Samādhi Bhāvanā Sutta : The Discourse on Mental Concentration
The Samādhi Bhāvanā Sutra (Anguttara Nikaya) mentions four uses or benefits of mental concentration (samādhi), namely,
(1) for happiness here and now;
(2) for the divine eye (clairvoyance and knowledge of the
working of karma);
(3) mindfulness and clear comprehension; and
(4) spiritual liberation.
The method and benefit for each of these Samādhis are as
follows:
Samādhi
that brings about
|
Cultivation
(or method)
|
|
(1)
|
dwelling
happily here and now
|
the
four dhyanas
|
(2)
|
knowledge
and vision
|
the
perception of light
|
(3)
|
mindfulness
and clear comprehension
|
the notion
of impermanence
|
(4)
|
the
destruction of mental influxes (cankers) -Nibbana
|
watching
the rise and fall of the aggregates
|
1. Mental
Concentration for Happiness Here and Now
The first method helps to reach the four dhyanas and dwell
happily, here and now.
In Salleka Suthra (Majjima Nikaya) it is said,
‘The one who reaches and engages in the first dyana (or jhana)
may believe that he is free from all depravities, nevertheless, he is still not
free as the method is not the accepted practice to discard defilements in the
Noble discipline.’ The practitioner experiencing stillness in the first,
second, third and fourth dyanas enjoys pleasantness in the present, here &
now and dwells therein, not reaching beyond.
2. Mental
Concentration to Gain the Divine Eye
The one who practices the second type of mental concentration
is able to develop knowledge through perception of light (aloka Sanna) by gaining the ‘divine eye’ (dibba cakku -the
psychic power of clairvoyance and the knowledge of the working of karma and
rebirth)
The perception of light is also effective in a more
mundane way, such as the overcoming of drowsiness, as prescribed in the Pacalā
Sutra. In psychological terms, the perception of light is also useful in
keeping the mind “bright” in a positive sense, which prevents or cures
depressive and negative mental states.
In Mahasāropama Suthra (Majjima Nikaya) the Buddha refers
to a person who is looking for heartwood in a tree. Through his search the man
realises that the leaves, branches or the bark are not heartwood but mistakenly
take the sap as heartwood. Likewise, though
this practice helps to cultivate knowledge it’s not the core, or the heartwood
of the dhamma.
The two methods discussed above are familiar techniques
in the world, however, the other two, third and fourth below, have been widely
confused by the practitioners, for instance, they believe that the state of mindfulness
with clear comprehension achieved at the third dyana is the state where one
discards cankers.
3.
Mental Concentration for Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension
The third method of mental concentration cultivates
mindfulness with clear comprehension which enables particular skills such as reminiscence
of past births. The practitioner will experience the origin, persistence and passing
away of sensations, perception and mental application; however, it is not to be
mistaken as the insight meditation explained in the teachings. The technique
aims to observe expressively the arising, persisting and passing away of
sensations, perceptions and mental application with mindfulness. The downside
in this method is that it’s experienced by oneself. The practitioner achieves a
state of mindfulness; however, the doer is present. The person can refrain from
thoughts of greed or hatred upon sensations & perceptions that originate and
observe impermanence to a degree, nonetheless, it’s experienced by oneself. The
method is noted as mundane observation of impermanence of a thing that
exists.
In Pathama Kosala sutra (Anguttara Nikaya) the Buddha describes
the notion of impermanence gained through concentration that is pursued by a
self. In Udana sutra on the other hand, the
blessed one expounds on perception of impermanence gained through the knowledge
of cause and effect phenomena. The latter sutra elaborates on how one should
comprehend the cause and effect phenomena to grasp the true nature of impermanence.
The person who attains the state of concentration through Mindfulness & Clear Comprehension discussed here, is able to grasp sensations, perceptions and mental application expressively
enabling him to be free from attachment and aversion. However, the practitioner
cannot grasp the formation of the aggregates. Further, the person is still not
free from delusion, as the doer is present. Recognising or naming the
occurrences being observed i.e. sensations, perceptions and mental application,
involves a doer.
Describing the Path, The Blessed one explained the truth
as ‘All dhammas arise from causes and cease when the causes are no more’. One
cannot experience it through self as he becomes the doer or the experiencer and
the identifier, for instance, a person who meditate on four heavenly abodes.
The four heavenly abodes; loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic
joy and equanimity, are forms of liberation of mind (ceto vimukti), however,
personality is evident in each of these practices. The practice of loving
kindness, for e.g., radiating thoughts of loving kindness, is a personal effort.
It is also to be noted that doing things with mindfulness
and being mindful of things one does, are two different things. What one
experiences through self is different to what is experienced by wisdom. The
key difference is that there is ‘me’ as a doer in the former.
Elaborating on the arising and ceasing nature of five
clinging aggregates the Buddha referred
to the knowledge of the conditioned, “Bhikkus, there are three
characteristics expressed in the conditioned, and the three are, where arising
can be seen, ceasing can be seen and what is this becomes that”[1] .
One would expect the third knowledge referred above to be
in the middle keeping with the conventional understanding of permanence. However,
what is expressed here is that there is only an origination and a cessation and
where an existence is perceived, by the practitioner through insight, he sees that it is in a state (or process) of transformation.
As evident here, this method of concentrating on the
origin of sensation, its persistence and passing away is not how the Buddha
described the conditioned, rather it’s what one experiences by oneself as a
mundane practice. It is also evident here that with mindfulness and clear
comprehension, the person meditates on what he has formed in mind as sensations,
perceptions and mental application, and observing its origin, persistence and cessation.
In Moliya Pagguna Sutra, Bikkhu Moliya Pagguna asked the
Buddha ‘who is feeling the sensation’? Buddha said to him the question is wrong
and that it should rather be asked, what causes sensation.
In our attempt to examine the cause and effect phenomena,
we can develop various concepts to identify and describe occurrences, so that
we can recollect them in our own thoughts. However, all observations that we
make are based on thoughts already conceived by ‘myself’, for e.g. I can
contemplate on a perception that I form by myself. The five clinging aggregates
cannot be understood through concepts but only by grasping the process of
formation with wisdom.
4.
Mental Concentration for Spiritual Liberation
The fourth form of mental concentration enables
relinquishment of cankers. Here, the practitioner observes arising and passing
away of the five clinging aggregates by meditating on,
This is the form, this is
its origin, this is its cessation…….
This is the sensation, this
is its origin, this is its cessation……
This is the perception, this
is its origin, this is its cessation……
This is the formation, this
is its origin, this is its cessation……
This is the consciousness,
this is its origin, this is its cessation……
This is the recommended mental concentration that brings
about relinquishment of cankers(mental effluents). In other words the one who dwells observing arising and
passing away of the five clinging aggregates can discard cankers. The five
clinging aggregates are formations and not concepts that bring about the notion
that ‘I’ conceive. A concept is helpful to understand and to begin the process;
however, if one holds onto it without examining the cause and effect nature, he
won’t grasp the origination. If origination is not seen he will seek a state of
cessation that he has erroneously imagined, overlooking the origin, which
basically is an attempt to seek enlightenment through a notion of ‘cessation’.
Susima Suthra (Samyutta Nikaya) refers to a bikkhu named
Susima who joined the order to spy on Tathagatha’s teachings and to steal his
doctrine. He was closely watching the Arahaths and found that they do not possess
any abilities or psychic powers as he thought, for e.g. to recollect past lives,
about lives of the others or any form of supranormal powers.
Bewildered by what he learnt bikkhu Susima questioned the Arahaths, ‘how could
you claim that you are enlightened without any special powers?’
When this was reported to the Buddha, the blessed one
explained to him that one should first cultivate the knowledge of the
regularity of the Dhamma (dhamma thithi
Nana), after which he could comprehend the knowledge of Unbinding (nibbana).
Today the common approach often is that we are in search
of a Nibbana, based on a concept we have conceived as Nibbana. This
is clarified in Pacce Paccuppanna sutra, where it says that one should first
comprehend the cause and effect phenomena. Dhamma tithi
nana is the knowledge of cause and effect, and not mere knowledge of passing
away of a thing that exists.
The sutra further elaborates that all dhammas, are impermanent, compounded, arising owing to a
cause, perishable, by nature passing away, detached and ceasing[2], as the knowledge one
gains by grasping the origination. One cannot experience this reality without
comprehending the origin or the cause, if not it will simply be a thought. The knowledge
of cause and effect is primary; an assumption of a cessation without grasping
the origination is only a concept.
In Athamya Suthra, Buddha preaches the knowledges (Gnanas)
gained by the one who dwells watching impermanence, two of which are the cause and what originates from the cause, noted as essential to comprehend dhamma (dhamma titi
nana).
The Buddha elaborates this with a stanza in Parayana Wagga,
one could dwell watching the nature of things and occurrences in the world to achieve
stillness. Though he won’t see the truth he will restrain attachments and
aversions experiencing the inner peace that eventually paves the way to end
suffering, decay & death. However, the practitioner must observe the
process of cause and effect; if not the wisdom that is necessary to become
unbinding will not develop.
The Simile of the Building
We see a building that exists when we look at one, and
even if we say there is no building it’s only an imagination, however, if all its
components are taken apart a building is not visible.
What was seen earlier has disappeared but the notion that
originated when the components came together remains. When conditions come
together only a notion of a house originates, nevertheless, what exists out
there is not a house but a pile of aggregates (material). Until one comprehends
the process of formation that occurs, the notion of a house prevails. Similarly,
a notion of a sentient prevails as long as the formation is not grasped. The
notion of a being will not arise if the formation is identified.
The notion of the house suggests that there is a house
that exists and it further manifests the notion that there is ‘me‘, who sees
the house. However, much we attempt to see that there isn’t any external object;
it persists as long as there is a notion of me. In the use of a language we
refer; to that, this and there, which always relate to the notion of ‘me’. We
ignore that fact when we are (or I am) seeing the house. If we see the
formation of the house with insight, along with the formation of me, we abandon
both, the notion of the house and ‘me’, and therefore nothing remains to
measure. One needs to see the origination to understand the cessation.
The Simile of the Dog walking on the
Footbridge,
As we see a reflection on the water we can’t say there is
no dog, neither can we say there is. The sight of the dog in water is a
formation due to conditions. We need to comprehend the void in this occurrence.
We see the void in what is sighted only when we see how things originate - the conditionality.
The reflection in the water is proof for conditionality. We need to ascertain
the reality before we make our conclusions and it is essential that we have a
practical approach to our observations.
We need to see arising and ceasing of the five aggregates
of clinging i.e. form, sensations, and perceptions and so on, to discard
cankers. As discussed we can practice by observing, this is the form, this is
its origin and this is its cessation.
The visible experiences form the basis for how we
perceive and know things around us. When we hear a sound, say of a bird we
perceive it in relation to a visible experience of a bird. We identify what we
hear in relation to what we have seen. Same with how we smell (e.g. incense
stick), and how we taste or feel. We seem to constantly combine what is sensed,
through ear, tongue, body and mind with what is seen(Similarly, the corresponding
sensations, perceptions & formations that arise from visual, audible,
tactile experiences). We encounter all five aggregates of clinging together as
formations, by observing what form is, its origin and cessation, we are able to
understand the process.
When we know the form, the eye and eye consciousness with
wisdom we see how conventional perception as a being occurs, where a group of aggregates
come together.[3]
The Chariot Simile: Vajira Suthra
The notion of a being (sentient) where
there is only a bundle of formations is a view (ditti), just as a notion
of a chariot that arises when one sees a group of components that are assembled
in a particular manner. Axel, wheels, cabin and so on are parts that forms the
notion of a chariot. However, when all components are together but not
assembled to a conventional order, the notion of chariot will not originate.
The components are there but it’s not called a chariot anymore.
When aggregates are seen just as a bundle of formations,
the notion of a being is no more. Bikkhuni Vajira has said there is only
a suffering that comes to be, a suffering that stands & falls and it’s just
the suffering that ceases.
‘Just as, with an
assemblage of parts,
The word 'chariot'
is used,
So, when the
aggregates are present,
There's the
convention 'a being.'
It's only
suffering that comes to be,
Suffering that
stands and falls away.
Nothing but
suffering comes to be,
Nothing but suffering ceases.’
By cultivating wisdom and by dwelling in this manner,
observing arising ceasing nature of aggregates, one can discard cankers. It can
only be achieved by wisdom and not by oneself. The key is to see how things
occur in reality with insight.
The process as discussed is different to the worldly
practices such as in science, which focuses on observation, experiment and determination.
The difference is that the worldly approach has a doer or an experiencer. One needs
to examine the arising ceasing phenomenon with penetrative insight in order to cultivate
wisdom.
It is to be noted that a person attaining meditative fruition,
does not make conclusions as there is no self, engaged in meditation. As a
result, there is no declaration of fruition or final emancipation, either.
Comments
Post a Comment