Breaking Down the Boundaries
To break down the boundaries between classes of beings, repeat the mettā sequence rapidly, with one person per category for self, respected, dear, neutral, and hated beings in quick succession. Abandon the desire to sustain long absorptions; cultivate undistracted attention with limitless kindness. Emphasize a rhythmic progression that equalizes attention toward each and every being you contemplate. Include the category of self to equalize all beings. You will not attain jhāna with self as the object; however, you will be able to attain the first three jhānas with the other categories of beings. Eventually the demarcations between categories will appear superfluous; no one will be excluded from the field of your good will. Mettā will flow unobstructed to any being you contemplate. When it is equally easy to drop into jhāna based on the benefactor, the neutral being, and the hated one, and the quality of mettā appears even and stable as you shift between categories, you will have broken down the boundaries and accessed a universal quality of loving-kindness that can be extended to all beings without exception.
Universal Friendliness to All
I may not know specifically what would delight an earwig, a porcupine, or my neighbor’s nephew, but I have no doubt that just as I wish to be happy and free from suffering, so do they. On a fundamental level there is little difference between a squirrel’s effort to store nuggets in holes and a homeowner’s struggle to pay mortgage bills—they both want to be well and live with ease.
The traditional development of the class called “all beings” structures the concept of “all” into specified and unspecified variations of totality. Each category includes the same countless beings. The groupings include five inclusive and unspecified terms for all beings and seven parallel sets of categories that specify a broad type of being, such as female or male. Together, they produce twelve ways of contemplating the happiness of all beings. The unspecified categories for all beings are:
all beings
all living beings
all breathing beings
all individuals or creatures
all in existence, all personalities, or all who exist with matter and mind.
The specified categories for all beings are:
all females
all males
all enlightened beings
all unenlightened beings
all celestial beings (gods, deities, devas)
all humans
all in lower realms (ghosts, hell realms, animals, insects).
As your concentration and the quality of mettā grow stronger, you will perceive the abundance of beings in this world and beyond, with a pervasive equality of friendliness.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION 8.4
Radiating Kindness for All Beings
1. Begin the meditation by establishing concentration with the meditation object of your choice. Generate mettā toward individuals in each of the five preliminary categories—self, benefactor, dear friend, neutral, and hostile persons. If mettā rises quickly, you may need only one person per category, but if it takes some time for mettā to stabilize, you might follow the previous instructions and work with five to ten individuals per category until mettā is strong and the boundaries between classes of beings have dissolved.
2. To extend mettā to all beings in the unspecified categories, select a limited area near you, such as the room, building, or neighborhood. Try to see all the beings that are present as you radiate mettā throughout that area.146 Hold a clear image of the beings that populate that area and develop loving-kindness toward them by using the five unspecified ways of considering all beings. While focusing on an area, work with one phrase at a time, such as “May all beings be free from danger.” As usual, between each jhāna direct attention to the mind door at the heart base where you may see a reflection of the beings and recognize the presence of mettā. Check the factors reflected there. Confirm which jhāna you experienced. Reflect on the disadvantages and advantages of the attainment and jhāna factors; then shift attention back to the beings in the defined area and aspire for the next jhāna. Follow the systematic process to attain the first, second, and third jhānas.
3. Develop mettā toward the same area, with the same phrase, but expand your consciousness to take all living beings as the object. Proceed through the same sequence until you have accomplished the five unspecified categories, with one phrase and three jhānas.
4. Now, extend the area wider, seeing beings that are in a town, village, or region, and continue with the same progression of three jhānas and the one phrase. Try to actually see the beings that exist in each area. Of course you will not see every being, but when concentration is strong, the mind may apprehend a vast multitude of beings.
5. Develop each unspecified category up to the third jhāna before moving on to the next. When you are ready, incrementally expand the range of mettā, incorporating beings in the country, the continent, the world, the solar system, the universe, the unlimited expanse, and so on. Let there be no boundaries, no limitation, nothing that could stop the flow of mettā. Explore the potential of mind to abide in the deep calm of absorption that is saturated with boundless good will.
6. When you have completed the five unspecified classes with one phrase, extending to the vast reaches of the universe, repeat the sequence with the next phrase. Gradually expand the breadth of mettā by discerning all beings everywhere by way of these comprehensive classes and contemplating the phrases that focus loving-kindness toward beings until mettā fills the immeasurable universe.
7. When you are satisfied with the five unspecified classes, proceed in a similar manner with the seven specified categories as listed above. Contemplate the mettā phrase while you see all the designated beings in a delimited area. Extend the light of concentration to try to really see the beings for whom you wish well. For instance, if you are contemplating all males in the building, use the light of the concentrated mind to discern the males that are present in that building; if you are radiating loving-kindness toward all unenlightened beings on the continent, try to see all those beings as you wish them well. The light of concentration will keep the images fresh, vivid, and pertinent.
8. When these seven ways of radiating mettā toward all beings are clear and easy, generate mettā by way of all twelve groupings for all beings again, progressing from near to far. To accomplish this in a reasonable period of time, you will need to make the absorptions very quick. Let the practice be light and fun. Sweep through the categories without preference or differentiation.
9. Next, contemplate these same twelve categories, but now structure the expansion by way of the ten directions. The ten directions traditionally specify the north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, above, and below. You may simplify it to front, behind, right, left, above, and below. Choose a pattern that spirals methodically and direct mettā to all beings in that direction until you have encompassed the entire universe with profound good will.
10. Try the series at various paces. This meditation can be done very quickly. Mettā practice is energizing and can be intensely vivid. Allow loving-kindness to permeate your perception of everyone you encounter. In this approach it is the singularity of focus, rather than the duration of absorption, that enhances concentration.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION 8.5
Cultivating Compassion as a Jhāna Practice
1. Begin the meditation by establishing concentration with breath, kasiṇa, or a meditation object of your choice.
2. Establish mettā up to the third jhāna by reviewing the loving-kindness practices using one being per category and one general phrase such as “may you be happy and well.” Practice until mettā is clear, strong, and the boundaries that limit its radiance dissolve.
Extend mettā to a few people who you know are suffering. Choose beings whose suffering is easily recognized and toward whom it is easy to feel compassion—a friend struggling with cancer, a child whose parent recently died, a colleague who wa
s injured and disabled. Newspapers provide an apparently endless pool of suffering beings—a starving child in Somalia, refugees of civil war in Sri Lanka, a homeless woman who suffered frostbite on the streets of Boston. Although you have selected suffering beings, focus on a time when those people were happy; focus on their smiling faces. Zero in on one suffering person and recite the mettā phrases. Establish concentration with mettā and enter brief absorptions into the first, second, and third jhānas with mettā toward the suffering person as the object. Similarly generate mettā toward several beings whose suffering you can easily discern.
3. Next, select one phrase that highlights a compassionate wish for a specific being to be free from pain and suffering. Continue to focus on the happy face of the person as you contemplate one of the following phrases:
May you be free from pain and suffering.
May you be free of pain.
May you be free of suffering.
4. When the factor of karuṇā is strong and absorption seems accessible, resolve to enter the first jhāna. Follow the standard training as you have learned—enter, remain, emerge, discern the factors, contemplate the disadvantages and advantages of the jhāna, and aspire for higher attainments with each level of absorption. Like mettā, karuṇā has the capacity to raise the mind to the first, second, and third jhānas only. Karuṇā cannot produce a fourth jhāna absorption because happiness is intrinsic to compassion.
5. After exploring the first three jhānas with one suffering person, repeat the process with another suffering person, developing the karuṇā meditation by including several suffering persons. Then, extend the range of compassion to include self, five to ten respected ones, five to ten dear ones, five to ten neutral people, a few hated ones, and a few people who cause suffering through cruelty, greed, or ignorance. In this way you will develop karuṇā toward individual beings and attain the first three jhānas witheach being.
6. As you become confident with the karuṇā practice, move rapidly through the sequence, employing one phrase, one being per category, and three jhānas, until you notice that it is equally easy to establish karuṇā jhānas with any being in any category, without preference. This process breaks down the barriers between classes of beings and produces a universal response of compassion.
7. Once the boundaries are dissolved between beings you like and those you do not like, between those who have helped you and those who have harmed you, cultivate compassion by way of the twelve groups that encompass all beings. Use these twelve unspecified and specified categories to continue to establish the first three jhānas toward all beings, in all directions, extending incrementally from those that exist nearby to those that live far away. Continue until compassion extends throughout the infinite universe.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION 8.6
Cultivating Joy as a Jhāna Practice
1. Begin the meditation by warming up your concentration with the breath, a kasiṇa, or a meditation subject of your choice.
2. Establish mettā to the third jhāna by quickly sequencing through the categories using one being per category and one general phrase, such as “May you be well and happy.” Then cultivate compassion, up to the third jhāna, using one being per category, with one phrase.
3. Extend mettā to a few people who you consider successful and fortunate. Select people who are virtuous, kind, generous, and frequently offer their resources for the welfare of others. Establish concentration with mettā toward a successful person; enter brief absorptions into the first, second, and third jhānas. Repeat the first three jhānas with mettā toward several additional fortunate persons.
4. Next select one phrase that highlights the altruistic wish for this person’s good fortune to continue. Continue to focus on the smiling face of a fortunate person as you contemplate one of the following phrases:
May your happiness continue and increase.
May your good fortune and success never end.
May your achievements not be lost.
5. When muditā is strong and absorption is accessible, resolve to enter the first jhāna. Follow the standard sequence of training to enter, remain, emerge, reflect on the factors, contemplate the disadvantages and advantages of the jhāna, and aspire for higher attainments with each level of absorption. Like mettā and karuṇā, muditā has the capacity to raise the mind to the first, second, and third jhānas only. Because happiness and pleasure come along with the manifestation of joy, muditā cannot produce a fourth jhāna absorption.
6. After exploring the first three jhānas with one fortunate person, repeat the process with another fortunate person, developing the meditation to include several lucky and successful beings. Extend the range of appreciative joy to include yourself, five to ten respected ones, five to ten dear ones, five to ten neutral people, and a few hated ones. Finally, rejoice for a few people toward whom you may have harbored envy, frequently compete against, or consider as your rival. Establish the three jhānas with appreciative joy for each individual being as the object.
7. When you are confident that muditā is strong enough to extend to your rivals, progress through the sequence quickly highlighting just one being per category. As you move rapidly through the meditative absorptions, with one phrase, one being, and three jhānas, it will become equally easy to establish muditā jhānas with any being in any category, without preference. This process will expose an equality in your regard for all beings, break down the barriers, and produce an unlimited and universal response of appreciation.
8. Once the boundaries are dissolved between the individuals, cultivate appreciative joy by way of the twelve groupings of all beings. Use these twelve categories to continue to establish the first three jhānas with muditā toward all beings near and far, and in all directions, extending the radiance of muditā incre-mentally until it expands without bounds throughout the infinite universe.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION 8.7
Cultivating Equanimity as a Jhāna Practice
In this traditional sequence, equanimity is always developed dependent upon loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. The Visuddhimagga explains, “for just as the gable rafters cannot be placed in the air without [one] having first set up the scaffolding and built the framework of beams, so it is not possible to develop the fourth [jhāna in the fourth divine abiding] without having already developed the third jhāna in the earlier [three divine abidings].”147 The establishment of the first three jhānas, based on the first three qualities of loving-kindness, compassion, and joy, serves as the foundation for the establishing of the fourth jhāna based on equanimity toward beings.
1. Begin the meditation by cultivating concentration with the breath, a kasiṇa, or a meditation subject of your choice. Review the loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy practices to the extent that you wish.
2. Establish mettā to the third jhāna with a few people that you feel indifferent toward; cultivate compassion up to the third jhāna with a few neutral persons; cultivate altruistic joy up to the third jhāna with a few neutral persons.
3. Reflect on the disadvantages of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, and the advantages of equanimity—namely, that the first three divine abidings are agitated by joy and are close to the dangers of affection, preference, and elation, while equanimity is more peaceful.
4. To attain the fourth jhāna based on equanimity, adopt a phrase that brings forth equanimity toward beings. Traditionally we contemplate causes and effects and the basic functioning of kamma (actions). Reflect: even though you may radiate mettā, karuṇā, and muditā, the condition of each being will depend on his or her own actions. All beings have kamma as their property. Continue to focus on the face of a neutral person as you recite: All beings are the heirs of their own actions; their happiness or unhappiness depends upon their actions, not upon my wishes for them.
The following four phrases148 highlight a particular aspect of equanimity; however, it is not necessary to practice with all of t
hem.
(a) All beings are the heirs of their own action; action is the possession of beings (sabba satta kammassakata).
(b) All beings spring from their action. Action is their source;they originate from their action (sabba satta kamma yoni).
(c) All beings are related to their action (sabba satta kamma bandhu).
(d) All beings have action as their refuge (sabba satta kamma pati sarana).
For brevity’s sake, my teacher suggested that I recite the condensed phrase—“kamma ssako,” which roughly translates “to possess one’s own action (kamma).” As you meditate upon each neutral being, recite one of these recollections or a variation, in the language of your choice, contemplating the unavoidable and impersonal nature of causes and effects.
5. When equanimity is strong and absorption seems accessible, enter the fourth jhāna. Since equanimity is characterized by a neutral feeling, it facilitates absorption into the fourth jhāna.149 Follow the standard sequence of training, learning to enter, remain, emerge, and reflect on the factors and states.
6. After establishing the fourth jhāna with equanimity toward one neutral person, repeat the process with several additional neutral people. Extend the range of equanimity to establish the fourth jhāna with five to ten respected ones as objects, and then five to ten dear ones. Practice equanimity toward yourself even though the category of self is not stable enough to produce jhāna absorption. Then establish the fourth jhāna by focusing on a few hated ones. You can add some suffering ones, cruel ones, or rivals if you wish to cultivate more objects.
7. As equanimity grows strong, progress through the sequence quickly, using just one being per category to break down the boundaries. That is,
(a) Develop mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā toward your-self with the appropriate phrases. The category of self as object does not lead to authentic absorption into jhāna, but it is still important to cultivate these qualities toward yourself.
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