THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
[(2) COMPASSION / KARUNA]
77. One who wants to develop compassion should begin his task by re-
viewing the danger in lack of compassion and the advantage in compas-
sion.
And when he begins it, he should not direct it at first towards the
dear, etc., persons; for one who is dear simply retains the position of one
who is dear, a very dear companion retains the position of a very dear
companion, one who is neutral retains the position of one who is neutral,
one who is antipathetic retains the position of one who is antipathetic,
and one who is hostile retains the position of one who is hostile. One of
the opposite sex and one who is dead are also not the field for it.
78. In the Vibhahga it is said: 'And how does a bhikkhu dwell pervad-
ing one direction with his heart endued with compassion? Just as he
would feel compassion on seeing an unlucky, unfortunate person, so he
pervades all beings with compassion* (Vbh. 273). Therefore first of all,
on seeing a wretched man, unlucky, unfortunate, in every way a fit
object for compassion, unsightly, reduced to utter misery, with hands
and feet cut off, sitting in the shelter for the helpless with a pot placed
before him, with a mass of maggots oozing from his arms and legs, and
moaning, compassion should be felt for him in this way: 'This being has
indeed been reduced to misery; if only he could be freed from this
suffering!'.
But if he does not encounter such a person, then he can arouse com-
passion for an evil-doing person, even though he is happy, by comparing
him to one about to be executed. How?
79. Suppose a robber has been caught with stolen goods, and in accor-
dance with the king's command to execute him, the king's men bind him
and lead him off to the place of execution, giving him a hundred blows
in sets of four. Then people give him things to chew and eat and also
garlands and perfumes, unguents and betel leaves. Although [315] he
goes along eating and enjoying these things as though he were happy
and well off, still no one fancies that he is really happy and well off. On
the contrary people feel compassion for him, thinking 'This poor wretch
is now about to die; every step he takes brings him nearer to the presence
of death'. So too a bhikkhu whose meditation subject is compassion
should arouse compassion for an [evil-doing] person even if he is happy:
'Though this poor wretch is now happy, cheerful, enjoying his wealth,
still for want of even one good deed done now in any one of the three
doors [of body, speech and mind] he can come to experience untold suf-
fering in the states of loss'.
80. Having aroused compassion for that person in that way, he should
next arouse compassion for a dear person, next for a neutral person, and
next for a hostile person, successively in the same way.
81. But if resentment towards the hostile person arises in the way al-
ready described, he should make it subside in the way described under
lovingkindness (§§14-39).
And here too when someone has done profitable deeds and the
meditator sees or hears that he has been overtaken by one of the kinds of
ruin beginning with ruin of health, relatives, property, etc., he deserves
the meditator's compassion; and so he does too in any case, even with no
such ruin, thus 'In reality he is unhappy', because he is not exempt from
the suffering of the round [of becoming]. And in the way already de-
scribed the meditator should break down the barriers between the four
kinds of people, that is to say, himself, the dear person, the neutral
person and the hostile person. Then cultivating that sign, developing it
and repeatedly practising it, he should increase the absorption by the
triple and quadruple jhana in the way already stated under lovingkind-
ness.
82. But the order given in the Anguttara Commentary is that a hostile
person should first be made the object of compassion, and when the
mind has been made malleable with respect to him, next the unlucky
person, next the dear person, and next oneself. That does not agree with
the text, 'an unlucky, unfortunate person' (§78). Therefore he should
begin the development, break down the barriers, and increase absorption
only in the way stated here.
83. After that, the versatility consisting in the unspecified pervasion in
five ways, the specified pervasion in seven ways, and the directional per-
vasion in ten ways, and the advantages described as 'He sleeps in com-
fort', etc., should be understood in the same way as given under lov-
ingkindness.
This is the detailed explanation of the development of compassion.
[316]
[(3) GLADNESS / MUDITA]
84. One who begins the development of gladness
10
should not start with
the dear person and the rest; for a dear person is not the proximate cause
of gladness merely in virtue of dearness, how much less the neutral and
the hostile person. One of the opposite sex and one who is dead are also
not the field for it.
85. However, the very dear companion can be the proximate cause for
it—one who in the commentaries is called a 'boon companion', for he is
constantly glad: he laughs first and speaks afterwards. So he should be
the first to be pervaded with gladness. Or on seeing or hearing about a
dear person being happy, cheerful and glad, gladness can be aroused
thus: 'This being is indeed glad. How good, how excellent!'. For this is
what is referred to in the Vibhahga: 'And how does a bhikkhu dwell
pervading one direction with his heart endued with gladness? Just as he
would be glad on seeing a dear and beloved person, so he pervades all
beings with gladness' (Vbh. 274).
86. But if his boon companion or the dear person was happy in the past
but is now unlucky and unfortunate, then gladness can still be aroused
by remembering his past happiness and apprehending the glad aspect in
this way: 'In the past he had great wealth, a great following and he was
always glad'. Or gladness can be aroused by apprehending the future
glad aspect in him in this way: 'In the future he will again enjoy similar
success and will go about in gold palanquins, on the backs of elephants
or on horseback, and so on'.
Having thus aroused gladness with respect to a dear person, he can
then direct it successively towards a neutral one, and after that towards a
hostile one.
87. But if resentment towards the hostile one arises in him in the way
already described, he should make it subside in the same way as de-
scribed under lovingkindness (§§14-39).
He should break down the barriers by means of mental impartiality
towards the four, that is, towards these three and himself. And by culti-
vating that sign, developing and repeatedly practising it, he should in-
crease the absorption to triple and quadruple jhana in the way already
stated under lovingkindness.
Next, the versatility consisting in unspecified pervasion in five ways,
specified pervasion in seven ways, and directional pervasion in ten ways,
and also the advantages described as 'He sleeps in comfort', etc., should
be understood in the same way as stated under lovingkindness.
This is the detailed explanation of the development of gladness.
[317]
[(4) EQUANIMITY / UPEKKHA]
88. One who wants to develop equanimity must have already obtained
the triple or quadruple jhana in lovingkindness, and so on. He should
emerge from the third jhana [in the fourfold reckoning], after he has
made it familiar, and he should see danger in the former [three divine
abidings] because they are linked with attention given to beings' enjoy-
ment in the way beginning 'May they be happy', because resentment and
approval are near, and because their association with joy is gross. And
he should also see the advantage in equanimity because it is peaceful.
Then he should arouse equanimity (upekkha) by looking on with equa-
nimity (ajjhupekkhitva) at a person who is normally neutral; after that at
a dear person, and the rest. For this is said: 'And how does a bhikkhu
dwell pervading one direction with his heart endued with equanimity?
Just as he would feel equanimity on seeing a person who was neither
beloved nor unloved, so he pervades all beings with equanimity' (Vbh.
275).
89. Therefore he should arouse equanimity towards the neutral person
in the way already stated. Then through the neutral one he should break
down the barriers in each case between the three people, that is, the dear
person, then the boon companion, and then the hostile one, and lastly
himself. And he should cultivate that sign, develop and repeatedly prac-
tise it.
90. As he does so the fourth jhana arises in him in the way described
under the earth kasina.
But how then? Does this arise in one in whom the third jhana has
already arisen on the basis of the earth kasina, etc.? It does not. Why
not? Because of the dissimilarity of the object. It arises only in one in
whom the third jhana has arisen on the basis of lovingkindness, etc.,
because the object is similar.
But after that the versatility and the obtaining of advantages should
be understood in the same way as described under lovingkindness.
This is the detailed explanation of the development of equanimity.
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