The Path to Nibbana
Page 16
The psychic power route is a difficult path and can take many years. It brings with it the danger of becoming attached to these powers and not wanting to proceed. It can bring up a lot of conceit and arrogance about having such unique abilities. In the opinion of the Bhante Vimalaraṁsi, it is the most difficult of the ways. He says you can learn this, but it will take you ten years, and you will have to stay with him for that whole time!
Chapter Seventeen: 3rd Stage — Anāgāmī
The Buddha considered the first and second stage of attainments to be “learner” states. The fruit of the meditation starts to develop at the next stage of Anāgāmī, where hatred and sensual desire are eliminated together with the previous three taints that were eliminated at Sotāpanna. These are the five lower fetters. This is truly a worthy and elevated state of being. Arahant, which is the fourth and final stage, then eliminates the rest of the ten fetters completely.
To attain the higher paths of Anāgāmī and Arahant, one must practice meditation. Whereas before one might have become awakened to the first two paths just by listening to a phrase, it will now require intense meditation practice with full passage through the jhānas. Deep meditation is needed to see even more clearly the nature of the links of dependent origination and how mind is working, taking everything personally.
After more meditation and devotion to the practice, you will experience cessation again. Then you will see the links of dependent origination arise and pass away three times after a cessation moment in quick succession. This is the Anāgāmī Magga or Path knowledge of the third stage of awakening. After you experience Anāgāmī Magga, if you experience the same thing again, then Anāgāmī Phala or Fruition knowledge will arise three times.
An Anāgāmī has very strong equanimity. Nothing disturbs you except sometimes some restlessness that arises. Whereas before you might have reacted with some sensual desire, lust, hatred, or aversion, this is no longer the case. In addition, there isn't the slightest fear now because of the elimination of hatred. Fear is part of hatred.
You will have destroyed the first five fetters completely:
Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: personality belief in an “I” or personal self or soul.
Vicikicchā: skeptical doubt that the Dhamma is the true way.
Sīlabbataparāmāsa: clinging to rites and rituals.
Kāma-rāga: sensual craving; lust.
Vyāpāda: ill-will, hatred, anger, aversion, and fear.
Now you are very balanced in mind. This is not some super-conscious state, but simply the removal of most of the craving (taṇhā) from your mind. You are still you, and you still have your personality, but the influences of the craving, neurotic, fearful self are not there now.
You can continue working at your job and be in the world. Work that is involved in honest, ethical pursuits will appeal to you. You will be completely truthful and fair in your dealings with your customers and fellow employees. You will treat your fellow employees with kindness and not be shaken by any outbursts from the boss.
You will notice that you are no longer bothered by the petty fears and hang-ups that most people experience. You will become a better employee and a better boss. You will have no fear of anything and never be intimidated. You will follow directions perfectly but have no problem with pushing back against unwise orders given to you and will not fear to talk to the boss in an even, unemotional way.
You won’t complain or gossip with other employees about what is wrong, and you might even be promoted up the ranks. Truly, worldly success will come as you achieve deep spiritual success.
Romantic interest is removed in a major way at the Path knowledge and eliminated entirely at the Fruition knowledge for Anāgāmī. You will no longer desire marriage or a family. However, if you currently are married or have a family, your romantic lust will be replaced with strong, pure loving-kindness. You will live with your mate as best friends or brother and sister. You won’t have any more children because your desire for sex will be lost. You will be the most wonderful parent conceivable. You won’t ever get mad. And you will always love, and make plenty of time for your child. Your two-year-old won’t get on your nerves anymore because you know that’s the nature of a two-year-old. It’s okay!
You will acquire what you need and not what you want. You won’t have big desires to do things other than being happy with what you have and what you are doing right now.
You will want to share what you have learned in your meditation by teaching, but you won’t be attached to promoting anything. If it happens, it happens. Your happiness with what you have achieved will be something you naturally want to share with others.
If you are working, gradually you will move away from just doing a job to make money, to looking for ways to help people directly by starting a meditation group or teaching meditation full time.
People will ask you what depression is or what suffering is, and you will be able to tell them, with no doubts. You will know how your mind works and will be able to explain it to others.
And best of all, going to the dentist won’t bother you...
You will never be born again in the sensuous realms. If you don’t attain Arahant in this lifetime, you will be reborn in one of the five high Brahma realms called the Pure Abodes where there are only other Anāgāmīs and Arahants. From this realm, you are destined to attained Arahanathip and get off the wheel.
But there is still more to do. There are ten fetters, and you have removed five. There are yet five more; these are the final obstacles to full awakening and freedom from even a wisp of craving.
Chapter Eighteen: 4th Stage — Arahant
When you become an Arahant, there is nothing more that can disturb your mind. You will experience Arahatta Magga and Arahatta Phala (Path and Fruition). With each Path and each Fruition experience, you will witness the arising and passing away of the links of dependent origination four times very quickly.
You will now have completely let go of all ten fetters of being; there is no further mental suffering for you of any kind:
1. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: personality belief in an “I” or personal self or soul; the realization of the total impersonality of all existence.
2. Vicikicchā: skeptical doubt that the correct practice of Right Effort is the true way to awakening.
3. Sīlabbataparāmāsa: Realizing that rites and rituals by themselves do not lead to awakening.
4. Kāma-rāga:Craving for sensual pleasures.
5. Vyāpāda:ill-will, hatred, and fear.
6. Rūpa-rāga and Arūpa-rāga: the desire for material and immaterial existence. The desire to be reborn in any realm of existence. (This fetter listing has these two desires for existence combined into one, which is different from the way they are normally listed.[4])
7. Māna:conceit, comparing with somebody else. Thinking in your mind, “I am better than you” or “I am less than you” — comparing yourself to others.
8. Thīna-Middha:Sloth and Torpor — Although sloth and torpor are frequently not classically included as part of the fetters, sloth and torpor are considered as one of the hindrances, which is why Bhante Vimalaraṁsi adds it here. The suttas list this as a hindrance quite clearly.
9. Uddhacca:Restlessnessand worry.
10. Avijjā:Ignorance of the four noble truths and the workings of dependent origination.
You will be sought out for your wisdom, as there is no craving left in your mind and your mind is completely transparent. You see how your mind works and can easily explain it to others.
The Buddha was an Arahant and passed through all of the jhānas and went through all the stages of awakening. It is said you could ask the Buddha a question and he would give you the perfect answer. He always said exactly what was called for at the time. You may not have that depth of his understanding, or ability to speak, but it will be close. You will have experienced Nibbāna the same number of times, but your understanding of what you saw or your ability to explain it may be less.
Another difference here is that a Buddha comes to wisdom solely through their own efforts, while an Arahant reaches awakening by hearing the teachings of a Buddha.
When somebody asks you if you have any attachments to relatives or family you will say no. There is nothing that makes your mind lose its balance.
Yet, Arahants are not automatons. The Buddha was hardly an automaton. He not only responded to people who needed his help but went from place to place finding beings with “little dust in their eyes” who he felt could understand his teachings.
He initiated conversations, seeking out beings that he could help awaken. He invited other teachers to come and argue their views with him in order to teach more students and convince more people he knew the true way. It was said that he taught the Devas and beings in other realms while everyone else was asleep at night.
You will compassionately take care of any problem that you find. You will always help others to overcome problems, but will never push your help on them. You will be equally compassionate to all beings and not just members of your family. Your loving-kindness now knows no bounds or limits. You will treat the lowly ant as well as you treat your closest friend.
You will not proselytize about Buddhism. You will answer questions and bring up Dhamma at the right time. It is unlikely anyone would ever know about your attainment, as there is no longer conceit or desire to say you are better than anyone. And as far as you are concerned, your mind is simply clear, and that is all.
There may arise in you some psychic powers, like reading minds or something else, but it just depends on your past karmic actions. Sāriputta had little in the way of powers, yet he was an intellectual giant and called “the General of the Dhamma.” Moggallāna had every power that was possible, and then some. But his intellect was not as sharp, as he had more of a feeling or emotional type of personality. Feeling personalities have a strong tendency to be able to develop psychic powers.
Your intuition about things will be exquisite. Your meditation practice will be very deep, with no distractions. You can decide to go into a jhāna, or even cessation (Nirodha) itself at will. You will be able to resolve to sit in the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness for up to seven days — if you go any longer than that your body will lose its heat and vitality and die, you must be careful.
Going into a state of extended cessation is of great benefit because, when you come out of this state, your mind will be extremely energetic and awake. You will need much less sleep. The Buddha was said to have slept only an hour per night.
People with the fruition of Anāgāmī also have a limited ability to go into cessation, and there are now students that can make this determination and sit in cessation for as long as they wish. Theoretically, based on the suttas, you can sit for seven full days, and get up as if you had just recently sat down, with no pain, full of energy.
This cessation state is different than what is mentioned in the suttas as “he attained to the cessation of perception, feeling and consciousness and his taints were destroyed by seeing with wisdom.” When this state is attained you do not see the links arise and attain Nibbāna. It is simply a stilling and stopping of mind. Why one doesn’t see the links again and attain Nibbāna again, I cannot say. All we can say is that there is a cessation and there is a cessation… different in some way.
There is also a difference between the cessation state of an Anāgāmī versus an Arahant. Cessation or in pāli, nirodha, is a stopping of the mental stream. Just like when you turn the water off from the faucet, and it drips a little bit and then stops, there is no more water. Nirodha is the stopping of all mental activity. It is when mind becomes so tranquil that it just stops.
However, the Arahant’s mind is so pure that when he determines to go into this cessation experience, it is a state closer to Nibbāna, an unconditioned state. It is not just a stopping but something else. Instead of the conditioned mind stopping, mind now moves toward the unconditioned. Bhikkhu Nanananda in his series “The Mind Stilled” in sermon sixteen, goes into this subject and calls this state by its pāli name arahattaphalasamādhi. He explains it here:
But the awakening in Nibbāna is not of such a temporary character. Why? Because all the influxes that lead one into the samsāric slumber with its dreams of recurrent births are made extinct in the light of that perfect knowledge of realization. That is why the term āsavakkhaya, extinction of influxes, is used in the discourses as an epithet of Nibbāna. The arahants accomplish this feat in the concentration on the fruit of arahant-hood, arahattaphalasamādhi.[xvi]
Bhante Vimalaramsi has traveled the world and talked to and studied under many of the recognized meditation masters of our time. He is inevitably asked if he has met any Arahants. What about… fill in the blank. He says, no, so far he has not met anyone that he felt was an arahant. He says you need to spend time evaluating someone to be sure they have no more fetters. But he is hopeful that we will have one soon!
You are at the end of the eight-fold path. You have eliminated Ignorance and Craving through thoroughly understanding the Four Noble Truths. You have traveled the eightfold path to the end of suffering. You will live out your current life but will not be born again to the maelstrom of samsāra and will not be subject to its dis-ease. You have found freedom. You have become another noble one in the Buddha’s dispensation.
MN: 21. "Monks, rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone: 'He has attained mastery and perfection in noble virtue, attained mastery and perfection in noble collectedness, attained mastery and perfection in noble wisdom, attained mastery and perfection in noble deliverance,' it is of Sāriputta indeed that rightly speaking this should be said.
22. "Monks, rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone: 'He is the son of the Blessed One, born of his breast, born of his mouth, born of the Dhamma, created by the Dhamma, an heir in the Dhamma, not an heir in material things,' it is of Sāriputta indeed that rightly speaking this should be said.
23. "Monks, the matchless Wheel of the Dhamma set rolling by the Tathāgata is kept rolling rightly by Sāriputta."
That is what the Blessed One said. The monks were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.
"In a bhikkhu whose taints are destroyed, these [lust, hatred, delusion] are abandoned, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with so that they are no longer subject to future arising." [xvii]
"Meditate, Ānanda, do not delay, or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you.” That is what the Blessed One said. The venerable Ānanda was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words." [xviii]
Biography
David Johnson has been in residence at Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center since 2010. He is a longtime senior student of Bhante Vimalaraṁsi and has participated in many retreats.
Currently, he is a kappiya (personal attendant) for Ven. Bhante Vimalaraṁsi, when resides at the center. David also did a temporary ordination in 2012 under Bhante Vimalaramsi. He took on the robes for a short period.
History
David was a student of many Vipassanā retreats using the Mahāsi method, starting from the age of nineteen. He spent nearly twenty years taking yearly retreats. He also has completed over twelve retreats with Bhante Vimalaraṁsi and has been his student since 2006.
David has taken and accumulated video footage of and personally met Dipa Ma and Mahāsi Sayadaw. He previously meditated under Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and U Silananda. He ha
s brought the footage of these great teachers to the internet for all to enjoy.
David is from Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. From 1973 to 1978, he was the meditation center retreat manager for the Stillpoint Institute, a San Jose, California-based Vipassanā center. He assisted in the growth of the center and managed its financial and administrative affairs.
From the 1980s to 2010 he worked in the San Francisco Bay Area at several networking companies as a production and logistics manager. He then decided to join Bhante in his mission to bring TWIM to the world in 2010 and moved to Missouri on a permanent basis.
In 2015 he wrote, using Bhante Vimalaraṁsi’s introductory talks and meditator experiences, the recent instruction book, A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Meditation.
His current duties at Dhamma Sukha include:
Serving as secretary-treasurer and board member.
Guiding monthly online retreats since 2015 and now guiding on-site retreats
Managing the retreat center.
Maintaining the website and social media accounts.
Producing books: publishing all Bhante’s recent books.
Producing Videos — producing all footage of Bhante found on the website and on YouTube.
You can directly get in touch with David at david@dhammasukha.org or reach him through the Dhamma Sukha website.
Resources
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center website: http://www.dhammasukha.org.
Majjhima Nikāya. Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1995.
Kraft, Doug. Buddha’s Map: His Original Teachings on Awakening, Ease, and Insight in the Heart of Meditation. Grass Valley, CA: Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2013.
Vimalaraṁsi, Bhante. The Anapanasati Sutta: A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation, Carmel, NY: Buddhist Association of the USA, 2006.