THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
CHAPTER X
THE IMMATERIAL STATES
(Aruppa-niddesa)
[(1)THE BASE CONSISTING OF BOUNDLESS SPACE]
1. [326] Now as to the four immaterial states mentioned next to the
divine abidings (Ch. HI, §105), one who wants firstly to develop the
base consisting of boundless space sees in gross physical matter danger
through the wielding of sticks, etc., because of the words: ' "It is in
virtue of matter that wielding of sticks, wielding of knives, quarrels,
brawls and disputes take place; but that does not exist at all in the
immaterial state", and in this expectation he enters upon the way to
dispassion for only material things, for the fading and cessation of only
those' (M.i,410); and he sees danger in it too through the thousand
afflictions beginning with eye disease. So in order to surmount that he
enters upon the fourth jhana in any one of the nine kasinas beginning
with the earth kasina and omitting the limited-space kasina.
2. Now although he has already surmounted gross physical matter b^
means of the fourth jhana of the fine-material sphere, nevertheless he
still wants also to surmount the kasina materiality since it is the counter-
part of the former. How does he do this?
3. Suppose a timid man is pursued by a snake in a forest and flees from
it as fast as he can, then if he sees in the place he has fled to a palm leaf
with a streak painted on it or a creeper or a rope or a crack in the ground,
he is fearful, anxious and will not even look at it. Suppose again a man is
living in the same village as a hostile man who ill-uses him, and on
being threatened by him with a flogging and the burning down of his
house, he goes away to live in another village, then if he meets another
man there of similar appearance, voice and manner, he is fearful, anx-
ious and will not even look at him.
4. Here is the application of the similes. The time when the bhikkhu
has the gross physical matter as his object is like the time when the men
were respectively threatened by the snake and by the enemy. [327] The
time when the bhikkhu surmounts the gross physical matter by means of
the fourth jhana of the fine-material sphere is like the first man's fleeing
as fast as he can and the other man's going away to another village. The
bhikkhu's observing that even the matter of the kasina is the counterpart
of that gross physical matter and his wanting to surmount that also is like
the first man's seeing in the place he had fled to the palm leaf with a
streak painted on it, etc., and the other man's seeing the man who
resembled the enemy in the village he had left, and their unwillingness
to look owing to fear and anxiety.
And here the similes of the dog attacked by a boar and that of the
pisdca goblin and the timid man1
should be understood too.
5. So when he has thus become disgusted with (dispassionate towards)
the kasina materiality, the object of the fourth jhana, and wants to get
away from it, he achieves mastery in the five ways. Then on emerging
from the now familiar fourth jhana of the fine-material sphere, he sees
the danger in that jhana in this way: This makes its object the material-
ity with which I have become disgusted', and 'It has joy as its near
enemy', and 'It is grosser than the peaceful liberations'. There is, how-
ever, no [comparative] grossness of factors here [as in the case of the
four fine-material jhanas]; for the immaterial states have the same two
factors as this fine-material [jhana].
6. When he has seen the danger in that [fine-material fourth jhana] in
this way and has ended his attachment to it, he gives his attention to the
base consisting of boundless space as peaceful. Then, when he has spread
out the kasina to the limit of the world-sphere, or as far as he likes, he
removes the kasina [materiality] by giving his attention to the space
touched by it, [regarding that] as 'space' or 'boundless space'.
7. When he is removing it, he neither folds it up like a mat nor with-
draws it like a cake from a tin. It is simply that he does not advert to it or
give attention to it or review it; it is when he neither adverts to it nor
gives attention to it nor reviews it, but gives his attention exclusively to
the space touched by it, [regarding that] as 'space, space', that he is said
to 'remove the kasina'.
8. And when the kasina is being removed, it does not roll up or roll
away. It is simply that it is called 'removed' on account of his non-
attention to it, his attention being given to 'space, space'. This is concep-
tualized as the mere space left by the removal of the kasina [materiality].
Whether it is called 'space left by the removal of the kasina' or 'space
touched by the kasina' or 'space secluded from the kasina', it is all the
same.
9. He adverts again and again to the sign of the space left by the
removal of the kasina [328] as 'space, space', and he strikes at it with
thought and applied thought. As he adverts to it again and again and
strikes at it with thought and applied thought, the hindrances are sup-
pressed, mindfulness is established and his mind becomes concentrated
in access. He cultivates that sign again and again, develops and repeat-
edly practises it.
10. As he again and again adverts to it and gives attention to it in this
way, consciousness belonging to the base consisting of boundless space
arises in absorption with the space [as its object], as the consciousness
belonging to the fine-material sphere did in the case of the earth kasina,
and so on. And here too in the prior stage there are either three or four
sensual-sphere impulsions associated with equanimous feeling, while the
fourth or the fifth is of the immaterial sphere. The rest is the same as in
the case of the earth kasina (Ch. IV, §74).
11. There is, however, this difference. When the immaterial-sphere con-
sciousness has arisen in this way, the bhikkhu, who has been formerly
looking at the kasina disk with the jhana eye, finds himself looking at
only space after that sign has been abruptly removed by the attention
given in the preliminary work thus 'space, space'. He is like a man who
has plugged an opening in a [covered] vehicle, a sack or a pot
2
with a
piece of blue rag or with a piece of rag of some such colour as yellow,
red or white and is looking at that, and then when the rag is removed by
the force of the wind or by some other agency, he finds himself looking
at space.
[Text and Commentary]
12. And at this point it is said: 'With the complete surmounting (sama-
tikkama) of perceptions of matter, with the disappearance of perceptions
of resistance, with non-attention to perceptions of variety, [aware of]
"unbounded space", he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of
boundless space' (Vbh. 245).
13. Herein, complete is in all aspects or of all [perceptions]; without ex-
ception, is the meaning. Of perceptions of matter: both (a) of the fine-
material jhanas mentioned [here] under the heading of 'perception', and
(b) of those things that are their object. For (a) the jhana of the fine-
material sphere is called 'matter' in such passages as 'Possessed of vis-
ible matter he sees instances of matter' (D.ii,70; M.ii,12), and (b) it is its
object too [that is called 'matter'] in such passages as 'He sees instances
of visible matter externally ... fair and ugly' (D.ii,l 10; M.ii,13).
3
Conse-
quently here the words 'perceptions of matter' (rupa-sahnd—lit. 'matter-
perceptions'), in the sense of 'perceptions about matter', are used (a) for
fine-material jhana stated thus under the heading of 'perceptions'. [Also]
(b) it has the label (sanna) 'matter' (rupa\ thus it (the jhana's object) is
'labelled matter' (rupa-sanna); what is meant is that 'matter' is its name.
So it should be understood that this is also a term for (b) what is classed
as the earth kasina, etc., which is the object of that [jhana].
4
[329]
14. With the surmounting: with the fading away and with the cessation.
What is meant? With the fading away and with the cessation, both be-
cause of the fading away and because of the cessation, either in all
aspects or without exception, of these perceptions of matter, reckoned as
jhana, which number fifteen with the [five each of the] profitable, resul-
tant and functional,
5
and also of these things labelled matter, reckoned as
objects [of those perceptions], which number nine with the earth kasina,
etc. (§1), he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless
space. For he cannot enter upon and dwell in that without completely
surmounting perceptions of matter.
15. Herein, there is no surmounting of these perceptions in one whose
greed for the object [of those perceptions] has not faded away; and when
the perceptions have been surmounted, their objects have been surmounted
as well. That is why in the Vibhahga only the surmounting of the percep-
tions and not that of the objects is mentioned as follows: * Herein, what
are perceptions of matter? They are the perception, perceiving, per-
ceivedness, in one who has attained a fine-material-sphere attainment or
in one who has been reborn there or in one who is abiding in bliss there
in this present life. These are what are called perceptions of matter.
These perceptions of matter are passed, surpassed, surmounted. Hence,
"With the complete surmounting of perceptions of matter" is said' (Vbh.
261). But this commentary should be understood to deal also with the
surmounting of the object because these attainments have to be reached
by surmounting the object; they are not reached by retaining the same
object as in the first and subsequent jhanas.
16. With the disppearance of perceptions of resistance: perceptions of
resistance are perceptions arisen through the impact of the physical base
consisting of the eye, etc., and the respective objects consisting of visible
objects, etc.; and this is a term for perception of visible objects (rupa)
and so on, according as it is said: 'Here, what are perceptions of resis-
tance? Perceptions of visible objects, perceptions of sounds, perceptions
of odours, perceptions of flavours, perceptions of tangible objects—these
are called "perceptions of resistance"' (Vbh. 261); with the complete
disappearance, the abandoning, the non-arising, of these ten kinds of per-
ceptions of resistance, that is to say, of the five profitable-resultant and
five unprofitable-resultant;
1
causing their non-occurrence, is what is meant.
17. Of course, these are not to be found in one who has entered upon the
first jhana, etc., either; for consciousness at that time does not occur by
way of the five doors. Still [330] the mention of them here should be
understood as a recommendation of this jhana for the purpose of arous-
ing interest in it, just as in the case of the fourth jhana there is mention of
the pleasure and pain already abandoned elsewhere, and in the case of
the third path there is mention of the [false] view of personality, etc.,
already abandoned earlier.
18. Or alternatively, though these are also not to be found in one who
has attained the fine-material sphere, still their not being there is not due
to their having been abandoned; for development of the fine-material
sphere does not lead to fading of greed for materiality, and the occur-
rence of those [fine-material jhanas] is actually dependent on materiality.
But this development [of the immaterial] does lead to the fading of greed
for materiality. Therefore it is allowable to say that they are actually
abandoned here; and not only to say it, but to maintain it absolutely.
19. In fact it is because they have not been abandoned already before
this that it was said by the Blessed One that sound is a thorn to one who
has the first jhana (A.v,135). And it is precisely because they are aban-
doned here that the imperturbability (see Vbh. 135) of the immaterial
attainments and their state of peaceful liberation are mentioned (M.i,33),
and that Alara Kalama neither saw the five hundred carts that passed
close by him nor heard the sound of them while he was in an immaterial
attainment (D.ii,130).
20. With non-attention to perceptions of variety: either to perceptions
occurring with variety as their domain or to perceptions themselves vari-
ous. For 'perceptions of variety' are so called [for two reasons]: firstly,
because the kinds of perception included along with the mind element
and mind-consciousness element in one who has not attained—which
kinds are intended here as described in the Vibhahga thus: *Herein, what
are perceptions of variety? The perception, perceiving, perceivedness, in
one who has not attained and possesses either mind element or mind-
consciousness element: these are called "perceptions of variety"'
(Vbh. 261)—occur with respect to a domain that is varied in individual
essence with the variety classed as visible-object, sound, etc.; and sec-
ondly, because the forty-four kinds of perception—that is to say, eight
kinds of sense-sphere profitable perception, twelve kinds of unprofitable
perception, eleven kinds of sense-sphere profitable resultant perception,
two kinds of unprofitable-resultant perception, and eleven kinds of sense-
sphere functional perception—themselves have variety, have various in-
dividual essences, and are dissimiliar from each other. With the com-
plete non-attention to, non-adverting to, non-reaction to, non-reviewing
of, these perceptions of variety; what is meant is that because he does
not advert to them, give them attention or review them, therefore ...
21. And [two things] should be understood: firstly, that their absence is
stated here in the two ways as 'surmounting' and 'disappearance' be-
cause the earlier perceptions of matter and perceptions of resistance do
not exist even in the kind of existence produced by this jhana on rebirth,
let alone when this jhana is entered upon and dwelt in that existence;
[331] and secondly, in the case of perceptions of variety, 'non-attention'
to them is said because twenty-seven kinds of perception—that is to say,
eight kinds of sense-sphere profitable perception, nine kinds of func-
tional perception, and ten kinds of unprofitable perception—still exist in
the kind of existence produced by this jhana. For when he enters upon
and dwells in this jhana there too, he does so by non-attention to them
also, but he has not attained when he does give attention to them.
22. And here briefly it should be understood that the abandoning of all
fine-material-sphere states is signified by the words with the surmount-
ing of perceptions of matter, and the abandoning of and non-attention to
all sense-sphere consciousness and its concomitants is signified by the
words with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, with non-
attention to perceptions of variety.
23. Unbounded space: here it is called 'unbounded' (ananta, lit. end-
less) because neither its end as its arising nor its end as its fall are made
known.
7
It is the space left by the removal of the kasina that is called
'space'. And here unboundedness (endlessness) should be understood as
[referring to] the attention also, which is why it is said in the Vibhanga:
'He places, settles, his consciousness in that space, he pervades un-
boundedly (anantam), hence "unbounded (ananto) space" is said
(Vbh. 262).
24. He enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless space:
it has no bound (anta)y thus it is unbounded (ananta). What is spatially
unbounded (akasam anantam) is unbounded space (akdsdnantam). Un-
bounded space is the same as boundless space (akasanancam—lit. space-
boundlessness). That 'boundless space' is a 'base' (ayatana) in the sense
of habitat for the jhana whose nature it is to be associated with it, as the
'deities' base' is for deities, thus it is the 'base consisting of boundless
space' (akasanancayatana). He enters upon and dwells in: having reached
that base consisting of boundless space, having caused it to be produced,
he dwells (viharati) with an abiding (vihara) consisting in postures that
are in conformity with it.
This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of boundless
space as a meditation subject.
[(2) THE BASE CONSISTING OF BOUNDLESS CONSCIOUSNESS]
25. When he wants to develop the base consisting of boundless con-
sciousness, he must first achieve mastery in the five ways in the attain-
ment of the base consisting of boundless space. Then he should see the
danger in the base consisting of boundless space in this way: 'This
attainment has fine-material jhana as its near enemy, and it is not as
peaceful as the base consisting of boundless consciousness'. So having
ended his attachment to that, he should give his attention to the base
consisting of boundless consciousness as peaceful, adverting again and
again as 'consciousness, consciousness' to the consciousness that oc-
curred pervading that space [as its object]. He should give it attention,
review it, and strike at it with applied and sustained thought; [332] but
he should not give attention [simply] in this way 'boundless, bound-
less'.
8
26. As he directs his mind again and again on to that sign in this way,
the hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness is established, and his mind
becomes concentrated in access. He cultivates that sign again and again,
develops and repeatedly practises it. As he does so, consciousness
belonging to the base consisting of boundless consciousness arises in
absorption with the [past] consciousness that pervaded the space [as its
object], just as that belonging to the base consisting of boundless space
did with the space [as its object]. But the method of explaining the
process of absorption here should be understood in the way already
described.
[Text and Commentary]
27. And at this point it is said: 'By completely surmounting (samati-
kamma) the base consisting of boundless space, [aware of] "unbounded
consciousness", he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of
boundless consciousness' (Vbh. 245).
28. Herein, completely is as already explained. By ... surmounting the
base consisting of boundless space: the jhana is called the 'base consist-
ing of boundless space' in the way already stated (§24), and its object is
so called too. For the object, too, is 'boundless space' (akasanancam) in
the way already stated (§24), and then, because it is the object of the first
immaterial jhana, it is its 'base' in the sense of habitat, as the 'deities'
base' is for deities, thus it is the 'base consisting of boundless space'.
Likewise: it is 'boundless space', and then, because it is the cause of the
jhana's being of that species, it is its 'base' in the sense of locality of the
species, as Kamboja is the 'base' of horses, thus it is the 'base consisting
of boundless space' in this way also. So it should be understood that the
words 'By ... surmounting the base consisting of boundless space' in-
clude both [the jhana and its object] together, since this base consisting
of boundless consciousness is to be entered upon and dwelt in precisely
by surmounting, by causing the non-occurrence of, and by not giving at-
tention to, both the jhana and its object.
29. Unbounded consciousness: What is meant is that he gives his atten-
tion thus 'unbounded consciousness' to that same consciousness that oc-
curred in pervading [as its object the space] as 'unbounded space'. Or
'unbounded' refers to the attention. For when he gives attention without
reserve to the consciousness that had the space as its object, then the
attention he gives to it is 'unbounded'.
30. For it is said in the Vibhanga: * "Unbounded consciousness": he
gives attention to that same space pervaded by consciousness, he per-
vades boundlessly, hence "unbounded consciousness" is said' (Vbh. 262).
But in that passage (tam yeva akasam vinnanena phutam) the instrumen-
tal case *by consciousness' must be understood in the sense of accusa-
tive; for the teachers of the commentary explain its meaning in that way.
What is meant by 'He pervades boundlessly' is that 'he gives attention to
that same consciousness which had pervaded that space' {tam yeva akasam
phutam vinnanam).
31. He enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless con-
sciousness: [333] it has no bound (anta, lit. end), thus it is unbounded
(ananta). What is unbounded is boundless (ananca, lit. unboundedness),
and unbounded consciousness is called 'boundless consciousness', that
is, 'vinnanancam' [in the contracted form] instead of 'vinnananancam'
[which is the full number of syllables]. This is an idiomatic form. That
boundless consciousness (vinnananca) is the base (ayatana) in the sense
of foundation for the jhana whose nature it is to be associated with it, as
the 'deities' base' is for deities, thus it is the 'base consisting of bound-
less consciousness' (vinnanancayatana). The rest is the same as before.
This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of boundless
consciousness as a meditation subject.
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