解脫道論 第三禪成就與轉入第四禪

The answer says that the third jhāna easily arises and reaches that place of pleasure, followed by the unresolved 彼無受樂. It then says that noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure, which is the accomplishment of noble persons, and therefore that this jhāna “supremely accomplishes equanimity.” The treatise does not explain 彼無受樂, so it is not forced into the meaning of nonattachment or nonexperience.

Completely Filled from Root to Crown

Again and again the water-flower simile says “from root to crown,” “filled and moistened,” and “pervades body and mind.” It closes with a lotus root born in water, “completely filled from root to crown.” What the treatise emphasizes here is pleasure free of rapture pervading body and mind.

The Faults of the Third Jhāna Listed Here

The passage writes, in order: near rapture as an enemy; right concentration coarse through the pleasure factor; unable to bear the task of gaining 神通; and the third jhāna not becoming a superior portion. It then says that the virtues of the fourth are their counteragent. The precise referent of 神通 is not explained here.

The first half says that noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure and that this jhāna “supremely accomplishes equanimity.” The second half separately lists the faults of the third and says that the fourth is excellent while the third is coarse. The two groups stand one after another in the source; it does not establish another causal link between them.

All Four Accounts Are Cleared Together

Pleasure abandoned as bodily pleasure; pain abandoned as bodily pain; gladness exhausted as mental pleasure; distress exhausted as mental pain. The four feelings are entered in bodily and mental columns and cleared together at the threshold of the fourth jhāna. What remains is neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purification of equanimity and mindfulness.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Accomplishing the Third Jhāna and Turning to the Fourth · Doorway · Summer 2026

Why the Noble Ones Spoke of This Body and Not Another Place

Question: Why did the noble ones speak of this body and not another place?

Answer: This third jhāna easily arises and easily reaches that place of pleasure. The source then says 彼無受樂. Both the syntax and referent of this phrase are unclear, and this passage does not select a single interpretation. It next says that noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure; this is the accomplishment of noble persons. Therefore noble persons said that this jhāna “supremely accomplishes equanimity.” A person who dwells pleasantly with mindfulness has “equanimity, mindfulness, and pleasure.” This has already been analyzed and is accomplished; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna.

The Name “Third” and the Accomplishment of Jhāna

“Third” means that it is named the third in dependence upon the second.

The third jhāna is equanimity and mindfulness, clear knowing, pleasure, and one-pointedness. This is called the accomplishment of jhāna.

One Who Enters and Dwells

“One who enters and dwells” means that the person has already gained the second jhāna. The source then writes the continuous phrase 離一分五分. How its two instances of 分 are to be divided and what each denotes are not explained, so the original expression is retained without assigning its parts. It next says that he accomplishes three kinds of goodness, fulfills ten characteristics, is associated with twenty-two virtues, dwells among devas, and is reborn in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity. This is as explained at length under the first jhāna.

“Dwelling among devas” is explained by the source as 無喜樂住 and as surpassing human dwelling, hence the name “dwelling among devas.” 無喜樂住 may be read as dwelling in “pleasure without rapture,” or divided as “without rapture, without pleasure, dwelling.” The source does not explain itself, and both readings are preserved.

The Simile of the Water Flowers

Therefore the Blessed One told the bhikkhus: Suppose there are pond flowers of 欝波羅 and 分陀利. The flowers 欝波羅, 波頭摩, and 分陀利 are born of water and grow through water. Arising from the water, they remain in it, and water fills them from root to crown. In the same way, bhikkhus, the meditator fills and moistens this body with pleasure free of rapture, and pleasure free of rapture pervades body and mind.

Here, just as 欝多羅, 波頭摩, and 分陀利 flowers arise from water, so one who enters the third jhāna should understand the body to be like a lotus root born in water, completely filled from root to crown. In this way, the body of one entering the third jhāna is pervaded in body and mind by pleasure free of rapture. Such is the result of cultivating concentration: the virtue of dwelling among devas and being reborn in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity.

The Upper, Middle, and Lower Grades of the Third Jhāna and Their Heavens

This third jhāna is also of three kinds: upper, middle, and lower.

Here a meditator who cultivates the lower jhāna is reborn at death in the Heaven of Limited Purity, where the lifespan is sixteen eons. Cultivating the middle jhāna, he is reborn in the Heaven of Measureless Purity, whose lifespan is thirty-two eons. Cultivating the upper jhāna, he is reborn in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity, with a lifespan of sixty-four eons.

Recollecting the Faults of the Third Jhāna and Arousing the Fourth

He recollects the faults of the third jhāna. At that time, having practiced in this way, the meditator has gained bodily mastery and pleasure in the third jhāna. He arouses the fourth jhāna and goes beyond the third. The third jhāna is coarse and the fourth excellent. He sees the faults of the third and again sees the virtues of the fourth.

What are the faults of the third jhāna? It is near rapture, which is an enemy. Right concentration is coarse because of the factor of pleasure; it cannot bear the task of gaining 神通, and the third jhāna does not become a superior portion. Seeing the faults of the third in this way, one sees that the virtues of the fourth are their counteragent. The precise referent of 神通 is not explained here.

Attention in Cultivating the Fourth Jhāna and Its Accomplishment Formula

That meditator, having thus seen the faults of the third jhāna and the virtues of the fourth, attends only to the sign of the kasiṇa. The source next reads 令現滅樂滅. Two occurrences of 滅 stand together. It is unclear whether the first joins 現 or falls under 令, so no single interpretation is selected here. Sustained by a mind of equanimity, he attends in this way; before long, through the mind of equanimity, he finds ease and understands the factors of the fourth jhāna.

That meditator has abandoned pleasure, had already abandoned pain, and exhausted the initial gladness and distress. He accomplishes neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purification of equanimity and mindfulness, and dwells in the fourth jhāna. This is the virtue of the earth kasiṇa.

Lexical Explanations of Abandoning Pleasure, Abandoning Pain, and the Cessation of Gladness and Distress

“Abandoning pleasure” means the abandonment of bodily pleasure. “Abandoning pain” means the abandonment of bodily pain.

“The preceding gladness and distress have ceased” means that gladness is mental pleasure and distress mental pain; both have been completely extinguished.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Accomplishing the Third Jhāna and Turning to the Fourth · Vernacular · Summer 2026

This passage accomplishes two major tasks in one movement. First it completes the account of the third jhāna—the answer, its four-factor formula, the water-flower simile, and the three grades with three heavens. It then lists three faults of the third jhāna, the virtues of the fourth, and the attention by which one turns to the fourth. Both faces occur in this same passage. The treatise does not establish an additional causal statement explaining how they connect.

The Accomplishment of the Third Jhāna and an Unresolved Short Phrase

“Question: Why did the noble ones speak of this body and not another place?” 〔T32 419c14–15〕. This carries forward the preceding explanation of “what the noble ones taught”—the noble ones being the Buddha and his disciples—and asks further why they spoke of this body rather than another place. The answer proceeds: “This third jhāna easily arises and reaches that place of pleasure; 彼無受樂. Noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure; this is the accomplishment of noble persons. Therefore noble persons said that this jhāna supremely accomplishes equanimity” 〔T32 419c15–17〕. The syntax and referent of 彼無受樂 are unclear, and the treatise does not explain them elsewhere. It cannot be determined as nonattachment or any other single meaning. What can be directly confirmed is only the sequence of statements: the third jhāna easily arises and reaches that place of pleasure; the source then has 彼無受樂; noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure, which is their accomplishment; therefore noble persons said that this jhāna “supremely accomplishes equanimity.” The order and the unresolved phrase are preserved, without using “supremely accomplishes equanimity” to infer a single reading of 彼無受樂.

It is especially important here to separate what can be confirmed word for word from what still requires interpretation. The words “third jhāna,” “place of pleasure,” “noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure,” “accomplishment of noble persons,” and “this jhāna supremely accomplishes equanimity” are explicit. Only the intervening 彼無受樂 remains to be interpreted. It cannot automatically borrow characters from the later phrase “pleasure free of rapture,” nor can general doctrine turn it into nonattachment to pleasure. An exposition may arrange the answer and mark the unresolved words; it may not make one unresolved phrase explain the whole reason the noble ones spoke.

The accomplishment formula is then examined word by word: “A person who dwells pleasantly with mindfulness has equanimity, mindfulness, and pleasure; this has already been analyzed and is accomplished; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna” 〔T32 419c17–18〕. Equanimity, mindfulness, knowing, and pleasure in the noble formula have already been analyzed factor by factor, hence “this has already been analyzed and is accomplished.” The formula does not introduce a new meaning; it closes the account of factors already explained. “Third means that it is named the third in dependence upon the second” 〔T32 419c18〕. Its name comes not from an essence but from sequence: only by stepping upon the second is there a third; the name itself is a mark on the ladder. “The third jhāna is equanimity and mindfulness, clear knowing, pleasure, and one-pointedness; this is called the accomplishment of jhāna” 〔T32 419c19〕. Four factors establish the form. Equanimity, mindfulness, and clear knowing, treated across 08-17 and 08-18, are gathered here with pleasure and one-pointedness. Under “one who enters and dwells,” the text first records that “he has already gained the second jhāna.” It then continuously writes “離一分五分, accomplishing three kinds of goodness, fulfilling ten characteristics, being associated with twenty-two virtues, dwelling among devas, being reborn in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity—as explained at length under the first jhāna” 〔T32 419c20–22〕. How the two occurrences of 分 in 離一分五分 divide and what they denote are not stated, so the phrase is retained without assigning its parts. The number twenty-two has a variant. Only “dwelling among devas” receives another explanation: “dwelling in 無喜樂住; surpassing human dwelling is called dwelling among devas” 〔T32 419c22–23〕. It surpasses human dwelling and therefore receives the name. How 無喜樂住 is divided is not explained and remains unresolved.

The order under “one who enters and dwells” is: already gained the second jhāna; 離一分五分; accomplished three kinds of goodness and fulfilled ten characteristics; associated with twenty-two virtues; dwelling among devas; reborn in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity; and finally “as explained at length under the first jhāna.” This passage says only that the person has gained the second jhāna; it does not add further states here.

The Water-Flower Simile: Completely Filled from Root to Crown

“Therefore the Blessed One told the bhikkhus” 〔T32 419c23〕 opens the largest image in the passage. The three pond flowers are “born of water and grow through water, arise from water and remain in it, and water fills them from root to crown” 〔T32 419c25–26〕. “In the same way, bhikkhus, he fills and moistens this body with pleasure free of rapture; pleasure free of rapture pervades body and mind” 〔T32 419c26–28〕. The simile expressly states filling “from root to crown” and “pervading body and mind.” Its warranted meaning goes no farther; no separate classification or mechanism is invented for the water. The close turns from flower to lotus root: “his body should be understood as a lotus root born in water, completely filled from root to crown” 〔T32 419c29–420a01〕. The point remains “from root to crown” and “completely filled.” The first name in the list differs within the simile—first 欝波羅, later 欝多羅. The base text is retained, and the difference remains unresolved.

The three grades are then paired with three heavens: “This third jhāna is also of three kinds: upper, middle, and lower” 〔T32 420a03〕. The lower is reborn in the Heaven of Limited Purity for sixteen eons; the middle in the Heaven of Measureless Purity for thirty-two; the upper in the Heaven of Pervasive Purity for sixty-four 〔T32 420a03–07〕. All three heaven names contain the character 淨, “purity.” The lifespans double from sixteen to thirty-two to sixty-four, but the treatise does not state why. Each lower, middle, and upper grade is simply kept with its corresponding destination and lifespan.

Pause at the Question: Why Go Beyond a Pleasure Praised by Noble Ones?

“Recollecting the faults of the third jhāna, at that time the meditator, having practiced in this way, has gained bodily mastery and pleasure in the third jhāna, arouses the fourth jhāna, and goes beyond the third” 〔T32 420a07–08〕. The ascent formula begins again. Pause here. The first half of the passage has just said “noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure; this is the accomplishment of noble persons.” How can pleasure praised by noble ones immediately become a fault to be surpassed?

“What are the faults of the third jhāna? It is near rapture, which is an enemy. Right concentration is coarse because of the pleasure factor and cannot bear the task of gaining 神通; the third jhāna does not become a superior portion” 〔T32 420a10–12〕. The answer expressly lists three matters: nearness to rapture as an enemy, coarseness of right concentration through the pleasure factor and consequent incapacity for 神通, and failure of the third jhāna to become a superior portion. The precise referent of 神通 is not explained here. Unit 08-17 called the fault of the second jhāna “being near applied and sustained thought, which are enemies of concentration.” This passage uses the same construction but changes what is near to rapture. It also says that the fourth is excellent and the third coarse, and that the virtues of the fourth counteract the faults of the third 〔T32 420a08–13〕. The first half has “accomplishment of noble persons” and “this jhāna supremely accomplishes equanimity”; the second half explicitly lists the faults of the third and going beyond it. Both occur here. The treatise does not use the unresolved 彼無受樂 to explain their connection, and no causal link is imposed.

The transition of attention follows its original order: “he attends only to the sign of the kasiṇa, 令現滅樂滅” 〔T32 420a14–15〕. The object remains the sign of the kasiṇa. In 令現滅樂滅, two 滅 characters stand together. The treatise does not punctuate them, and the division remains unresolved. The phrase is retained without punctuation. Next comes “sustained by a mind of equanimity, attending in this way, before long, through the mind of equanimity, he finds ease and understands the factors of the fourth jhāna” 〔T32 420a15–16〕. Sustained by equanimity, such attention, before long, and finding ease and understanding the factors through equanimity are kept as four elements in the original sentence. The source does not explain why “before long” is brief or add a psychological mechanism among the elements.

The fourth-jhāna formula follows item by item: “because pleasure has been abandoned,” “because pain had already been abandoned,” and “because the initial gladness and distress have been exhausted”; then neither-pain-nor-pleasure, accomplishment of purification of equanimity and mindfulness, dwelling in the fourth jhāna, and finally “this is the virtue of the earth kasiṇa” 〔T32 420a16–18〕. This list supplies the formula and its order. Although “sustained by a mind of equanimity” and “purification of equanimity and mindfulness” share the term equanimity, the source does not declare them synonymous or place them in a separate causal relation. Each is preserved in its own sentence.

The Faults of the Third Jhāna Listed Here

After “What are the faults of the third jhāna?” the text writes, in order: “It is near rapture, which is an enemy. Right concentration is coarse because of the pleasure factor; it cannot bear the task of gaining 神通; the third jhāna does not become a superior portion” 〔T32 420a10–12〕. Nearness to rapture as an enemy, coarseness through the pleasure factor, incapacity for 神通, and failure to become a superior portion are all retained according to their sentences. The answer immediately says that seeing the virtues of the fourth is their counteragent 〔T32 420a12–13〕. These words concern the faults and virtues expressly listed here in the turn from the third to the fourth.

Before the list, the source says that the meditator gains bodily mastery and pleasure in the third jhāna, arouses the fourth and goes beyond the third. It judges the third coarse and fourth excellent, and says that he sees the faults of the third and virtues of the fourth 〔T32 420a07–10〕. After the list, it repeats that he sees the faults of the third in this way and that the virtues of the fourth are their counteragent 〔T32 420a12–13〕. Only then does it proceed to seeing faults and virtues, attending to the sign of the kasiṇa, 令現滅樂滅, being sustained by the mind of equanimity, and through equanimity finding ease and understanding the fourth-jhāna factors 〔T32 420a13–16〕. The passage moves from the judgment of coarse and excellent into the list of faults, from the counteracting virtue into attention and the factors, and only then into the formula of the fourth jhāna.

All Four Accounts Are Cleared Together

“That meditator has abandoned pleasure, had already abandoned pain, and exhausted the initial gladness and distress. He accomplishes neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purification of equanimity and mindfulness, and dwells in the fourth jhāna. This is the virtue of the earth kasiṇa” 〔T32 420a16–18〕. The formula of the fourth jhāna stands complete. “This is the virtue of the earth kasiṇa” records the accomplishment under the earth-kasiṇa gate, as at the close of each jhāna. The attainment of the four jhānas remains on the same ledger of the object used at this gate. The text then explains the words: “Abandoning pleasure means the abandonment of bodily pleasure; abandoning pain means the abandonment of bodily pain. The preceding gladness and distress have ceased: gladness means mental pleasure and distress mental pain; both are completely extinguished” 〔T32 420a18–20〕. Pleasure, pain, gladness, and distress are entered in two columns, bodily and mental: bodily pleasure, bodily pain, mental pleasure as gladness, and mental pain as distress. At the threshold of the fourth jhāna, all four accounts are cleared together. What remains is the feeling of neither pain nor pleasure. The preceding unit’s method of redefining terms appears again: gladness is explained as mental pleasure and distress as mental pain. Each of four ordinary words finds its place, and every character in the formula has an account that can be checked. “Neither pain nor pleasure” is not a vague middle; it is what remains when each of four entries has been cleared. Its direct definition occurs in the next unit.

Conclusion

Return to the central observation. The same passage first says that noble ones incline toward dwelling in pleasure and that this jhāna “supremely accomplishes equanimity,” then says that nearness to rapture is an enemy, that right concentration is coarse through the pleasure factor, that it cannot bear 神通, and that the third jhāna does not become a superior portion. It therefore arouses the fourth and goes beyond the third. 彼無受樂 remains in its original form and unresolved. Carry away three things: an image—the flowers and lotus root completely filled from root to crown; the faults listed in this passage; and the original sequence—attention to the sign of the kasiṇa, being sustained by equanimity, before long, and through equanimity finding ease and understanding the factors of the fourth. The fourth-jhāna formula has now been established, while its lexical explanation has only begun. The next passage opens, “Pleasure, pain, and distress have been abandoned: where did they cease?” and continues the accounting of the feelings.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Accomplishing the Third Jhāna and Turning to the Fourth · Exposition · Summer 2026