When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way [thereto], and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects to be limited, gets the mastery over them with the thought "I know, I see!" 2 and so, aloof from sensuous desires, aloof from evil ideas, enters into and abides in the First Jhana, etc. . . . then the contact, etc., that arises-these . . . are states that are good. [205] [Repeat in the case of the 2nd to the 4th Jhāna on the Fourfold System, and of the 2nd to the 5th Jhana on the Fivefold System.] [(c) The Four Modes of Progress.] [206-10] Repeat the four combinations of progress as painful or easy, and of intuition as sluggish or quick set out in §§ 176-80, substituting for "earth-gazing" the Masteryformula just stated. [(d) The Two Objects of Thought.] [211-13] Repeat, substituting for "earth-gazing the Mastery-formula, § 181, where the Jhana "is limited, and has a limited object of thought ", and § 183, where the Jhana 1 Ajjhattam arūpasaññi (= na rūpas a ñ ñī). This rendering is in accordance with Buddhaghosa's comments (Asl. 188, 189, 191). The student, either because he has tried and failed, or because he did not wish to try, has not induced Jhāna by way of fixing attention on his own hair or the rest. Cf. the Mahā Rāhulovada-Sutta (M. i, 62), where the individual's rupaskandha is fully set forth with reference to the four elements, ajjhattikā pathavidhātu, etc., beginning with hair" and the rest. Cf. § 248 n. 66 2 The external objects in question are contemplated on the kasiņa system (Asl. 188). And just as a man of vigorous digestion bolts a spoonful of rice, so the aspirant after sublime truth swiftly and easily transcends the initial act of external perception when the object is insignificant, and brings forth the desiderated ecstasy (a p panā). 66 is capable of infinite extension, but has a limited object of thought "1 [(e = c and d) The Eightfold Combination (a ṭṭha k khattukam.] 2 [214–21] Repeat, with the same substitution, §§ 186, 188, 190, 192, 194, 196, 198, and 200 of the Sixteenfold Combination. [222] Repeat these eight combinations in the case of each of the remaining Jhānas. [2. "Forms as limited and as beautiful or ugly" 3 (rūpāni parittāni suvaņṇa-dubbaṇņā n i). (a) and (b)] [223] Which are the states that are good? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects to be limited, and to be beautiful or ugly, gets the mastery over them with the thought, "I know, I see!" and so, aloof 1 The "objects of thought" are here the kasiņas essentially discerned to be "limited" or insignificant. Hence two, not four varieties; and hence eight, not sixteen combinations. The term appa māņam connoting merely a relative, not an absolute infinitude, there is only a difference of degree in the depth, purifying efficacy, or what not, of the Jhana attained to. The same illustrative figure is accordingly used, varied in degree. The gourmand, discontented with a small dish of rice, demands more and more. So the aspirant, aiming at perfect selfconcentration, refuses to call that infinite which seems so (ibid.). 2 So K. 3 The general æsthetic designations of suvannam and dubbaṇņam are in the Cy. paraphrased by parisuddham and its negative. Just as a grasp of the limited nature of visible things was held to be due to much application of thought, and the notion of "infinite" to be a cure for dullness, so the beautiful and the ugly were medicine for enmity and lust respectively. The appropriateness of it all is discussed in the Visuddhi Magga (p. 101 f.; cf. Asl. 189). from sensuous desires, aloof from evil ideas, enters into and abides in the First Jhāna, etc. then the contact, etc., that arises these . . are states that are good. Develop in eightfold combination. [3. "Forms as infinite" (ru pa ni appamāņā ni).1 (a) and (b)] [225] Which are the states that are good? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects to be infinite, gets the mastery over them with the thought, "I know, I see!" and so, aloof from sensuous desires, etc. [Continue as in § 204.] [226] Repeat in the case of each of the remaining Jhānas. [(c) The Four Modes of Progress.] [227-31] Repeat §§ 206-10, substituting "infinite" for limited ". [(d) The Two Objects of Thought.] [232-4] Repeat, with the same substitution as in (c), §§ 211-13. [(ec and d) The Eightfold Combination.] [235-42] Develop, with the same substitution as in (c) and (d), after the manner of §§ 187, 189, and so on to § 201. [243] Repeat these eight combinations in the case of each of the remaining Jhānas. 1 See note on §§ 211-13. Taken in order, Buddhaghosa's comment there reproduced applies to that part of the text. According to the context, it might better apply here, where the external forms or kasiņa-objects are now contemplated as "infinite". The reflection, however, applies to either passage. [4. "Forms as infinite and as beautiful or ugly" (r ū pāni appamāṇāni suvanṇa-dubbanņa ni).1 (a) and (b)] [244] Repeat § 223, substituting "infinite" for "limited ". [245] Repeat in the case of each of the remaining Jhānas. Develop in eightfold combination. 66 [5. Forms as indigo," etc. (rūpā ni nīlāni).2 (a)] [246] Which are the states that are good? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects which are indigo, indigo in colour, indigo in visible expanse,3 indigo in luminousness, gets the mastery over them with the thought, "I know, I see!" and so, aloof from sensuous desires, etc. 1 'By the mere laying to heart that it is beautiful', how is there deliverance? Pts. ii, 39; cf. hereon, Asl. 191. 66 2 It is well-known that it is as difficult to determine the range of colour indicated by nila m as to decide the colour-value of the word aukos. Like the latter term, n il a m may originally have referred more to lustre than to tinge, meaning darkly lustrous, jetty, or nigrescent. Any way, it is not plausible to render the term by blue" when one is referred to human hair or bile (pittam) as instances of it in the human body. See note 2 to § 248. In Jāt. iii, 138, hair-dye or hair-wash is called niliya m―much, perhaps, as we speak of "blacking" or russet polish" for shoes. This implies that the colour called nilam was, if not the usual, at least the desiderated colour of human hair. In Jat. vi, 126, it is applied to space (ākāso). Elsewhere it is applied to clouds, hills, and trees. Possibly our own colour-parallels in these respects are a modern development. Cf. Havelock Ellis in Contemporary Review, vol. lxix, p. 727; Bud. Psy., 49. 66 3 Nila nidas sanam, indicating, according to the Cy. (190), a uniform sheet of blue without break. The colours in this and following sections may reside in a flower, a piece of cloth, or some other basis. 66 [6-8. Forms as yellow," etc. (r ū pāni pītāni).] [247] Repeat § 246, substituting for "indigo, indigo in colour ", etc., "yellow", "red", and "white" 1 successively. Develop these Stations of Mastery in the Sixteenfold Combination. [III. The Three First Deliverances (tīņi vim okkhani.2] 1. [248] When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, conscious of his bodily form,3 sees bodily forms, and so, aloof from sensuous desires, 1 The remaining three English colour-names may match the Pali terms as loosely as in the previous case. Cf. SBE. xi, loc. cit. In the Sutta there translated instances of the colours are given, and, curiously enough, "white" is illustrated, not by milk, or the distant Himâlaya snows, but by the morning star-? lustrous. 2 Followed by four more of the Eight Deliverances in the next chapter, §§ 265-68. The eighth alone is not given in the present work. See Dialogues ii, 119; A. iv, 306. According to the Cy. (190), the term deliverance" (vimokkha, or adhimucca na m) is used to denote the being set free from adverse conditions" and their seductive fascinations, so that the attention is sustained with all the detachment and confidence that the child feels who is borne on his father's hip, his little limbs dangling, their clutch unneeded. 66 66 3 Rūpi. Judging by the Cy. (190), this is equivalent to ajjhattam rūpasaññī—that is, to the opposite of the term "unconscious of any part of his corporeal self", the attitude prescribed in the Stations of Mastery, supra § 204 et seq. The parikamm a m selected is "one's own hair and the rest ". If a nila-parikammam is sought, attention is fixed on the hair or bile (pittam) or the pupil of the eye. If the induction is to be by way of yellow, fat or skin may be taken; if red, flesh, blood, or the tongue, or the palms of the hands or feet, etc.; if white, the teeth, nails, or white of the eye. At the same time he sees external bodily forms in the nila or other kasina with the Jhana-vision" (jhanacakkhuna passati). How this dual effort of intense attention was effected I do not pretend to understand, but Buddhaghosa more than once refers us for a more detailed account to the Visuddhi Magga. 66 |