7. PURIFICATION BY KNOWLEDGE AND VISION OF THE COURSE OF PRACTICE
The patipada-ñañadassana-visuddhi, patipada means the course of practice, ñaña means knowledge, dassana means vision. Ñaña and dassana are used here in the same sense. In order to lay emphasis on penetration, the text uses the two words in the same sense. So Patipada-ñañadassana-visuddhi means Purification by knowledge and Vision of the Course of practice which extends up to anuloma-ñaña, the Insight Knowledge of Adaptation.
When a meditator has passed maggãmagga-ñañadassana visuddhi, she very clearly perceives the arising and passing away of mental and physical processes the arising and passing away of mental and physical processes as they are observed. With the deeper concentration she realizes very rapid appearance and discrepance of body-mind processes. Later on she perceives the dissolution of formations, but she does not perceive their arising. The final phase of formations is clearly evident to her nothing mind, the initial and middle phases are not manifested. Most of the time she is not conscious of the forms of head, hand, leg and other limbs of the body. She sees constane dissolution of formations that arise at the six sense doors.
When her insight of dissolution becomes keener and clearer, she becomes aware of fearfulness. She feels that all formations are fearful as they are constantly breaking up, vanishing and disappearing.
Then she feels as if she is depressed, miserable, menlacholy and disgusted with the ever vanishing mentality and physicality, So she wishes to forsake all formations and she has a strong desire to get free from them. As a result she unable to stay in one posture for a long time. She often changes from one posture to another. She feels as if she can not find any place to escape from these formations.
She puts forth more effort in her practice to get rid of all formations. The more effort she puts forth, the more penetrating her insight becomes. She more clearly realizes the impermanence, suffering and impersonal nature of body-mind processes.
After some time her mind is more concentrated, more stable and more tranquil; the insight is clearer and more lucid. It easily realizes the arising and passing away of formations. She feels neither happy nor unhappy about formations. Equanimity arises in her mind.
At this stage of meditative experience, no effort is required to realize the arising and passing away of formations. They very swiftly arise and pass away and the insight also very clearly perceives them. This is the Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Course of Practice, patipada-ñañadassana-visuddhi.
When she continues with her practice, the flow of the processes of mentality and physicality is very rapid as with the insight that clearly realizes them moment to moment. Then she comes to borderline in short time. For a moment of compin she stands on it. The border here is the one between an orde person (puthajjana) and a Noble one (Ariya). When she has passed the border (knowledge of maturity) and experiences the cessation of compounded things, i.e. the cessation of all kinds of conditioned mentality (nama) and physicality (rupa). Then her mind remains in that state of meditation for one thought moment, this is maggañaña, Path Knowledge which thoroughly realizes the the Four Noble Truths:
1. Dukkha-saccã (The Truth of Suffering)
2. Samudaya-saccã (the truth of the cause of suffering
3. Nirodha-saccã (the truth of the cessation of suffering
4. Magga-saccã (The truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering
This sotãpatti-magga ñaña, the First Path Knowledge which is also the First supra-mundane knowleie. It completely eliminates sakkãya-ditthi, the wrong view of a person, a self and a soul, and visikiccha, the sceptical doubt about the Triple Gems.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
THE SEVEN STAGES OF MINDFULNESS (3)
5. PURIFICATION BY KNOWLEDGE AND VISION OF WHAT IS THE PATH AND WHAT IS NOT PATH
In this stage of purification there is no pain any longer. So, meditation is going very well and smooth. The mindfulness is sharp, concentration is deep, effort is neither lay nor tense but it is vigorous, consistent and in balance with concentration. Meditators feel at ease, happy, blissful and peaceful. There arise tranquility and pasture due to insight. The body is light, agile and sometimes lifted up. Meditators see some light pertaining to insight; sometimes they see a light like a lamp, other times a brilliant light and so on. The insight knowledge is keen, sharp and very penetrating; it clearly realizes appearance and disappearance of mental and physical phenomena as they are noticed. There arises strong and firm faith in the Triple Gemes. They have strong desire to urge their friends and relatives to practise this Vipassana meditation.
With these good experiences some meditators may think, "This must be Nibbãna, this is great; I have never experienced this before, now I have attained Nibbãna." They feel delight and are attached to them, So, they do not wish to proceed with their practice; they are content with these good experiences; and actually they experience them half-way to Nibbãna. Therefore, these experience are known as the ten Corruptions of Insight. This stage may be experienced in about four weeks if a meditator practices intensively with strenuous effort.
A meditator, through the instruction by her meditation teacher or someone else, comes to rightly understand that these are corruptions of Insight. When she realizes that delight in them is not the right path and only to notice them is the right path, then can she proceed with her intensive practice. Only then, she overcomes the corruptions and makes progress towards the goal. This is purification by knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not path (maggãmagga-ñañadassana-visuddhi).
6. PURIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND VISION
When the First Path knowledge (sotãpatti-magga ñaña) realizes these Four Noble Truths, knowledge and vision is purified. So this is know as Ñañadassana-visuddhi, Purification of Knowledge and Vision. Immediately after the first path knowledge there arises the first fruition knowledge (sotãpatti-phala-ñaña) and the arises reviewing knowledge (paccavekkhana ñaña).
Thus she has attained all the seven stages of the purification (satta visuddhi) and become a sotapanna. Sota is stream, apanna is enterer; thus the compound word sotapanna is stream-enterer. When she attains the first path knowledge she enters in to the stream of the noble eight-fold path; so is she called stream-enterer (sotapanna) the first noble person (ariya puggala).
In this stage of purification there is no pain any longer. So, meditation is going very well and smooth. The mindfulness is sharp, concentration is deep, effort is neither lay nor tense but it is vigorous, consistent and in balance with concentration. Meditators feel at ease, happy, blissful and peaceful. There arise tranquility and pasture due to insight. The body is light, agile and sometimes lifted up. Meditators see some light pertaining to insight; sometimes they see a light like a lamp, other times a brilliant light and so on. The insight knowledge is keen, sharp and very penetrating; it clearly realizes appearance and disappearance of mental and physical phenomena as they are noticed. There arises strong and firm faith in the Triple Gemes. They have strong desire to urge their friends and relatives to practise this Vipassana meditation.
With these good experiences some meditators may think, "This must be Nibbãna, this is great; I have never experienced this before, now I have attained Nibbãna." They feel delight and are attached to them, So, they do not wish to proceed with their practice; they are content with these good experiences; and actually they experience them half-way to Nibbãna. Therefore, these experience are known as the ten Corruptions of Insight. This stage may be experienced in about four weeks if a meditator practices intensively with strenuous effort.
A meditator, through the instruction by her meditation teacher or someone else, comes to rightly understand that these are corruptions of Insight. When she realizes that delight in them is not the right path and only to notice them is the right path, then can she proceed with her intensive practice. Only then, she overcomes the corruptions and makes progress towards the goal. This is purification by knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not path (maggãmagga-ñañadassana-visuddhi).
6. PURIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND VISION
When the First Path knowledge (sotãpatti-magga ñaña) realizes these Four Noble Truths, knowledge and vision is purified. So this is know as Ñañadassana-visuddhi, Purification of Knowledge and Vision. Immediately after the first path knowledge there arises the first fruition knowledge (sotãpatti-phala-ñaña) and the arises reviewing knowledge (paccavekkhana ñaña).
Thus she has attained all the seven stages of the purification (satta visuddhi) and become a sotapanna. Sota is stream, apanna is enterer; thus the compound word sotapanna is stream-enterer. When she attains the first path knowledge she enters in to the stream of the noble eight-fold path; so is she called stream-enterer (sotapanna) the first noble person (ariya puggala).
THE SEVEN STAGES OF PURIFICATION (2)
4. PURIFICATION OF OVERCOMING DOUBT
The fourth is Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi). 'kankhã' means doubt, 'visuddhi' means purification, vitarana means overcoming; hence purification by overcoming doubt.
When a meditator has attained the second stage of insight knowledge - knowledge of cause and effect (paccaya-pariggaha-ñaña), she no longer doubts the absence of a so-called everlasting soul or self in her past, present and future existences. Through her own personal experiences she comes to discern the conditions of material and mental phenomena. The she judges that there is nothing but the process of mental and physical phenomena dependent on cause and effect in her past, present and future existences. Thus, she overcomes doubt the three periods of time - past, present and future. This is Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi).
To attain this knowledge she has to observe every intention, wish or want before every action or movement. All actions are preceded by intentions, wishing or wanting. This is why she has to be mindful of every intention before every action or movement is done. When she has an intention to lift her foot, she has a intention to bend her arm, she should note intendieg, then bending, bending,. While she is eating, she has an intention to open her mouth to fath food, then first of all, she should note 'inventing', then opening, opening'. While opening the mouth; the intention is the cause and the opening of the mouth is the effect.
Without wishing or wanting to come here, could you be here? Then what is the cause and what the effect? The intention is the cause, the act of coming is the effect. Then, why do you sit on the chair? Yes, it is the intention that makes you sit on the chair. Is there any sitter? If you think there is a person who sits on the chair, then we should bring a copse from a mortuary in hospital and make it sit on the chair. It cannot sit because there is no intention. It is only intention, the mind process, that cause an action or movement. Is the sitting posture a man or a woman, a sãmanera? It is none of these. In the sitting posture, there is a physical process supported by the wind-element (vãyo-dhãtu), the internal and external wind element. Sitting is a physical process, neither a man nor a woman.
So, if we want to sit, first of all, we have to note intending then sitting, sitting. All the sitting movements must be nobrested after we have noted intention. When we bend our arm, we must first of all note intention, then the movements of bending. When we stretch out our arm, first of all, we must note intention, then the streching-movements as stretching, stretching. When our concentration is deep enough throug the sharp awareness of the intentions and the actions that follow them, we come to realize that nothing arises without a cause. Everything arises depending on its conditions.
Therefore, a so-called person, a man or a woman is just the process of cause and effect. There is no doer, no one that does anything. If we believe that there is a person who does the sitting, it is called sakkãya-ditthi or atta-ditthi (wrong view of a doer). If we thoroughly realize the relationship of cause and effect, what we realize is just a natural process of castlity. Then there is no person, being, self or soul. Then what did exist in the past? In the past, there existed only the process of cause and effect. Then we have no doubt about our past existence as with our present and future existences too. This is also known as Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi).
Some meditators fine it difficult to observe intention before every action and movement because they are not patient enough. They must patiently slow down their actions and movements so that they can observe intentions and movements are fast it is difficult to observe them precisely.
When we observe intention before lifting our foot, we will come to realize how the intention is related to the lifting of the foot. Then again, when we observe intention before the pushing of the foot, we will come to realize how intention is related to the pushing movement of the foot; the same with dropping movement of the foot. In this way we come to realize that it is the intention that causes the movements of the foot to arise. Intention is the cause, movement is the effect. So we realize cause and effect of body-mind processes and judge that there is no everlasting entity such as a self, soul, person, a being.
As we proceed with our intensive practice, gradually we come to comprehend the three characteristics of body-mind processes - impermanence, suffering and not-self. We experience severe painful sensation, but we perceive the initial, middle and final shares of the pain and fine it dissipating very clearly. Thus, we rightly understand both specific and general characteristics of mentality and physicality. We realize the impermanence, suffer and not self.
The fourth is Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi). 'kankhã' means doubt, 'visuddhi' means purification, vitarana means overcoming; hence purification by overcoming doubt.
When a meditator has attained the second stage of insight knowledge - knowledge of cause and effect (paccaya-pariggaha-ñaña), she no longer doubts the absence of a so-called everlasting soul or self in her past, present and future existences. Through her own personal experiences she comes to discern the conditions of material and mental phenomena. The she judges that there is nothing but the process of mental and physical phenomena dependent on cause and effect in her past, present and future existences. Thus, she overcomes doubt the three periods of time - past, present and future. This is Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi).
To attain this knowledge she has to observe every intention, wish or want before every action or movement. All actions are preceded by intentions, wishing or wanting. This is why she has to be mindful of every intention before every action or movement is done. When she has an intention to lift her foot, she has a intention to bend her arm, she should note intendieg, then bending, bending,. While she is eating, she has an intention to open her mouth to fath food, then first of all, she should note 'inventing', then opening, opening'. While opening the mouth; the intention is the cause and the opening of the mouth is the effect.
Without wishing or wanting to come here, could you be here? Then what is the cause and what the effect? The intention is the cause, the act of coming is the effect. Then, why do you sit on the chair? Yes, it is the intention that makes you sit on the chair. Is there any sitter? If you think there is a person who sits on the chair, then we should bring a copse from a mortuary in hospital and make it sit on the chair. It cannot sit because there is no intention. It is only intention, the mind process, that cause an action or movement. Is the sitting posture a man or a woman, a sãmanera? It is none of these. In the sitting posture, there is a physical process supported by the wind-element (vãyo-dhãtu), the internal and external wind element. Sitting is a physical process, neither a man nor a woman.
So, if we want to sit, first of all, we have to note intending then sitting, sitting. All the sitting movements must be nobrested after we have noted intention. When we bend our arm, we must first of all note intention, then the movements of bending. When we stretch out our arm, first of all, we must note intention, then the streching-movements as stretching, stretching. When our concentration is deep enough throug the sharp awareness of the intentions and the actions that follow them, we come to realize that nothing arises without a cause. Everything arises depending on its conditions.
Therefore, a so-called person, a man or a woman is just the process of cause and effect. There is no doer, no one that does anything. If we believe that there is a person who does the sitting, it is called sakkãya-ditthi or atta-ditthi (wrong view of a doer). If we thoroughly realize the relationship of cause and effect, what we realize is just a natural process of castlity. Then there is no person, being, self or soul. Then what did exist in the past? In the past, there existed only the process of cause and effect. Then we have no doubt about our past existence as with our present and future existences too. This is also known as Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankhã-vitarana-visuddhi).
Some meditators fine it difficult to observe intention before every action and movement because they are not patient enough. They must patiently slow down their actions and movements so that they can observe intentions and movements are fast it is difficult to observe them precisely.
When we observe intention before lifting our foot, we will come to realize how the intention is related to the lifting of the foot. Then again, when we observe intention before the pushing of the foot, we will come to realize how intention is related to the pushing movement of the foot; the same with dropping movement of the foot. In this way we come to realize that it is the intention that causes the movements of the foot to arise. Intention is the cause, movement is the effect. So we realize cause and effect of body-mind processes and judge that there is no everlasting entity such as a self, soul, person, a being.
As we proceed with our intensive practice, gradually we come to comprehend the three characteristics of body-mind processes - impermanence, suffering and not-self. We experience severe painful sensation, but we perceive the initial, middle and final shares of the pain and fine it dissipating very clearly. Thus, we rightly understand both specific and general characteristics of mentality and physicality. We realize the impermanence, suffer and not self.
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