Visuddhimagga

XXIII The Benefits In Developing Understanding
Paññābhāvanānisaṃsa-niddesa

1 (vi) What are the benefits in developing understanding?

§1. {788|730}(vi) What are the benefits in developing understanding? (See XIV.1) [698]

To that question, which was asked above, we reply that this development of understanding has many hundred benefits. But it would be impossible to explain its benefits in detail, however long a time were taken over it. Briefly, though, its benefits should be understood as these: (A) removal of the various defilements, (B) experience of the taste of the noble fruit, (C) ability to attain the attainment of cessation, and (D) achievement of worthiness to receive gifts and so on.

1.1 A. Removal of the Defilements

§2. Herein, it should be understood that one of the benefits of the mundane development of understanding is the removal of the various defilements beginning with [mistaken] view of individuality. This starts with the delimitation of mentality-materiality. Then one of the benefits of the supramundane development of understanding is the removal, at the path moment, of the various defilements beginning with the fetters.

With dreadful thump the thunderbolt
Annihilates the rock.
The fire whipped by the driving wind
Annihilates the wood.
The radiant orb of solar flame
Annihilates the dark.
Developed understanding, too,
Annihilates inveterate
Defilements’ netted overgrowth,
The source of every woe.
This blessing in this very life
A man himself may know.

1.2 B. The Taste of the Noble Fruit

§3. Not only the removal of the various defilements but also the experience of the taste of the noble fruit is a benefit of the development of understanding. [699] For it is the fruitions of stream-entry, etc.—the fruits of asceticism—that are called {789|731}the “noble fruit.” Its taste is experienced in two ways, that is to say, in its occurrence in the cognitive series of the path, and in its occurrence in the attainment of fruition. Of these, only its occurrence in the cognitive series of the path has been shown (XXII.3f.).

§4. Furthermore, when people say that the fruit is the mere abandoning of fetters 1 and nothing more than that, the following sutta can be cited in order to convince them that they are wrong: “How is it that understanding of the tranquilizing of effort is knowledge of fruit? At the moment of the stream-entry path right view in the sense of seeing emerges from wrong view, and it emerges from the defilements and from the aggregates that occur consequent upon that [wrong view], and externally it emerges from all signs. Right view arises because of the tranquilizing of that effort. This is the fruit of the path” ( [ Paṭis ] I 71), and this should be given in detail. Also such passages as, “The four paths and the four fruits—these states have a measureless object” ( [ Dhs ] §1408), and, “An exalted state is a condition, as proximity condition, for a measureless state” ( [ Paṭṭh ] II 227 (Be)), establish the meaning here.

§5. However, in order to show how it occurs in the attainment of fruition there is the following set of questions:

(i) What is fruition attainment? (ii) Who attains it? (iii) Who do not attain it? (iv) Why do they attain it? (v) How does its attainment come about? (vi) How is it made to last? (vii) How does the emergence from it come about? (viii) What is next to fruition? (ix) What is fruition next to?

§6. Herein, (i) What is fruition attainment? It is absorption in the cessation in which the noble fruition consists.

(ii) Who attains it? (iii) Who do not attain it? No ordinary men attain it. Why? Because it is beyond their reach. But all Noble Ones attain it. Why? Because it is within their reach. But those who have reached a higher path do not attain a lower fruition because the state of each successive person is more tranquilized than the one below. And those who have only reached a lower path do not attain a higher fruition because it is beyond their reach. But each one attains his appropriate fruition. This is what has been agreed here.

§7. But there are some who say that the stream-enterer and once-returner do not attain it, and that only the two above them attain it. The reason they give is that {790|732}only these two show achievement in concentration. But that is no reason, since even the ordinary man attains such mundane concentration as is within his reach. But why argue here over what is and what is not a reason? Is it not said in the texts as follows?

“Which ten states of change-of-lineage arise [700] through insight?

“For the purpose of obtaining the stream-entry path it overcomes arising, occurrence … (etc., see XXII.5) … despair, and externally the sign of formations, thus it is change-of-lineage.

“For the purpose of attaining the stream-entry fruition …

“For the purpose of attaining the once-return path …

“For the purpose of attaining the once-return fruition …

“For the purpose of attaining the non-return path …

“For the purpose of attaining the non-return fruition …

“For the purpose of attaining the Arahant path …

“For the purpose of attaining the Arahant fruition …

“For the purpose of attaining the void abiding …

“For the purpose of attaining the signless abiding it overcomes arising, occurrence … (etc.) … despair, and externally the sign of formations, thus it is change-of-lineage” ( [ Paṭis ] I 68). 2 From that it must be concluded that all Noble Ones attain each their own fruit.

§8. (iv) Why do they attain it? For the purpose of abiding in bliss here and now. For just as a king experiences royal bliss and a deity experiences divine bliss, so too the Noble Ones think, “We shall experience the noble supramundane bliss,” and after deciding on the duration, they attain the attainment of fruition whenever they choose. 3

§9. (v) How does its attainment come about? (vi) How is it made to last? (vii) How does the emergence from it come about?

(v) In the first place its attainment comes about for two reasons: with not bringing to mind any object other than Nibbāna, and with bringing Nibbāna to mind, according as it is said: “Friend, there are two conditions for the attainment of the signless mind-deliverance; they are the non-bringing to mind of all signs, and the bringing to mind of the signless element” ( [ M ] I 296).

§10. Now, the process of attaining it is as follows. A noble disciple who seeks the attainment of fruition should go into solitary retreat. He should see formations with insight according to rise and fall and so on. When that insight has progressed [as far as conformity], then comes change-of-lineage knowledge {791|733}with formations as its object. 4 And immediately next to it consciousness becomes absorbed in cessation with the attainment of fruition. And here it is only fruition, not path, that arises even in a trainer, because his tendency is to fruition attainment.

§11. But there are those 5 who say that when a stream-enterer embarks on insight, thinking, “I shall attain fruition attainment,” he becomes a once-returner, and a once-returner, a non-returner. They should be told: “In that case a non-returner becomes an Arahant and an Arahant, a Paccekabuddha and a Paccekabuddha, a Buddha. For that reason, and because it is contradicted as well by the text quoted above, none of that should be accepted. Only this should be accepted: fruition itself, not path, arises also in the trainer. And if the path he has arrived at had the first jhāna, his fruition will have the first jhāna too when it arises. If the path has the second, so will the fruition. And so with the other jhānas.”

This, firstly, is how attaining comes about. [701]

§12. (vi) It is made to last in three ways, because of the words: “Friend, there are three conditions for the persistence of the signless mind-deliverance: they are the non-bringing to mind of all signs, the bringing to mind of the signless element, and the prior volition” ( [ M ] I 296–297). Herein, the prior volition is the predetermining of the time before attaining; 6 for it is by determining it thus, “I shall emerge at such a time,” that it lasts until that time comes. This is how it is made to last.

§13. (vii) Emergence from it comes about in two ways, because of the words: “Friend, there are two conditions for the emergence from the signless mind-deliverance: they are the bringing to mind of all signs, and the non-bringing to mind of the signless element” ( [ M ] I 297). Herein, of all signs means the sign of materiality, sign of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Of course, a man does not bring all those to mind at once, but this is said in order to include all. So the emergence from the attainment of fruition comes about in him when he brings to mind whatever is the object of the life-continuum. 7

§14. (viii) What is next to fruition? (ix) What is fruition next to? In the first case (viii) either fruition itself is next to fruition or the life-continuum is next to it. But (ix) there is fruition that is (a) next to the path, (b) there is that next to fruition, (c) there is that next to change-of-lineage, and (d) there is that next to the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. {792|734}Herein, (a) it is next to the path in the cognitive series of the path. (b) Each one that is subsequent to a previous one is next to fruition. (c) Each first one in the attainments of fruition is next to change-of-lineage. And conformity should be understood here as “change-of-lineage”; for this is said in the Paṭṭhāna: “In the Arahant, conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for fruition attainment. In trainers, conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for fruition attainment” ( [ Paṭṭh ] I 159). (d) The fruition by means of which there is emergence from the attainment of cessation is next to the base consisting of neither perception non-perception.

§15. Herein, all except the fruition that arises in the cognitive series of the path occur as fruition attainment. So whether it arises in the cognitive series of the path or in fruition attainment:

Asceticism’s fruit sublime,
Which tranquilizes all distress,
Its beauty from the Deathless draws,
Its calm from lack of worldliness. [702]
Of a sweet purifying bliss
It is the fountainhead besides,
Whose honey-sweet ambrosia
A deathless sustenance provides.
Now, if a wise man cultivates
His understanding, he shall know
This peerless bliss, which is the taste
The noble fruit provides; and so
This is the reason why they call
Experience here and now aright
Of flavour of the noble fruit
A blessing of fulfilled insight.

1.3 C. The Attainment of Cessation

§16. And not only the experience of the taste of the noble fruit but also the ability to attain the attainment of cessation should be understood as a benefit of the development of understanding.

§17. Now, in order to explain the attainment of cessation there is this set of questions:

  1. What is the attainment of cessation?

  2. Who attains it?

  3. Who do not attain it?

  4. Where do they attain it?

  5. Why do they attain it?

  6. How does its attainment come about?

  7. How is it made to last?

  8. How does the emergence from it come about?

  9. Towards what does the mind of one who has emerged tend?

  10. {793|735}What is the difference between one who has attained it and one who is dead?

  11. Is the attainment of cessation formed or unformed, mundane or supramundane, produced or unproduced?

§18. Herein, (i) What is the attainment of cessation? It is the non-occurrence of consciousness and its concomitants owing to their progressive cessation.

(ii) Who attains it? (iii) Who do not attain it? No ordinary men, no stream-enterers or once-returners, and no non-returners and Arahants who are bare-insight workers attain it. But both non-returners and those with cankers destroyed (Arahants) who are obtainers of the eight attainments attain it. For it is said: “Understanding that is mastery, owing to possession of two powers, to the tranquilization of three formations, to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge, and to nine kinds of exercise of concentration, is knowledge of the attainment of cessation” ( [ Paṭis ] I 97). And these qualifications are not to be found together in any persons other than non-returners and those whose cankers are destroyed, who are obtainers of the eight attainments. That is why only they and no others attain it.

§19. But which are the two powers? And the [three formations] … and mastery? Here there is no need for us to say anything; for it has all been said in the description of the summary [quoted above], according as it is said:

§20. “Of the two powers: of the two powers, the serenity power and the insight power. [703]

“What is serenity as a power? The unification of the mind and non-distraction due to renunciation are serenity as a power. The unification of the mind and non-distraction due to non-ill will are serenity as a power. The unification of the mind and non-distraction due to perception of light … [to non-distraction … to defining of states (dhamma) … to knowledge … to gladness … to the eight attainments, the ten kasiṇas, the ten recollections, the nine charnel-ground contemplations, and the thirty-two modes of mindfulness of breathing] 8 … the unification of the mind and non-distraction due to breathing out in one who is contemplating relinquishment 9 is serenity as a power.

§21. “In what sense is serenity a power? Owing to the first jhāna it does not waver on account of the hindrances, thus serenity is a power. Owing to the second jhāna it does not waver on account of applied and sustained thought, thus serenity is a power … (etc.) … Owing to the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception it does not waver on account of the perception of the base consisting of nothingness, thus serenity is a power. It does not waver and vacillate and hesitate on account of agitation and on account of the defilements and the aggregates that accompany agitation, thus serenity is a power. This is the serenity power.

§22. {794|736}“What is insight as a power? Contemplation of impermanence is insight as a power. Contemplation of pain … Contemplation of not-self … Contemplation of dispassion … Contemplation of fading away … Contemplation of cessation … Contemplation of relinquishment is insight as a power. Contemplation of impermanence in materiality … (etc.) … Contemplation of relinquishment in materiality is insight as a power. Contemplation of impermanence in feeling … in perception … in formations … in consciousness is insight as a power … Contemplation of relinquishment in consciousness is insight as a power. Contemplation of impermanence in the eye … (etc., see XX.9) … Contemplation of impermanence in ageing-and-death … (etc.) … Contemplation of relinquishment in ageing-and-death is insight as a power.

§23. “In what sense is insight a power? Owing to the contemplation of impermanence it does not waver on account of perception of permanence, thus insight is a power. Owing to the contemplation of pain it does not waver on account of perception of pleasure … Owing to the contemplation of not-self it does not waver on account of the perception of self … Owing to the contemplation of dispassion it does not waver on account of delight … Owing to the contemplation of fading away it does not waver on account of greed … Owing to the contemplation of cessation it does not waver on account of arising … Owing to the contemplation of relinquishment it does not waver on account of grasping, thus insight is a power. It does not waver and vacillate and hesitate on account of ignorance and on account of the defilements and the aggregates that accompany ignorance, thus insight is a power.

§24. “Owing to the tranquilization of three formations: owing to the tranquilization of what three formations? In one who has attained the second jhāna the verbal formations consisting in applied and sustained thought are quite tranquilized. In one who has attained the fourth jhāna the bodily formations consisting in in-breaths and out-breaths are quite tranquilized. In one who has attained cessation of perception and feeling the mental formations consisting in feeling and perception are quite tranquilized. It is owing to the tranquilization of these three formations.

§25. “Owing to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge: owing to what sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge? Contemplation of impermanence is a kind of exercise of knowledge. Contemplation of pain … Contemplation of not-self … Contemplation of dispassion … Contemplation of fading away … Contemplation of cessation … Contemplation of relinquishment … Contemplation of turning away is a kind of exercise of knowledge. [704] The stream-entry path is a kind of exercise of knowledge. The attainment of the fruition of stream-entry … The once-return path … The attainment of the fruition of once-return … The non-return path … The attainment of the fruition of non-return … The Arahant path … The attainment of the fruition of Arahantship is a kind of exercise of knowledge. It is owing to these sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge.

§26. “Owing to nine kinds of exercise of concentration: owing to what nine kinds of exercise of concentration? The first jhāna is a kind of exercise of concentration. The second jhāna … [The third jhāna … The fourth jhāna … [ Th ] {795|737}e attainment of the base consisting of boundless space … The attainment of the base consisting of boundless consciousness … The attainment of the base consisting of nothingness … ]. The attainment of the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception is a kind of exercise of concentration. And the applied thought and sustained thought and happiness and bliss and unification of mind that have the purpose of attaining the first jhāna … (etc.) … And the applied thought and sustained thought and happiness and bliss and unification of mind that have the purpose of attaining the attainment of the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. It is owing to these nine kinds of exercise of concentration. 10

§27. “Mastery: there are five kinds of mastery. There is mastery in adverting, in attaining, in resolving, in emerging, in reviewing. He adverts to the first jhāna where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in adverting, thus it is mastery in adverting. He attains the first jhāna where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in attaining, thus it is mastery in attaining. He resolves upon [the duration of] the first jhāna where, … thus it is mastery in resolving. He emerges from the first jhāna, … thus it is mastery in emerging. He reviews the first jhāna where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in reviewing, thus it is mastery in reviewing. He adverts to the second jhāna … (etc.) … He reviews the attainment of the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in reviewing, thus it is mastery in reviewing. These are the five kinds of mastery” ( [ Paṭis ] I 97–100).

§28. And here the words: “Owing to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge” state the maximum. But in a non-returner the mastery is owing to fourteen kinds of exercise of knowledge. If that is so, then does it not come about also in the once-returner owing to twelve? And in the stream-enterer owing to ten?—It does not. Because the greed based on the cords of sense desire, which is an obstacle to concentration, is unabandoned in them. It is because that is not abandoned in them that the serenity power is not perfected. Since it is not perfected they are not, owing to want of power, able to attain the attainment of cessation, which has to be attained by the two powers. But it is abandoned in the non-returner and so his power is perfected. Since his power is perfected he is able to attain it.

Hence the Blessed One said: “Profitable [consciousness] of the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception in one emerging from cessation is a condition, as proximity condition, for the attainment of fruition” ( [ Paṭṭh ] I 159). For this is said in the Great Book of the Paṭṭhāna 11 with reference only to non-returners’ emerging from cessation. [705]

§29. {796|738}(iv) Where do they attain it? In the five-constituent becoming. Why? Because of the necessity for the succession of [all] the attainments (cf. [ S ] IV 217). But in the four-constituent becoming there is no arising of the first jhāna, etc., and so it is not possible to attain it there. But some say that is because of the lack of a physical basis [for the mind there]. 12

§30. (v) Why do they attain it? Being wearied by the occurrence and dissolution of formations, they attain it thinking, “Let us dwell in bliss by being without consciousness here and now and reaching the cessation that is Nibbāna.” 13

§31. (vi) How does its attainment come about? It comes about in one who performs the preparatory tasks by striving with serenity and insight and causes the cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. One who strives with serenity alone reaches the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception and remains there, while one who strives with insight alone reaches the attainment of fruition and remains there. But it is one who strives with both, and after performing the preparatory tasks, causes the cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, who attains it. This is in brief.

§32. But the detail is this. When a bhikkhu who desires to attain cessation has finished all that has to do with his meal and has washed his hands and feet well, he sits down on a well-prepared seat in a secluded place. Having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, established mindfulness in front of him, he attains the first jhāna, and on emerging he sees the formations in it with insight as impermanent, painful, not-self.

§33. This insight is threefold as insight that discerns formations, insight for the attainment of fruition, and insight for the attainment of cessation. Herein, insight that discerns formations, whether sluggish or keen, is the proximate cause only for a path. Insight for the attainment of fruition, which is only valid when keen, is similar to that for the development of a path. Insight for the attainment of cessation is only valid when it is not over-sluggish and not over-keen. Therefore he sees those formations with insight that is not over-sluggish and not over-keen.

§34. After that, he attains the second jhāna, and on emerging he sees formations with insight in like manner. After that, he attains the third jhāna … (etc.) … After that, he attains the base consisting of boundless consciousness, and on emerging he sees the formations in it in like manner. Likewise he attains the base consisting {797|739}of nothingness. On emerging from that he does the fourfold preparatory task, that is to say, about (a) non-damage to others’ property, (b) the Community’s waiting, (c) the Master’s summons, and (d) the limit of the duration. [706]

§35. (a) Herein, non-damage to others’ property refers to what the bhikkhu has about him that is not his personal property: a robe and bowl, or a bed and chair, or a living room, or any other kind of requisite kept by him but the property of various others. It should be resolved 14 that such property will not be damaged, will not be destroyed by fire, water, wind, thieves, rats, and so on. Here is the form of the resolve: “During these seven days let this and this not be burnt by fire; let it not be swept off by water; let it not be spoilt by wind; let it not be stolen by thieves; let it not be devoured by rats, and so on.” When he has resolved in this way, they are not in danger during the seven days.

§36. If he does not resolve in this way, they may be destroyed by fire, etc., as in the case of the Elder Mahā Nāga. The elder, it seems, went for alms into the village where his mother, a lay follower, lived. She gave him rice gruel and seated him in the sitting hall. The elder sat down and attained cessation. While he was sitting there the hall caught fire. The other bhikkhus each picked up their seats and fled. The villagers gathered together, and seeing the elder, they said, “What a lazy monk! What a lazy monk!” The fire burned the grass thatch, the bamboos, and timbers, and it encircled the elder. People brought water and put it out. They removed the ashes, did repairs, 15 scattered flowers, and then stood respectfully waiting. The elder emerged at the time he had determined. Seeing them, he said, “I am discovered!,” and he rose up into the air and went to Piyaṅgu Island. This is “non-damage to others’ property.”

§37. There is no special resolving to be done for what is his own personal property such as the inner and outer robes or the seat he is sitting on. He protects all that by means of the attainment itself, like those of the venerable Sañjīva. And this is said: “There was success by intervention of concentration in the venerable Sañjīva. There was success by intervention of concentration in the venerable Sāriputta” ( [ Paṭis ] I 212—see XII.30).

§38. (b) The Community’s waiting is the Community’s expecting. The meaning is: till this bhikkhu comes there is no carrying out of acts of the Community. And here it is not the actual Community’s waiting that is the preparatory task, but the adverting to the waiting. So it should be adverted to in this way: “While I am sitting for seven days in the attainment of cessation, if the Community wants to enact a resolution, etc., I shall emerge before any bhikkhu comes to summon me.” [707] One who attains it after doing this emerges at exactly that time.

§39. {798|740}But if he does not do so, then perhaps the Community assembles, and not seeing him, it is asked, “Where is the bhikkhu so and so?” They reply, “He has attained cessation.” The Community dispatches a bhikkhu, telling him, “Go and summon him in the name of the Community.” Then as soon as the bhikkhu stands within his hearing and merely says, “The Community is waiting for you, friend,” he emerges. Such is the importance of the Community’s order. So he should attain in such-wise that, by adverting to it beforehand, he emerges by himself.

§40. (c) The Master’s summons: here too it is the adverting to the Master’s summons that is the preparatory task. So that also should be adverted to in this way: “While I am sitting for seven days in the attainment of cessation, if the Master, after examining a case, makes known a course of training, or teaches the Dhamma, the origin of which discourse is some need that has arisen, 16 I shall emerge before anyone comes to summon me.” For when he has seated himself after doing so, he emerges at exactly that time.

§41. But if he does not do so, when the Community assembles, the Master, not seeing him, asks, “Where is the bhikkhu so and so?” They reply, “He has attained cessation.” Then he dispatches a bhikkhu, telling him, “Go and summon him in my name.” As soon as the bhikkhu stands within his hearing and merely says, “The Master calls the venerable one,” he emerges. Such is the importance of the Master’s summons. So he should attain in such wise that, by adverting to it beforehand, he emerges himself.

§42. (d) The limit of duration is the limit of life’s duration. For this bhikkhu should be very careful to determine what the limit of his life’s duration is. He should attain only after adverting in this way: “Will my own vital formations go on occurring for seven days or will they not?” For if he attains it without adverting when the vital formations are due to cease within seven days, then since the attainment of cessation cannot ward off his death because there is no dying during cessation, 17 he consequently emerges from the attainment meanwhile. So he should attain only after adverting to that. For it is said that while it may be permissible to omit adverting to others, this must be adverted to.

§43. Now, when he has thus attained the base consisting of nothingness and emerged and done this preparatory task, he then attains the base consisting of {799|741}neither perception nor non-perception. Then after one or two turns of consciousness have passed, he becomes without consciousness, he achieves cessation. But why do consciousnesses not go on occurring in him after the two consciousnesses? Because the effort is directed to cessation. For this bhikkhu’s mounting through the eight attainments, coupling together the states of serenity and insight, [708] is directed to successive cessation, not to attaining the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. So it is because the effort is directed to cessation that no more than the two consciousnesses occur.

§44. But if a bhikkhu emerges from the base consisting of nothingness without having done this preparatory task and then attains the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, he is unable then to become without consciousness: he returns to the base consisting of nothingness and settles down there.

§45. And here the simile of the man and the road not previously travelled may be told. A man who had not previously travelled a certain road came to a ravine cut by water, or after crossing a deep morass he came to a rock heated by a fierce sun. Then without arranging his inner and outer garments, he descended into the ravine but came up again for fear of wetting his belongings and remained on the bank, or he walked up on to the rock but on burning his feet he returned to the near side and waited there.

§46. Herein, just as the man, as soon as he had descended into the ravine, or walked up on to the hot rock, turned back and remained on the near side because he had not seen to the arrangement of his inner and outer garments, so too as soon as the meditator has attained the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, he turns back and remains in the base consisting of nothingness because the preparatory task has not been done.

§47. Just as when a man who has travelled that road before comes to that place, he puts his inner garment on securely, and taking the other in his hand, crosses over the ravine, or so acts as to tread only lightly on the hot rock and accordingly gets to the other side, so too, when the bhikkhu does the preparatory task and then attains the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, then he achieves cessation, which is the other side, by becoming without consciousness.

§48. (vii) How is it made to last? It lasts as long as the time predetermined for its duration, unless interrupted meanwhile by the exhaustion of the life span, by the waiting of the Community, or by the Master’s summons.

§49. (viii) How does the emergence from it come about? The emergence comes about in two ways thus: by means of the fruition of non-return in the case of the non-returner, or by means of the fruition of Arahantship in the case of the Arahant.

§50. (ix) Towards what does the mind of one who has emerged tend? It tends towards Nibbāna. For this is said: “When a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visākha, his consciousness inclines to seclusion, leans to seclusion, tends to seclusion” ( [ M ] I 302). [709]

§51. {800|742}(x) What is the difference between one who has attained and one who is dead? This is also given in a sutta, according as it is said: “When a bhikkhu is dead, friend, has completed his term, his bodily formations have ceased and are quite still, his verbal formations have ceased and are quite still, his mental formations have ceased and are quite still, his life is exhausted, his heat has subsided, and his faculties are broken up. When a bhikkhu has entered upon the cessation of perception and feeling, his bodily formations have ceased and are quite still, his verbal formations have ceased and are quite still, his mental formations have ceased and are quite still, his life is unexhausted, his heat has not subsided, his faculties are quite whole” ( [ M ] I 296).

§52. (xi) As to the question is the attainment of cessation formed or unformed, etc.? It is not classifiable as formed or unformed, mundane or supramundane. Why? Because it has no individual essence. But since it comes to be attained by one who attains it, it is therefore permissible to say that it is produced, not unproduced. 18

This too is an attainment which
A Noble One may cultivate;
The peace it gives is reckoned as
Nibbāna here and now.
A wise man by developing
The noble understanding can
With it himself endow;
So this ability is called
A boon of understanding, too,
The noble paths allow.

1.4 D. Worthiness to Receive Gifts

§53. And not only the ability to attain the attainment of cessation but also achievement of worthiness to receive gifts should be understood as a benefit of this supramundane development of understanding.

§54. For, generally speaking, it is because understanding has been developed in these four ways that a person who has developed it, is fit for the gifts of the {801|743}world with its deities, fit for its hospitality, fit for its offerings, and fit for its reverential salutation, and an incomparable field of merit for the world.

§55. But in particular, firstly, one who arrives at development of under-standing of the first path with sluggish insight and limp faculties is called, “one who will be reborn seven times at most”; he traverses the round of rebirths seven times in the happy destinies. One who arrives with medium insight and medium faculties is called, “one who goes from noble family to noble family”; with two or three rebirths in noble families he makes an end of suffering. One who arrives with keen insight and keen faculties is called, “one who germinates only once”; with one rebirth in the human world he makes an end of suffering (see [ A ] I 133).

By developing understanding of the second path, he is called a once-returner.

He returns once to this world and makes an end of suffering. [710]

§56. By developing understanding of the third path he is called a non-returner. According to the difference in his faculties he completes his course in one of five ways after he has left this world: he becomes “one who attains Nibbāna early in his next existence” or “one who attains Nibbāna more than half way through his next existence” or “one who attains Nibbāna without prompting” or “one who attains Nibbāna with prompting” or “one who is going upstream bound for the Highest Gods” (see [ D ] III 237).

§57. Herein, one who attains Nibbāna early in his next existence attains Nibbāna after reappearing anywhere in the Pure Abodes, without reaching the middle of his life span there. One who attains Nibbāna more than half way through his next existence attains Nibbāna after the middle of his life span there. One who attains Nibbāna without prompting generates the highest path without prompting, with little effort. One who attains Nibbāna with prompting generates the highest path with prompting, with effort. One who is going upstream bound for the Highest Gods passes on upwards from wherever he is reborn [in the Pure Abodes] to the Highest Gods’ becoming and attains Nibbāna there.

§58. By developing understanding of the fourth path one becomes “liberated by faith,” another “liberated by understanding,” another “both-ways liberated,” another “one with the triple clear vision,” another “one with the six kinds of direct-knowledge,” another “one of the great ones whose cankers are destroyed who has reached the categories of discrimination.” It was about one who has developed the fourth path that it was said: “But it is at the moment of the path that he is said to be disentangling that tangle: at the moment of fruition he has disentangled the tangle and is worthy of the highest offerings in the world with its deities” (I.7).

§59.

The noble understanding, when
Developed, will these blessings win;
Accordingly discerning men
Rejoice exceedingly therein.

§60. And at this point the development of understanding with its benefits, which is shown in the Path of Purification with its headings of virtue, concentration, and understanding, in the stanza,

{802|744}“When a wise man, established well in virtue,
Develops consciousness and understanding,
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious,
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle” (I.1),
has been fully illustrated.

The twenty-third chapter called “The Description of the Benefits of Understanding” in the Path of Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening good people.

2 Conclusion

After we quoted this stanza,

“When a wise man, established well in virtue,
Develops consciousness and understanding,
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle” (I.1),

we then said:

“My task is now to set out the true sense,
Divided into virtue and the rest,
Of this same verse composed by the Great Sage.
There are here in the Victor’s Dispensation
And who although desiring purity
Have no right knowledge of the sure straight way—
Comprising virtue and the other two,
Right hard to find, that leads to purity—
Who, though they strive, here gain no purity.
To them I shall expound the comforting Path
Of Purification, pure in expositions
Relying on the teaching of the dwellers
In the Great Monastery; let all those
Good men who do desire purity
Listen intently to my exposition.” (I.4)

Now, at this point that has all been expounded. And herein:

Now, that the exposition as set forth
Is almost free from errors and from flaws
After collating all the expositions
Of all these meanings classed as virtue and so on
Stated in the commentarial system
Of the five Nikāyas—for this reason
Let meditators pure in understanding
Desiring purification duly show
Reverence for this Path of Purification.

[TODO: * * *]

{804|746}What store of merit has been gained by me
Desiring establishment in this Good Dhamma
In doing this, accepting the suggestion
Of the venerable Saṅghapāla,
One born into the line of famous elders
Dwelling within the Great Monastery,
A true Vibhajjavādin, who is wise,
And lives in pure simplicity, devoted
To discipline’s observance, and to practice,
Whose mind the virtuous qualities of patience,
Mildness, loving kindness, and so on, grace—
By the power of that store of merit
May every being prosper happily.
And now just as the Path of Purification,
With eight and fifty recitation sections
In the text, has herewith been completed
Without impediment, so may all those
Who in the world depend on what is good
Glad-hearted soon succeed without delay.

3 Postscript

This Path of Purification was made by the elder who is adorned with supreme and pure faith, wisdom and energy, in whom are gathered a concourse of upright, gentle, etc., qualities due to the practice of virtue, who is capable of delving into and fathoming the views of his own and others’ creeds, who is possessed of keenness of understanding, who is strong in unerring knowledge of the Master’s Dispensation as divided into three Piṭakas with their commentaries, a great expounder, gifted with sweet and noble speech that springs from the ease born of perfection of the vocal instrument, a speaker of what is appropriately said, a superlative speaker, a great poet, an ornament in the lineage of the elders who dwell in the Great Monastery, and who are shining lights in the lineage of elders with unblemished enlightenment in the superhuman states that are embellished with the special qualities of the six kinds of direct-knowledge and the categories of discrimination, who has abundant purified wit, who bears the name Buddhaghosa conferred by the venerable ones, and who should be called “of Moraṇḍaceṭaka.”

May it continue here to show
The way to purity of virtue, etc.,
For clansmen seeking out the means
To ferry them across the worlds
For just as long as in this world
Shall last that name “Enlightened One,”
By which, thus purified in mind,
Is known the Greatest Sage, World Chief.

{805|747}[The following verses are only in Sinhalese texts:]

By the performance of such merit
As has been gained by me through this
And any other still in hand
So may I in my next becoming
Behold the joys of Tāvatiṃsā,
Glad in the qualities of virtue
And unattached to sense desires.
By having reached the first fruition,
And having in my last life seen
Metteyya, Lord of Sages, Highest
Of persons in the World, and
Helper Delighting in all beings’ welfare,
And heard that Holy One proclaim
The Teaching of the Noble Dhamma,
May I grace the Victor’s Dispensation
By realizing its highest fruit.

[The following verses are only in the Burmese texts:]

The exposition of the Path of Purification
Has thus been made for gladdening good people;
But this, by reckoning the Pali text,
Has eight and fifty recitation sections.

End

  1. “It is the Andhakas, etc., who maintain this; for they take the sutta wrongly which says, ‘“Arahantship” is said, friend Sāriputta; what is Arahantship?—The destruction of greed, the destruction of hate, the destruction of delusion: that is what is called Arahantship” ( [ S ] IV 252), taking it literally and asserting that nothing exists called Arahantship and that it is only the abandoning of defilements that is so called by common usage. And they deny that there are any other fruitions” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 891).
  2. The quotation in the Vism texts does not quite agree with the [ Paṭis ] text (Ee) where (as the sense demands) the words “bahiddhā saṅkhāranimittaṃ” do not follow the four fruitions and the two abidings but only the four paths.
  3. “Although they are resultant states, nevertheless the states of fruition attainment occur in the noble person only when he chooses since they do not arise without the preliminary work and do so only when they are given predominance” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 895).
  4. “Why does change-of-lineage not have Nibbāna as its object here as it does when it precedes the path? Because states belonging to fruition are not associated with an outlet [as in the case of the path]. For this is said: ‘What states are an outlet? The four unincluded paths’ ( [ Dhs ] §1592)” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 895).
  5. “Those of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anurādhapura” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 895).
  6. “The ‘volition’ is attaining after deciding the time limit in this way, ‘When the moon, or the sun, has gone so far, I shall emerge,’ which is an act of volition” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 897).
  7. “It is because he is called ‘emerged from attainment’ as soon as the life-continuum consciousness has arisen that ‘he brings to mind that which is the object of the life-continuum’ is said. Kamma, etc., are called the object of the life-continuum (see Ch. XVII, §133ff.)” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 897).
  8. The list in brackets represents in summarized form the things listed at [ Paṭis ] I 94–95, repeated in this context in the Paṭisambhidā but left out in the Vism quotation.
  9. The serenity shown here is access concentration (see [ Vism-mhṭ ] 899).
  10. The nine are the four fine-material jhānas, the four immaterial jhānas, and the access concentration preceding each of the eight attainments, described in the last sentence and counted as one.
  11. “The word ‘profitable’ used in this Paṭṭhāna passage shows that it app1ies only to non-returners, otherwise ‘functional’ would have been said” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 902).
  12. “They say so because of absence of heart-basis; but the meaning is because of absence of basis called physical body. For if anyone were to attain cessation in the immaterial worlds he would become indefinable (appaññattika) owing to the non-existence of any consciousness or consciousness concomitant at all, and he would be as though attained to final Nibbāna without remainder of results of past clinging; for what remainder of results of past clinging could be predicated of him when he had entered into cessation? So it is because of the lack of the necessary factors that there is no attaining of the attainment of cessation in the immaterial worlds” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 902).
  13. “‘Reaching the cessation that is Nibbāna’: as though reaching Nibbāna without remainder of result of past clinging. ‘In bliss’ means without suffering” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 902).
  14. “‘It should be resolved’: the thought should be aroused. For here the resolve consists in arousing the thought. In the non-arising of consciousness-originated materiality, etc., and in the absence of support by a postnascence condition, etc., the physical body continues the same only for seven days; after that it suffers wastage. So he limits the duration to seven days when he attains cessation, they say” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 903).
  15. Paribhaṇḍa—“repair work”: this meaning is not given in PED; cf. [ M-a ] IV 157 (patching of old robes), and [ M-a ] I 291.
  16. The word atthuppatti (“the origin being a need arisen”) is a technical commentarial term. “There are four kinds of origins (uppatti) or setting forth of suttas (sutta-nikkhepa): on account of the speaker’s own inclination (attajjhāsaya), on account of another’s inclination (parajjhāsaya), as the result of a question asked (pucchāvasika), and on account of a need arisen (atthuppattika)’ ( [ M-a ] I 15, see also Ch. III.88).
  17. “‘Vital formations’ are the same as 1ife span; though some say that they are the life span, heat and consciousness. These are the object only of his normal consciousness. There is no death during cessation because dying takes place by means of the final life-continuum [consciousness]. He should attain only after adverting thus, ‘Let sudden death not occur.’ For in the case of sudden death he would not be able to declare final knowledge, advise the bhikkhus, and testify to the Dispensation’s power. And there would be no reaching the highest path in the case of a non-returner” ( [ Vism-mhṭ ] 904).
  18. The subtleties of the word nipphanna are best cleared up by quoting a paragraph from the Sammohavinodanī ( [ Vibh-a ] 29): “The five aggregates are positively-produced (parinipphanna) always, not un-positively-produced (aparinipphanna); they are always formed, not unformed. Besides, they are produced (nipphanna) as well. For among the dhammas that are individual essences (sabhāva-dhamma) it is only Nibbāna that is un-positively-produced and un-produced (anipphanna).” The Mūla Ṭīkā comments on this: “What is the difference between the positively-produced and the produced? A dhamma that is an individual essence with a beginning and an end in time, produced by conditions, and marked by the three characteristics, is positively produced. But besides this, what is produced [but not positively produced] is a dhamma with no individual essence (asabhāva-dhamma) when it is produced by the taking of a name or by attaining [the attainment of cessation]” ( [ Vibh-a ] 23). Cf. also XIV.72 and 77.