The Way of Mindfulness
The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary
by
Soma Thera
The Commentary to the Discourse
on the Arousing of Mindfulness
with Marginal Notes
The Contemplation of the Body
The Section on Breathing
Now the Blessed One, desirous of bringing about diverse kinds of attainments of distinction in beings by the Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness, began to teach the analytically explanatory portion [niddesavara] with the word "And how o bhikkhus."
He did that after dividing into four the one mindfulness that is right [ekameva sammasatim] by way of the contemplation on the body, on feelings, on consciousness, and on mental objects.
The Blessed One's exposition of the Arousing of Mindfulness is similar to the action of a worker in mat and basket weaving who wishing to make coarse and fine mats, boxes, cases, and the like, should make those goods after getting a mammoth bamboo, splitting it into four, and reducing each of the parts to strips.
Idha bhikkhave bhikkhu = "Here, o bhikkhus, a bhikkhu."
"Here": In this Dispensation of the Buddha which provides the basis for the person producing body-contemplation in all modes. By the word "here", dispensations other than the Buddha's are excluded as they do not teach body-contemplation in the complete way it is taught in the Buddhadhamma. For this is said: "Here is the recluse; untenanted by recluses are the other, opposing ways of thought."
The person producing body-contemplation in all modes. As sects outside the Buddha's Dispensation also produce a part of this contemplation, by their words, the Buddha's disciple's complete knowledge or all-round grasp of this contemplation, when it is practiced by him, is told.
Araññagato va ..... suññagaragato va = "Gone to the forest ..... or to an empty place." By this, here is the making clear of the getting of an abode appropriate to the meditator for the culture of mindfulness.
The mind of the meditator which for a long time (before he became a recluse) had dwelt on visual and other objects, does not like to enter the road of meditation and just like a wild young bull yoked to a cart, runs off the road.
A cowherd wishing to tame a wild calf nourished entirely on the milk of a wild cow, ties that calf, after leading it away from the cow, to a stout post firmly sunk in the ground, at a spot set apart for it. That calf, having jumped hither and thither, and finding it impossible to run away from here, will crouch down or lie down at that very post. Even so, must the bhikkhu who is desirous of taming the wild mind nourished long on the tasty drink of visible and other objects tie that mind to the post of the object of mindfulness-arousing with the rope of remembrance, after leading the mind from visible and other objects and ushering it into a forest, to the foot of a tree or into an empty place. The mind of the bhikkhu will also jump hither and thither. Not obtaining the objects it had long grown used to, and finding it impossible to break the rope of remembrance and run away, it will finally sit or lie down at that every object by way of partial and full absorption. Therefore, the men of old said:
As one who wants to break a wild young calf
Would tether it to stout stake firmly, here,
In the same way the yogi should tie fast
To meditation's object his own mind.
In this way this abode becomes appropriate in the meditator. Therefore, it is said, "This (namely, the passage beginning with the words, 'Gone to the forest .....') is the making clear of an abode appropriate to the meditator for the culture of mindfulness."
Because the subject of meditation of mindfulness on in-and-out-breathing is not easy to accomplish without leaving the neighbourhood of a village, owing to sound, which is a thorn to absorption; and because in a place not become a township it is easy for the meditator to lay hold of this subject of meditation, the Blessed One, pointing out the abode suitable for that, spoke the words, "Gone to the forest," and so forth.
The Buddha is like a master of the science of building sites [vatthu vijjacariya] because of the pointing out by him of the suitable abode for yogis [yoginam anurupa nivasatthanu-padissanato].
As a master in the science of selecting building sites, after seeing a stretch of ground good for building a town, and after considering it well from all sides, advises: "Build the town here," and when the building of the town is happily completed receives high honour from the royal family, so the Buddha having well considered from all points the abode suitable for the meditator advises: "Here, should the subject of meditation be yoked on to." When arahantship is gradually reached by the yogi, by the expression of the yogi's gratitude and admiration with the words: "Certainly, the Blessed One is the Supremely Awakened One," the Master, receives great honour.
The bhikkhu indeed, is comparable to a leopard, because like the leopard he lives alone, in the forest, and accomplishes his aim, by overcoming those contrary to him, namely, the passions.
Just as a great king of leopards concealed in the forest in grass-bush, jungle-bush or hill-thicket, seizes wild buffaloes, elks, pigs and other beasts, this bhikkhu yoking himself to the subject of meditation gains the Four Real Paths and Fruits [cattaro magge ceva ariyaphalani ganhati] one after another, in succession; and therefore the men of old said:
As leopard in ambush lies and captures beasts,
So does this son of the Awakened One,
The striving man, the man of vision keen.
Having into the forest gone seize therein
Fruition that truly is supreme.
And so the Blessed One, pointing out the forest abode, the fit place for speedy exertion in the practice of meditation, said "Gone to the forest", and so forth.
Nisidati pallankam abhujitva ujum kayam panidhaya parimukham satim upatthapetva so satova assasati sato passasati = "Sits down, bends in his legs crosswise on his lap, keeps is body erect, and arouses mindfulness in the object of meditation, namely, the breath which is in front of him. Mindful he breathes in, and mindful he breathes out."
"Bends in his legs crosswise on his lap." Three things pertaining to the sitting posture of the yogi are pointed out by that: firmness of the posture; easefulness of breathing due to the posture; and the expediency of the posture for laying hold of the subject of meditation.
One sits in this posture having locked in the legs. It is the entirely thigh-bound sitting posture, and is known as the lotus, and the immovable posture too.
"Keeps his body erect." Keeps the vertebrae in such a position that every segment of the backbone is said to be placed upright, and end to end throughout. The body, waist upwards, is held straight.
"Arouses mindfulness in front." Fixes the attention by directing it towards the breath which is in front.
"Mindful he breathes in and mindful he breathes out." Breathes in and out without abandoning mindfulness.
Digham va assasanto digham assasamiti pajanati digham va passasanto digham passasamiti pajanati: = "He, thinking, 'I breathe in long,' understands when he is breathing in long; or thinking, 'I breathe out long,' he understands when he is breathing out long.
"When breathing in long, how does he understand, 'I breathe in long.'? When breathing out long, how does he understand 'I breathe out long'? He breathes in a long breath during a long stretch of time, he breathes out a long breath during a long stretch of time, and he breathes in and he breathes out long breaths, each during a long stretch of time. As he breathes in and breathes out long breaths, each during a long stretch of time, desire [or intention; chanda] arises in him. With desire he breathes in a long breath finer than the last during a long stretch of time; with desire he breathes out a long breath finer than the last during a long stretch of time; and with desire he breathes in and he breathes out long breaths finer than the last, each during a long stretch of time. As with desire he breathes in and he breathes out long breaths finer than the last, each during a long stretch of time, joy [piti] arises in him. With joy he breathes in a long breath finer than the last during a long stretch of time; with joy he breathes out a long breath finer than the last during a long stretch of time; and with joy he breathes in and he breathes out long breaths finer than the last, each during a long stretch of time. As with joy he breathes in and he breathes out long breaths finer than the last, each during a long stretch of time, the mind turns away from the long in-and-out-breathings, and equanimity [upekkha] stands firm.
Sabbakayapatisamvedi Assasissami ..... passasissamiti sikkhati ..... = "Experiencing the whole body I shall breathe in ..... breathe out, thinking thus, he trains himself." He trains himself with the following idea: I shall breathe in making known, making clear, to myself the beginning, middle, and end of the whole body of breathings in; I shall breathe out making known, making clear, to myself the beginning, middle and end of the whole body of breathings out. And he breathes in and breathes out with consciousness associated with knowledge making known, making clear, to himself the breaths."
"To one bhikkhu, indeed, in the tenuous diffused body of in- breathing or body of out-breathing only the beginning becomes clear; not the middle or the end. He is able to lay hold of only the beginning. In the middle and at the end he is troubled. To another the middle becomes clear and not the beginning or the end. To a third only the end becomes clear; the beginning and the middle do not become clear and he is able only to lay hold of the breath at the end. He is troubled at the beginning and at the middle. To a fourth even all the three stages become clear and he is able to lay hold of all; he is troubled nowhere. For pointing out that this subject of meditation should be developed after the manner of the fourth one, the Master said: Experiencing .... He trains himself."
"Since in the earlier way of the practice of this meditation there was nothing else to be done but just breathing in and breathing out, it is said: He thinking, I breathe in ..... understands ..... and since thereafter there should be endeavour for bringing about knowledge and so forth, it is said, Experiencing the whole body I shall breathe in."
Passambhayam kayasamkharam assasissamiti ..... passasissamiti sikkhati = "Calming the activity of the body I shall breathe in .... breathe out, thinking thus, he trains himself." He thinks: " I shall breathe in and I shall breathe out, quieting, making smooth, making tranquil and peaceful the activity of the in-and-out-breathing body. And in that way, he trains himself."
"In this connection coarseness, fineness and calm should be understood thus: Without contemplative effort, the body and the mind of this bhikkhu are distressed, coarse. When the body and the mind are coarse, the in-and-out-breathings too are coarse and proceed uncalmly; the nasal aperture becomes inadequate and he has to breathe through the mouth, too. But when the body and the mind are under control then the body and the mind become placid, restful. When these are restful, the breathings proceed so fine that the bhikkhu doubts whether or not the breathings are going on."
"The breathing of a man who runs down from a hill, puts down a heavy burden from his head, and stands still is coarse; his nasal aperture becomes inadequate and he breathes through the mouth, too. But when he rids himself of his fatigue, takes a bath and a drink of water, and puts a wet cloth over his heart and is sitting in the shade, his breathing becomes fine, and he is at a loss to know whether it exists or not. Comparable to that man is the bhikkhu whose breaths become so fine after the taking up of the practice of contemplation that he finds it difficult to say whether he is breathing or not. What is the reason for this? Without taking up the practice of meditation he does not perceive, concentrate on, reflect on, or think over, the question of calming the gross activity of the breathing body, the breaths, but with the practice of meditation he does. Therefore, the activity of the breath-body becomes finer in the time in which meditation is practiced than in the time in which there is no practice. So the men of old said:
"In the agitated mind and body the breath is of the coarsest kind.
In the unexcited body, fully subtle does it wind."
"How does he train himself with the thought: Calming the activity of the body, I shall breathe in .... breathe out? What are the activities of the body? Those things of the body of breaths, those things bound up with that body, are the activities of the body. Causing the body-activities to become composed, to become smooth and calm, he trains himself ..... He trains himself thinking thus: Calming the body-activity by way of (quieting) the bodily activities of bending forwards, sidewards, all over, and backwards, and (by way of the quieting of) the moving, quivering, vibrating, and quaking of the body, I shall breathe in ..... I shall breathe out. I shall breathe in and I shall breathe out, calming the activity of the body, by way of whatsoever peaceful and fine body-activities of non-bending of the body forwards, sidewards, all over and backwards, of non-moving, non-quivering, non-vibrating, and non-quaking, of the body."[19]
Indeed, to that yogi training in respiration-mindfulness according to the method taught thus: "He, thinking 'I breathe in long,' understands when he is breathing in long ..... Calming the activity of the body ..... I breathe out, thinking thus, he trains himself" [digham va assasanto digham assasamiti pajanati ..... passambhayam kayasankharam passasissamiti sikkhati], the four absorptions [cattari jhanani] arise in the respiration sign [assasapassasanimitte uppajjanti].
In the respiration sign = In the reflex image [patibhaga nimitta].
Having emerged from the absorption, he lays hold of either the respiration body or the factors of absorption.
There the meditating worker in respiration [assasapassasa kammika] examines the body (rupa) thinking thus: Supported by what is respiration? Supported by the basis [vatthunissita]. The basis is the coarse body [karajja kaya]. The coarse body is composed of the Four Great Primaries and the corporeality derived from these [cattari mahabhutani upadarupañca].
The worker in respiration examines the respiration while devoting himself to the development of insight through the means of corporeality.
The basis, namely, the coarse body, is where the mind and mental characteristics occur.
Thereupon, he, the worker in respiration, cognizes the mind (nama) in the pentad of mental concomitants beginning with sense-impression.
The first beginning with sense-impression are sense-impression, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness. They are taken here as representative of mind.
The worker in respiration examines the mind and the body, sees the Dependent Origination of ignorance and so forth, and concluding that this mind and this body are bare conditions, and things produced from conditions, and that besides these there is neither a living being nor a person, becomes to that extent a person who transcends doubt.
Besides these phenomena there is neither a living being nor a person refers to vision that is purified [añño satto va puggalo natthiti visuddhiditthi].
Mind-and-body is a bare impersonal process. It is not unrelated to a cause and also not related to a discordant cause (which is fictive) like god, but is connected with (the really perceivable fact of) a cause like ignorance [tayidam dhammamattam na ahetukam napi issariyadi visamahetukam atha kho avijjadihi eva sahetukam].
A person who has transcended doubt regarding the past, the future and the present (of his own existence and so forth, as for instance taught in the Sabbasava Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya).
And the yogi who has transcended doubt while cultivating insight, applies the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering, and soullessness, to the mind and body together with the conditions and gradually reaches arahantship [sappaccaya nama rupe tilakkhanam aropetva vipassanam vaddhento anukkamena arahattam papunati].
Applies the three characteristics in order to grasp the qualities of the aggregates according to the method taught in the Anatta Lakkhana Sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya beginning with the words: "Whatsoever form."
The worker in absorption, namely, he who contemplates upon the factors of absorption, also thinks thus: Supported by what are these factors of absorption? By the basis. The basis is the coarse body. The factors of absorption are here representative of the mind. The coarse body is the body. Having determined thus, he, searching for the reason of the mind and the body, seeks it in Conditions' Mode beginning with ignorance, concludes that this mind and the body comprise just conditions and things produced by conditions and that besides these there is neither a living being nor a person, and becomes to that extent a person who transcends doubt.
And the yogi who transcends doubt thus, while cultivating insight, applies the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering and soullessness, to the mind and the body together with conditions and gradually reaches arahantship.
Iti ajjhattam va kaye kayanupassi viharati = "Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally." This bhikkhu dwells in contemplation of the body in his own respiration body.
By way of the practice of quietude [samatha bhavana] however there is no arising of the sign of full absorption [appana nimittuppatti] in another's respiration-body.
Bahiddha va kaye kayanupassi viharati = "Or he lives contemplating the body in the body externally." Or this bhikkhu dwells in contemplation of the body in another's respiration-body.
Or ..... in another's respiration-body. This portion deals with reflection for the growth of insight and has no reference to the growth of full absorption of quietude.....
Ajjhatta-bahiddha va kaye kayanupassi viharati = "Or he lives contemplating the body in the body internally and externally." At one time in his own and at another in another's respiration-body, he dwells in contemplation of the body. By this there is reference to the time when the yogi's mind moves repeatedly back and forth (internally and externally by way of object) without laying aside the familiar subject of meditation [kalena attano kalena parassa assasapassasakaye etenassa pagunakammatthanam atthapetva aparaparam sañcarana kalo kathito].
Without leaving aside at intervals, nor from time to time nor occasionally [antarantara na thapetva].
The time when the mind moves repeatedly back and forth. Or the time when the meditation proceeds incessantly, in the internal and external phenomena [ajjhatta-bahidha dhammesu pi nirantaram va bhavanaya pavattana kalo].
Both cannot occur at once [eka kale pana idam ubbayam na labbhati].
This pair of things stated in combination as internal and external cannot be found in the form of an object at one time, simultaneously. It is not possible to objectify (these two) together is the meaning [ajjhattam bahiddhati ca vuttam idam dhammadvayaghatitam ekasmim kale, ekato arammanabhavena na labbhati. Ekajjham alambitum na sakkati attho].
Samudaya-dhammanupassi va kayasamim viharati = "He lives contemplating origination-things in the body." Just as the air moves back and forth depending on the smith's bellows' skin, the bellows' spout, and appropriate effort, so, depending on the coarse body, nasal aperture, and the mind of the bhikkhu, the respiration-body moves back and forth. The things beginning with the (coarse) body are origination (kayadayo dhamma samudayo]. The person who sees thus, is he who lives contemplating origination-things in the body.
Vayadhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati = "Or he lives contemplating dissolution-things in the body." In whatever way, the air does not proceed when the bellows' skin is taken off, the bellows' spout is broken, and the appropriate exertion is absent, even in that same way, when the body breaks up, the nasal aperture is destroyed, and the mind has ceased to function, the respiration-body does not go on. Thus through the ending of the coarse body, the nasal aperture and the mind there comes to be the ending of the respirations [kayadi-nirodha assasapassasa-nirodho]. The person who sees in this way, is he who lives contemplating dissolution-things in the body.
Samudaya-vaya-dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati = "Or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution-things in the body." He lives contemplating origination at one time and dissolution at another [kalena samudayam kalena vayam anupassanto].
Origination [samudaya] is that from which suffering arises.
Contemplating origination-things. Possessing the character of contemplation connected with the coarse body, the nasal aperture and the mind, the cause of the respirations [assasapassasanam uppatti hetu karaja kayadi tassa anupassanasilo].
As the contemplation on origination-and-dissolution-things, too, is split up as regards the scope of the object, it is not possible to objectify both origination and dissolution at the same time.
Atthi kayoti va panassa sati paccupatthita hoti = "Or, indeed, his mindfulness is established, with the thought: 'The body exists.'" Mindfulness is established for the yogi through careful scrutiny. He thinks: There is the body, but there is no being, no person, no woman, no man, no soul, nothing pertaining to a soul, no "I", nothing that is mine, no one, and nothing belonging to anyone [kayoti ca attli, na satto, na puggalo, na itthi, na puriso, na atta, na attaniyam naham, na mama, na koci, na kassaciti evam assa sati paccupatthita hoti].
Yavadeva = "To the extent necessary." It denotes purpose.
This is said: The mindfulness established is not for another purpose. What is the purpose for which it is established?
Nanamattaya patissatimattaya = "For just knowledge and remembrance." That is just for the sake of a wider and wider, or further and further measure of knowledge and of mindfulness [aparaparam uttaruttari ñanapamanatthaya ceva satipamanattha-yaca]. For the increase of mindfulness and clear comprehension is the meaning.
For the purpose of reaching the knowledge of body-contemplation to the highest extent [kayanupassana ñanam param pamanam papanatthaya] is the meaning of: To the extent necessary for just knowledge [yavadeva ñanamattaya].
Anissito ca viharati = "And he lives independent." He lives emancipated from dependence on craving and wrong views.
With these words is stated the direct opposition of this meditation to the laying hold on craving and wrong views.
Na ca kiñci loke upadiyati = "And clings to naught in the world." In regard to no visible shape ..... or consciousness, does he think: this is my soul; or this belongs to my soul.
Evampi = "Thus also."
With this expression ("Thus also") the Blessed One wound up the instruction on the section on breathing.
In this section on breathing, the mindfulness which examines the respirations is the Truth of Suffering. The pre-craving which brings about that mindfulness is the Truth of Origination. The non-occurrence of both is the Truth of Cessation. The Real Path which understands suffering, abandons origination, and takes cessation as object, is the Truth of the Way. Thus having endeavoured by way of the Four Truths, a person arrives at peace. This is the portal to emancipation of the bhikkhu devoted to meditation on breathing.
The Section on the Modes of Deportment
The Buddha, after dealing in the aforesaid manner with body-contemplation in the form of respiration-meditation, in detail, said: "And further," in order to deal exhaustively with body-contemplation, here, according to the meditation on the modes of deportment [iriyapatha].
Gacchanto va gacchamiti pajanati = "When he is going (a bhikkhu) understands: 'I am going.'" In this matter of going, readily do dogs, jackals and the like, know when they move on that they are moving. But this instruction on the modes of deportment was not given concerning similar awareness, because awareness of that sort belonging to animals does not shed the belief in a living being, does not knock out the percept of a soul, and neither becomes a subject of meditation nor the development of the Arousing of Mindfulness.
Going. The term is applicable both to the awareness of the fact of moving on and to the knowledge of the (true) characteristic qualities of moving on. The terms sitting, standing and lying down, too, are applicable in the general sense of awareness and in the particular sense of knowledge of the (true) characteristic qualities. Here (in this discourse) the particular and not the general sense of awareness is to be taken.
From the sort of mere awareness denoted by reference to canines and the like, proceeds the idea of a soul, the perverted perception, with the belief that there is a doer and an experiencer. One who does not uproot or remove that wrong perception owing to non-opposition to that perception and to absence of contemplative practice cannot be called one who develops anything like a subject of meditation.
But the knowledge of this meditator sheds the belief in a living being, knocks out the idea of a soul, and is both a subject of meditation and the development of the Arousing of Mindfulness.
Indeed, who goes, whose going is it, on what account is this going? These words refer to the knowledge of the (act of) going (the mode of deportment) of the meditating bhikkhu.
In the elucidation of these questions the following is said: Who goes? No living being or person whatsoever. Whose going is it? Not the going of any living being or person. On account of what does the going take place? On account of the diffusion of the process of oscillation born of mental activity. Because of that this yogi knows thus: If there arises the thought, "I shall go," that thought produces the process of oscillation; the process of oscillation produces expression (the bodily movement which indicates going and so forth). The moving on of the whole body through the diffusion of the process of oscillation is called going. The same is the method of exposition as regards the other postures: standing and so forth. There, too, the yogi knows thus: If there arises the thought, "I shall stand," that thought produces the process of oscillation. The process of oscillation produces bodily expression. The raising upright of the whole body from below owing to the diffusion of the process of oscillation is called standing. If there arises the thought "I shall sit," that thought produces the process of oscillation. The process of oscillation produces bodily expression. The bending of the lower part of the body and the raising upright of the upper part of the body owing to the diffusion of the process of oscillation is called sitting. If there arises the thought, "I shall lie down," that thought produces the process of oscillation. The process of oscillation produces bodily expression. The straightening or the spreading of the whole body horizontally or across, owing to the diffusion of the process of oscillation, is called lying down.
There, who goes? is a doer-question of the action of going, without first separating efficient cause and action (tattha ko gacchatiti sadhanam kriyañca avinibbhutam katva gamana kriya kattu puccha]. That is for indicating just the bare phenomenon of going, through the condition of denying the-doer-state-endowed-with-a-soul [sa kattubhava visittha atta patikkhepatta dhamma mattasseva gamana dassanato]. (Or in other words the question "Who goes?" anticipates a negative answer, for according to the Abhidhamma there is no doer or goer but just a process dependent on conditions. There is merely a going. No one goes.)
With the words, whose going is it?, the commentator says the same thing in another way after separating efficient cause and action for making clear the absence of a doer-connection [kassa gamananti tamevattham pariyayantarena vadati sadhanam kriyañca akattu sambandhi bhava vibhavanato].
On what account is it? This is a question for the real reason of the action of going from which the idea of a goer is rejected. [kim karanati pana patikkhitta kattukaya gamana kriyaya aviparita karana puccha].
Going is here shown to be one of the particular modes of bare phenomenal movement due to appropriate cause-and-condition, without attributing it to a fallacious reason such as the one formulated thus: The soul comes into contact with the mind, the mind with the sense-organs and the sense-organs with the object (thus there is perception). [idañhi gamanam nama atta manasa samyujjati mano indriyehi indriyani atthehiti evamadi miccha karana vinimutta anurupa paccaya hetuko dhammanam pavatti akara viseso[20]].
No living being or person, because of the proving of the going of only a bare phenomenon and because of the absence of anyone besides that phenomenon. Now to show proof of the going of a bare phenomenon the words beginning with on account of the diffusion of the process of oscillation born of mental activity were spoken by the commentator [dhammamattasseva gamanasiddhito tabbinimuttasa ca kassaci abhavato idani dhammamattasseva gamana siddhim dassetum citta kriya vayo dhatu vippharenati adi vuttam].
There mental activity and the diffusion and agitation in the process of oscillation which is mental activity = diffusion of the process of mental activity [tattha citta kriya ca vippharo vipphandanañcati citta kriya vayo dhatu vippharo]. The commentator, by mentioning mental activity, eschews the diffusion of the process of oscillation connected with inanimate things, and by the mention of the diffusion of the process of oscillation eschews the class of mental activity producing volitional verbal-expression. By the terms mental activity and the process of oscillation, the commentator makes clear bodily expression [tena ettha ca citta kriyaggahanena anindriyabaddha vayodhatu vippharam nivatteti: vayodhatu vippharaggahanena cetana vaciviññatti bhedam citta kriyam nivatteti. Ubhayena pana kaya viññattim vibhaveti].
Produces the process of oscillation. Brings about the group of materiality with the quality of oscillation in excess.
This group of materiality is that of the pure octad consisting of the Four Great Primaries [mahabhuta] symbolized by earth, water, fire and air, and the four derived from these: colour, smell, taste and nutritive essence [pathavi apo tejo vayo vanna gandha rasa oja].
Excess is to be taken here by way of capability (adequacy or competency) and not by way of measure (size or amount).
The process of oscillation produces expression. This was said concerning the process of oscillation arisen from the thought of going. This process is a condition to the supporting with energy, the bearing up, and the movement of the conascent body of materiality.
Expression is that change which takes place together with the intention.
Oscillation is mentioned by way of a predominant condition [adhika bhava] and not by way of production through oscillation alone. Otherwise the state of derived materiality pertaining to expression would not be a fact [aññatha viññattiya upadaya rupa bhavo durupapado siya].
He who knows (that by the diffusion of this process of oscillation born of mental activity take place going, standing, sitting and lying down) pursues the line of thinking (called investigation) in the following manner: "A living being goes," "A living being stands," (according to the false belief of those unacquainted with the reality of the matter or according to conventional speech), but there is no living being going or standing. This talk of a living being going or standing is similar to speech in the following way: "A cart goes." "A cart stands." In fact there is no going cart and no standing cart. When with bulls (tied to a cart) a skilled driver is driving, one conventionally speaking says: "A cart goes" or "A cart stands." In the sense of a thing not able to go of itself, the body is like the cart. Mind-born oscillation are like the bulls. Mind is like the driver. When the thought, "I go," or the thought "I stand," arises, the process of oscillation producing expression comes to existence. By the diffusion of the process of oscillation born of mental activity, going and the other modes of deportment take place, and then there are these forms of conventional speech: "A living being goes," "A living being stands," "I go," "I stand." Therefore the commentator said:
Just as a ship goes on by winds impelled,
Just as a shaft goes by the bowstring's force,
So goes this body in its forward course
Full driven by the vibrant thrust of air.
As to the puppet's back the dodge-thread's tied
So to the body-doll the mind is joined
And pulled by that the body moves, stands, sits.
Where is the living being that can stand,
Or walk, by force of its own inner strength,
Without conditions that give it support?
Accordingly this yogi, who considers by way of causes and conditions, the states of going, standing and so forth, knows well that he is going, when he is in the state of going, that he is standing when he stands, that he is sitting when he sits, and that he is lying down when he lies down, as it is told in the passage in the discourse beginning with the words: "When he is going, a bhikkhu understands: 'I am going.'"
Yatha yatha va panassa kayo panihito hoti tatha tatha nam pajanati = "Or just as his body is disposed so he understands it."
Iti ajjhattam va = "Thus internally." In this way the bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body, examining his own four modes of deportment.
Bahiddha va = "Or externally." Or examining the four modes of deportment of another.
Ajjhatta-bahiddha va = "Or internally and externally." Or examining at one time his own four modes of deportment and at another time another's four modes of deportment, he lives.
Samudaya-dhammanupassi = "Contemplating origination-things." Also dissolution-things are included here. Origination and dissolution should be dwelt upon by way of the fivefold method beginning with the words: "He, thinking 'the origination of materiality comes to be through the origination of ignorance,' in the sense of the origin of conditions, sees the arising of the aggregate of materiality."
In the same way he sees the arising of the aggregate of materiality through the origination of craving, karma and food, in the sense of the origin of conditions, and also while seeing the sign of birth [nibbatti lakkhana passanto pi]. He sees the passing away of the aggregate while thinking that the dissolution of materiality comes to be through the dissolution of ignorance, in the sense of the dissolution of conditions, and through the dissolution of craving, karma and food, in the same way, and while seeing the sign of vicissitude [viparinamalakkhana].
For the arising of the materiality-aggregate ignorance, craving, karma and food are the principal reasons. But these are not all. As it is said that one sees the arising of the materiality-aggregate when beholding also the rebirth-sign or the bare origination state called the integration-succession [upacaya santati] of the various material forms [rupa] becoming manifest in the conscious flux [saviññanaka santana], owing to ignorance, craving, karma, and nutriment, and from consciousness [citta] and the process of caloricity [utu], the knowledge of arising is fivefold.
Similarly the knowledge of passing away or ceasing is fivefold. The sign of vicissitude or change is the bare state of dissolution [bhanga sabhava] called impermanency [aniccata].
Atthi kayoti va panassa, sati paccupatthita hoti = "Or, indeed, his mindfulness is established with the thought: 'The body exists'." The exposition of this is to be done in the manner already stated in the preceding section.
Here, the mindfulness which examines the four modes of deportment is the Truth of Suffering. The pre-craving which brings about that mindfulness is the Truth of Origination. The non-occurrence of either is the Truth of Cessation. The Real Path which understands suffering, abandons origination, and takes cessation as object, is the Truth of the Way.
The yogi having endeavoured thus by way of the Four Truths, arrives at peace.
This is the portal to emancipation up to arahantship of the bhikkhu occupied with the four modes of deportment.
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