Vooraf: delen van deze tekst horen in een serie ten behoeve van het door Leigh Brasington gegeven seminar op 29 en 30 oktober over concentratie-meditatie. Als eerste hiervan m'n aankondiging en uitnodiging van 10 mei j.l.
Het seminar is op dit moment ongeveer voor de helft volgeboekt. Zie ook de informatie op de SIM-website .
Al veel jaren neem ik met enige regelmaat de ' VisuddhiMagga ' ter hand, eerst als boek uit de U.B. en later overdrachtelijk in de electronische versie. En leg het na het lezen van een paar flarden weer weg. Denkend: een encyclopedie lees je ook niet van band tot band.
'Path of Purification ' (het Pad van de Zuivering, of 'Zuiveringen') is de vertaling, uit het Pali in het Engels door Bhikkhu Nanamoli www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf
De eerste druk is uit 1956.
Deze vertaling telt ruim 800 pagina's; alleen al de inhoudsopgave van 14 pagina's is lastig te doorgronden (de korte versie ervan is bijlage 3 hieronder).
Dit boek van de uit India afkomstige monnik Buddhaghosa , geschreven in Sri Lanka in de 5e eeuw van onze jaartelling kreeg als ondertitel (van de vertaler):
' The Classic Manual of Buddhist Doctrine and Meditation '; en zo is het.
Geen pretje om te lezen of om in te bladeren. Maar toch: het is onontkoombaar voor wie zich maar een beetje (zoals ik) Theravadin voelt. Geen bladzij van de vertalingen van Sutta's (die van Bhikkhu Bodhi en volgens mij ook van de Breet en Janssen) of er wordt wel verwezen naar de VM of naar andere 'kommentaren' van Buddhaghosa die in zekere zin een uitwerking van de VM zijn.
De gecompliceerde structuur van het boek kan deels worden verklaard doordat het een stapeling van indelingen bevat. De meest algemene is die in
- sila (virtue, ethische regels : chapter I en II),
- samadhi (concentration, concentratie : chapter III t/m XIII) en
- panna (understanding, wijsheid : chapter XIV t/m XXIII). In dit laatste deel komen ook de (zeven) zuiveringen aan de orde.
Toch is het niet de complexe structuur van het boek die mij vaak ergerde; dat is meer (naast de pedante stijl en soms rare logica) dat hiermee de Theravada, duizend jaar na het leven van de Boeddha, definitief een systeem, een orthodoxie, is geworden.
De VisuddhiMagga is de voltooiing van de Theravada-scholastiek , daarna zijn er alleen nog details uitgewerkt. Een systeem waar ik behoorlijk wat vertrouwen in heb maar dat ik hier en daar persé niet volg en dat af en toe knelt.
Ik blijf de voorkeur geven aan de rommelige Sutta's zelf, iets neutraler genoemd 'het vroege boeddhisme'.
Opvallend is dat deze Engelse uitgave ook een 'Message', uit 2000, bevat van de Dalai Lama , nog een 'bewijs' van de betekenis die in brede kring onder boeddhisten aan dit werk wordt gegeven. Ik heb deze boodschap in bijlage 1 opgenomen.
Geen meditatiemethode of het komt er wel in aan de orde.
Eerlijk gezegd de vipassana volgens de Mahasi methode nog het minst (wel de resultaten in de vorm van 'inzichten' die er mee te bereiken zijn, maar niet de methode).
[UPDATE van 17 juni: ook een belangrijk facet van deze vipassana-methode wordt één keer genoemd, namelijk dat van 'momentary concentration" ,voor mij onduidelijk in welk verband; ook nog een paar keer in voetnoten maar die zijn van de vertaler.]
Over de metta-meditatie en verdere Brahmavihara's gaat hoofdstuk IX (pagina 291 e.v.in het boek, pagina 350 e.v. in de pdf) In feite baseren alle hedendaagse instructies over metta-meditatie zich nog steeds op deze tekst (en op de Metta Sutta).
Datzelfde geldt voor de contemplaties op de dood hoofdtuk VIII, par.7: Mindfulness of death (pag 225-236 in het boek en pag 283-294 in de pdf).
Een groot deel van het boek gaat over samadhi (concentratie ): over de jhana's en hoe die te bereiken, zie hieronder.
De uitsdrukking 'en nog veel meer' is in zeer sterke mate op dit boek van toepassing; in deze blog heb ik nog maar een fractie van de inhoud benoemd.
En een groot deel is nog steeds relevant, ook voor wie het niet met alles eens is.
Als Jan de Breet en Rob Janssen in 2014 de vertaling van de Samyutta Nikaya hebben voltooid en ze niet (meteen) met de vertaling van de Anguttara Nikaya willen beginnen, is de VM wellicht een uitdaging voor hen en voor hun uitgever.
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Drie voorbeelden van de rijkdom van de VisuddhiMagga :
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De eerste betreft de concentratie-meditatie (samatha)
In feite gaat heel Part II (pagina 81-430) er over, alleen de laatste twee hoofdstukken van dit deel – over de bovennatuurlijke effecten – negeer ik liever.
Ik citeer uit Sleutel tot inzicht ; een deel van de Pali-woorden weglatend:
"Vis. 3-6 geeft volledige aanwijzingen over hoe volledige concentratie en de meditatieve verdiepingen (jhana's) verkregen kunnen worden door middel van de volgende 40 meditatieonderwerpen:
* 10 kasina-oefeningen. Deze brengen de 4 verdiepingen (jhana's) voort.
De 10 kasina's die in de sutta's worden bedoeld, zijn: het aarde-kasina; het water-kasina; het vuur-kasina; het wind-kasina; het blauw-kasina; het geel-kasina; het rood-kasina; het wit-kasina; het ruimte-kasina; en het bewustzijn-kasina.
* 10 walgelijke onderwerpen. Deze brengen de 1e verdieping voort.
* 10 herinneringen aan: de Boeddha; de Leer; de boeddhistische gemeenschap (sanghanussati); moraliteit; vrijheid; de hemelse wezens; de dood (maranasati); het lichaam; de in- en uitademing (anapana sati) en vrede.
Onder deze, kan de bespiegeling (of indachtigheid) van de in- en uitademing, alle 4 de meditatieve verdiepingen voortbrengen: die van het lichaam de 1e verdieping, en de rest alleen nabijheid-concentratie (upacara samadhi).
* 4 verheven verblijven (brahma vihara): liefdevolle vriendelijkheid (metta), mededogen (karuna), sympathische vreugde (mudita) en gelijkmoedigheid (upekkha). Van deze, brengen alleen de eerste 3 oefeningen, 3 verdiepingen voort; de laatste (gelijkmoedigheid) alleen de 4e verdieping (jhana).
* 4 onstoffelijke sferen van: onbegrensde ruimte, onbegrensd bewustzijn, niets-heid en noch waarnemen noch niet waarnemen. Deze hebben betrekking op de 4e meditatieve verdieping, want de 4 verdiepingen van de onstoffelijke sfeer, behoren, strikt gesproken, nog steeds tot de 4e jhana, omdat zij dezelfde twee factoren bevatten.
* 1 aanschouwing van de walgelijkheid van voedsel, wat nabijheid-concentratie kan voortbrengen.
* 1 analyse van de 4 elementen, wat eveneens nabijheid-concentratie kan voortbrengen."
Een aantal van deze fenomenen worden nog steeds als meditatie-object gebruikt, de 'walgelijke' onderwerpen waarschijnlijk alleen door monniken.
In een 'Sangha Metta' retraite afgelopen voorjaar met Christina Garbe (en Jotika Hermsen) werd bijvoorbeeld gebruik gemaakt van de anapanasati, de metta, de vier elementen en een aantal kleur-kasina's (in de vorm van cirkels) als meditatie-object ten behoeve van het bereiken van de (eerste) jhana.
Leigh Brasington zal het in oktober vermoedelijk vooral hebben over de anapanasati
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Als tweede voorbeeld een opsomming in hoofdstuk IV (dat gaat over The Earth Kasina) van de 'achttien fouten van een klooster', de negatieve formulering van de eisen waaraan een klooster moet voldoen:
[THE EIGHTEEN FAULTS OF A MONASTERY]
Herein, one that is unfavourable has anyone of eighteen faults. These are:
( 1) GROOT (largeness),
( 2) NIEUW (newness),
( 3) BOUWVALLIG (dilapidatedness),
( 4) NABIJ EEN WEG (a nearby road),
( 5) VIJVER (a pond),
( 6) EETBARE BLADEREN ([edible] leaves),
( 7) BLOEMEN (flowers),
( 8) VRUCHTEN (fruits),
( 9) BEROEMD (famousness),
(10) NABIJ EEN STAD (a nearby city),
(11) NABIJ KAPBAAR BOS (nearby timber trees),
(12) NABIJ BEBOUWBAAR LAND (nearby arable fields),
(13) AANWEZIGHEID VAN ONVERENIGBARE MENSEN (presence of incompatible persons),
(14) NABIJ EEN HAVEN OF TOEGANGSWEG (a nearby port of entry),
(15) NABIJ GRENZEN TUSSEN LANDEN (nearness to the border countries),
(16) NABIJ DE GRENS VAN EEN KONINKRIJK (nearness to the frontier of a kingdom),
(17) ONGESCHIKTHEID (unsuitability),
(18) ONTBREKEN VAN GOEDE (SPIRITUELE) VRIENDEN (lack of good friends).
One with any of these faults is not favourable. He should not live there.
(Pagina 113 in de nummering van het boek, en 171 in de pdf )
Waarom deze 18 omstandigheden onwenselijk zijn (voor een monnik) om naar een bepaald klooster te gaan wordt in dit toch spiritueel veronderstelde boek door Buddhaghosa zeer konkreet beschreven. Zie bijlage 2
Wellicht kunnen de initiatiefnemers van het te starten Vipassana Meditatie- en StudieCentrum (ergens in Nederland) er gebruik van maken. Zie de nieuwe website van dit centrum (in oprichting)
Hoewel: een groot deel van deze 'fouten' in de ogen van Buddhaghosa is dat er vrouwen zijn of op af kunnen komen; de andere sexe, die de monniken afleiden. Ik laat me er liever niet over uit of dit (of het omgekeerde: de gevaarlijke aanwezigheid van mannen) in Nederland ook speelt vanwege het gevaar als sexist aangeduid te worden.
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Het derde voorbeeld is de wijze waarop het leerstuk (of: de causale theorie) van de paticca samuppada (dependent origination, afhankelijk ontstaan) een plaats heeft gekregen in het Theravada-systeem.
Op zich komt dit model van twaalf ketenen in alle boeddhistische tradities voor, hoewel de plaats ervan, de visualisatie (prachtige of gruwelijke plaatjes) en de betekenis als causaliteit verschillen.
In het Mahayana-boeddhisme wordt (in het Sanskriet) van 'Pratītyasamutpāda gesproken ', een woord met nogal diverse Engelse vertalingen; bijvoorbeeld soms als 'interdependent co-arising ', m.i. een onjuiste want holistische verschuiving van de betekenis.
Bij de Theravada is kenmerkend dat het gekoppeld is aan de reincarnatie, en wel op een zeer specifieke wijze, genoemd het 'drie levens model '.
Zie 'CH. XVII THE SOIL OF UNDERSTANDING—CONCLUSION: DEPENDENT ORIGINATION'
Pagina 533-608 in het boek en pagina 591-666 van de pdf.
En met name daarvan 'Section C THE WHEEL OF BECOMING ', pagina 598 e.v. c.q. 656 e.v.
Dit model komt niet voor in de Sutta's waarvan (in de Theravada) aangenomen wordt dat ze zo'n 2500 jaar geleden door de Boeddha zijn uitgesproken (waar wel iets op valt af te dingen).
Wel komt in de Sutta's de leer van het afhankelijk ontstaan voor, soms worden een paar schakels genoemd dan weer in een andere Sutta een paar andere schakels, en opgeteld kan men tot twaalf komen.
Ook de reincarnatie, of we het leuk vinden of niet (ik vind het niet leuk) komt daar als feit aan de orde.
Maar de koppeling daartussen en de hechtheid daarvan, is het werk van latere scholastici en is in de VM definitief DE LEER gemaakt.
Ik zie er van af deze verandering in de betekenis van paticca sammupada te beschrijven, ook omdat Buddhadasa Bhikkhu het oneindig veel beter heeft gedaan, zie zijn Practical Dependent Origination
En omdat het duidelijk is verwoord door Leigh Brasington (de leraar die eind oktober naar Nederland komt) in zijn essay ' Dependent Origination: The 3 Lives Model: NOT ! ' Ik zou haast zeggen: dit is verplichte kost.
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Bijlage 1
MESSAGE FROM HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
The history of the development of Buddhist literature seems to be marked by periods
in which the received teachings and established scriptures are assimilated and
consolidated and periods of mature creativity when the essence of that transmission
is expressed afresh. Bhadantácariya Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga is a classic
text of the latter type. It represents the epitome of Pali Buddhist literature, weaving
together its many strands to create this wonderful meditation manual, which even
today retains the clarity it revealed when it was written.
There are occasions when people like to make much of the supposed differences
in the various traditions of Buddhism that have evolved in different times and places.
What I find especially encouraging about a book such as this is that it shows so
clearly how much all schools of Buddhism have fundamentally in common. Within
a structure based on the traditional three trainings of ethical discipline, concentration
and wisdom are detailed instructions on how to take an ethical approach to life,
how to meditate and calm the mind, and on the basis of those how to develop a
correct understanding of reality. We find practical advice about creating an
appropriate environment for meditation, the importance of developing love and
compassion, and discussion of dependent origination that underlies the Buddhist
view of reality. The very title of the work, the Path of Purification, refers to the essential
Buddhist understanding of the basic nature of the mind as clear and aware,
unobstructed by disturbing emotions. This quality is possessed by all sentient beings
which all may realize if we pursue such a path.
Sometimes I am asked whether Buddhism is suitable for Westerners or not. I
believe that the essence of all religions deals with basic human problems and
Buddhism is no exception. As long as we continue to experience the basic human
sufferings of birth, disease, old age, and death, there is no question of whether it
is suitable or not as a remedy. Inner peace is the key. In that state of mind you can
face difficulties with calm and reason. The teachings of love, kindness and
tolerance, the conduct of non-violence, and especially the Buddhist theory that
all things are relative can be a source of that inner peace.
While the essence of Buddhism does not change, superficial cultural aspects
will change. But how they will change in a particular place, we cannot say. This
evolves over time. When Buddhism first came from India to countries like Sri Lanka
or Tibet, it gradually evolved, and in time a unique tradition arose. This is also
happening in the West, and gradually Buddhism may evolve with Western culture.
Of course, what distinguishes the contemporary situation from past
transmissions of Buddhism is that almost the entire array of traditions that
evolved elsewhere is now accessible to anyone who is interested. And it is in
such a context that I welcome this new edition of Bhikkhu Ñáóamoli’s celebrated
English translation of the Path of Purification. I offer my prayers that readers,
wherever they are, may find in it advice and inspiration to develop that inner
peace that will contribute to creating a happier and more peaceful world.
May 2000
(Bron: Pagina 25 van de pdf)
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Bijlage 2
Waarom niet in een klooster met een van de 18 fouten verblijven?
CHAPTER IV
THE EARTH KASINA
1. [118] Now, it was said earlier: After that he should avoid a monastery
unfavourable to the development of concentration and go to live in one that is
favourable (III.28). In the first place one who finds it convenient to live with the
teacher in the same monastery can live there while he is making certain of the
meditation subject. If it is inconvenient there, he can live in another monastery—
a suitable one—a quarter or a half or even a whole league distant. In that case,
when he finds he is in doubt about, or has forgotten, some passage in the
meditation subject, then he should do the duties in the monastery in good time
and set out afterwards, going for alms on the way and arriving at the teacher’s
dwelling place after his meal. He should make certain about the meditation
subject that day in the teacher’s presence. Next day, after paying homage to the
teacher, he should go for alms on his way back and so he can return to his own
dwelling place without fatigue. But one who finds no convenient place within
even a league should clarify all difficulties about the meditation subject and
make quite sure it has been properly attended to. Then he can even go far away
and, avoiding a monastery unfavourable to development of concentration, live in
one that is favourable.
[ THE EIGHTEEN FAULTS OF A MONASTERY]
2. Herein, one that is unfavourable has anyone of eighteen faults. These are: (1)
largeness, (2) newness, (3) dilapidatedness, (4) a nearby road, (5) a pond, (6)
[edible] leaves, (7) flowers, (8) fruits, (9) famousness, (10) a nearby city, (11) nearby
timber trees, (12) nearby arable fields, (13) presence of incompatible persons, (14)
a nearby port of entry, (15) nearness to the border countries, (16) nearness to the
frontier of a kingdom, (17) unsuitability, (18) lack of good friends. [119] One with
any of these faults is not favourable. He should not live there. Why?
1. Firstly, people with varying aims collect in a large monastery. They conflict
with each other and so neglect the duties. The Enlightenment-tree terrace, etc.,
remain unswept, the water for drinking and washing is not set out. So if he
thinks, “I shall go to the alms-resort village for alms” and takes his bowl and
robe and sets out, perhaps he sees that the duties have not been done or that a
drinking-water pot is empty, and so the duty has to be done by him unexpectedly.
Drinking water must be maintained. By not doing it he would commit a
wrongdoing in the breach of a duty. But if he does it, he loses time. He arrives too
late at the village and gets nothing because the alms giving is finished. Also,
when he goes into retreat, he is distracted by the loud noises of novices and
young bhikkhus, and by acts of the Community [being carried out]. However, he
can live in a large monastery where all the duties are done and where there are
none of the other disturbances.
2. In a new monastery there is much new building activity. People criticize
someone who takes no part in it. But he can live in such a monastery where the
bhikkhus say, “Let the venerable one do the ascetic’s duties as much as he likes.
We shall see to the building work.”
3. In a dilapidated monastery there is much that needs repair. People criticize
someone who does not see about the repairing of at least his own lodging.
When he sees to the repairs, his meditation subject suffers.
4. In a monastery with a nearby road, by a main street, visitors keep arriving
night and day. He has to give up his own lodging to those who come late, and he
has to go and live at the root of a tree or on top of a rock. And next day it is the
same. So there is no opportunity [to practice] his meditation subject. But he can
live in one where there is no such disturbance by visitors.
5. A pond is a rock pool. Numbers of people come there for drinking water.
Pupils of city-dwelling elders supported by the royal family come to do dyeing
work. When they ask for vessels, wood, tubs, etc., they must be shown
where these things are. So he is kept all the time on the alert.
6. If he goes with his meditation subject to sit by day where there are many
sorts of edible leaves, then women vegetable-gatherers, singing as they pick leaves
nearby, endanger his meditation subject by disturbing it with sounds of the opposite sex.
7. And where there are many sorts of flowering shrubs in bloom there is the same danger too.
8. Where there are many sorts of fruits such as mangoes, rose-apples and
jak-fruits, people who want fruits come and ask for them, and they get angry if
he does not give them any, or they take them by force. When walking in the
monastery in the evening he sees them and asks, “Why do you do so, lay
followers?” they abuse him as they please and even try to evict him.
9. When he lives in a monastery that is famous and renowned in the world,
like Dakkhióagiri1 Hatthikucchi, Cetiyagiri or Cittalapabbata, there are always
people coming who want to pay homage to him, supposing that he is an Arahant,
which inconveniences him. But if it suits him, he can live there at night and go
elsewhere by day.
10. In one with a nearby city objects of the opposite sex come into focus.
Women-pot carriers go by bumping into him with their jars and giving no room
to pass. Also important people spread out carpets in the middle of the monastery
and sit down.
11. One with nearby timber trees where there are timber trees and osiers
useful for making framework is inconvenient because of the wood-gatherers
there, like the gatherers of branches and fruits already mentioned. If there are
trees in a monastery, people come and cut them down to build houses with.
When he has come out of his meditation room in the evening and is walking up
and down in the monastery, if he sees them and asks, “Why do you do so, lay
followers?” they abuse him as they please and even try to evict him.
12. People make use of one with nearby arable fields, quite surrounded by
fields. They make a threshing floor in the middle of the monastery itself. They
thresh corn there, dry it in the forecourts,2 and cause great inconvenience. And
where there is extensive property belonging to the Community, the monastery
attendants impound cattle belonging to families and deny the water supply [to
their crops]. Then people bring an ear of paddy and show it to the
Community saying “Look at your monastery attendants’ work.” For one reason
or another he has to go to the portals of the king or the king’s ministers. This
[matter of property belonging to the Community] is included by [a monastery
that is] near arable fields.
13. Presence of incompatible persons: where there are bhikkhus living who
are incompatible and mutually hostile, when they clash and it is protested,
“Venerable sirs, do not do so,” they exclaim, “We no longer count now that this
refuse-rag wearer has come.”
14. One with a nearby water port of entry or land port of entry3 is made
inconvenient by people constantly arriving respectively by ship or by caravan
and crowding round, asking for space or for drinking water or salt.
15. In the case of one near the border countries, people have no trust in the
Buddha, etc., there.
16. In one near the frontier of a kingdom there is fear of kings. For perhaps one
king attacks that place, thinking, “It does not submit to my rule,” and the other
does likewise, thinking, “It does not submit to my rule.” A bhikkhu lives there
when it is conquered by one king and when it is conquered by the other. Then
they suspect him of spying, and they bring about his undoing.
17. Unsuitability is that due to the risk of encountering visible data, etc., of
the opposite sex as objects or to haunting by non-human beings. Here is a story.
An elder lived in a forest, it seems. Then an ogress stood in the door of his leaf
hut and sang. The elder came out and stood in the door. She went to the end of
the walk and sang. The elder went to the end of the walk. She stood in a chasm
a hundred fathoms deep and sang. The elder recoiled. Then she suddenly
grabbed him saying, “Venerable sir, it is not just one or two of the likes of you I have eaten.”
18. Lack of good friends: where it is not possible to find a good friend as a
teacher or the equivalent of a teacher or a preceptor or the equivalent of a preceptor,
the lack of good friends there is a serious fault.
One that has any of those eighteen faults should be understood as
unfavourable. And this is said in the commentaries:
A large abode, a new abode,
One tumbling down, one near a road,
One with a pond, or leaves, or flowers,
Or fruits, or one that people seek; [122]
In cities, among timber, fields,
Where people quarrel, in a port,
In border lands, on frontiers,
Unsuitableness, and no good friend—
These are the eighteen instances
A wise man needs to recognize
And give them full as wide a berth
As any footpad-hunted road.
(Pagina 113-116 in de nummering van het boek, en 171-174 in de pdf)
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Bijlage 3
CONTENTS
(GENERAL)
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. xix
Printed Editions of the Visuddhimagga ..................................................................... xix
List of Abbreviations for Texts Used .......................................................................... xxi
Message from his Holiness the Dalai Lama ............................................................. xxiii
Publisher’s Foreword to Third Edition .................................................................... xxiv
Publisher’s Foreword to Fourth Edition ................................................................... xxiv
Translator’s Preface ..................................................................................................... xxv
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. XXVII
THE PATH OF PURIFICATION
Part I—Virtue (Sìla)
CH.I DESCRIPTION OF VIRTUE ................................................................................... 5
[I. Introductory] ............................................................................................ 5
[II. Virtue] .................................................................................................... 10
CH. II THE ASCETIC PRACTICES ................................................................................ 55
Part II—Concentration (Samádhi)
CH. III TAKING A MEDITATION SUBJECT .................................................................... 81
[A. Development in Brief] ......................................................................... 86
[B. Development in Detail] ....................................................................... 87
[The Ten Impediments] ............................................................................ 87
CH. IV THE EARTH KASIÓA ..................................................................................... 113
[The Eighteen Faults of a Monastery] ................................................. 113
[The Five Factors of the Resting Place] ................................................ 116
[The Lesser Impediments] ..................................................................... 116
[Detailed Instructions for Development] ............................................ 117
[The Earth Kasióa]................................................................................... 117
[Making an Earth Kasióa] ..................................................................... 118
[Starting Contemplation] ....................................................................... 119
[The Counterpart Sign] .......................................................................... 120
[The Two Kinds of Concentration] ....................................................... 121
[Guarding the Sign] ................................................................................ 122
[The Ten Kinds of Skill in Absorption] ............................................... 124
[The Five Similes] ..................................................................................... 130
[Absorption in the Cognitive Series] ................................................... 131
[The First Jhána] ...................................................................................... 133
[Extension of the Sign] ........................................................................... 145
[The Second Jhána] ................................................................................. 148
[The Third Jhána] .................................................................................... 151
[The Fourth Jhána] .................................................................................. 156
[The Fivefold Reckoning of Jhána] ....................................................... 160
CH. V THE REMAINING KASIÓAS ...................................................................................... 162
[The Water Kasióa]....................................................................................... 162
[The Fire Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 163
[The Air Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 163
[The Blue Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 164
[The Yellow Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 164
[The Red Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 165
[The White Kasióa] ...................................................................................... 165
[The Light Kasióa]....................................................................................... 165
[The Limited-Space Kasióa] ................................................................... 166
[General] .................................................................................................... 166
CH. VI FOULNESS AS A MEDITATION SUBJECT .......................................................... 169
[General Definitions] .............................................................................. 169
[The Bloated]............................................................................................. 170
[The Livid] ................................................................................................ 179
[The Festering] ......................................................................................... 179
[The Cut Up] ............................................................................................. 179
[The Gnawed] ........................................................................................... 180
[The Scattered] .......................................................................................... 180
[The Hacked and Scattered] .................................................................. 180
[The Bleeding] .......................................................................................... 180
[The Worm-Infested] ................................................................................ 180
[A Skeleton] .............................................................................................. 180
[General] ................................................................................................... 182
CH. VII SIX RECOLLECTIONS ..................................................................................... 186
[(1) Recollection of the Enlightened One] .......................................... 188
[Accomplished] ................................................................................ 188
[Fully Enlightened] ......................................................................... 192
[Endowed With Clear Vision and Virtuous Conduct] ................. 193
[Sublime] ............................................................................................ 196
[Knower of Worlds] .......................................................................... 198
[Incomparable Leader of Men to be Tamed] ............................... 202
[Teacher of Gods and Men] ........................................................... 203
[Enlightened] .................................................................................... 204
[Blessed]............................................................................................. 204
[(2) Recollection of the Dhamma] ........................................................ 209
[Well Proclaimed] ............................................................................. 210
[Visible Here and Now] .................................................................. 212
[Not Delayed] .................................................................................... 213
[Inviting of Inspection] ................................................................... 213
[Onward-Leading] ........................................................................... 214
[Is Directly Experienceable by the Wise] ..................................... 214
[(3) Recollection of the Saògha] ........................................................... 215
[Entered on the Good, Straight, True, Proper Way] ................... 215
[Fit for Gifts] ...................................................................................... 216
[Fit for Hospitality] .......................................................................... 217
[Fit for Offering] ............................................................................... 217
[Fit for Salutation] ............................................................................ 217
[As an Incomparable Field of Merit for the World] ................... 217
[(4) Recollection of Virtue] .................................................................... 218
[(5) Recollection of Generosity] ............................................................ 220
[(6) Recollection of Deities] ................................................................... 221
[General] ............................................................................................ 222
CH. VIII OTHER RECOLLECTIONS AS MEDITATION SUBJECTS ...................................... 225
[(7) Mindfulness of Death] .................................................................... 225
[(8) Mindfulness Occupied with the Body] ....................................... 236
[(9) Mindfulness of Breathing] ............................................................. 259
[(10)Recollection of Peace] ..................................................................... 286
CH. IX THE DIVINE ABIDINGS .................................................................................. 291
[(1) Loving-Kindness] ............................................................................ 291
[(2) Compassion] ..................................................................................... 308
[(3) Gladness] .......................................................................................... 309
[(4) Equanimity] ...................................................................................... 310
CH. X THE IMMATERIAL STATES ............................................................................ 321
[(1) The Base Consisting of Boundless Space] .................................. 321
[(2) The Base Consisting of Boundless Consciousness] ................. 326
[(3) The Base Consisting of Nothingness] ......................................... 328
[(4) The Base Consisting of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception] 330
[General] ............................................................................................ 333
CH. XI CONCENTRATION—CONCLUSION:
NUTRIMENT AND THE ELEMENTS ................................................................. 337
[Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment] ...................................... 337
[Defining of The Elements: Word Definitions] .................................. 344
[Texts and Commentary in Brief] ......................................................... 345
[In Detail] .................................................................................................. 346
[Method of Development in Brief] ........................................................ 348
[Method of Development in Detail] ..................................................... 349
[(1) With Constituents in Brief] ..................................................... 349
[(2) With Constituents by Analysis] ............................................ 349
[(3) With Characteristics in Brief] ................................................. 357
[(4) With Characteristics by Analysis] ........................................ 358
[Additional Ways of Giving Attention] ............................................... 358
[Development of Concentration—Conclusion] ................................. 367
[The Benefits of Developing Concentration] ...................................... 367
CH. XII THE SUPERNORMAL POWERS ........................................................................ 369
[The Benefits of Concentration (Continued)] ..................................... 369
[(1) The Kinds of Supernormal Power] ......................................... 369
CH. XIII OTHER DIRECT-KNOWLEDGES ....................................................................... 400
[(2) The Divine Ear Element].......................................................... 400
[(3) Penetration of Minds]............................................................... 402
[(4) Recollection of Past Lives] ....................................................... 404
[(5) The Divine Eye—Knowledge of Passing Away and
Reappearance of Beings] ............................................................. 415
[General] ............................................................................................ 421
Part III—Understanding (Paññá)
CH. XIV THE AGGREGATES ........................................................................................ 431
[A. Understanding] ................................................................................. 431
[B. Description of the Five Aggregates] ............................................... 439
[The Materiality Aggregate] .......................................................... 439
[The Consciousness Aggregate] ................................................... 455
[The 89 Kinds of Consciousness—see Table III] ................................ 456
[The 14 Modes of Occurrence of Consciousness] ............................. 462
[The Feeling Aggregate] ................................................................. 466
[The Perception Aggregate] ........................................................... 468
[The Formations Aggregate—see Tables II & IV] .............................. 468
[According to Association with Consciousness] .............................. 469
[C. Classification of the Aggregates] ................................................... 481
[Materiality] ...................................................................................... 481
[Feeling] .................................................................................................... 484
[Perception, Formations and Consciousness] ............................ 486
[D. Classes of Knowledge of the Aggregates] .................................... 486
CH. XV THE BASES AND ELEMENTS .......................................................................... 492
[A. Description of the Bases] ................................................................. 492
[B. Description of the Elements] ............................................................ 496
CH. XVI THE FACULTIES AND TRUTHS ........................................................................ 503
[A. Description of the Faculties] ........................................................... 503
[B. Description of the Truths] ................................................................ 506
[The Truth of Suffering] ......................................................................... 510
[(i) Birth] ............................................................................................. 510
[(ii) Ageing] ....................................................................................... 514
[(iii) Death] ........................................................................................ 514
[(iv) Sorrow] ....................................................................................... 515
[(v) Lamentation] .............................................................................. 515
[(vi) Pain] ........................................................................................... 516
[(vii) Grief] ......................................................................................... 516
[(viii) Despair] ................................................................................... 516
[(ix) Association with the Unloved] .............................................. 517
[(x) Separation from the Loved] ..................................................... 517
[(xi) Not to Get What One Wants] ................................................. 517
[(xii) The Five Aggregates] ............................................................. 518
[The Truth of the Origin of Suffering] ................................................. 518
[The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering] ........................................... 519
[Discussion on Nibbána] ....................................................................... 520
[The Truth of the Way] ............................................................................ 524
[General] ................................................................................................... 526
CH. XVII THE SOIL OF UNDERSTANDING—CONCLUSION:
DEPENDENT ORIGINATION ............................................................................ 533
[Section A. Definition of Dependent Origination] ............................ 533
[Section B. Exposition] ............................................................................ 539
[I. Preamble] ....................................................................................... 539
[II. Brief Exposition]......................................................................... 540
[III. Detailed Exposition] ................................................................ 547
[(i) Ignorance] ................................................................................... 547
[(ii) Formations] ................................................................................ 548
[(iii) Consciousness] ........................................................................ 563
[(iv) Mentality-Materiality] ............................................................ 579
[(v) The Sixfold Base] ...................................................................... 583
[(vi) Contact] ..................................................................................... 586
[(vii) Feeling] ..................................................................................... 588
[(viii) Craving] .................................................................................. 589
[(ix) Clinging] ................................................................................... 590
[(x) Becoming]................................................................................... 593
[(xi)–(xii) Birth, Etc.] ........................................................................ 597
[Section C. The Wheel of Becoming] .................................................... 598
[(i) The Wheel] .................................................................................. 598
[(ii) The Three Times] ...................................................................... 600
[(iii) Cause and Fruit] ...................................................................... 600
[(iv) Various] ...................................................................................... 603
CH. XVIII PURIFICATION OF VIEW ................................................................................. 609
[Defining of Mentality-Materiality] ..................................................... 609
[(1) Definition Based on the Four Primaries] .............................. 609
[(2) Definition Based on the Eighteen Elements]....................... 612
[(3) Definition Based on the Twelve Bases] ................................. 612
[(4) Definition Based on the Five Aggregates] ............................ 613
[(5) Brief Definition Based on the Four Primaries] .................... 613
[If the Immaterial Fails to Become Evident] ........................................ 614
[How the Immaterial States Become Evident] ..................................... 614
[No Being Apart from Mentality-Materiality] ................................... 616
[Interdependence of Mentality and Materiality] .............................. 618
CH. XIX PURIFICATION BY OVERCOMING DOUBT ........................................................ 621
[Ways of Discerning Cause and Condition] ...................................... 621
[Neither Created by a Creator nor Causeless] .................................... 621
[Its Occurance is Always Due to Conditions] .................................... 622
[General and Particular Conditions] ................................................... 622
[Dependent Origination in Reverse Order] ........................................ 623
[Dependent Origination in Direct Order] ........................................... 623
[Kamma and Kamma-Result] ............................................................... 623
[No Doer Apart from Kamma and Result] ......................................... 627
[Full-Understanding of the Known] .................................................... 628
CH. XX PURIFICATION BY KNOWLEDGE AND VISION OF
WHAT IS THE PATH AND WHAT IS NOT THE PATH ............................................................... 631
[The Three Kinds of Full-Understanding] ......................................... 631
[Insight: Comprehension by Groups] ................................................. 633
[Comprehension by Groups—Application of Text] ......................... 635
[Strengthening of Comprehension in Forty Ways] ........................... 637
[Nine Ways of Sharpening the Faculties, Etc. .................................... 639
[Comprehension of the Material] ......................................................... 639
[(a) Kamma-Born Materiality] ....................................................... 640
[(b) Consciousness-Born Materiality] .......................................... 641
[(c) Nutriment-Born Materiality] ................................................... 642
[(d) Temperature-Born Materiality] .............................................. 643
[Comprehension of the Immaterial] ..................................................... 644
[The Material Septad] ............................................................................. 645
[The Immaterial Septad] ......................................................................... 652
[The Eighteen Principal Insights] ........................................................ 654
[Knowledge of Rise and Fall—I] ........................................................... 657
[The Ten Imperfections of Insight] ...................................................... 660
CH. XXI PURIFICATION BY KNOWLEDGE AND VISION OF THE WAY .................................. 666
[Insight: The Eight Knowledges] ......................................................... 667
[1. Knowledge of Rise and Fall—II] .............................................. 667
[2. Knowledge of Dissolution] ....................................................... 668
[3. Knowledge of Appearance as Terror] .................................... 673
[4. Knowledge of Danger] .............................................................. 675
[5. Knowledge of Dispassion] ....................................................... 678
[6. Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance] .................................... 679
[7. Knowledge of Reflection] .......................................................... 679
[Discerning Formations as Void] .......................................................... 681
[8. Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations] ...................... 684
[The Triple Gateway to Liberation] ...................................................... 685
[The Seven Kinds of Noble Persons] .................................................... 688
[The Last Three Knowledges are One] ................................................ 689
[Insight Leading to Emergence] ........................................................... 690
[The Twelve Similes] ............................................................................... 692
[The Difference in the Noble Path’s Factors, Etc.] .............................. 695
[9. Conformity Knowledge] ............................................................ 698
[Sutta References] .................................................................................... 699
CH. XXII PURIFICATION BY KNOWLEDGE AND VISION .................................................. 701
[I. Change-of-Lineage, Paths, and Fruits] ........................................... 701
[The First Path—First Noble Person] .................................................... 701
[The First Fruition—Second Noble Person] ........................................ 704
[The Second Path—Third Noble Person] ............................................ 705
[The Second Fruition—Fourth Noble Person] .................................... 706
[The Third Path—Fifth Noble Person] ................................................. 706
[The Third Fruition—Sixth Noble Person] ......................................... 706
[The Fourth Path—Seventh Noble Person] .......................................... 706
[The Fourth Fruition—Eighth Noble Person] .................................... 707
[II. The States Associated with the Path, Etc.] ..................................... 707
[The Four Functions] .............................................................................. 721
[The Four Functions in a Single Moment] ......................................... 721
[The Four Functions Described Separately] ....................................... 723
[Conclusion] ............................................................................................. 728
CH. XXIII THE BENEFITS IN DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING ......................................... 730
[A. Removal of the Defilements] ............................................................ 730
[B. The Taste of the Noble Fruit] ............................................................ 730
[C. The Attainment of Cessation] .......................................................... 734
[D. Worthiness to Receive Gifts] ............................................................ 742
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 745
Index of Subjects & Proper Names ........................................................... 749
Pali-English Glossary of Some Subjects and Technical Terms ............... 774
TABLE I THE MATERIALITY AGGREGATE ....................................................................... 788
TABLE II THE FORMATIONS AGGREGATE ........................................................................ 789
TABLE III THE CONSCIOUSNESS AGGREGATE .................................................................. 790
TABLE IV THE COMBINATION OF THE FORMATIONS AGGREGATE
AND CONSCIOUSNESS AGGREGATE ................................................................................... 792
TABLE V THE COGNITIVE SERIES IN THE OCCURRENCE OF CONSCIOUNESS AS PRESENTED IN
THE VISUDDHIMAGGA AND COMMENTARIES .............................................................. 793
TABLE VI DEPENDENT ORIGINATION .............................................................................. 794
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