A Manual of Abhidhamma

by Nārada Thera | 80,494 words | ISBN-13: 9789380336510

In the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy. Edited in the original Pali Text with English Translation and Explanatory Notes by Narada Maha Thera....

Stages of Mental Culture

Bhāvanā-bhedo

§ 4.

Bhāvanāsu pana sabbatthā 'pi parikammabhāvanā labbhat 'eva.

Buddhānussati ādisu atthasu saññāvavatthānesu c'āti dasasu kammatthānesu upacāra bhāvanā'va sampajjāti, natthi appanā.

Sesesu pana samatimsakammatthānesu appanā bhāvanā'pi sampajjāti.

Tatthā' pi dasa kasināni ānāpānañ ca pañcakajjhānikāni.

Dasa asubhā kāyagatāsati ca pathamajjhānikā.

Mettādayo tayo catukkajjhānikā.

Upekkhā pañcamajjhānikā.

Iti chabbīsati rūpāvacarajjhānikāni kammatthānāni.

Cattāro pana āruppā arūpajjhānikā.

āyam'ettha bhāvanābhedo.

 

(translation)

§ 4.

The preliminary stage of mental culture is attainable in all these forty; subjects of meditation. In the ten subjects of mental culture such as the eight Reflections on the Buddha and so forth and the one 'Perception', and the one 'Analysis' (18) only proximate mental culture is attained but not the concentrative stage. In the thirty remaining subjects of mental culture the concentrative stage of mental culture is also attained.

Therein the ten kasinas and the 'Breathing' produce five jhānas; the ten 'Impurities' and 'Mindfulness regarding the body' only the first jhāna; the first three 'Illimitables' such as loving-kindness, four jhānas; 'equanimity' (19) the fifth jhāna.

Thus these twenty-six subjects of mental culture produce rūpa-jhānas.

The four 'formless' objects produce the arūpa-jhānas.

This is the section on mental culture.

 

Notes:

 

18. These objects are too coarse, and vitakka, one of the constituents of jhāna, is an indispensable aid to practice concentration on them. As there is no vitakka in the remaining four jhānas, they cannot be developed by concentrating on these two objects.

19. As equanimity (upekkhā) is found only in the fifth jhāna, the first four jhānas cannot be developed by concentrating on this last 'Illimitable'.

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