The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
by Bhikkhu Henepola Gunaratana
Chapter 6
Jhana and The Noble Disciples
All noble persons, as we saw, acquire supramundane jhana along with their
attainment of the noble paths and fruits. The noble ones at each of the four
stages of liberation, moreover, have access to the supramundane jhana of
their respective fruition attainments, from the fruition attainment of
stream-entry up to the fruition attainments of arahatship. It remains
problematic, however to what extent they also enjoy the possession of
mundane jhana. To determine an answer to this question we will consult an
early typology of seven types of noble disciples, which provides a more
psychologically oriented way of classifying the eight noble individuals. A
look at the explanation of these seven types will enable us to see the range
of jhanic attainment reached by the noble disciples. On this basis we will
proceed to assess the place of mundane jhana in the early Buddhist picture
of the arahat, the perfected individual.
Seven Types of Disciples
The sevenfold typology is originally found in the Kitagiri Sutta of the
Majjhima Nikaya (M.i,477-79) and is reformulated in the Puggalapannatti of
the Abhidhamma Pitaka. This typology classifies the noble persons on the
paths and fruits into seven types:
1. the faith-devotee (saddhanusari),
2. the one liberated by faith (saddhavimutta),
3. the body-witness (kayasakkhi),
4. the one liberated in both ways (ubhatobhagavimutta),
5. the truth-devotee ( dhammanusari),
6. the one attained to understanding (ditthipatta), and
7. the one liberated by wisdom (pannavimutta).
The seven types may be divided into three general groups, each defined by
the predominance of a particular spiritual faculty, The first two types are
governed by a predominance of faith, the middle two by a predominance of
concentration, and the last three by a predominance of wisdom. To this
division, however, certain qualifications will have to made as we go along.
1. The faith-devotee is explained the sutta thus:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached with his own (mental) body
those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material form: nor
after seeing with wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed. [1] But he has
a certain degree of faith in the Tathagata, a certain degree of devotion
to him, and he has these qualities -- the faculties of faith, energy,
mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. This person, monks, is called a
faith-devotee. (M.i,479)
The Puggalapannatti (p 182) defines the faith-devotee from a different angle
as a disciple practicing for the fruit of stream-entry in whom the faculty
of faith is predominant and who develops the noble path led by faith. It
adds that when he is established in the fruit he becomes one liberated by
faith. Although the sutta excluded the "peaceful immaterial attainments,"
i.e. the four immaterial jhana, from the faith-devotee's equipment, this
implies nothing with regard to his achievement of the four lower mundane
jhanas. It would seem that the faith-devotee can have previously attained
any of the four fine-material jhanas before reaching the path, and can also
be a dry-insight worker bereft of mundane jhana.
2. The one liberated by faith is strictly and literally defined as a noble
disciple at the six intermediate levels, from the fruit of stream-entry
through to the path of arahatship, who lacks the immaterial jhanas and has a
predominance of the faith faculty.
The Buddha explains the one liberated by faith as follows:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached with his own (mental) body
those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material form; but
having seen with wisdom, some of his cankers have been destroyed, and his
faith in the Tathagata is settled, deeply rooted, well established. This
person, monks, is called one liberated by faith. (M.i,478)
As in the case of the faith-devotee, the one liberated by faith, while
lacking the immaterial jhanas, may still be an obtainer of the four mundane
jhanas as well as a dry insight worker.
The Puggalapnnatti states (pp.184-85) that the person liberated by faith is
one who understands the Four Noble Truths, has seen and verified by means of
wisdom the teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata, and having seen with
wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. However, he has not done so as
easily as the ditthipatta, the person attained to understanding, whose
progress is easier due to his superior wisdom. The fact that the one
liberated by faith has destroyed only some of this cankers implies that he
has advanced beyond the first path but not yet reached the final fruit, the
fruit of arahatship. [2]
3. The body-witness is a noble disciple at the six intermediate levels, from
the fruit of stream-entry to the path of arahatship, who has a predominance
of the faculty of concentration and can obtain the immaterial jhanas. The
sutta explanation reads:
And what person, monks is a body-witness? Herein, monks, some person has
reached with his own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial deliverances
transcending material form, and having seen with wisdom, some of his
cankers having been destroyed. This person, monks, is called a
body-witness. (M.i,478)
The Puggalapannatti (p. 184) offers a slight variation in this phrasing,
substituting "the eight deliverances" (atthavimokkha) for the sutta's
"peaceful immaterial deliverances" (santa vimokkha aruppa). These eight
deliverances consist of three meditative attainments pertaining to the
fine-material sphere (inclusive of all four lower jhanas), the four
immaterial jhanas, and the cessation of perception and feeling
(sannavedayitanirodha) -- the last a special attainment accessible only to
those non-returners and arahats who have also mastered the eight jhanas. [3]
The statement of the Puggalapannatti does not mean either that the
achievement of all eight deliverances is necessary to become a body-witness
or that the achievement of the three lower deliverances is sufficient. What
is both requisite and sufficient to qualify as a body-witness is the partial
destruction of defilements coupled with the attainment of at least the
lowest immaterial jhana. Thus the body witness becomes fivefold by way of
those who obtain any of the four immaterial jhanas and the one who also
obtains the cessation of perception and feeling.
4. One who is liberated in both ways is an arahat who has completely
destroyed the defilements and possesses the immaterial attainments. The
commentaries explain the name "liberated in both ways" as meaning "through
the immaterial attainment he is liberated from the material body and through
the path (of arahatship) he is liberated from the mental body" (MA.ii,131).
The sutta defines this type of disciple thus:
And what person, monks, is liberated in both ways? Herein, monks, someone
has reached with his own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial
deliverances transcending material form, and having seen with wisdom, his
cankers are destroyed. This person, monks, is called liberated in both
ways. (M.i,477)
The Puggalapannatti (p.184) gives basically the same formula but replaces
"immaterial deliverances" with "the eight deliverances." The same principle
of interpretation that applied to the body-witness applies here: the
attainment of any immaterial jhana, even the lowest, is sufficient to
qualify a person as both-ways liberated. As the commentary to the
Visuddhimagga says: "One who has attained arahatship after gaining even one
[immaterial jhana] is liberated both ways" (Vism.T.ii,466). This type
becomes fivefold by way of those who attain arahatship after emerging from
one or another of the four immaterial jhanas and the one who attains
arahatship after emerging from the attainment of cessation (MA:iii,131).
5. The truth-devotee is a disciple on the first path in whom the faculty of
wisdom is predominant. The Buddha explains the truth-devotee as follows:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached with his own (mental) body
those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending material form; nor,
after seeing with wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed. But the
teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata are accepted by him through mere
reflection, and he has these qualities -- the faculties of faith, energy,
mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. This person, monks, is called a
truth-devotee. (M.i,479)
The Puggalapannatti (p.185) defines the truth-devotee as one practicing for
realization of the fruit of stream-entry in whom the faculty of wisdom is
predominant, and who develops the path led by wisdom. It adds that when a
truth-devotee is established in the fruit of stream-entry he becomes one
attained to understanding, the sixth type. The sutta and Abhidhamma again
differ as to emphasis, the one stressing lack of the immaterial jhanas, the
other the ariyan stature. Presumably, he may have any of the four
fine-material jhanas or be a bare-insight practitioner without any mundane
jhana.
6. The one attained to understanding is a noble disciple at the six
intermediate levels who lacks the immaterial jhanas and has a predominance
of the wisdom faculty. The Buddha explains:
And what person, monks, is the one attained to understanding? Herein,
monks someone has not reached with his own mental body those peaceful
immaterial deliverances transcending material form, but having seen with
wisdom some of his cankers are destroyed, and the teachings proclaimed by
the Tathagata have been seen and verified by him with wisdom. This person,
monks, is called the one attained to understanding. (M.i,478)
The Puggalapannatti (p.185) defines the one attained to understanding as a
person who understands the Four Noble Truths, has seen and verified by means
of wisdom the teachings proclaimed by the Tathagata, and having seen with
wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. He is thus the "wisdom
counterpart" of the one liberated by faith, but progresses more easily than
the latter by virtue of his sharper wisdom. Like his counterpart, he may
possess any of the four mundane jhanas or may be a dry-insight worker.
7. The one liberated by wisdom is an arahat who does not obtain the
immaterial attainments. In the words of the sutta:
And what person, monks, is the one liberated by wisdom? Herein, monks,
someone has not reached with his own (mental) body those peaceful material
deliverances transcending material form, but having seen with wisdom his
cankers are destroyed. This person, monks, is called one liberated by
wisdom. (M.i,477-78)
The Puggalapannatti's definition (p.185) merely replaces "immaterial
deliverance" with "the eight deliverances." Though such arahats do not reach
the immaterial jhanas it is quite possible for them to attain the lower
jhanas. The sutta commentary in fact states that the one liberated by wisdom
is fivefold by way of the dry-insight worker and the four who attain
arahatship after emerging from the four jhanas.
It should be noted that the one liberated by wisdom is contrasted not with
the one liberated by faith, but with the one liberated in both ways. The
issue that divides the two types of arahat is the lack or possession of the
four immaterial jhanas and the attainment of cessation. The person liberated
by faith is found at the six intermediate levels of sanctity, not at the
level of arahatship. When he obtains arahatship, lacking the immaterial
jhanas, he becomes one liberated by wisdom even though faith rather that
wisdom is his predominant faculty. Similarly, a meditator with predominance
of concentration who possesses the immaterial attainments will still be
liberated in both ways even if wisdom rather than concentration claims first
place among his spiritual endowments, as was the case with the venerable
Sariputta.
Jhana and the Arahat
From the standpoint of their spiritual stature the seven types of noble
persons can be divided into three categories. The first, which includes the
faith-devotee and the truth-devotee, consists of those on the path of
stream-entry, the first of the eight noble individuals. The second category,
comprising the one liberated by faith, the body-witness and the one attained
to understanding, consists of those on the six intermediate levels, from the
stream-enterer to one on the path of arahatship. The third category,
comprising the one liberated in both ways and the one liberated by wisdom,
consists only of arahats. [4]
The ubhatobhagavimutta, "one liberated in both ways," and the pannavimutta
"one liberated by wisdom," thus form the terms of a twofold typology of
arahats distinguished on the basis of their accomplishment in jhana. The
ubhatobhagavimutta arahat experiences in his own person the "peaceful
deliverances" of the immaterial sphere, the pannavimutta arahat lacks this
full experience of the immaterial jhanas. Each of these two types, according
to the commentaries, again becomes fivefold -- the ubhatobhagavimutta by way
of those who possess the ascending four immaterial jhanas and the attainment
of cessation, the pannavimutta by way of those who reach arahatship after
emerging from on of the four fine-material jhanas and the dry-insight
mediator whose insight lacks the support of mundane jhana.
The possibility of attaining the supramundane path without possession of a
mundane jhana has been questioned by some Theravada scholars, but the
Visuddhimagga clearly admits this possibility when it distinguishes between
the path arisen in a dry-insight mediator and the path arisen in one who
possesses a jhana but does not use it as a basis for insight (Vism.666-67;
PP.779). Textual evidence that there can be arahats lacking mundane jhana is
provided by the Susima Sutta (S.ii, 199-23) together with is commentaries.
When the monks in the sutta are asked how they can be arahats without
possessing supernormal powers of the immaterial attainments, they reply: "We
are liberated by wisdom" (pannavimutta kho mayam). The commentary glosses
this reply thus: "We are contemplatives, dry-insight meditators, liberated
by wisdom alone" (Mayam nijjhanaka sukkhavipassaka pannamatten'eva vimutta
ti, SA.ii,117). The commentary also states that the Buddha gave his long
disquisition on insight in the sutta "to show the arising of knowledge even
without concentration" (vina pi samadhimevam nanuppattidassanattham,
SA.ii,117). The subcommentary establishes the point by explaining "even
without concentration" to mean "even without concentration previously
accomplished reaching the mark of serenity" (samathalakkhanappattam
purimasiddhamvina pi samadhin ti), adding that this is said in reference to
one who makes insight his vehicle (ST.ii,125).
In contrast to the pannavimutta arahats, those arahats who are
ubhatobhagavimutta enjoy a twofold liberation. Through their mastery over
the formless attainments they are liberated from the material body
(rupakaya), capable of dwelling in the very life in the meditations
corresponding to the immaterial planes of existence; through their
attainment of arahatship they are liberated from the mental body (namakaya),
presently free from all defilements and sure of final emancipation from
future becoming. Pannavimutta arahats only possess the second of these two
liberations.
The double liberation of the ubhatobhagavimutta arahat should not be
confused with another double liberation frequently mentioned in the suttas
in connection with arahatship. This second pair of liberations, called
cetovimutti pannavimutti, "liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom," is
shared by all arahats. It appears in the stock passage descriptive of
arahatship: "With the destruction of the cankers he here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having
realized it for himself with direct knowledge." That this twofold liberation
belongs to pannavimutta arahats as well as those who are ubhatobhagavimutta
is made clear by the Putta Sutta, where the stock passage is used for two
types of arahats called the "white lotus recluse" and the "red lotus
recluse":
How, monks, is a person a white lotus recluse (samanapundarika)? Here,
monks, with the destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having
realized it for himself with direct knowledge. Yet he does not dwell
experiencing the eight deliverances with his body. Thus, monks, a person
is a white lotus recluse.
And how, monks, is a person a red lotus recluse (samanapaduma)? Here,
monks, with the destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, having
realized it for himself with direct knowledge. And he dwells experiencing
the eight deliverances with his body. Thus, monks, a person is a red lotus
recluse. (A.ii,87)
Since the description of these two types coincides with that of pannavimutta
and ubhatobhagavimutta the two pairs may be identified, the white lotus
recluse with the pannavimutta, the red lotus recluse with the
ubhatobhagavimutta. Yet the pannavimutta arahat, while lacking the
experience of the eight deliverances, still has both liberation of mind and
liberation by wisdom.
When liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom are joined together and
described as "cankerless" (anasava), they can be taken to indicate two
aspects of the arahat's deliverance. Liberation of mind signifies the
release of his mind from craving and its associated defilements, liberation
by wisdom the release from ignorance: "With the fading away of lust there is
liberation of mind, with the fading away of ignorance there is liberation by
wisdom" (A.i,61). "As he sees and understands thus his mind is liberated
from the canker of sensual desire, from the canker of existence from the
canker of ignorance" (M.i,183-84) -- here release from the first two cankers
can be understood as liberation of mind, release from the canker of
ignorance as liberation by wisdom. In the commentaries "liberation of mind"
is identified with the concentration factor in the fruition attainment of
arahatship, "liberation by wisdom" with the wisdom factor.
Since every arahat reaches arahatship through the Noble Eightfold Path, he
must have attained supramundane jhana in the form of right concentration,
the eighth factor of the path, defined as the four jhanas. This jhana
remains with him as the concentration of the fruition attainment of
arahatship, which occurs at the level of supramundane jhana corresponding to
that of his path. Thus he always stands in possession of at least the
supramundane jhana of fruition, called the "cankerless liberation of mind."
However, this consideration does not reflect back on his mundane
attainments, requiring that every arahat possess mundane jhana.
Although early Buddhism acknowledges the possibility of a dry-visioned
arahatship, the attitude prevails that jhanas are still desirable attributes
in an arahat. They are of value not only prior to final attainment, as a
foundation for insight, but retain their value even afterwards. The value of
jhana in the stage of arahatship, when all spiritual training has been
completed, is twofold. One concern the arahat's inner experience, the other
his outer significance as a representative of the Buddha's dispensation.
On the side of inner experience the jhanas are valued as providing the
arahat with a "blissful dwelling here and now" (ditthadhammasukhavihara).
The suttas often show arahats attaining to jhana and the Buddha himself
declares the four jhanas to be figuratively a kind of Nibbana in this
present life (A.iv.453-54). With respect to levels and factors there is no
difference between the mundane jhanas of an arahat and those of a
non-arahat. The difference concerns their function. For non-arahats the
mundane jhanas constitute wholesome kamma; they are deeds with a potential
to produce results, to precipitate rebirth in a corresponding realm of
existence. But in the case of an arahat mundane jhana no longer generates
kamma. Since he has eradicated ignorance and craving, the roots of kamma,
his actions leave no residue; they have no capacity to generate results. For
him the jhanic consciousness is a mere functional consciousness which comes
and goes and once gone disappears without a trace.
The value of the jhanas, however, extends beyond the confines of the
arahat's personal experience to testify to the spiritual efficacy of the
Buddha's dispensation. The jhanas are regarded as ornamentations of the
arahat, testimonies to the accomplishment of the spiritually perfect person
and the effectiveness of the teaching he follows. A worthy monk is able to
"gain at will without trouble or difficulty, the four jhanas pertaining to
the higher consciousness, blissful dwellings here and now." This ability to
gain the jhanas at will is a " quality that makes a monk an elder." When
accompanied by several other spiritual accomplishments it is an essential
quality of "a recluse who graces recluses" and of a monk who can move
unobstructed in the four directions. Having ready access to the four jhanas
makes an elder dear and agreeable, respected and esteemed by his fellow
monks. Facility in gaining the jhanas is one of the eight qualities of a
completely inspiring monk (samantapasadika bhikkhu) perfect in all respects;
it is also one of the eleven foundations of faith (saddha pada). It is
significant that in all these lists of qualities the last item is always the
attainment of arahatship, "the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by
wisdom," showing that all desirable qualities in a bhikkhu culminate in
arahatship.[5]
The higher the degree of his mastery over the meditative attainments, the
higher the esteem in which an arahat monk is held and the more praiseworthy
his achievement is considered. Thus the Buddha says of the
ubhatobhagavimutta arahat: "There is no liberation in both ways higher and
more excellent than this liberation in both ways"(D.ii,71).
The highest respect goes to those monks who possess not only liberation in
both ways but the six abhinnas or "super-knowledges": the exercise of
psychic powers, the divine ear, the ability to read the minds of others, the
recollection of past lives, knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings,
and knowledge of final liberation. The Buddha declares that a monk endowed
with the six abhinnas, is worthy of gifts and hospitality, worthy of
offerings and reverential salutations, a supreme field of merit for the
world (A.iii,280-81). In the period after the Buddha's demise, what
qualified a monk to give guidance to others was endowment with ten
qualities: moral virtue, learning, contentment, mastery over the four
jhanas, the five mundane abhinnas and attainment of the cankerless
liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom (M.iii,11-12). Perhaps it was
because he was extolled by the Buddha for his facility in the meditative
attainments and the abhinnas that the venerable Mahakassapa assumed the
presidency of the first great Buddhist council held in Rajagaha after the
Buddha's passing away.
The graduation in the veneration given to arahats on the basis of their
mundane spiritual achievements implies something about the value system of
early Buddhism that is not often recognized. It suggests that while final
liberation may be the ultimate and most important value, it is not the sole
value even in the spiritual domain. Alongside it, as embellishments rather
than alternatives, stand mastery over the range of the mind and mastery over
the sphere of the knowable. The first is accomplished by the attainment of
the eight mundane jhanas, the second by the attainment of the abhinnas.
Together, final liberation adorned with this twofold mastery is esteemed as
the highest and most desirable way of actualizing the ultimate goal.
[end]
Notes:
[1] The cankers (asava) are four powerful defilements that sustain samsara;
sensual desire, desire for existence, wrong views and ignorance.
[2] The Visuddhimagga, however says that arahats in whom faith is
predominant can also be called "liberated by faith" (Vism.659; PP.770). Its
commentary points out that this statement is intended only figuratively, in
the sense that those arahats reach their goal after having been liberated by
faith in the intermediate stages. Literally, they would be "liberated by
wisdom". (Vism.T.ii,468)
[3] The first three emancipations are: one possessing material form sees
material forms; one not perceiving material forms internally sees material
forms externally; and one is released upon the idea of the beautiful. They
are understood to be variations on the jhanas attained with color kasinas.
For the attainment of cessation, see PP.824-833.
[4] It should be noted that the Kitagiri Sutta makes not provision in its
typology for a disciple on the first path who gains the immaterial jhanas.
Vism.T.(ii,466) holds that he would have to be considered either a
faith-devotee or a truth-devotee, and at the final fruition would be one
liberated in both ways.
[5] The references are to: A,ii,23;iii,131,135,114;iv,314-15; v,337.
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