’. So for them there is no separate Fruit. Then the author of the Visuddhi Magga brings out the Text from the PaÔisambhidÈmagga to show that they are wrong. “How is it that understanding of the tranquilizing of effort is knowledge of Fruit?” Here ‘effort’ means Path. So it should not be ‘tranquilizing of effort’, but ‘tranquilizing by effort is knowledge of Fruit’.
“At the moment of the Stream-Entry Path, Right View in the sense of seeing emerges from wrong view, and it emerges from the defilements and from the aggregates that occur consequent upon that [wrong view], and externally it emerges from all signs. Right View arises because of the tranquilizing of that effort.” Here ‘Right View’ means ‘Fruition’. So Fruition arises because of the tranquilizing of that effort. That is because at the moment of Fruition the effort of Path has already ceased. “This is the Fruit of the Path and this should be given in detail.” If you want to read about it in detail, you have to go to the PaÔisambhidÈmagga. “Also such passages as ‘The four Paths and the four fruits - these states have a measureless object (A ‘measureless object’ means NibbÈna.)’ and ‘An exalted state is a condition, as proximity condition, for a measureless state’.” The first is taken from the Dhammasa~gaÓÊ and the second is taken from the PaÔÔhÈna. So this is a digression.
Paragraph 5 “However, in order to show how it occurs in the attainment of Fruition there is the following set of questions.” According to these questions he will explain: (1) What is Fruition attainment?, (2) Who attains it?, (3) Who do not attain it?, (4) Why do they attain it?, (5) How does its attainment come about?, (6) How is it made to last?, (7) How does the emergence from it come about?, (8) What is next to Fruition?, (9) What is Fruition next to?
The first question is: “What is Fruition attainment? It is absorption in the cessation in which the Noble Fruition consists.” I don’t think this translation is correct. Actually what it means is: “It is absorption of the Noble Fruit in the cessation.” ‘Cessation’ here means NibbÈna. So it is the absorption of the Noble Fruition in NibbÈna. That means Noble Fruition is arising again and again taking NibbÈna as object. “It is absorption of the Noble Fruition in the cessation.” We may put the word ‘NibbÈna’ after cessation in parenthesis.
“Who attains it? Who do not attain it? No ordinary men attain it. Why? Because it is beyond their reach. But all Noble Ones attain it. Why? Because it is within their reach. But those who have reached a higher Path do not attain a lower Fruition (That means they do not enter the lower Fruition attainment.) because the state of each successive Person is more tranquilized than the one below.” Actually it means when you reach the second stage, the first stage disappears. It is something like that. ‘They are tranquilized’ really means ‘disappearance’. When you get to the Second Path, then there is no First Path. “And those who have only reached a lower Path do not attain a higher Fruition because it is beyond their reach.” So if you have attained only the First Magga, you can go into First Fruition, but not the second stage of Fruition, or the third stage of Fruition and so on. Then when you have reached the second stage, you can enter into the second stage of Fruition. You cannot enter into the first stage of Fruition because it has already gone and the third and the fourth you have not yet attained. So you can enter into the second stage only. If you have reached the third stage, you can enter into the third stage of Fruition only, not the first nor the second because they have disappeared, and not the fourth because you have not yet attained it. “But each one attains his appropriate Fruition.” We may say that SotÈpanna can attain only first Fruition attainment, the Once-Returner can only attain the second Fruition attainment and so on.
Paragraph 7 “But there are some who say that the Stream Enterer and Once-Returner do not attain it, and that only the two above them attain it.” This is the opinion of some teachers. “The reason they give is that only these two show achievement in concentration.” It is said that only when a person who has reached the third stage of enlightenment has he really achieved concentration. That means his concentration is really strong only when he reaches the third stage and also the fourth stage. So the Stream Enterer and Once-Returner don’t have much achievement in concentration. These teachers think that these two cannot enter into Fruition attainment. “But that is no reason, since even the ordinary man attains such mundane concentration as is within his reach.” So if even puthujjanas can reach the jhÈnas and enter into jhÈna attainment, why are the Stream Enterer and Once-Returner not able to go into their respective attainments? Therefore, their reason is no reason at all. “But why argue here over what is and what is not a reason? Is it not said in the Text as follows?” And then he brings out the Text. We will skip over it.
Paragraph 8 “Why do they attain it? For the purpose of abiding in bliss here and now.” That means in modern terms to enjoy themselves or to enjoy the bliss of NibbÈna here and now. “For just as a king experiences royal bliss and a deity experiences divine bliss, so too the Noble Ones think ‘We shall experience the noble supramundane bliss, and after deciding on the duration, they attain the attainment of Fruition whenever they choose.”
In footnote 3 “Although they are resultant states” - now during the Fruition attainment, the Fruition consciousness alone arises, perhaps millions of times. Fruition consciousness is resultant consciousness. Right? With regard to other resultant consciousness do we have choice? We have no choice. It is the fruit of past kamma. So we have to just accept it. We see something good and there is eye consciousness. Right? We cannot avoid that. We have to accept it. But with regard to this resultant consciousness, Fruition consciousness, there is a choice. “Although they are resultant states, nevertheless the states of Fruition attainment occur in the Noble Person only when he chooses since they do not arise without the preliminary work and do so only when they are given predominance.” So when they want to go into Fruition attainment, they have to practice. They have to do something. They have to practice vipassanÈ meditation again. They do not arise without preliminary work. That is why they are said to be ‘with predominance’. That means they belong to javanas. The Fruition consciousness has the javana function. And then there is what is called ‘predominance (adhipati)’. When they arise, they have this predominance in them. What are the four adhipati? (1) desire (chanda), (2) consciousness (citta), (3) effort (viriya), (4) investigation (vimaÑsÈ or paÒÒÈ). You can find these four in The Manual of Abhidhamma. So I think the last part of the translation is not so correct - ‘they do so only when they are given predominance.’ Actually when the Fruition consciousness arises, one of these four has the function of predominance. One will always have predominance. And they arise only with preliminary work. That is why, it is said in the Visuddhi Magga ‘whenever they choose’. It is different from other types of resultant consciousness.
Paragraph 9 “How does its attainment come about? How is it made to last?” That means how does it last? “How does the emergence from it come about? In the first place its attainment comes about for two reasons: with not bringing to mind any object other than NibbÈna, and with bringing NibbÈna to mind only, according as it is said.”
Paragraph 10 “Now the process of attaining it is as follows.” It describes how to enter into Fruition attainment. “A Noble Disciple who seeks the attainment of Fruition should go into solitary retreat.” That means he should go to a place where he has seclusion. “He should see formations with insight according to rise and fall and so on.” That means he must practice vipassanÈ meditation and see the rise and fall of mental and physical phenomena and then he must go up stage by stage of vipassanÈ knowledge. “When that insight has progressed [as far as conformity], then comes change-of-lineage knowledge with formations as its object. And immediately next to it consciousness becomes absorbed in cessation with the attainment of Fruition. And here it is only Fruition, not Path, that arises even in a Trainer, because his tendency is to Fruition attainment.”
There is footnote 4. Right? “Then comes change-of-lineage knowledge with formations as its object.” Change-of-lineage is what? The PÈÄi is gotrabhu. In the Path process change-of-lineage takes what as object? It takes NibbÈna as object. But in this thought process it takes formations as object, not NibbÈna. “Why does change-of-lineage not have NibbÈna as its object here as it does when it precedes the Path?” In the Path thought process change-of-lineage takes NibbÈna as object. Why does it not take it here? “Because states belonging to Fruition are not associated with an outlet [as in the case of the Path].” ‘Outlet’ means ‘getting you out of saÑsÈra or out of mental and physical phenomena. Because it is the function of Magga, let us say to take you out of saÑsÈra, but it is not the function of Fruition. “For this is said ‘What states are an outlet? The four unincluded Paths’.” So only the four Paths are called ‘outlet’. The PÈÄi word is ‘niyyÈna’. That means something that takes something out of something. “Here it is only Fruition, not Path, that arises even in a Trainer.” ‘Trainer’ means a person who is enlightened, but who is not yet an Arahant. So such persons are called Trainers’. So even in a Trainer, Path consciousness does not arise because his tendency or his intention is to Fruition attainment. His aim is not to get Path consciousness but to get into Fruition attainment. That is why Path does not arise although he practices vipassanÈ meditation and he progresses through the successive stages of vipassanÈ knowledges, maybe even in one sitting. Path consciousness does not arise because his intention is not to get Path consciousness.
Paragraph 11 “But there are those who say that when Stream Enterer embarks on insight, thinking ‘I shall attain Fruition attainment’, he becomes a Once-Returner, and a Once-Returner a Non-Returner.” That is what they say. “They should be told ‘In that case a Non-Returner becomes an Arahant, and an Arahant a Pacceka Buddha, and a Pacceka Buddha a Buddha.” That is not the case. “For that reason, and because it is contradicted as well by the Text quoted above, none of that should be accepted. Only this should be accepted: Fruition itself, not Path, arises also in the Trainer. And if the Path he has arrived at had first jhÈna his Fruition will have the first jhÈna too when it arrives. If the Path has the second, so will the Fruition. And so with the other jhÈnas.” Now when a person gets Path consciousness, his first consciousness may resemble first jhÈna, or second, or third, or fourth, or fifth jhÈna depending upon how many jhÈna factors arise with that Path consciousness. If the Path consciousness is or belongs to first jhÈna, then the Fruition consciousness must also be first jhÈna fruition consciousness because it must resemble its source or its cause. If when he gets the Path, that Path has only four jhÈna factors, then his Fruition consciousness in this thought process must also have four jhÈna factors. So it belongs to the second jhÈna and so on. This is how attainment comes about and how a person enters into Fruition attainment.
Paragraph 12 “It is made to last in three ways, because of the words ‘Friends, there are three conditions for the persistence of the signless mind deliverance: they are the non-bringing to mind of all signs, the bringing to mind of the signless element, and the prior volition’. Herein, the prior volition is the predetermining of the time before attaining; for it is by determining it thus ‘I shall emerge at such a time’ that it lasts until that time comes. This is how it is made to last.” So here ‘the prior volition’ means predetermining ‘I will be in this attainment for one hour or two hours’ and so on.
Paragraph 13 “Emergence from it comes in two ways, because of the words ‘Friend, there are two conditions for the emergence from the signless mind deliverance: they are the bringing to mind of all signs, and the non-bringing to mind of the signless element’. Herein, ‘of all signs’ means the sign of materiality, sign of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Of course, a man does not bring all those to mind at once (Not all these five become the object of his mind at once.), but this is said in order to include all. So the emergence from it should be understood in this way: emergence from the attainment of Fruition comes about in him when he brings to mind whatever is the object of the life-continuum.” Now a person is said to emerge from the attainment when life-continuum arises. So long as he is in attainment, then only the Fruition consciousness arises time after time after time. When at the predetermined time the life-continuum arises, he is said to have emerged from the attainment of Fruition. That is when he brings up the object of the life-continuum. You know that the life-continuum takes kamma, or the sign of kamma, or the sign of destiny as object. When life-continuum arises, the object also changes. During the Fruition attainment the object is NibbÈna. But when the life-continuum arises, the object is one of the three (kamma, or sign of kamma, or sign of destiny).
Paragraph 14 “What is next to Fruition? What is Fruition next to?” You have to understand the thought processes in order to understand this paragraph. “In the first case either Fruition itself is next to Fruition or the life-continuum is next to it.” Now during the Fruition attainment thought process, one Fruition moment follows another Fruition moment and so on. Fruition itself is next to Fruition. One Fruition follows after another. “Or the life-continuum is next to it.” That means at the end of Fruition attainment there is life-continuum. So life-continuum follows it. “But there is Fruition that is (a) next to the Path (following the Path immediately in the Path thought process), (b) there is that next to Fruition (That is in the Path thought process the second Fruition and the third Fruition.), [c] there is that next to change-of-lineage (That is in the Fruition attainment thought process.), and (d) there is that next to the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception.” That is during the attainment of cessation which will be described later.
“Herein, (a) it is next to the Path in the cognitive series of the Path. (That means the Path thought process.) (b) Each one that is subsequent to a previous one is next to Fruition. [c] Each first one in the attainments of Fruition is next to change-of-lineage. And Conformity should be understood here as ‘Change-of-lineage’ (Here actually conformity is called ‘change-of-lineage’.); for this is said in the PaÔÔhÈna.” So he cites the PaÔÔhÈna as proof. “In the Arahant conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for Fruition attainment. In Trainers, conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for Fruition attainment.” So in the PaÔÔhÈna the word ‘conformity’ is used, not ‘change-of-lineage’. What he describes here as change-of-lineage is actually to be taken as conformity. “ (d) The Fruition by means of which there is emergence from the attainment of cessation is next to the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception.” That is during and after the cessation attainment. We will come to that later.
Paragraph 15 “Herein, all except the Fruition that arises in the cognitive series of the Path occur as Fruition attainment.” Except those that arise in the Path thought process, the other Fruition consciousnesses occur as Fruition attainment described here. “So whether it arises in the cognitive series of the Path or in Fruition attainment,
Asceticism’s Fruit sublime
Which tranquilizes all distress,
Its beauty from the deathless draws,
Of a sweet purifying bliss
It is the fountainhead besides,
Whose honey-sweet ambrosia
A deathless sustenance provides.
Now if a wise man cultivates
His understanding, he shall know
This peerless bliss, which is the taste
The Noble Fruit provides; and so
This is the reason why they call
Experience here and now aright
Of flavor of the Noble Fruit
A blessing of fulfilled insight.”
This is the benefit of vipassanÈ meditation.
Next we come to the attainment of cessation. ‘Attainment of cessation’ means attainment of cessation of citta, cetasika and r|pa born-of-citta. That is called ‘attainment of cessation’. In this attainment the activities of mind are temporarily suspended. When a person is in that attainment, there is no mental activity whatsoever. He may be like a statue for as long as he wishes, say for one day, two days, at most for human beings for seven days. During that period he may be like a statue. And then there are questions and answers. Let’s go to the answers.
Paragraph 18 “What is the attainment of cessation? It is the non-occurrence of consciousness and its concomitants owing to their progressive cessation.” When a person enters into this cessation, he has to go into the jhÈnas one by one. He enters into first jhÈna, and then enters into the second jhÈna and so on. When he enters into the second jhÈna, initial application (vitakka) ceases. And when he enters into the third jhÈna, sustained application (vicÈra) ceases and so on. So they cease gradually until he reaches the fourth ar|pÈvacara (formless) jhÈna. ‘Attainment of cessation’ means cessation of consciousness and its concomitants. ‘Its concomitants’ means cetasikas.
“Who attains it? Who do not attain it? No ordinary men, no Stream Enterers or Once-Returners, and no Non-Returners and Arahants who are bare insight workers, attain it.” That means beings who practice only vipassanÈ and become Non-Returners and Arahants cannot enter into this cessation attainment. Even if you are a Non-Returner or an Arahant, if you do not have jhÈnas, then you cannot enter into this attainment. Those who practice jhÈna first, then practice vipassanÈ, and attain to the third stage and fourth stage of enlightenment can enter into this attainment. “But both Non-Returners and those cankers destroyed (That means Arahants.) who are obtainers of the eight attainments (That means four r|pÈvacara jhÈnas and four ar|pÈvacara jhÈnas. They are called ‘eight attainments’ or we may say ‘nine attainments’ if we take the r|pÈvacara to be five.), attain it” and so on. “And these qualifications are not to be found together in any persons other than Non-Returners and those whose cankers are destroyed, who are obtainers of the eight attainments.” The qualifications mentioned in the quotation are not to be found together in any persons other than the Non-Returners and Arahants. “That is why only they and no others attain it.” Non-Returners and Arahants who have eight jhÈnas or nine jhÈnas can go into this attainment of cessation. “But which are the two powers?” Actually they are digressions.
We will go to paragraph 27. “Mastery: there are five kinds of masteries.” They are also described in chapter 4. So I want you to note down chapter 4, paragraph 131 and following. You may go back and read about them.
“Where do they attain it?” In which realms can they attain or can they go into this attainment? That is in paragraph 29. “In the five-constituent becoming.” Do you know the five-constituent becoming? That means where there are five aggregates. Human beings, devas, and r|pÈvacara brahmÈs have the five-constituent becoming. But the ar|pÈvacara brahmÈs do not have the five-constituent becoming; they have only four. “In the five-constituent becoming. Why? Because of the necessity for the succession of [all] the attainments.” In order to get into this attainment of cessation, one must begin with the first r|pÈvacara jhÈna and then the second, third, fourth, and so on. But if you are reborn as a formless brahmÈ, you do not have the four r|pÈvacara jhÈnas. So you cannot enter r|pÈvacara jhÈnas in the formless state. If you are reborn as a formless brahmÈ, you cannot enter into the r|pÈvacara first, second, third, fourth and fifth jhÈnas. “But in the four-constituent becoming (That is ar|pÈvacara.) there is no arising of the first jhÈna, etc., and so it is not possible to attain it there. But some say that is because of the lack of a physical basis [for the mind there].” So some people say that because there is no physical basis for the mind there, that cessation attainment cannot be entered into. Actually not only the physical basis but all material properties are not found in the ar|pÈvacara.
Paragraph 30 “Why do they attain it? Being wearied by the occurrence and dissolution of formations, they attain it thinking ‘Let us dwell in bliss by being without consciousness here and now and reaching the cessation that is NibbÈna.” Now they are wearied by the arising and disappearing of formations. So they want to dwell in bliss by being without consciousness here and now and reaching the cessation that is NibbÈna. It is also a way of kind of enjoying themselves, that is to be without mental activities for some time.
Paragraph 31 “How does its attainment come about? It comes about in one who performs the preparatory tasks by striving with serenity and insight and causes the cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. One who strives with serenity alone reaches the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception and remains there, while one who strives with insight alone reaches attainment of Fruition and remains there. But it is one who strives with both, and after performing the preparatory tasks, causes the cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, who attains it. This is in brief.” So you must practice samatha and vipassanÈ coupled when you want to get into this attainment of cessation. If you do only samatha, you cannot get into this cessation attainment. And also if you do only vipassanÈ, you cannot get into this attainment. So first you enter into first jhÈna. Then you emerge from this first jhÈna and practice vipassanÈ on the first jhÈna. So it goes in pairs, samatha and vipassanÈ, samatha and vipassanÈ.
Paragraph 32 “But the detail is this. When a bhikkhu who desires to attain cessation has finished all that has to do with his meal and has washed his hands and feet well, he sits down on a well-prepared seat in a secluded place. Having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, established mindfulness in front of him (That means towards the meditation object.), he attains the first jhÈna, and on emerging he sees the formations in it with insight as impermanent, painful, not self.”
“This insight is threefold insight that discerns formations, insight for the attainment of Fruition, and insight for the attainment of the cessation.” There are three kinds of vipassanÈ. “Herein, insight that discerns formations, whether sluggish or keen, is the proximate cause only for Path.” You practice vipassanÈ and it is the cause only for the Path. “Insight for the attainment of Fruition (That means insight practice for the attainment of Fruition.), which is only valid when keen, is similar to that for the development of Path. Insight for the attainment of cessation is only valid when it is not over-sluggish and not over-keen.” If it is over-sluggish, it cannot cause the cessation of the neither perception nor non-perception. And if it is over-keen, if it is too strong, too keen, then it will go on to the Fruition and not to the cessation attainment. If it is too keen, it sees dangers and others in the formations. So it leaps into Fruition attainment, not cessation attainment. So here the insight should not be over-sluggish or over-keen. “Therefore he sees those formations with insight that is not over-sluggish and not over-keen.”
Paragraph 34 “After that, he attains the second jhÈna, and on emerging he sees formations with insight in like manner. After that he attains the third jhÈna” and so on. “After that he attains the base consisting of boundless consciousness (That means the second ar|pÈvacara jhÈna.), and on emerging he sees formations in it in like manner. Likewise he attains the base consisting of nothingness (third ar|pÈvacara jhÈna). On emerging he does the fourfold preparatory task.” So after emerging from the third ar|pÈvacara jhÈna, he must stop entering into jhÈna. He must do these four preparatory tasks.
Now the translator got it wrong here with regard to non-damage to other’s property. It is non-damage to the property that is not attached to him. So the first one is important. I checked it with the other translation made by a Burmese author. He was also wrong. What it really means is non-damage to the property that is not physically attached to him. Maybe they are misled by the word ‘nanabhaddha’ in PÈÄi. It is the opposite of the PÈÄi word ‘ekabhaddha’. That means ‘attached to’, ‘attached to one’, or ‘connected to one’. ‘Nanabhaddha’ means the opposite of that. So the real meaning is the property that is not physically attached to him.
In paragraph 35 this “refers to ‘what the bhikkhu has about him that is not his personal property: (No. That is wrong.) a robe and bowl, or a bed and chair, or a living room, or any other kind of requisite kept by him but the property of various others.” No. It is other kinds of requisites that lie unattached to him. When he enters into this attainment, he has his robe. Right? He has worn his robe. If he has a bowl and puts it to his left, he may have that bowl too. They are connected or attached to his body. He may have some other sets of robes or some other things, not with him or not attached physically to him. For those things he must do something so that they do not get damaged by fire, by water, by bites of rats and so on. So the first is non-damage to the property that is not attached to him, his property, not the property of others. If it were possible for others’ property to be like insured, we need such a monk, only one such monk. “It should be resolved that such property will not be damaged, will not be destroyed by fire, water, wind, thieves, rats, and so on. Here is the form of the resolve: (he makes the resolution in this way.) ‘During these seven days let this and this not be burned by fire; let it not be swept off by water; let it not be spoilt by wind; let it not be stolen by thieves; let it not be devoured by rats, and so on’. When he has resolved in this way, they are not in danger these seven days.” That means for as long as he is in the attainment.
Paragraph 36 “If he does not resolve in this way, they may be destroyed by fire, etc., as in the case of the Elder MahÈ-NÈga. He went for alms into the village where his mother, a lay follower, lived. She gave him rice gruel and seated him in the sitting hall. The Elder sat down and attained cessation.” So he entered into the cessation attainment in the village, in the sitting hall. “while he was sitting there, the hall caught fire. The other bhikkhus each picked up their seats and fled. The villagers gathered together, and seeing the Elder, they said ‘What a lazy monk!’ The fire burned the grass thatch, the bamboos and timbers, and it encircled the Elder.” The fire did not burn the Elder, but everything else was burned. “People brought water and put it out. They removed the ashes, did the repairs (that means like making the ground smooth again and so on.), scattered flowers, and then stood respectfully waiting. The Elder emerged at the time he had determined. Seeing them, he said ‘I am discovered!’ (Because he didn’t want the people to know that he was an AnÈgÈmi or an Arahant.) And he rose up into the air and went to Piya~gu Island.” So “This is no-damage to property (not ‘others’ property’) that is not attached to him.”
Paragraph 37 “There is no special resolving to be done for what is his own personal property.” That means what is attached to his body, not ‘his own personal property’. For the robe he is wearing, he doesn’t have to bother. He doesn’t have to worry about that. He doesn’t have to make a resolution for the safety of the robe he is wearing. It will be taken care of. There is no special resolving to be done for what is attached to his body such as the inner and outer robes or the seat he is sitting on. “He protects all that by means of the attainment itself, like those of the Venerable SaÒjÊva. And this is said ‘There was success by intervention of concentration in the Venerable SaÒjÊva. There was success by intervention of concentration in the Venerable SÈriputta.” So you go back to chapter 12, paragraph 30. When you see that, you will know. Venerable SaÒjÊva was in attainment and people didn’t know that he was a monk and so the people put fuel and wood on him and then set it on fire. But he was not burned because he was in attainment.
Paragraph 38 “The Community’s (or Sa~gha’s) waiting is the Community’s (Sa~gha’s) expecting; the meaning is: till this bhikkhu comes there is no carrying out of acts of the Community (Sa~gha).” When the Sa~gha does what we call ‘the acts of Sa~gha’, then all monks must assemble to a place. If one monk is absent or away from the assembled monks, then that act becomes invalid. So he must come to where the other monks are assembled. But when he is in attainment, he may not be able to come. So he must do something about that. “And here it is not the actual Community’s waiting that is the preparatory task, but the adverting to the waiting.” That means thinking of the waiting. “So it should be adverted to in this way ‘While I am sitting for seven days in the attainment of cessation, if the Community wants to enact a resolution, etc., I shall emerge before any bhikkhu comes to summon me’.” So if the Sa~gha expects him, then he will emerge from the attainment. He must resolve like that.
Paragraph 39 “But if he does not do so, then perhaps the Community assembles, and not seeing him, it is asked ‘Where is the bhikkhu?” and so on. If he does not make the resolution before entering the attainment, then he will not emerge from it automatically. But he will emerge from it when a monk goes to him and just says to him ‘You are expected by the Sa~gha’. Then he will surely emerge from the attainment.
Paragraph 40 Then the third one is the Master’s summons. ‘Master’ means the Buddha. If Buddha wants him to come, then he must go to the Buddha and so on. It is similar to Community’s waiting.
Paragraph 42 The fourth one is the limit of life duration. So he must think of how long he will live before he enters into this attainment. At least he must know that he is going to live more than seven days. Otherwise there will be a dilemma. That is because during the attainment death cannot come. So he must surely make this preparatory task although the others can be ignored. So he should attain only after adverting to that. “For it is said that while it may be permissible to omit adverting to others (the other three), this however must be adverted to.”
“Now when he has thus the base consisting of nothingness and done this preparatory task, he then attains the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. Then after one, or two, turns of consciousness have passed (That means one or two moments of the fourth ar|pÈvacara jhÈna.), he becomes without consciousness.” So consciousness ceases at that moment. He achieves cessation. There are no cittas, no cetasikas, no r|pa-born-citta. “But why do consciousnesses not go on occurring in him after the two consciousnesses? Because the effort is directed to cessation.” His effort is directed to cessation, so there is cessation of consciousness. “For the bhikkhu’s mounting through the eight attainments, coupling together the states of serenity and insight is directed to successive cessation, not to attaining the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. So it is because the effort is directed to cessation that o more than two consciousnesses occur.” So there are not many moments of consciousness; only two consciousnesses occur.
Paragraph 44 “But if a bhikkhu emerges from the base consisting of nothingness without having done this preparatory task and then attains the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, he is unable to become without consciousness: he returns to the base consisting of nothingness and settles down there.” So he will not be able to make it disappear; he will go back to the third one.
Paragraph 48 “How is it made to last? It lasts as long as the time predetermined for its duration, unless interrupted meanwhile by the exhaustion of the life span, by the waiting of the Community, or by the Master’s summons.”
Paragraph 49 “How does the emergence from it come about? The emergence comes about in two ways thus: by means of the Fruition of non-return in the case of the Non-Returner, or by means of the Fruition of Arahantship in the case of the Arahant.”
TAPE ENDS
SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!
We offer this transcription of a Dhamma class with Venerable U SÊlÈnanda with the hope that it will be beneficial for your understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. This transcription has not been edited. It is the record of spontaneous exchanges between the teacher and students. Therefore it is possible that there are some errors. We are certain that such errors are infrequent and minimal. SayÈdaw is a meticulous and careful teacher and offers these teaching in this manner out of compassion for those people interested in the serious study and practice of meditation and Buddhism.