Chapter Ten: The Base of Infinite Space — Compassion
The Buddha taught that there are four major jhānas, but he broke up the fourth jhāna into four more parts.
The suttas call the last four parts “bases” or “realms.” We will primarily use the term “bases” but will shift back and forth at times between “base” and “arūpa jhāna” just to make sure you understand the connection.
Now you have arrived at the arūpa or “immaterial” jhānas. The first four jhānas are called rūpa or “material” jhānas. Rūpa means “realm of the body,” and arūpa means “realm of mind;” more precisely, the ā in arūpa means “no:” so “not of the body.”
The word “realm” is also used in addition to base for these higher parts of the fourth jhāna. This is because the Buddha stated that if one were to attain any of these four jhānas (including the four immaterial realms), then the power (merit) of that act would cause them to be reborn into a realm of existence that corresponds to the meditation level attained.[3] There are thirty-one planes of existence, and the jhāna based Brahma realms are the highest, most pleasant, and longest lasting. The higher the jhāna, the longer the lifetime in that corresponding realm and the more sublime the state.
MN:111 section 11. "Again, monks, with the complete surmounting of [gross] perceptions of form, with the disappearance of [gross] perceptions of sensory impact, aware that 'space is infinite,' Sāriputta entered upon and abided in the base of infinite space.
This means you have surmounted the physical and now are entering the subtler mental realms. You are no longer paying attention to the five senses and are paying attention to what’s in your mind only.
You start feeling a quieter loving-kindness now. You will realize that there is less warmth, less movement of the mettā; it is softer, like cotton. This is Karuṇā or Compassion. You have gone beyond the coarser state of loving-kindness and entered a more sublime, tranquil state.
You report back that the feeling of loving-kindness has no limit but is very big. It is as immense as the sky, your head feels like it gets larger. You feel like things are expanding outward. Maybe you feel as if the floor drops away and you are suspended in space. You may even feel like you are flying up into space.
This is a very pleasurable kind of feeling. It is “pretty awesome!” There is a continuous expansion outward — there is no center-point to be seen. There may be an exclamation of "Oh wow!” when explaining this delightful state to the teacher!
—Meditation Instruction:
You will now change from mettā to compassion as your new object of meditation. You expand this new feeling outward with no limits, to the six directions, as you have been doing with loving-kindness. Begin each meditation session radiating compassion for five minutes in each direction, and then radiate compassion to all beings in all directions at the same time for the remainder of the sitting. Loving-kindness has now automatically switched to the state of compassion!
Bhante Vimalaraṁsi tells us that this is the state that so many teachers refer to when they talk about the Buddha’s infinite compassion. Bhante’s opinion is that when the Buddha refers to compassion, the state that he is talking about is the base of infinite space or the first arūpa jhāna. It is not just a general state of caring or nurturing, but actually the jhānic state of compassion.
Bhante further explains that the Buddha did this practice every morning — getting into the jhāna of infinite space with compassion as his object of meditation. From this state, the Buddha would then survey the world for people who needed his compassion and were ready to understand his teachings. He would then go to them and instruct them in the Dhamma. He saw people who had little dust in their eyes and were ready to attain awakening.
MN:111 section 12. "And the states in the base of infinite space — the perception of the base of infinite space and the unification of mind; the contact, feeling, perception, volition, and mind.
You still experience the five aggregates, even though you're in an arūpa or mental jhāna. This says that you're still practicing the four foundations of mindfulness even while you are in the arūpa jhāna state.
You are now in a mental realm and awareness of your body has faded away unless there is contact. Notice that the sutta quoted above no longer includes experiencing pleasure in the body. Now you are told you have no body! So please don't pay attention to it anymore — 6R any tugs and pulls back into any awareness of the body. Now, you know your body is still there, sitting quietly, but your awareness is very much focused on mind.
MN:111 section 12 cont. [T]he enthusiasm, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention — these states were defined by him one by one as they occurred; known to him those states arose, known they were present, known they disappeared. He understood thus: …and with the cultivation of that attainment, he confirmed that there is [still more].
—Meditation Instruction:
Continue sending your compassion to the six directions to see how it expands outward. The Brahmavihāra meditation develops in sequence through the four divine abidings — automatically. These states will arise on their own when you are ready. Don’t bring them up — they will come up. Just keep going and see what happens next.
Chapter Eleven: The Base of Infinite Consciousness — Joy
MN:111 section 13. "Again, monks, by completely surmounting the base of infinite space, aware that 'consciousness is infinite,' Sāriputta entered upon and abided in the base of infinite consciousness.
This is a fascinating state. For one thing, the compassionate feeling automatically changes again to a feeling of altruistic joy. But that's not as clear a definition as it could be; Bhante hasn’t run across one yet. It is a feeling that's very different from the compassion experienced previously. It is a feeling that Bhante prefers to call just joy or joyfulness. Regardless, you now go from a feeling of compassion to a feeling of joy (Muditā).
—Meditation Instruction:
Now you start radiating joy in all directions instead of compassion. Joy is now your object of meditation.
What happens is, your awareness starts to be so good and so sharp, you begin to see individual consciousnesses arise and pass away continually. You see firsthand how truly impermanent everything is. There's no doubt in your mind anymore that everything just comes into existence and then fades away.
Sometimes, your eyes just pop open; there can be so much energy. If you try to close them they just stay open, so you just let them be open.
After you sit with this insight into impermanence and impersonality for a little while, something interesting happens. Some students report: "Well yes, I see all these consciousnesses: the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and mind; I see these consciousnesses arise and pass away, and it's really tiresome."
What you see now is not only impermanence but suffering. And you're seeing there's nobody home, there's no control over this process, it happens all by itself. You see anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering), and anattā (non-self) up close and personal while you're in the arūpa jhānas. In Buddhism, these are the three signs of existence. Anything that exists has this nature, and now you see it. It isn’t on a thinking level but in a direct way. You know it.
Bhante Vimalaraṁsi tells a story of a monk who is a famous monk in Burma. He is invited to a person’s home for lunch and is offered the finest of curries and rice. The entire time the monk eats, he says “dukkha, dukkha,” suffering, suffering.
He is trying to think his way to see the signs of existence, and that doesn’t work. All it does it is to create an aversion to whatever you are labeling or noting and that’s developing an unwholesome state, not insight at all.
This experience answers a lot of questions that you may have had brewing. Before this, everybody was talking about things happening so fast, but now your awareness is so sharp that you actually see each part of the experience. The twelve links of dependent origination are starting to come into focus, and you are beginning
to see separate links. Moreover, you are beginning to see that they follow each other and that each link is dependent on the link before it.
After a while, it does appear this constant arising and passing away of consciousness does become tiresome. You wonder will it ever end? Is this all there is? It doesn't matter whether you're doing your walking meditation, or eating, or going to the toilet. You see all these consciousnesses continually. Is there a way out of this?
—Meditation Instruction:
Small pinpoint lights may arise like little stars that twinkle and then fade away. These are the start of craving. They are indications of taṇhā just starting to arise. These are thoughts that are just starting to form. You feel a pull from those lights — a tightness. You realize that if you 6R them the moment they arise then thoughts don’t arise; you see the relief in this. The 6Rs will return you to a state of balance and tranquility. Be sure to 6R them as soon as they arise.
These lights are “sticky” as they are little seeds of craving coming into existence. You now see the craving that exists in all thinking. And you see that is why constant thinking is so tiring and annoying to your mind.
Consider the other night when you couldn’t get to sleep because you were thinking so much. It was suffering. Being successful with this meditation practice brings you the benefit of getting to sleep easily and having no bad dreams. This is one of the eleven benefits of Mettā meditation.
You might see illuminations expanding out like small suns; these are called nimitta. No, we are not talking about the nimitta or what some practices call signs that are used as focus points in concentration meditation, but these are merely forms and shapes that arise. This is the true meaning of nimitta. Let go of these and 6R them. You do not switch over and start focusing on them. They are just interesting phenomena that might distract you. Don’t get involved with them.
If you were to take these lights as your meditation object, then that would be a concentration-absorption meditation practice, and that is not in the suttas. The Buddha had previously tried all these types of meditation, and he rejected that practice as leading to true awakening.
When you practice concentration with the breath meditation lights can arise, as well, and if you take these lights and concentrate on them, then, again, you are not practicing what is in the suttas. Please 6R them!
This is the influence of the commentaries like the Vissudhi Magga. The Vissudhi Magga has included many practices that are not in the suttas. This conflict should cause us to question which one is right.
In the base of infinite consciousness, some people have visions of Devas, Kuan Yin, Buddha, Jesus, or Mohammad; this is based on their belief systems. That all needs to be 6R’d so you can progress. If you feel very happy and joyful, sometimes there will be tears of joy. Allow the tears to come out; that is the sign of the muditā or joyful state in which you are abiding.
You may feel like things are slowing down — like watching a movie in slow motion; you may see each frame of consciousness arising and passing away, whether it is at the eye door or ear door. You may wobble and feel like you are woozy. Don’t get attached to any of this; 6R all of it. None of these experiences are to be taken personally as me or mine; they should just be allowed. Your mindfulness is now getting very sharp, sharp enough to see individual consciousnesses.
—Meditation Instruction:
You will then be asked to start noticing the spaces between the consciousnesses. Try to become more aware of the silence and the tranquility that is there, and dwell in this quiet. Let everything else go. You will think "there is nothing." Patiently let this state deepen. This will lead you to the next base and the last of the Brahmavihāras. This is Upekkhā or Equanimity.
Sometimes around this level, the meditator may have the thought, “If I have no self then I should just die!" Fear can arise: "I have no control over anything; what can I do?" You just do what you always have — you never had a self in the first place, so nothing has changed. This is insight; it isn’t suicidal thoughts by any means so don’t worry.
The teacher will remind you that this is just your mind playing games; have a good laugh and lighten up. You won’t die, not even close. Soon, you are moving into even deeper, more interesting territory.
Chapter Twelve: The Base of Nothingness — Equanimity
MN:111 section 15. “Again, monks, by completely surmounting the base of infinite consciousness, aware that 'there is nothing,' Sāriputta entered upon and abided in the base of nothingness.
Previously you saw the world existing as outside of yourself; now you see things as all in mind only. You still see different movements of mind, but they’re not outside of mind. You have had a concept of yourself being in the world, which is constantly in the background of your thinking.
We all see ourselves in relationship to the world as a separate self or entity. Taking things personally, means we see ourselves doing things in our mind. We see ourselves having done things in the past. We see ourselves doing things now. And we see ourselves doing things in the future. “We” only exist in our minds. This idea or concept of “self” only exists in our mind, and now we see it.
Outside of the thinking mind, there is only seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Just sensations that are arising and passing away. Yet we identify these as having this self, this existence laid over the top of it — this “me” that is doing this, planning to do that, thinking about this, being a part of a team to create that. You are an actor in this dream of existence. It is all in your head. You are constantly creating this illusion of self, moment to moment. They are just images.
Now you finally start to come out of the dream and only see what is there. Gross thinking stops. Conceptual engagement stops. Now in the seeing, there is only seeing, in the hearing only hearing, etc. Nothing happens in the past, and nothing happens in the future — it is all happening now. And in this clear present, there is no self. There is only awareness of what happens at the sense doors moment to moment. It becomes very quiet—you have never experienced this before. This is the awareness and experience of the base of nothingness.
This jhāna is like the part in the Matrix movie where Keanu Reeves wakes up from his dream existence in this machine-created mental world and realizes that he is in a pod just dreaming his life experience. Like him, we are waking out of our dream of self to find nothing but an impersonal process — a never-ending stream of events.
Now it’s like your consciousness stops paying attention to general body awareness and sensations and jumps up into your head. You are no longer paying attention to the awareness that has anything to do with the body. You see everything as happening from mind, and physically from the head area.
You are only attentive to mind. Concepts stop. Thoughts are now just observing thoughts and not being taken personally. They are not defining your world anymore. In fact, most thoughts simply stop.
Since concepts come from thoughts, and things come from concepts, “no things” leads us to the realm of No-thing-ness! You are now seeing clearly without the noise and without creating stories about everything.
Some people will say it even feels like being in the desert all alone — in total desolation. There is nothing around but sand…it is pleasant, yet different from anything you have ever felt.
You start to understand the link of dependent origination called Nāma-Rūpa or Mentality/Materiality (Name and Form). There is mind that is dependent upon the body. Both are distinct, yet work together. One cannot be without the other. But now you see, with direct insight, that there is the body itself separate from mind.
For example, there is the breath going in and out, and then the mentality or mind which is made up of feeling, perception, and consciousness. There is the physical breath, and there is the knowing — the perception of the breath and knowing what it is doing and how it feels. This is the Mentality/Materiality link of dependent origination.
With the dropping of the concept of things out ther
e and of your perceived feeling of your separate existence in the world, your awareness pulls in. The ever-present, worrying “dream” of you disappears. No more thoughts that carry you away into the future or the past. No more thoughts are creating this or that world. You just exist in the present. Your awareness is clear and free of your conceptual self-image.
Without these concepts, there is only the present, the arising and passing away of feeling and sensations. This is all that you see. No past or future lives now. This is mind’s attention without craving embedded in it, without the overlaying of the idea of self or soul.
In this silence of nothingness, you start to see much more subtle phenomena that were hidden by our noisy minds. Very interesting things are here. There is definitely not nothing!
MN:111 section 16. "And the states in the base of nothingness…”
Before, in the second arūpa jhāna if infinite consciousness, you were radiating Joy in all six directions. Where you were feeling joy before, now you're feeling equanimity that is very, very strong, and you have this very fine balance of mind. Now you take this equanimity as your object and radiate it to all beings in all directions. This particular level of mind is by far one of the more fascinating states that are experienced in meditation. Now there is no sadness nor happiness, just balance. When asked how you feel, you will always report that you are fine. “Everything is fine.” “I have nothing to say.” Just fine.
Others feel the tranquility coming from you. There seems to be a glow in your face: a radiance. Any stress lines have all but disappeared.
The Path to Nibbana Page 10