THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
CHAPTER VI
FOULNESS AS A MEDITATION SUBJECT
(Asubha-kammatthana-niddesa)
[GENERAL DEFINITIONS]
1. [178] Now ten kinds of foulness, [as corpses] without conscious-
ness, were listed next after the kasinas thus: the bloated, the livid, the
festering, the cut up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered,
the bleeding, the worm infested, a skeleton (Ch. III, §105).
The bloated: it is bloated (uddhumdta) because bloated by gradual
dilation and swelling after (uddhani) the close of life, as a bellows is
with wind. What is bloated (uddhumdta) is the same as 'the bloated'
(uddhumdtaka). Or alternatively, what is bloated (uddhumdta) is vile
(kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 'the bloated'
(uddhumdtaka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular state.
2. The livid: what has patchy discolouration is called livid (vinila).
What is livid is the same as 'the livid' (vinilaka). Or alternatively, what
is livid (vinila) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 'the
livid' (vinilaka).
1
This is a term for a corpse that is reddish-coloured in
places where flesh is prominent, whitish-coloured in places where pus
has collected, but mostly blue-black (nila), as if draped with blue-black
cloth in the blue-black places.
3. The festering: what is trickling with pus in broken places is festering
(vipubba). What is festering is the same as 'the festering' (vipubbaka).
Or alternatively, what is festering (vipubba) is vile (kucchita) because of
repulsiveness, thus it is 'the festering' (vipubbaka). This is a term for a
corpse in that particular state.
4. The cut up: what has been opened up2
by cutting it in two is called
cut up (vicchidda). What is cut up is the same as 'the cut up' (vicchid-
daka). Or alternatively, what is cut up (vicchidda) is vile (kucchita)
because of repulsiveness, thus it is 'the cut up' (vicchiddaka). This is a
term for a corpse cut in the middle. [179]
5. The gnawed: what has been chewed here and there in various ways
by dogs, jackals, etc., is what is gnawed (vikkhayita). What is gnawed is
the same as 'the gnawed' (vikkhayitaka). Or alternatively, what is gnawed
(vikkhayita) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 'the
gnawed' (vikkhayitaka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular
state.
6. The scattered: what is strewed about (vividham khittam) is scattered
(vikkhittam). What is scattered is the same as 'the scattered' (vikkhit-
taka). Or alternatively, what is scattered (yikkhitta) is vile (kucchita)
because of repulsiveness, thus it is 'the scattered' (vikkhittaka). This is a
term for a corpse that is strewed here and there in this way: 'Here a
hand, there a foot, there the head' (cf. M.i,58).
7. The hacked and scattered: it is hacked, and it is scattered in the way
just described, thus it is 'hacked and scattered' (hatavikkhittaka). This is
a term for a corpse scattered in the way just described after it has been
hacked with a knife in a crow's-foot pattern on every limb.
8. The bleeding: it sprinkles (kirati\ scatters, blood (lohita\ and it
trickles here and there, thus it is 'the bleeding' (lohitaka). This is a term
for a corpse smeared with trickling blood.
9. The worm-infested: it is maggots that are called worms (puluva); it
sprinkles worms (puluve kirati\ thus it is worm-infested (puluvaka).
This is a term for a corpse full of maggots.
10. A skeleton: bone (atthi) is the same as skeleton (atthika). Or alterna-
tively, bone (atthi) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is a
skeleton (atthika). This is a term both for a single bone and for a frame-
work of bones.
11. These names are also used both for the signs that arise with the
bloated, etc., as their support, and for the jhanas obtained in the signs.
[THE BLOATED]
12. Herein, when a meditator wants to develop the jhana called 'of the
bloated' by arousing the sign of the bloated on a bloated body, he should
in the way already described approach a teacher of the kind mentioned
under the earth kasina and learn the meditation subject from him. In
explaining the meditation subject to him, the teacher should explain it
all, that is, the directions for going with the aim of acquiring the sign of
foulness, the characterizing of the surrounding signs, the eleven ways of
apprehending the sign, the reviewing of the path gone by and come by,
concluding with the directions for absorption. And when the meditator
has learnt it all well, he should go to an abode of the kind already
described and live there while seeking the sign of the bloated.
13. Meanwhile, when he hears people saying that at some village gate
or on some road or at some forest's edge or at the base of some rock or
at the root of some tree [180] or on some charnel ground a bloated
corpse is lying, he should not go there at once, like one who plunges into
a river where there is no ford.
14. Why not? Because this foulness is beset by wild beasts and non-
human beings, and he might risk his life there. Or perhaps the way to it
goes by a village gate or a bathing place or an irrigated field, and there a
visible object of the opposite sex might come into focus. Or perhaps the
body is of the opposite sex; for a female body is unsuitable for a man,
and a male body for a woman. If only recently dead, it may even look
beautiful; hence there might be danger to the life of purity. But if he
judges himself thus, 'This is not difficult for one like me', then he can go
there.
15. And when he goes, he should do so only after he has spoken to the
senior elder of the Community or to some well-known bhikkhu.
16. Why? Because if all his limbs are seized with shuddering at the
charnel ground, or if his gorge rises when he is confronted with disagree-
able objects such as the visible forms and sounds of non-human beings,
lions, tigers, etc., or something else afflicts him, then he whom he told
will have his bowl and robe well looked after in the monastery, or he
will care for him by sending young bhikkhus or novices to him.
17. Besides, robbers may meet there thinking a charnel ground a safe
place for them whether or not they have done anything wrong. And
when men chase them, they drop their goods near the bhikkhu and run
away. Perhaps the men seize the bhikkhu, saying 'We have found the
thief with the goods', and bully him. Then he whom he told will explain
to the men 'Do not bully him; he went to do this special work after
telling me', and he will rescue him. This is the advantage of going only
after informing someone.
18. Therefore he should inform a bhikkhu of the kind described and
then set out eager to see the sign, and as happy and joyful as a warrior-
noble (khattiya) on his way to the scene of anointing, as one going to
offer libations at the hall of sacrifice, or as a pauper on his way to
unearth a hidden treasure. And he should go there in the way advised by
the Commentaries.
19. For this is said: 'One who is learning the bloated sign of foulness
goes alone with no companion, with unremitting mindfulness established,
with his sense faculties turned inwards, with his mind not turned out-
wards, reviewing the path gone by and come by. In the place where the
bloated sign of foulness [181] has been left he notes any stone or ant-hill
or tree or bush or creeper there each with its particular sign and in
relation to the object. When he has done this, he characterizes the bloated
sign of foulness by the fact of its having attained that particular individ-
ual essence (see §84). Then he sees that the sign is properly appre-
hended, that it is properly remembered, that it is properly defined, by its
colour, by its mark, by its shape, by its direction, by its location, by its
delimitation, by its joints, by its openings, by its concavities, by its
convexities, and all round.
20. 'When he has properly apprehended the sign, properly remembered
it, properly defined it, he goes alone with no companion, with unremit-
ting mindfulness established, with his sense faculties turned inwards,
with his mind not turned outwards, reviewing the path gone by and come
by. When he walks, he resolves that his walk is oriented towards it;
when he sits, he prepares a seat that is oriented towards it.
21. 'What is the purpose, what is the advantage of characterizing the
surrounding signs? Characterizing the surrounding signs has non-delu-
sion for its purpose, it has non-delusion for its advantage. What is the
purpose, what is the advantage of apprehending the sign in the [other]
eleven ways? Apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways has
anchoring [the mind] for its purpose, it has anchoring [the mind] for its
advantage. What is the purpose, what is the advantage of reviewing the
path gone by and come by? Reviewing the path gone by and come by
has keeping [the mind] on the track for its purpose, it has keeping [the
mind] on the track for its advantage.
22. 'When he has established reverence for it by seeing its advantages
and by perceiving it as a treasure and so come to love it, he anchors his
mind upon that object: "Surely in this way I shall be liberated from
ageing and death". Quite secluded from sense desires, secluded from un-
profitable things he enters upon and dwells in the first jhana ... [seclu-
sion]. He has arrived at the first jhana of the fine-material sphere. His is
a heavenly abiding and an instance of the meritorious action consisting
in [meditative] development'.
23. So if he goes to the chamel ground to test his control of mind, let
him do so after striking the gong or summoning a chapter. If he goes
there mainly for [developing that] meditation subject, let him go alone
with no companion, without renouncing his basic meditation subject and
keeping it always in mind, taking a walking stick or a staff to keep off
attacks by dogs, etc., [182] ensuring unremitting mindfulness by estab-
lishing it well, with his mind not turned outwards because he has en-
sured that his faculties, of which his mind is the sixth, are turned in-
wards.
24. As he goes out of the monastery he should note the gate: 'I have
gone out in such a direction by such a gate'. After that he should define
the path by which he goes: 'This path goes in an easterly direction ...
westerly ... northerly ... southerly direction' or 'It goes in an intermediate
direction'; and 'In this place it goes to the left, in this place to the right';
and 'In this place there is a stone, in this an ant-hill, in this a tree, in this
a bush, in this a creeper'. He should go to the place where the sign is,
defining in this way the path by which he goes.
25. And he should not approach it upwind; for if he did so and the smell
of corpses assailed his nose, his brain3
might get upset, or he might
throw up his food, or he might repent his coming, thinking 'What a place
of corpses I have come to!'. So instead of approaching it upwind, he
should go downwind. If he cannot go by a downwind path—if there is a
mountain or a ravine or a rock or a fence or a patch of thorns or water or
a bog in the way—, then he should go stopping his nose with the corner
of his robe. These are the duties in going.
26. When he has gone there in this way, he should not at once look at
the sign of foulness; he should make sure of the direction. For perhaps if
he stands in a certain direction, the object does not appear clearly to him
and his mind is not wieldy. So rather than there he should stand where
the object appears clearly and his mind is wieldy. And he should avoid
standing to leeward or to windward of it. For if he stands to leeward he
is bothered by the corpse smell and his mind strays; and if he stands to
windward and non-human beings are dwelling there, they may get an-
noyed and do him a mischief. So he should move round a little and not
stand too much to windward. [183]
27. Then he should stand not too far off or too near, or too much to-
wards the feet or the head. For if he stands too far off, the object is not
clear to him, and if he stands too near, he may get frightened. If he
stands too much towards the feet or the head, not all the foulness be-
comes manifest to him equally. So he should stand not too far off or too
near, opposite the middle of the body, in a place convenient for him to
look at it
28. Then he should characterize the surrounding signs in the way stated
thus: 'In the place where the bloated sign of foulness has been left he
notes any stone ... or creeper there with its sign' (§19).
29. These are the directions for characterizing them. If there is a rock in
the eye's focus near the sign, he should define it in this way: 'This rock
is high or low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round',
after which he should observe [the relative positions] thus: 'In this place,
this is a rock, this is the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this
is a rock'.
30. If there is an ant-hill, he should define it in this way: 'This is high or
low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round', after which
he should observe [the relative positions] thus: 'In this place, this is an
ant-hill, this is the sign of foulness'.
31. If there is a tree, he should define it in this way: 'This is a pipal tree
or a banyan tree or a kacchaka tree or a woodapple tree; it is tall or short,
small or large, black or white', after which he should observe [the rela-
tive positions] thus: 'In this place, this is a tree, this is the sign of
foulness'.
32. If there is a bush, he should define it in this way: 'This is a sindi
bush or a karamanda bush or a kanavira bush or a korandaka bush; it
is tall or short, small or large', after which he should observe [the rela-
tive positions] thus: 'In this place, this is a bush, this is the sign of
foulness'.
33. If there is a creeper, he should define it in this way: 'This is a
pumpkin creeper or a gourd creeper or a brown creeper or a black creeper
or a stinking creeper', after which he should observe [the relative posi-
tions] thus: 'In this place, this is a creeper, this is the sign of foulness;
this is the sign of foulness, this is a creeper'.
34. Also with its particular sign and in relation to the object was said
(§19); but that is included by what has just been said; for he 'character-
izes it with its particular sign' when he defines it again and again, and he
'characterizes it in relation to the object' when he defines it by combin-
ing it each time in pairs thus: 'This is a rock, this is the sign of foulness;
this is the sign of foulness, this is a rock'.
35. Having done this, again he should bring to mind the fact that it has
an individual essence, its own state of being bloated, which is not com-
mon to anything else, since it was said that he defines
4
it by the fact of its
having attained that particular individual essence. The meaning is that it
should be defined according to individual essence, according to its own
nature, as 'the inflated,
5
the bloated'.
Having defined it in this way, he should apprehend the sign in the
following six ways, that is to say, (1) by its colour, (2) by its mark, (3)
by its shape, [184] (4) by its direction, (5) by its location, (6) by its
delimitation. How?
36. (1) The meditator should define it by its colour thus: 'This is the
body of one who is black or white or yellow-skinned'.
37. (2) Instead of defining it by the female mark or the male mark, he
should define it by its mark thus: 'This is the body of one who was in the
first phase of life, in the middle phase, in the last phase'.
38. (3) By its shape: he should define it only by the shape of the
bloated thus: 'This is the shape of its head, this is the shape of its neck,
this is the shape of its hand, this is the shape of its chest, this is the shape
of its belly, this is the shape of its navel, this is the shape of its hips, this
is the shape of its thigh, this is the shape of its calf, this is the shape of its
foot'.
39. (4) He should define it by its direction thus: 'There are two direc-
tions in this body, that is, down from the navel as the lower direction,
and up from it as the upper direction'. Or alternatively, he can define it
thus: 'I am standing in this direction; the sign of foulness is in that
direction'.
40. (5) He should define it by its location thus: 'The hand is in this
location, the foot in this, the head in this, the middle of the body in this'.
Or alternatively, he can define it thus: 'I am in this location; the sign of
foulness is in that'.
41. (6) He should define it by its delimitation thus: 'This body is de-
limited below by the soles of the feet, above by the tips of the hair, all
round by the skin; the space so delimited is filled up with thirty-two
pieces of corpse'. Or alternatively, he can define it thus: 'This is the
delimitation of its hand, this is the delimitation of its foot, this is the
delimitation of its head, this is the delimitation of the middle part of its
body'. Or alternatively, he can delimit as much of it as he has appre-
hended thus: 'Just this much of the bloated is like this'.
42. However, a female body is not appropriate for a man or a male one
for a woman; for the object, [namely, the repulsive aspect], does not
make its appearance in a body of the opposite sex, which merely be-
comes a condition for the wrong kind of excitement.
6
To quote the
Majjjhima Commentary: 'Even when decaying7
a woman invades a man's
mind and stays there'. That is why the sign should be apprehended in the
six ways only in a body of the same sex.
43. But when a clansman has cultivated the meditation subject under
former Enlightened Ones, kept the ascetic practices, threshed out the
great primary elements, discerned formations, defined mentality-mate-
riality, eliminated the perception of a being, done the ascetic's [185]
duties, lived the moral life, and developed the development, when he
contains the seed [of turning away from formations], and has mature
knowledge and little defilement, then the counterpart sign appears to
him in the place while he keeps looking. If it does not appear in that
way, then it appears to him as he is apprehending the sign in the six
ways.
44. But if it does not appear to him even then, he should apprehend the
sign again in five more ways: (7) by its joints, (8) by its openings, (9) by
its concavities, (10) by its convexities, and (11) all round.
45. Herein, (7) by its joints is [properly] by its hundred and eighty
joints. But how can he define the hundred and eighty joints in the bloated?
Consequently he can define it by its fourteen major joints thus: Three
joints in the right arm, three in the left arm, three in the right leg, three in
the left leg, one neck joint, one waist joint.
46. (8) By its openings: an 'opening' is the hollow between the arm
[and the side], the hollow between the legs, the hollow of the stomach,
the hollow of the ear. He should define it by its openings in this way. Or
alternatively, the opened or closed state of the eyes and the opened or
closed state of the mouth can be defined.
47. (9) By its concavities: he should define any concave place on the
body such as the eye sockets or the inside of the mouth or the base of the
neck. Or he can define it thus: 'I am standing in a concave place, the
body is in a convex place'.
48. (10) By its convexities: he should define any raised place on the
body such as the knee or the chest or the forehead. Or he can define it
thus: 'I am standing in a convex place, the body is in a concave place'.
49. (11) All round: the whole body should be defined all round. After
working over the whole body with knowledge, he should establish his
mind thus, 'The bloated, the bloated', upon any part that appears clearly
to him. If it has not appeared even yet, and if there is special intensity of
the bloatedness in the belly,
8
he should establish his mind thus, 'The
bloated, the bloated', on that.
50. Now as to the words, he sees that the sign is properly apprehended,
etc., the explanation is this. The meditator should apprehend the sign
thoroughly in that body in the way of apprehending the sign already
described. He should advert to it with well-established mindfulness. He
should see that it is properly remembered, properly defined, by doing
that again and again. Standing in a place not too far from and not too
near to the body, he should open his eyes, look and apprehend the sign.
[186] He should open his eyes and look a hundred times, a thousand
times, [thinking], 'Repulsiveness of the bloated, repulsiveness of the
bloated', and he should close his eyes and advert to it.
51. As he does so again and again, the learning sign becomes properly
apprehended by him. When is it properly apprehended? When it comes
into focus alike whether he opens his eyes and looks or closes his eyes
and adverts, then it is called properly apprehended.
52. When he has thus properly apprehended the sign, properly remem-
bered it, and properly defined it, then if he is unable to conclude his
development on the spot, he can go to his own lodging, alone, in the
same way as described of his coming, with no companion, keeping that
same meditation subject in mind, with mindfulness well established, and
with his mind not turned outwards owing to his faculties being turned
inwards.
53. As he leaves the charnel ground he should define the path he comes
back by thus: 'The path by which I have left goes in an easterly direc-
tion, westerly ... northerly ... southerly direction', or 'It goes in an inter-
mediate direction'; or 'In this place it goes to the left, in this place to the
right'; and 'In this place there is a stone, in this an ant-hill, in this a tree,
in this a bush, in this a creeper'.
54. When he has defined the path he has come back by and when, once
back, he is walking up and down, he should see that his walk is oriented
towards it too; the meaning is that he should walk up and down on a
piece of ground that faces in the direction of the sign of foulness. And
when he sits, he should prepare a seat oriented towards it too.
55. But if there is a bog or a ravine or a tree or a fence or a swamp in
that direction, if he cannot walk up and down on a piece of ground
facing in that direction, if he cannot prepare his seat thus because there is
no room for it, then he can both walk up and down and sit in a place
where there is room, even though it does not face that way; but he
should turn his mind in that direction.
56. Now as to the questions beginning with what is the purpose ...
characterizing the surrounding signs! The intention of the answer that
begins with the words, has non-delusion for its purpose, is this: If some-
one goes at the wrong time to the place where the sign of the bloated is,
and opens his eyes for the purpose of apprehending the sign by charac-
terizing the surrounding signs, then as soon as he looks the dead body
appears [187] as if it were standing up and threatening9
and pursuing
him, and when he sees the hideous and fearful object, his mind reels, he
is like one demented, gripped by panic, fear and terror, and his hair
stands on end. For among the thirty-eight meditation subjects expounded
in the texts no object is so frightening as this one. There are some who
lose jhana in this meditation subject. Why? Because it is so frightening.
57. So the meditator must stand firm. Establishing his mindfulness well,
he should remove his fears in this way: 'No dead body gets up and
pursues one. If that stone or that creeper close to it were to come, the
body might come too; but since that stone or that creeper does not come,
the body will not come either. Its appearance to you in this way is born
of your perception, created by your perception. Today your meditation
subject has appeared to you. Do not be afraid, bhikkhu'. He should laugh
it off and direct his mind to the sign. In that way he will arrive at distinc-
tion. The words 'Characterizing the surrounding signs has non-delusion
for its purpose* are said on this account.
58. To succeed in apprehending the sign in the eleven ways is to anchor
the meditation subject. For the opening of his eyes and looking condi-
tions the arising of the learning sign; and as he exercises his mind on that
the counterpart sign arises; and as he exercises his mind on that he
reaches absorption. When he is sure of absorption, he works up insight
and realizes Arahantship. Hence it was said: apprehending the sign in
the [other] eleven ways has anchoring [the mind] for its purpose.
59. The reviewing of the path gone by and come by has keeping [the
mind] on the track for its purpose: the meaning is that the reviewing of
the path gone by and of the path come back by mentioned is for the
purpose of keeping properly to the track of the meditation subject.
60. For if this bhikkhu is going along with his meditation subject and
people on the way ask him about the day, 'What is today, venerable
sir?', or they ask him some question [about Dhamma], or they welcome
him, he ought not to go on in silence, thinking 'I have a meditation
subject'. The day must be told, the question must be answered, even by
saying * I do not know' if he does not know, a legitimate welcome must
be responded to. [188] As he does so, the newly acquired sign vanishes.
But even if it does vanish, he should still tell the day when asked; if he
does not know the answer to the question, he should still say 'I do not
know', and if he does know it, he should explain it surely;
10
and he must
respond to a welcome. Also reception of visitors must be attended to on
seeing a visiting bhikkhu, and all the remaining duties in the Khan-
dhakas must be carried out too, that is, the duties of the shrine terrace,
the duties of the Bodhi-tree terrace, the duties of the Uposatha house, the
duties of the refectory and the bath house, and those to the teacher, the
preceptor, visitors, departing bhikkhus, and the rest.
61. And the newly acquired sign vanishes while he is carrying out these
too. When he wants to go again, thinking * I shall go and take up the
sign', he finds he cannot go to the charnel ground because it has been
invaded by non-human beings or by wild beasts, or the sign has disap-
peared. For a bloated corpse only lasts one or two days and then turns
into a livid corpse. Of all the meditation subjects there is none so hard to
come by as this.
62. So when the sign has vanished in this way, the bhikkhu should sit
down in his night quarters or in his day quarters and first of all review
the path gone by and come by up to the place where he is actually sitting
cross-legged, doing it in this way: 'I went out of the monastery by this
gate, I took a path leading in such and such a direction, I turned left at
such and such a place, I turned right at such and such a place, in one part
of it there was a stone, in another an ant-hill or a tree or a bush or a
creeper, having gone by that path, I saw the foulness in such and such a
place, I stood there facing in such and such a direction and observed
such and such surrounding signs, I apprehended the sign of foulness in
this way; I left the charnel ground in such and such a direction, I came
back by such and such a path doing this and this, and I am now sitting
here'.
63. As he reviews it in this way, the sign becomes evident and appears
as if placed in front of him; the meditation subject rides in its track as it
did before. Hence it was said: the reviewing of the path gone by and
come by has keeping [the mind] on the track for its purpose.
64. Now as to the words, when he has established reverence for it by
seeing its advantages and by perceiving it as a treasure and so come to
love itf he anchors the mind on that object: here, having gained jhana by
exercising his mind on the repulsiveness in the bloated, he should in-
crease insight with the jhana as its proximate cause, and then he should
see the advantages in this way: [189] 'Surely in this way I shall be
liberated from ageing and death'.
65. Just as a pauper who acquired a treasure of gems would guard and
love it with great affection, feeling reverence for it as one who appreci-
ates the value of it, * I have got what is hard indeed to get!', so too [this
bhikkhu] should guard the sign, loving it and feeling reverence for it as
one who appreciates the value of it, * I have got this meditation subject,
which is indeed as hard to get as a very valuable treasure is for a pauper
to get. For one whose meditation subject is the four elements discerns
the four primary elements in himself, one whose meditation subject is
breathing discerns the wind in his own nostrils, and one whose medita-
tion subject is a kasina makes a kasina and develops it at his ease, so
these other meditation subjects are easily got. But this one lasts only one
or two days, after which it turns into a livid corpse. There is none harder
to get than this one'. In his night quarters and in his day quarters he
should keep his mind anchored there thus, * Repulsiveness of the bloated,
repulsiveness of the bloated'. And he should advert to the sign, bring
it to mind and strike at it with thought and applied thought over and over
again.
66. As he does so, the counterpart sign arises. Here is the difference
between the two signs. The learning sign appears as a hideous, dreadful
and frightening sight; but the counterpart sign appears like a man with
big limbs lying down after eating his fill.
67. Simultaneously with his acquiring the counterpart sign his lust is
abandoned by suppression owing to his giving no attention externally to
sense desires [as object]. And owing to his abandoning of approval, ill
will is abandoned too, as pus is with the abandoning of blood. Likewise
stiffness and torpor are abandoned through exertion of energy, agitation
and worry are abandoned through devotion to peaceful things that cause
no remorse; and uncertainty about the Master who teaches the way,
about the way, and about the fruit of the way, is abandoned through the
actual experience of the distinction attained. So the five hindrances are
abandoned. And there are present applied thought with the characteristic
of directing the mind on to that same sign, and sustained thought accom-
plishing the function of pressing on the sign, and happiness due to the
acquisition of distinction, and tranquillity due to the production of tran-
quillity in one whose mind is happy, and bliss with that tranquillity as its
sign, [190] and unification that has bliss as its sign due to the production
of concentration in one whose mind is blissful. So the jhana factors
become manifest.
68. Thus access, which is the obverse of the first jhana, is produced in
him too at that same moment. All after that up to absorption in the first
jhana and mastery in it should be understood as described under the
earth kasina.
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