Wisdom Wide and Deep
Page 50
aggregates of experience (khandha), five
alternate categories, 483n209
consciousness (viññāṇa, citta, manas), 299–301
feeling tone (vedanā), 297–98
interaction of, and the formation of self (I), 301–4
and the knowledge of danger, 448
materiality (rūpa), 296–97
meditation instruction
contemplating the five aggregates as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self, 403–4
discerning the five aggregates, 306
mental formations (saṅkhāra), 299
not-self, meditative investigation of, 304–6
perception (saññā), 298–99
suffering, models for exploring, 306–7
See also specific categories of the aggregates
Aṅguttara Nikāya, quotations from, 117, 179, 191, 253
aging and death
the Buddha on, 179
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 386
and the five remembrances, 183
as link in dependent arising, 314, 323–24, 354
meditation instruction, contemplating phenomena in incremental time periods, 416–19
suffering and, 182, 394
and viewing phenomena with the three characteristics, 409, 411
aging of real materiality (rūpassa jaratā), 364
air element. See wind element (vāyodhātu)
“all beings,” the categories of, 166–67
Ananda
the Buddha’s words to, 179, 312
conversation with Sariputta, 211
anattā. See not-self (anattā)
anger
and mettā practice, 152, 161
repulsiveness contemplation vs. aversive reactions, 110
using meditation to resolve, 19–20
anicca. See impermanence (anicca)
appearance as terror, the knowledge of, 447–48
application, initial. See vitakka (initial application of the mind)
application, sustained. See sustained application (vicāra)
appreciative joy (muditā)
categories of beings for muditā practice, 172–73
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of, 380
description of, 155–57, 177
meditation instruction, cultivating joy as a jhāna practice, 172–73
phrases for muditā practice, 172
arahant (fully enlightened being), path of, 437–38, 456, 458–59
arising, dependent. See dependent arising (paṭiccasamuppāda)
arising and passing away
the knowledge of, 436–37, 440
the knowledge of appearance as terror, 447–48
mature knowledge of, 446
meditation instruction
contemplating insight knowledge, 445–46
contemplating the arising and perishing of causes and effects according to the fifth method, 437–39
contemplating the arising and perishing of causes and effects according to the first method, 440
the sixteen knowledges, 431
the ten imperfections, 441–45
See also birth (jāti); death
assurance, 443
See also mindfulness (sati)
attachment (lobha)
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of, 381
jhāna practice and, 137
loosening, via mediation on corpses, 189–90
and mettā practice, dangers of, 177–78
as one of the ten imperfections, 444–45
attainment
aspiring for further attainments, 463–64
immaterial, 143–44
nonattachment to, 444–45
skill in (samāpatti kusala), 192
attention (manasikāra)
balanced awareness, maintaining, 58–59
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of, 372
focused attention, concentration as, 47
quality of, Pa-Auk Sayadaw on, 254
unwise, as primary obstacle to concentration, 11–12, 26
unwise, aversion as, 18–19
See also ekaggatā (one-pointedness)
aversion (vyāpāda)
abandoning, 90
as a classic obstacle for meditators, 12
and contemplation of the thirty-two parts of the body, 106, 110
vs. disenchantment or dispassion, 448
overcoming, 65, 67, 154
vs. repulsiveness, 110
as the second hindrance, 17–20, 27
awakening
dedication to and effort, 35
expectations regarding, 429
mettā practice and, 159
See also enlightenment; nibbāna
awareness
balanced, maintaining, 58–59
choiceless awareness vs. wandering mind, 293–94
continuity of, 15
in daily life, 103
present awareness, reminder, 212
and urgency, the necessity of, 444
See also mindfulness (sati)
B
bases, 405–7
See also specific bases
beautiful factors
mental factors, twenty-five, 256
mental formations associated with jhāna, twenty-two, 262
occasionals, 281, 284, 287, 379–80
universals, 258, 280, 283–84, 286, 291, 374–78
becoming (bhava)
the arahant path and, 459
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 386
as link in dependent arising, 314, 321, 354
the three phases of the round of becoming, 433–34
beings, categories of. See categories of beings
bhavaṅga state. See life-continuum consciousness (bhavaṅgacitta)
Bhikkhu Sāriputta, quotations from, 77, 80, 85
bile
as focus for the nīla kasiṇa, 122, 131
one of the thirty-two parts of the body, 104, 250
birth (jāti)
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 386
as link in dependent arising, 322, 354
meditation instruction
contemplating phenomena in incremental time periods, highlighting that materiality is born and dies, 416–17
discerning the causes for this human birth, 330–36
See also arising and passing away; rebirth
blind faith vs. verified faith, 32–33
bliss (sukha)
associated with mental objects, and the characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 369
of jhāna, 3, 43, 45, 80, 89
as one of the ten imperfections, 443
the Sutta Nipāta on, 29
blood, as focus for red kasiṇa, 122–23
bodily intimation (kāyaviññatti), 221, 246, 362
body
body meditations, 115
body parts, organized by element, 250
the four elements of, 230–32
materiality of, and the basic types of rūpa kalāpas, 237–38
meditation instruction
contemplating the repulsiveness of animate material phenomena, 413–15
observing mind-body responses, 259–61
mindfulness of, 43, 101–2
the repulsive element, 109–12
skeleton meditation, 112–14
thirty-two parts practice, 103–9, 197, 222, 479n105, 479n109
See also thirty-two parts of the body
body-consciousness (kāyaviññāṇa), 316, 366, 369
body decad kalāpas, 237, 239–40
body door (kāya dvāra), 241, 244, 421
body-sensitive element (kāyapasāda), 221, 239, 243, 244, 245, 360
bones, 104, 112, 113–14, 118
See also skeleton
boundless consciousness, base of, 139
See also consciousness (viññāṇa, citta, manas)
boundless intentions. See divine abodes (brahmavihāras)
brahmavihāras. See divine abodes (brahmavihāras)
breath and breathing
breath nimitta, 67–71
continuity of awareness, developing, 15
jhāna factors, for the breath as meditation object, 62–67
jhāna potential of, as meditation subject, 197
long and short breaths, observing in meditation, 53
and mindfulness, developing concentration with, 97
mindfulness plus counting, meditation instruction, 9–11
the whole breath, observing in meditation, 59–60
bright faith vs. verified faith, 32–33
brightness, mental, 33, 68–69, 71, 124, 127–28, 441–42
See also nimitta (counterpart sign)
Buddha, the words of
attainments, attachment to, 444–45
base of infinite space, 137
base of infinity of consciousness, 138
base of nothingness, 139
concentration, 2, 29
consciousness, the arising of, 300
correct practice of the teachings, 47
death, 179, 180, 184, 185–86
dependent arising, 213
determination, 40–41
equanimity, on clinging to, 444
expectations, 22
experience, not clinging to, 302, 304
the fire element, 224
the five aggregates, 296
five faculties, stability of, 52
five hindrances, freedom from, 27–28
four elements of the body, instruction on, 231
the four jhānas, 49
the fourth jhāna, 87, 89
ignorance, 314, 315
impermanence, the perception of, 210
intention, 309
kamma, 325
loving-kindness, overcoming fears with, 147–48, 159
mind and mind-objects, 73
Nibbāna, 459
relinquishment, 450, 466
residual defilements, uprooting, 472
self-production, humanity’s attachment to, 212
sensual experience, 17, 318
suffering, 306–7
the third jhāna, 85
thoughts and thinking, 21, 25, 50–51
“tides of conceiving,” 205
unwholesome qualities, the effort to abandon, 184
unwise attention, 11–12
wandering mind, 23
the water element, 223
the well-concentrated mind, 200
wholesome states, 26
the wind element, 224–25
Buddhism, contemporary, 218
C
calmness (samatha), 20, 39, 73, 392, 468, 471
See also tranquility (passaddhi)
categories of beings
and karuṇā practice, 170–71
and mettā practice, 160–62, 165–69
and muditā practice, 172–73
and upekkhā practice, 175–76
causality
discerning past causes, 324–26
future existences, discerning, 347–49
insight regarding causal and momentary arising and perishing, 437
investigation of, 310, 328–30
knowledge of discerning cause and condition, 432–34
meditation instruction
causal relationships in mind-door cognitive processes, 344–45
causal relationships in sense-sphere cognitive processes, 336, 338–43
contemplating the arising and perishing of causes and effects according to the fifth method, 437–39
discerning the causes for this human birth, 330–36
exploring causal relationships between the twelve links, 349–54
further back in time, 346–47
multiplicity of, 326–28
past and present causes, 337
See also dependent arising (paṭiccasamuppāda)
cessation
authentic, choices to make after, 462–63
nibbāna as, 453, 457, 460
and review of fruition knowledge, 462
the two kinds of, 438–39
change
the Aṅguttara Nikāya on, 253
changing unwanted habits, 311
compactness of continuity and, 207, 208–9
feelings, changing nature of, 297
materiality, as “molested by change,” 316, 385, 394
perceptions of, ignoring during four elements meditation, 234
See also impermanence (annica)
change of lineage, 431, 455, 457
characteristic (lakkhaṇa). See specific characteristics
characteristics, three
forty ways of viewing phenomena with the three characteristics, 408–11
the knowledge of reviewing, 450–51
and the mature knowledge of arising and passing away, 446
and repulsiveness, 484n253
clarity
the four aspects of clear comprehension, 45, 195–96
of subject and object for meditation, 56
See also clear comprehension (sampajañña)
classes of beings. See categories of beings
cleanliness, cultivation of, 55
clear comprehension (sampajañña)
the Buddha on, 184
four aspects of, 196
and right mindfulness, 45–47
clear seeing, 389, 398
See also vipassanā (insight)
clinging (upādāna)
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 385–86
to equanimity, as one of the ten imperfections, 302, 443–44, 453
to experience, and the fabrication of self, 305
to experience, as suffering, 302, 304
and the five aggregates, 143, 302
as link in dependent arising, 320–21, 331, 334, 335, 353–54
as transformed by insight, 396
untangling of, and the four elements meditation, 236
See also aggregates of experience (khandha), five; desire (chanda)
cognition
consciousness as, 299–301
of individual mind-moments, 210, 265
cognitive processes
bhavaṅga and, 73–74
cognitive series, overview of, 266–69
formations that comprise the impulsion consciousness of unwholesome mental states, 275–77
jhāna cognitive process with associated mental formations, 272–73
meditation instruction
causal relationships in mind-door cognitive processes, 344–45
causal relationships in sense-sphere cognitive processes, 336–43
discerning the jhāna cognitive process, 269–70
discerning the mind-door cognitive process, 277–78
discerning the sense-sphere cognitive process, 288–89
a real world, 290–91
mental formations
present in jhāna, 271
in unwholesome five-door cognitive processes, 282–84
in wholesome five-door cognitive processes, 279–81
in wholesome mind-door cognitive processes, 285–87
mentality, internal and external, 290–94
mind-door cognitive processes, 273–74
multitasking, 264
Nibbāna as object, 460
sense-sphere cognitive process, 279
understanding, 264–65
cohesion
as characteristic of matter, 226, 229–30, 232
of the water element, 219, 222, 223
cold, as characteristic of matter, 229, 232, 420
colors
initiating an eye-door cognitive process with, 288
kasiṇas based on, 117–24
community (saṅgha)
as a traditional reflection, 33
widening your circle
of, with loving-kindness, 152–53
compactness
of concepts, breaking down, 206–14
of continuity (santatighana), 207–10
of function (kiccaghana), 211–13
of mass (samūhaghana), 210–11
narrative thought, examining, 207
of object (ārammaṇaghana), 213–14
comparisons
conceptualization vs. reality, 203–5
muditā and, 157
skeptical doubts and, 235
See also conceit (māna)
compassion (karuṇā)
categories of beings for karuṇā practice, 170–72
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of, 379
description of, 153–55, 177
meditation instruction, cultivating compassion as a jhāna practice, 170–71
phrases for karuṇā practice, 170
comprehension, clear. See clear comprehension (sampajañña)
comprehension, knowledge of, 431, 434–36
conceit (māna)
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of, 381–82
as defilement, 459, 461
meditation instruction, removal of wrong views, conceit, and craving, 427–28
as unwholesome factor, 256, 257, 276
See also comparisons
conceiving. See conceptualization
concentration (samādhi)
the Buddha, on the well-concentrated mind, 200
developing, eleven supports for, 55–59, 477n66
developing, through mindfulness with breathing, 97
and the four jhānas, 49–50
mental factor of, 47–49
mindfulness and, 42–43
the nimitta as production of, 69
refreshing, during four elements meditation, 233
right concentration, 47, 48, 49–50
skill in (samādhi kusala), 192–93
See also absorption
conception, human, 333, 334–36, 346–47
conceptualization
compactness of concepts, breaking down, 206–14
reality and, 203–5
tides of conceiving, 205–6
concrete materialities (nipphannarūpa)
characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate causes of, 358–62
eighteen types of, 221, 236
meditation instruction, analyzing real materialities, 238–41
See also specific types of concrete materiality
conditions and conditionality
knowledge of discerning cause and condition, 432–34
multiplicity of causes for, 326–28
See also specific conditions
confidence
faith and, 31, 32
overconfidence, in resolution or decision, 443
the second jhāna and, 80, 83
See also faith (saddhā)
conformity with truth, the knowledge of, 431, 454, 460
connecting. See vitakka (initial application of the mind)