[162] What on that occasion is the skandha of synergies? [163] Which are the states that are good? 4 When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way [thereto], and further, through the waning of all passion for zest,2 holds himself indifferent,3 the while, mindful and self-aware, he experiences in his sense-consciousness 5 that ease whereof the Noble Ones declare: 6 He that is indifferent and watchful dwelleth at ease "-and so, by earth-gazing, enters into and abides in the Third Jhana -then the contact, the feeling, the perception, the volition, the thought, the ease, the self-collectedness, the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, insight, mind, 1 Including, presumably, the " Emptiness" Section, as in the case of the First Jhana. 2 Pitiya ca virà ga, "meaning either distaste for zest or the transcending of it." The ca indicates the progressive continuity from the preceding to the present Jhāna (Asl. 171). 3 Upekkha ko. He looks on from the standpoint of one who has arrived, says the Cy. (172). As we might say :"E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem." Buddhaghosa expatiates here on the ten kinds of upekkha (enumerated in Hardy, Man. Budhism, 505). 4 Sampajano. 5 Kayena. 6 See infra, § 1003, n. 6. Omitted in the text, but not so in K. its insertion. The context requires happiness, and life, the right views, right endeavour,1 etc. the grasp, the balance that arises 2-these, or whatever other incorporeal, causally induced states that there are on that occasion-these are states that are good. [Summary.] [163a] Now, on that occasion the skandhas are four, the spheres are two, the elements are two, the nutriments are three, the faculties are eight, the Jhana is twofold,3 the Path is fourfold,* contact counts as a single factor, etc., etc. [Continue as in § 58.] * [164] What on that occasion is the skandha of synergies? 1 Sammāsa ti, inserted in the text, but not in the right order, is of course required by the context, but is, here and in K., assumed in the " etc." 2 § 157, to which the reader is referred in the text, is obviously wrong. § 1 would be nearer the mark. 3 66 Ease" remains and self-collectedness". 4 Cf. § 161a, n. 2. [165] Which are the states that are good? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way [thereto], and, by the putting away of ease and by the putting away of ill, by the passing away of (any) gladness or sorrow he was feeling, he thus, by earthgazing, enters into and abides in the Fourth Jhāna (the fourth rapt meditation) of that utter purity of mindfulness which comes of indifference, where no ease is felt nor any ill-then the contact, the feeling, the perception, the volition, the thought, the indifference, the self-collectedness, the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, insight, mind, indifference, and life, the right views, the right endeavour, etc. . . . [Continue as in § 163.] 66 66 66 66 66 1" Ease "" and "ill", according to the Cy., are ka yikam, or relating to the three skandhas of feeling, etc.-relating to the mental factors. Gladness and sorrow (som a nassam, doma nas sam) relate to consciousness in general. Gladness " is the last of these to be transcended; the others have been expelled in the course of the previous stages of Jhana (Asl. 175, 176). But all four are here enumerated, as if all were only in this Fourth Jhana transcended, in order to show more clearly, by the method of exhaustive elimination, what is the subtle and elusive nature of that third species of feeling termed neutral" (a dukkham a sukhā), or disinterested (u pek k ha)—the zero point, or line, as we should say, of hedonic quantity. The Cy. then gives the simile of selecting heads of cattle by elimination of the rest of the herd, which Hardy cites (ibid. 177; East. Monachism, 270; Asl. 175-7). 2 Upekkha sa tiparisuddhim. According to the Vibhanga, the mindfulness that is made pure stands for all the other elements present in consciousness, which have also been brought into clear relief, as it were, by the calm medium of equanimity. The simile is then adduced, given also in Hardy (op. cit. 271), of the moon by day and by night. Upekkhā is latent in consciousness in the other stages of Jhana, but rendered colourless by the radiance of intellectual and emotional exercise, as the crescent moon during the day, though present in the sky, is dimmed by the sun's splendour (Asl. 178). [166] What on that occasion is the skandha of synergies? Answer as in § 164.2 [Here ends] the Fourfold System of Jhāna. 3 (b) The Fivefold System of Jhāna (pañca kana y o).] 3 [167] The First Jhana. Question and answer as in the fourfold course, § 160. 1 Namely, "indifference" and "self-collectedness" (Asl. 179). Else one would have looked to find ekangikam jhānam. 2 The printed text omits sa tindriyam, though it is explicitly required by the context. K. gives it. 3 Jhana is usually alluded to in the Piṭakas in the fourfold order. The fivefold division is obtained by the successive, instead of simultaneous, elimination of vitakko and vicaro. According to the Cy., it was optional to the teacher, after the example of the Buddha, to use either at his discretion, adapting himself to the particular mental state of his pupils, or having a view to the effective flow of his discourse. A passage is quoted from the Piṭakas (A. iv, 310 f.; cf. S. iv, 360; D. iii, 219; M. iii, 162), where s amadhi is distinguished as (1) having vitakko and vicaro, (2) having only the latter, (3) having neither. [168] Which are the states that are good? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way [thereto], and so, by earth-gazing, enters into and abides in the Second Jhana (the second rapt meditation) wherein is no application of mind, but only of sustained thinking-which is born of concentration, and is full of zest and ease-then the contact, the feeling, the perception, the volition, the thought, the sustained thinking, the zest, the ease, the self-collectedness, etc. . . [Continue as for the Second Jhāna in § 161.] [169] What on that occasion is the skandha of synergies? Contact, volition, sustained thinking, zest, etc. . . . [170-5] The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Jhānas. [These are identical in formulation with the Second, Third, and Fourth Jhanas of the Fourfold System. Questions and answers as in §§ 161-6.] [Here ends] the Fivefold System of Jhana. |