清淨道論 白話全本 · 冊8Visuddhimagga · Complete Vernacular · Vol. 8

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine), made from the public-domain PTS text.

§1.1 Maraṇaṃ: Three Meanings of Death; Timely and Untimely Death 〔Vism VIII·pp.229–230〕

Chapter Eight

Exposition of Recollection Meditation Subjects

First: Mindfulness of Death

Now comes the exposition of the cultivation of mindfulness of death (maraṇasati)², immediately following [the preceding chapter].¹

Here, “death” (maraṇa) means the cutting off of the life faculty (jīvitindriya)³ belonging to a single existence. The arahants’ “death-as-final-cutting-off” (samuccheda-maraṇa), so called because it cuts off the suffering of the round; formations’ “momentary death” (khaṇika-maraṇa), so called because they break up from moment to moment; and “conventional death” (sammuti-maraṇa) in expressions such as “the tree died” and “the metal died”—none of these is intended here. The death intended here is of two kinds: “timely death” (kāla-maraṇa) and “untimely death” (akāla-maraṇa).

Timely death occurs through the exhaustion of merit, the exhaustion of the life span, or the exhaustion of both; untimely death occurs through the power of life-cutting kamma (kammupacchedaka-kamma).

Death that occurs solely because the result of the kamma that produced rebirth has fully ripened, even though the conditions capable of sustaining the continuity of life are still present, is called “death by exhaustion of merit.” Death that occurs through the exhaustion of a life span measuring about a hundred years, as with people in the present age, because the supporting conditions of destiny, time, food, and so forth are deficient, is called “death by exhaustion of life-span.” Death in which continuity is cut off by kamma capable of making [a being] fall from their present station in that very moment, as with Dūsīmāra and King Kalābu (Kalāburāja), or in which continuity is being cut off through former kamma or through an assault such as a weapon attack, is called “untimely death.” All of these are included under the cutting off of the life faculty described above.

§1.2 Maraṇasati: Proper Attention to Mindfulness of Death 〔Vism VIII·p.230〕

Thus, remembering the death called the cutting off of the life faculty is “mindfulness of death.” A practitioner who wishes to cultivate it should go to a secluded place and withdraw alone, directing proper attention (yoniso manasikāra) in this way: “Death will come; the life faculty will be cut off,” or simply, “Death, death.” For a person directing attention improperly, sorrow arises when they remember the death of someone dear—as when a birth mother remembers the death of her beloved child; gladness arises when they remember the death of someone disliked—as when enemies remember an enemy’s death; urgency (saṃvega)⁴ does not arise when they remember the death of someone neutral—as when a cremator sees a corpse; and terror arises when they remember their own death—as when a timid person sees an executioner with an upraised sword. All of this occurs from the absence of mindfulness, urgency, and knowledge. Therefore, after looking at beings killed or dead in various places and bringing to mind the death of beings whom the practitioner had formerly seen prospering but who are now dead, the practitioner should join mindfulness, urgency, and knowledge and direct attention in such terms as “Death will come.” A practitioner who proceeds in this way proceeds properly; that is, they proceed by a skillful means. Indeed, by proceeding in this way alone, some practitioners suppress the hindrances,⁵ establish mindfulness with death as its object, and bring the meditation subject⁶ to access [concentration].⁷

§1.3 Vadhakapaccupaṭṭhānato: As an Executioner Stands Present (List of the Eight Modes) 〔Vism VIII·pp.230–232〕

But if this much does not bring success, death should be recollected in these eight modes: (1) by way of [death’s] presentation as executioner, (2) by way of fortune-failure, (3) by way of comparison, (4) by way of the body’s being shared with many, (5) by way of the weakness of life, (6) by way of [death’s] signlessness, (7) by way of the limit of duration, and (8) by way of the brevity of the moment.

Here, (1) “by way of [death’s] presentation as executioner” means that [death] stands present like an executioner. Just as an executioner, thinking, “I shall cut off this person’s head,” stands present with sword in hand, testing its path at the person’s neck, so death too stands present: this is how it should be recollected. Why? Because it comes together with birth and because it takes life. Just as a mushroom bud necessarily rises with soil on its cap, beings too are born carrying aging and death. For as soon as their rebirth consciousness has arisen, it reaches aging and, like a rock fallen from a mountain peak, breaks up together with its associated aggregates. In this way momentary death comes together with birth; and because whoever has been born must die, the death intended here also comes together with birth. Therefore, from the time of birth this being, like the risen sun that goes only toward its setting without turning back even slightly from any place it has passed, or like the swift mountain river that carries off what it meets and continues flowing and rolling without turning back even slightly, does not turn back even slightly but goes only toward death. Hence it is said:

On the first night a person dwells in the womb, they set out on the journey, going on without return.

For a person journeying in this way, death draws near like a small river drying up under the summer heat, like fruit whose stem has been soaked with sap falling in the morning, like pottery struck with a wooden mallet breaking apart, and like dewdrops dispersing when touched by sunlight. Hence it is said:

Days and nights pass; life comes to a halt. The life span of mortals drains away like water in a small stream.

As ripe fruit is always in danger of falling at dawn, so beings once born are always in danger from death.

The vessels made by a potter, whether small or large, fired or unfired, all end in breaking; so too the life of mortals.

As a dewdrop on a blade of grass vanishes toward sunrise, so too does human life. Mother, do not hold me back.

Thus death, which comes together with birth, is like an executioner with an upraised sword; and like that executioner testing the sword at the neck, it unfailingly takes life and does not turn back after taking it. Because death comes together with birth and takes life, it stands present like an executioner with an upraised sword: death should be recollected in this way, “by way of [death’s] presentation as executioner.”

§1.4 Sampattivipattito: By Way of Fortune-Failure 〔Vism VIII·p.232〕

(2) “By way of fortune-failure”: here, fortune appears splendid only until failure overcomes it, and there is no fortune that can remain after passing beyond failure. Indeed:

Having enjoyed the whole earth and given away a hundred crores, living happily, in the end he became master of only half an āmalaka fruit.

When merit was exhausted within that very same body, even the “Sorrowless” turned toward death and fell into sorrow.

Moreover, all health ends in illness, all youth ends in aging, and all life ends in death. The entire world’s community is pursued by birth, pervaded by aging, overcome by illness, and struck down by death. Hence it is said:

As vast mountains of rock, rising to the sky, might roll in from every side, crushing the four directions, so aging and death close in upon beings. Khattiyas, brahmins, vessas, suddas, caṇḍālas, and pukkusas— they spare none but crush them all. There is no ground there for elephant troops, no place for chariots or infantry; they cannot be conquered by a battle of spells or by wealth.

Death should be recollected “by way of fortune-failure” by determining that the fortune of life ends in the failure of death.

§1.5 Upasaṃharaṇato: By Way of Comparison 〔Vism VIII·pp.232–235〕

(3) “By way of comparison” means comparing yourself with others. Here death should be recollected by comparison in seven modes: by greatness of fame, greatness of merit, greatness of strength, greatness of psychic power, greatness of wisdom, by reference to the paccekabuddhas, and by reference to the Sammāsambuddha. How? Death has fallen without hesitation even upon people of great fame, great retinues, wealth, and vehicles—Mahāsammata, Mandhātu, Mahāsudassana, Daḷhanemi, Nimi, and others. How could it fail to fall upon me?

　　The victorious kings of great fame, Mahāsammata and the rest,
　　also fell under death’s dominion; what can be said of someone like me?

First recollect in this way “by greatness of fame.” How is death recollected “by greatness of merit”?

　　Jotika, Jaṭila, Ugga, Meṇḍaka, and Puṇṇaka—
　　these and others famed in the world for great merit
　　all reached death; what can be said of someone like me?

Recollect in this way “by greatness of merit.” How is death recollected “by greatness of strength”?

　　Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Bhīmasena, Yudhiṭṭhila,
　　Cānura and Piyādi the Wrestler all fell under the Ender’s dominion;
　　though famed in the world as endowed with such mighty strength,
　　they too went to death; what can be said of someone like me?

Recollect in this way “by greatness of strength.” How is death recollected “by greatness of psychic power”?

　　With no more than his great toe he shook the Vejayanta Palace;
　　that second chief disciple, foremost among those with psychic power,
　　entered death’s dreadful mouth together with his powers,
　　like a deer entering a lion’s mouth; what can be said of someone like me?

Recollect in this way “by greatness of psychic power.” How is death recollected “by greatness of wisdom”?

　　Apart from the Protector of the World, all other beings
　　do not equal even a sixteenth part of Sāriputta’s wisdom;
　　yet the first chief disciple, possessed of such great wisdom,
　　fell under death’s dominion; what can be said of someone like me?

Recollect in this way “by greatness of wisdom.” How is death recollected “by reference to the paccekabuddhas”? Even those self-awakened sages who, through the strength of their own knowledge and energy, crushed every enemy of defilement, reached paccekabodhi, and lived alone like the rhinoceros horn did not escape death. How then could I escape?

　　The great seers who examined and investigated through various signs,
　　who reached the exhaustion of the taints through the power of self-arisen knowledge,
　　who lived and wandered alone, like the rhinoceros horn—
　　even they did not pass beyond death; what can be said of someone like me?

Recollect in this way “by reference to the paccekabuddhas.” How is death recollected “by reference to the Sammāsambuddha”? Even the Blessed One—whose physical body was adorned with the eighty minor characteristics and embellished with the thirty-two marks of a great person; whose Dhamma body was filled with the jewel-like qualities of the aggregate of virtue, purified in every respect, and the rest; who had reached the far shore of greatness of fame, merit, strength, psychic power, and wisdom; who was unequalled, the equal of the unequalled, without a counterpart, the Worthy One, the Fully Awakened One—even he, like a great mass of fire quenched by a downpour, was immediately stilled by the downpour of death.

　　Death, neither fearing nor feeling shame,
　　brought this great seer of such majestic power under its dominion;
　　shameless, without moral dread, crushing every being—
　　how could it fail to overcome a being like me?

Recollect in this way “by reference to the Sammāsambuddha.” Having compared themself through the commonality of death with others endowed with greatness of fame and the rest, the practitioner recollects, “Like those distinguished beings, I too shall die”; as they recollect in this way, the meditation subject reaches access [concentration]. Death should be recollected in this way “by way of comparison.”

§1.6 Kāyabahusādhāraṇato: By Way of the Body’s Being Shared with Many 〔Vism VIII·p.235〕

(4) “By way of the body’s being shared with many”: this body is shared with many—first, with eighty families of worms. Creatures dependent on the outer skin eat the outer skin, those dependent on the inner skin eat the inner skin, those dependent on flesh eat flesh, those dependent on sinews eat sinews, those dependent on bones eat bones, and those dependent on marrow eat marrow. There they are born, age, die, urinate, and defecate; this body is their birthing room, infirmary, cemetery, latrine, and urine trough. This body goes to death through the disturbance of those worms alone. And just as it is shared with eighty families of worms, it is also shared with hundreds of internal illnesses and with external conditions for death, such as snakes and scorpions. Just as arrows, spears, javelins, stones, and the rest, shot from the four quarters and eight directions, all fall upon a target set at a crossroads, so every calamity falls upon this body. This body goes to death simply through the fall of those calamities. Therefore the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhus, here, when day has passed and night draws on, a bhikkhu reflects thus: ‘There are indeed many conditions for my death: a snake might bite me, a scorpion might sting me, or a centipede might bite me; through that I might die, and that would be an obstacle for me. Or I might stumble and fall; the food I have eaten might disagree with me; my bile might flare up, my phlegm might flare up, or knife-like winds might flare up; through that I might die, and that would be an obstacle for me.’” Death should be recollected in this way “by way of the body’s being shared with many.”

§1.7 Āyudubbalato: By Way of the Weakness of Life 〔Vism VIII·pp.235–236〕

(5) “By way of the weakness of life”: what is called a life span is powerless and fragile. A being’s life depends upon out-breath and in-breath, posture, cold and heat, the four great elements, and food. [Life] continues only while out-breath and in-breath proceed in balance; when the wind exhaled through the nose no longer enters, or the wind that has entered no longer comes out, the person is called dead. It continues only while the four postures proceed in balance; when any posture becomes excessive, the life formations are cut off. It continues only while cold and heat proceed in balance; a person overcome by excessive cold or heat is destroyed. It continues only while the four great elements proceed in balance; through a disturbance in the earth element, the water element, or any other element, even a powerful person may become rigid-bodied, become sodden and putrid through diarrhea and the like, become tormented by great heat, or have the bonds of the joints break apart, and thus reach the exhaustion of life. Likewise, life continues only when physical food (kabaliṅkārāhāra) is obtained at the proper time; a person who obtains no food reaches exhaustion. Death should be recollected in this way “by way of the weakness of life.”

§1.8 Animittato: By Way of Signlessness and Indeterminacy 〔Vism VIII·pp.236–237〕

(6) “By way of signlessness” means “by way of indeterminacy”; there is no boundary that can be fixed. For beings:

　　Life, illness, time, the place where the body is laid down, and destination:
　　these five have no sign and cannot be known in the living world.

First, “life” is signless because there is no fixed rule, “A being should live only this long and not beyond.” Beings die in the kalala stage, in the abbuda, pesi, and ghana stages,⁸ and at one month, two months, three months, four months, five months, or ten months; they die at birth, and later they die within a hundred years or beyond it.

“Illness” is signless because there is no fixed rule, “Beings die only from this illness, not another”; beings die from eye disease or from any among ear disease and the rest.

“Time” is signless because there is no fixed rule, “A being must die only at this time, not another”; beings die in the morning or at any time such as midday.

“The place where the body is laid down” is signless because there is no fixed rule, “The body of a dying person must fall only here and nowhere else”; the body of a person born inside a village may fall outside it, and the body of a person born outside may fall inside. Likewise, a land-born being may [fall] in water and a water-born being on land—this should be expanded in many ways.

“Destination” is signless because there is no fixed rule, “A being who dies here must be reborn only there.” A being who dies in a deva realm may be born among humans, and a being who dies in the human world may be born in a deva realm or anywhere else. In this way the world turns round through the five destinations,⁹ like an ox yoked to a machine. Death should be recollected in this way “by way of signlessness.”

§1.9 Addhānaparicchedato: By Way of the Limit of Duration 〔Vism VIII·pp.237–238〕

(7) “By way of the limit of duration”: the human life span now has no [fixed] limit, nor is its duration as [it was in the past].¹⁰ “A person who lives long lives a hundred years, or a little more.” Therefore the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhus, this human life span is short; the future world must be entered. Good should be done, the holy life should be lived; no born being is free from death. Bhikkhus, a person who lives long lives a hundred years, or a little more.” . . .

Human life is short; a good person should hold it lightly. Act as if your head were on fire; there is no chance that death will not come.

He also said, “Bhikkhus, in the past there was a teacher named Araka”¹¹—the whole discourse adorned with seven similes should be expanded. He also said: “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for a day and a night so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’ Another bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for a day so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’ Another bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for the time needed to eat a single bowl of alms food so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’ Another bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for the time needed to chew and swallow four or five morsels of food so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’—these bhikkhus are said to dwell heedlessly and to cultivate mindfulness of death sluggishly for the exhaustion of the taints.”

“But, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for the time needed to chew and swallow a single morsel of food so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’ Another bhikkhu may cultivate mindfulness of death in this way: ‘Oh, may I live for the time needed to breathe in after breathing out, or to breathe out after breathing in, so that I can attend to the Blessed One’s teaching—then I would have accomplished a great deal!’—these bhikkhus are said to dwell heedfully and to cultivate mindfulness of death keenly for the exhaustion of the taints.” Thus the duration of life is no more than the time needed to chew four or five morsels: it is unreliable and brief. Death should be recollected in this way “by way of the limit of duration.”

§1.10 Khaṇaparittato: By Way of the Brevity of the Moment 〔Vism VIII·p.238〕

(8) “By way of the brevity of the moment”: in the ultimate sense the moment of a being’s life is extremely brief, lasting only for the occurrence of a single mind. Just as a chariot wheel, while turning, turns on only a single point of its rim and, while standing, stands on only a single point, so the life of beings lasts for only a single mind-moment; when that mind ceases, the being is said to have ceased. As it is said: “In the past mind-moment, the being lived, does not live, and will not live; in the future mind-moment, the being did not live, does not live, and will live; in the present mind-moment, the being did not live, lives, and will not live.”

　　Life and identity, and all pleasure and pain,
　　are joined to a single mind; the moment turns swiftly.

　　The aggregates that have ceased here, whether in a dying or surviving person,
　　are all alike: gone, never to reconnect in rebirth.

　　What has not arisen brings no birth; through the present, the being lives;
　　with the mind’s breakup, the world is dead: this designation is made in the ultimate sense.

Death should be recollected in this way “by way of the brevity of the moment.”

§1.11 Maraṇasati: Cultivation and Benefits of Mindfulness of Death 〔Vism VIII·pp.229–239〕

When a practitioner recollects through any of these eight modes, repeated attention familiarizes the mind, establishes mindfulness with death as its object, suppresses the hindrances, and brings the jhāna factors¹³ to manifestation. Yet because the object is a phenomenon with its own nature¹⁴ and because it arouses urgency, the jhāna does not reach absorption (appanā) but reaches only access (upacāra). Although supramundane jhāna and the second and fourth immaterial jhānas also have phenomena with their own nature as objects, they reach absorption through the distinctiveness of their cultivation: the supramundane reaches absorption through the sequence of purification cultivation, and the immaterial reaches absorption through cultivation that transcends the object. There, [in immaterial jhāna], only the object of a jhāna that has already reached absorption is transcended; here [in mindfulness of death], neither condition is present. Therefore, the jhāna reaches only access. Because this [mindfulness] arises through the power of mindfulness, it is called “mindfulness of death.”

Moreover, a bhikkhu devoted to mindfulness of death is constantly heedful, gains the perception of non-delight in all forms of existence, abandons attachment to life, censures evil, does not accumulate much, and is unstained by greed regarding requisites; the perception of impermanence becomes familiar to them, and following it the perceptions of suffering and not-self also become manifest.

Beings who have not cultivated [mindfulness of] death fall into fear, terror, and confusion at the time of death, as if suddenly overcome by a wild beast, yakkha, snake, thief, or executioner. [A bhikkhu who has cultivated it] does not fall into these states but dies fearless and unconfused. Even if the bhikkhu does not attain the deathless in this very life, after the breakup of the body they are destined for a good rebirth.

Therefore let the wise continually practice heedfulness, in this mindfulness of death, so mighty in power.

*This is the detailed exposition of Maraṇānussati.*¹⁵

Notes

¹ The preceding chapter is Chapter 7, “The Six Recollections”; the final four of the ten recollections are explained from this chapter onward.

² Mindfulness (sati): the mental factor that retains its object without forgetting it; in this treatise it consistently operates together with knowledge, energy, and concentration. It is distinct from the broad awareness often meant today by the word “mindfulness,” and should be read according to the treatise’s own definition.

³ Life faculty (jīvitindriya): the faculty that sustains the continuity of a single life; the treatise uses its cutting off to encompass the four forms of timely and untimely death.

⁴ Urgency (saṃvega): the shock and pressing sense of urgency that arise in relation to the contemplated object; it is distinct from the “terror” described below.

⁵ Hindrances (nīvaraṇa): the five states that obstruct concentration; they are explained in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa.”

⁶ Meditation subject (kammaṭṭhāna): the general term for the object and method on which the cultivation of concentration depends; the treatise enumerates forty meditation subjects.

⁷ Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi): a level of concentration in which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered; in absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi) the mind enters its object completely and remains unmoving.

⁸ Kalala, abbuda, pesi, and ghana: the first four stages in the womb, retained under their established Chinese Buddhist names in the Chinese sister text.

⁹ Five destinations: the five places in which beings take rebirth; together with the four modes of birth, seven stations of consciousness, and nine abodes of beings, they form domains within the round of rebirth.

¹⁰ The base text says that the life span “has no fixed limit”; another recension reads “the duration is now brief”—the two point in opposite directions. This edition follows the base text.

¹¹ Araka: the name of an ancient teacher; the treatise cites his discourse, whose seven similes illustrate the brevity of life.

¹² A single mind-moment: the extremely brief period in which a single mind arises, persists, and ceases; in the ultimate sense the treatise defines a being’s life as only this moment.

¹³ Jhāna factors (jhānaṅga): the five factors of jhāna—applied thought, sustained thought, rapture, pleasure, and one-pointedness.

¹⁴ A phenomenon with its own nature: a phenomenon possessing an intrinsic nature; because the treatise regards the object in this way and because it arouses urgency, it determines that this recollection does not enter absorption.

¹⁵ Detailed exposition (vitthārakathāmukha): the fixed closing formula at the end of a full section; the three elements mean “detailed,” “discussion,” and “opening” respectively.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine), made from the public-domain PTS text.

§2.1 Kāyagatāsati: Mindfulness of the Body—Introduction, Scriptural Testimony, and Word-by-Word Explanation 〔Vism VIII·pp.239–241〕

Second: Mindfulness of the Body

Now there is a [meditation subject]¹ that, apart from the appearance of a Buddha, has never arisen and lies beyond the domain of all outside systems. In various discourses the Blessed One praised it in many ways: “Bhikkhus, a single quality, when cultivated and repeatedly practiced, leads to great urgency, leads to great benefit, leads to great security, leads to great mindfulness and clear comprehension, leads to the acquisition of knowledge and vision, leads to a pleasant abiding here and now, and leads to realization of the fruit of knowledge and liberation. What single quality? Mindfulness of the body. Bhikkhus, those who enjoy mindfulness of the body enjoy the deathless; bhikkhus, those who do not enjoy mindfulness of the body do not enjoy the deathless. Bhikkhus, the deathless has been enjoyed by them . . . not enjoyed . . . has been lost . . . not lost . . . has been missed . . . not missed—by those who have aroused mindfulness of the body.”

Having praised it in this way, the Blessed One also taught the meditation subject of mindfulness of the body through fourteen sections³—the section on breathing, the section on the postures, the section on the four kinds of clear comprehension, the section on attention to repulsiveness, the section on attention to elements, and the sections on the charnel grounds—beginning: “Bhikkhus, how is mindfulness of the body cultivated and repeatedly practiced so that it has great fruit and great benefit? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, gone to the forest . . .” Its exposition of cultivation is now due.

Among these, the section on the postures, the section on the four kinds of clear comprehension, and the section on attention to elements are taught by way of insight;⁴ the sections on the charnel grounds are taught, among the kinds of insight knowledge, by way of contemplation of danger alone;⁵ and whatever cultivation of concentration may succeed here on the bloated corpse and the other [foul signs] has already been explained in the exposition of foulness.⁶

Only the section on breathing and the section on attention to repulsiveness are taught here by way of concentration. Of these, the section on breathing constitutes an independent meditation subject by way of mindfulness of breathing.

But the teaching that says, “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reviews this very body, upward from the soles of the feet, downward from the tips of the head-hairs, bounded by the skin, filled with many kinds of impurity: in this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs . . . pe . . . urine”—the meditation subject of the thirty-two aspects,⁷ which includes the brain under marrow and is taught by way of attention to repulsiveness—is what is meant here by “mindfulness of the body.”

Here the exposition of cultivation, preceded by an explanation of the canonical text, is as follows. “This very body” means this foul body made of the four great elements. “Upward from the soles of the feet” means upward from the soles. “Downward from the tips of the head-hairs” means downward from the tips of the hairs. “Bounded by the skin” means delimited across by the skin. “Reviews it as filled with many kinds of impurity” means seeing, “This body is filled with many kinds of impurity, beginning with head-hairs.” How does the practitioner see this? “In this body there are head-hairs . . . pe . . . urine.”

Here “there are” means “they exist.” “In this” means in what is called “upward from the soles of the feet, downward from the tips of the head-hairs, bounded by the skin, filled with many kinds of impurity.” “Body” means the physical frame: because the physical frame is an accumulation of impurity and a place of origin (āya) for repulsive head-hairs and the rest, as well as for a hundred illnesses such as eye disease, it is called “body” (kāya). “Head-hairs, body-hairs” means these thirty-two aspects beginning with head-hairs.

The connection should be understood in this way: “In this body there are head-hairs; in this body there are body-hairs.” For within this fathom-long frame of such dimensions—upward from the soles of the feet, downward from the tips of the head-hairs, and bounded all around from the skin—a person searching in every way sees no pure thing even the size of a particle of dust, whether pearl, gem, beryl, agarwood, saffron, camphor, scented powder, or anything of the kind. What the person sees is only impurity of many kinds, divided into head-hairs, body-hairs, and the rest, extremely foul-smelling, repulsive, and ill-looking (assirika).⁸ Therefore it is said: “In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs . . . pe . . . urine.”

This is the explanation here according to the connection of the words.

A beginning clansman⁹ who wishes to cultivate this meditation subject should approach the good friend previously described and receive the meditation subject from that friend. The [teacher]¹⁰ who explains it should teach the beginner seven kinds of skill in learning and ten kinds of skill in attention.

§2.2 Sattadhā uggahakosallam: Seven Kinds of Skill in Learning 〔Vism VIII·pp.241–243〕

The seven kinds of skill in learning¹¹ should be taught as follows: by speech, by mind, by color, by shape, by direction, by location, and by delimitation. In this meditation subject of attention to repulsiveness, even a person who knows the Tipiṭaka should first recite verbally when directing attention. For some practitioners, the meditation subject becomes evident during the very act of recitation, as it did for the two elders who learned the meditation subject under Mahādeva, resident of Malaya. It is said that when they requested a meditation subject, the elder gave them the canonical passage of the thirty-two aspects and said, “For four months, do only this recitation.” Although the two were proficient in two or three Nikāyas, because they received the instruction respectfully and well, they recited only the thirty-two aspects for four months and became stream-enterers.¹² Therefore the teacher explaining the meditation subject should tell the pupil, “First recite it verbally.”

The person reciting should divide the skin pentad¹³ and the other groups and recite them forward and backward. First say, “head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin,” and then in reverse, “skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.” Immediately afterward, for the kidney pentad, say, “flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidney,” and then in reverse, “kidney, marrow, bones, sinews, flesh, skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.”

Next, for the lungs pentad, say, “heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs,” and then in reverse, “lungs, spleen, membranes, liver, heart, kidney, marrow, bones, sinews, flesh, skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.”

Next, for the brain pentad, say, “bowels, mesentery, stomach-contents, feces, brain,” and then in reverse, “brain, feces, stomach-contents, mesentery, bowels, lungs, spleen, membranes, liver, heart, kidney, marrow, bones, sinews, flesh, skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.”

Next, for the fat sextad, say, “bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat,” and then in reverse, “fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm, bile, brain, feces, stomach-contents, mesentery, bowels, lungs, spleen, membranes, liver, heart, kidney, marrow, bones, sinews, flesh, skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.”

Next, for the urine sextad, say, “tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil-of-the-joints, urine,” and then in reverse, “urine, oil-of-the-joints, snot, spittle, grease, tears, fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm, bile, brain, feces, stomach-contents, mesentery, bowels, lungs, spleen, membranes, liver, heart, kidney, marrow, bones, sinews, flesh, skin, teeth, nails, body-hairs, head-hairs.”

In this way it should be recited verbally even a hundred times, a thousand times, a hundred thousand times. Through verbal recitation the wording of the meditation subject becomes familiar, the mind does not run here and there, and the parts become distinct, appearing like a hand-chain and like a row of fence posts.

Just as it is recited by speech, it should also be recited by mind. Verbal recitation is the condition for mental recitation, and mental recitation is the condition for penetrating the characteristics.

“By color” means that the color of head-hairs and the other parts should be determined. “By shape” means that their shapes should be determined. “By direction”: in this physical frame, above the navel is the upper direction and below the navel is the lower direction; therefore determine the direction as, “This part is in such-and-such a direction.” “By location” means determining the location of each as, “This part is established in such-and-such a location.” “By delimitation”: delimitation is of two kinds, homogeneous delimitation and heterogeneous delimitation.¹⁴ Homogeneous delimitation should be understood as, “Below, above, and across, this part is delimited by such-and-such.” Heterogeneous delimitation should be understood through non-mixture as, “Head-hairs are not body-hairs; body-hairs are not head-hairs.”

When teaching these seven kinds of skill in learning, the teacher should also know and explain that this meditation subject is taught by way of repulsiveness in some discourses and by way of elements in others. In the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta it is taught solely by way of repulsiveness; in the Mahāhatthipadopama Sutta, Mahārāhulovāda Sutta, and Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta, by way of elements. In the Kāyagatāsati Sutta, four jhānas are distinguished with reference to a practitioner to whom the subject appears by way of color. Teaching it by way of elements makes it an insight meditation subject, while teaching it by way of repulsiveness makes it a serenity meditation subject; here it is solely a serenity meditation subject. Having taught the seven kinds of skill in learning in this way, the teacher should then teach ten kinds of skill in attention: in sequence, not too quickly, not too slowly, by warding off distraction, by transcending the concept, by successive release, by absorption, and the three discourses.¹⁵

§2.3 Manasikārakosallam: Ten Kinds of Skill in Attention—The First Seven 〔Vism VIII·pp.243–246〕

Here, “in sequence” means that from the beginning with recitation, attention should proceed in order, without skipping a [part]. A person who attends by skipping resembles an unskilled person who climbs every other rung of a thirty-two-rung ladder, grows physically weary, falls, and fails to complete the ascent. In the same way, because the practitioner does not obtain the savor to be gained through success in cultivation, the mind grows weary, falls away, and fails to complete the cultivation.

Even when attending in sequence, the practitioner should attend “not too quickly.” A person who attends too quickly resembles a traveler who sets out on a three-league road without noticing where to turn onto or leave it and merely runs back and forth swiftly a hundred times. Although the traveler covers the distance, the traveler still has to ask directions all along the way to reach the destination. Likewise, although the meditation subject reaches its end, it remains indistinct and brings no distinction. Therefore it should be attended to not too quickly.

As with not too quickly, so too with “not too slowly.” A person who attends too slowly resembles a traveler intending to complete a three-league journey that day but lingering at trees, mountains, ponds, and other places along the way; the journey is not completed and takes two or three days. In the same way, the meditation subject does not reach its end and cannot become a condition for attaining distinction.

“By warding off distraction” means warding off the mind’s distraction outward among diverse objects after abandoning the meditation subject. A person who does not ward it off resembles a traveler on a single-foot-wide path over a precipice who fails to attend to each foothold, looks here and there, misses a step, and falls into a precipice a hundred persons deep. In the same way, when external distraction occurs, the meditation subject declines and is destroyed. Therefore attention should proceed by warding off distraction.

“By transcending the concept” means transcending the concept (paññatti)¹⁶ “head-hairs, body-hairs” and establishing the mind on “repulsiveness.” When water is scarce, people who find a well in a forest tie some marker there, such as a palm leaf, and return by means of that marker to bathe and drink. Later, after frequent travel makes the path there and back clear, they no longer need the marker but go whenever they wish to bathe and drink. Likewise, when attention is initially directed by way of the concepts “head-hairs, body-hairs,” their nature as repulsive becomes evident. Thereafter, the concepts “head-hairs, body-hairs” should be transcended and the mind established only on the nature of repulsiveness.

“By successive release” means letting go of each part that does not appear and attending through successive release. When a beginner attends to “head-hairs,” attention proceeds only as far as the final part, “urine,” and stops there; when the beginner attends to “urine,” attention proceeds only as far as the first part, “head-hairs,” and stops there. While the beginner attends in this way, some parts appear and some do not. Work should first be done on those that appear. Continue until only two appear; when either of those appears more distinctly, the practitioner should attend to that repeatedly and cause absorption to arise.

Here is a simile. A hunter wishing to catch a monkey living in a palm grove of thirty-two palm trees shoots an arrow through a leaf of the foremost tree and gives a shout. The monkey lands on each tree in sequence and flees to the last. When the hunter arrives there and does the same, the monkey returns by the same method to the first tree. Driven again and again in this way and springing up only where the shout is heard, the monkey gradually alights on a particular palm, firmly grasps the needle of the unopened palm leaf at the tree’s center, and no longer springs up even when shot. The correspondence should be understood in this way.

This is the correspondence. Just as there are thirty-two palm trees in the grove, there are thirty-two parts in this body. The monkey is like the mind and the hunter like the practitioner. The monkey’s dwelling in a grove of thirty-two palm trees is like the practitioner’s mind roaming by way of its object through the body of thirty-two parts. After the hunter shoots through a leaf of the foremost tree and shouts, the monkey lands on each tree and flees to the last, just as, when the practitioner begins attending to “head-hairs,” the mind proceeds in sequence and stops only at the final part. The return follows the same method. The monkey, repeatedly driven, springs up only where there is a shout, just as, during repeated attention, the practitioner lets go of the [parts] that do not appear and performs the preliminary work¹⁷ on those that appear. The monkey gradually alights on a particular palm, firmly grasps the needle of the unopened palm leaf at the tree’s center, and does not spring up even when shot, just as, when only two finally appear, the practitioner takes whichever appears more distinctly, attends to it repeatedly, and causes absorption to arise.

Here is another simile. An alms-going bhikkhu lives supported by a village of thirty-two houses. At the first house he receives two portions of alms and then omits a later house; on the second day he receives three portions and omits two later houses; on the third day his bowl is filled at the first house, and he goes to the sitting hall to eat. This correspondence should also be understood. The thirty-two-house village is like the thirty-two aspects; the alms-going bhikkhu is like the practitioner; his dwelling supported by the village is like the practitioner’s preliminary work on the thirty-two aspects. His receiving two portions at the first house and omitting a later house, then receiving three on the second day and omitting two later houses, is like repeatedly attending, releasing those that do not appear, and performing preliminary work on each that does appear until only two parts remain. His receiving a full bowl at the first house on the third day and eating while seated in the sitting hall is like taking whichever of the two appears more distinctly, attending to it repeatedly, and causing absorption to arise.

“By absorption”: with regard to a part for absorption, it should be understood that absorption is available in each part beginning with head-hairs. This is the meaning here.

§2.4 Tayo ca suttantā: The Three Discourses—The Higher Mind, Coolness, and Skill in Awakening Factors 〔Vism VIII·pp.246–248〕

“And the three discourses”: it should be understood that the three discourses on the higher mind, coolness, and skill in awakening factors are [taught] for joining energy with concentration. This is the meaning here.

First: “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind should from time to time attend to three signs. From time to time the bhikkhu should attend to the sign of concentration, from time to time to the sign of exertion, and from time to time to the sign of equanimity. Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind were to attend exclusively to the sign of concentration, the mind might tend toward slackness. Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind were to attend exclusively to the sign of exertion, the mind might tend toward agitation. Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind were to attend exclusively to the sign of equanimity, the mind might not become rightly concentrated for the exhaustion of the taints. But, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind attends from time to time to the sign of concentration, the sign of exertion, and the sign of equanimity, the mind becomes malleable, workable, luminous, and not brittle, and becomes rightly concentrated for the exhaustion of the taints.

Bhikkhus, suppose a goldsmith or goldsmith’s apprentice sets up a furnace, lights its mouth, takes raw gold with tongs and places it in the furnace, then from time to time blows on it, from time to time sprinkles it with water, and from time to time looks on. Bhikkhus, if the goldsmith or apprentice were exclusively to blow on the raw gold, it might burn; if exclusively to sprinkle it with water, it might cool; if exclusively to look on, it might not reach proper maturity. But, bhikkhus, when the goldsmith or apprentice from time to time blows on the raw gold, from time to time sprinkles it with water, and from time to time looks on, the raw gold becomes malleable, workable, luminous, and not brittle, and is ready for work. Whatever kind of ornament the goldsmith wishes to make—whether a girdle, earrings, a necklace, or a golden garland—the gold serves that purpose.

In the same way, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu devoted to the higher mind . . . pe . . . becomes rightly concentrated for the exhaustion of the taints; and for whatever quality to be realized by direct knowledge the bhikkhu inclines the mind toward realization by direct knowledge, wherever the requisite basis exists, the bhikkhu becomes capable of realizing it.” This discourse should be understood as “the higher mind.”

“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with six qualities is capable of realizing supreme coolness. What six? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu restrains the mind when it should be restrained, exerts the mind when it should be exerted, gladdens the mind when it should be gladdened, and looks on at the mind when it should be looked on at; the bhikkhu is resolved on the sublime and delights in Nibbāna. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with these six qualities is capable of realizing supreme coolness.” This discourse should be understood as “supreme coolness.”

As for “skill in awakening factors”: “Bhikkhus, likewise, when the mind is sluggish, that is not the time to cultivate the tranquillity awakening factor.” This has already been explained in the discussion of skill in absorption.¹⁸

§2.5 Tacapañcake: The Skin Pentad—Taking the Sign; Head-Hairs, Body-Hairs, Nails, Teeth, and Skin 〔Vism VIII·pp.248–252〕

Having thoroughly learned these seven kinds of skill in learning and properly determined these ten kinds of skill in attention, the practitioner should learn the meditation subject well through both kinds of skill.

If it is convenient for the practitioner to live in the same monastery as the teacher, there is no need to request a detailed explanation. The practitioner should determine the meditation subject well, devote themself to it, attain distinction, and then request progressive explanation. A practitioner wishing to live elsewhere should ask for a detailed explanation in the manner already stated, turn it over repeatedly, and cut through every knotty point. Then, as described in the exposition of the earth kasiṇa, the practitioner should abandon an unsuitable lodging, live in a suitable monastery, remove minor impediments, and perform the preliminary work in attention to repulsiveness.

When performing the preliminary work, the practitioner should first take the sign in head-hairs. How? Pluck out one or two head-hairs, place them on the palm, and first determine their color. Head-hairs may also be examined where they have been cut off, in a water bowl, or in a rice-gruel bowl. Seeing black, attend to “black”; seeing white, attend to “white”; when colors are mixed, attend according to whichever predominates. As with head-hairs, so too throughout the skin pentad: the sign should be taken only after direct sight.

After taking the sign in this way, each part should be determined by color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation, and its repulsiveness should be determined fivefold by color, shape, odor, support, and location.¹⁹ The sequential explanation for all the parts begins with “head-hairs.” In their natural color they are black, the color of wet addāriṭṭhaka seeds. In shape they are long and round, like the beam of a balance. In direction they arise above. In location they are bounded on both sides by the rims of the ears, in front by the edge of the forehead, and behind by the nape; the wet skin covering the skull is their location. By delimitation: head-hairs are bounded below by the surface of their own roots, which are established about a louse-head’s depth (vihagga) in the skin covering the head; above by space; and across by each other. No two head-hairs are joined together—this is homogeneous delimitation. “Head-hairs are not body-hairs, and body-hairs are not head-hairs”; thus they are not mixed with the other thirty-one parts. “Head-hairs are a separate individual part”—this is heterogeneous delimitation. This is the determination of head-hairs by color and the rest.

This is their fivefold determination as repulsive by color and the rest. Head-hairs are repulsive by color, by shape, by odor, by support, and by location. Even in an agreeable bowl of rice gruel or cooked rice, when people see something the color of head-hairs, they say with disgust, “This has a hair mixed in it! Take it away!” Thus head-hairs are repulsive by color. A person eating at night who touches a thread from akka bark or makaci bark shaped like a hair is likewise disgusted; thus they are repulsive by shape. If head-hairs have not been treated with oil, flowers, perfume, and the like, their odor is extremely repulsive; thrown into a fire, they are still more repulsive. Head-hairs might not be repulsive in color and shape, but by odor they certainly are. A young child’s feces are the color of turmeric and shaped like a lump of turmeric; a bloated black dog’s corpse thrown on a rubbish heap is the color of ripe palm fruit, shaped like a rolled and discarded mudinga drum, with canine teeth like jasmine buds. Both may not be repulsive in color and shape, but certainly are repulsive by odor. Likewise, head-hairs might not be repulsive in color and shape, but certainly are repulsive by odor.

Leaves for curry grown in an impure place from a village’s sewage are repulsive to townspeople and unfit to eat. Likewise, because head-hairs grow from the drainage of pus, blood, urine, feces, bile, phlegm, and the rest, they are repulsive; this is their repulsiveness by support. These head-hairs grow on the heap of the other thirty-one parts like mushrooms on a heap of dung. Because they grow in an impure place, like wild greens in a charnel ground or rubbish heap, or lotus and water-lily flowers in a ditch, they are extremely repulsive; this is their repulsiveness by location.

As with head-hairs, the repulsiveness of every part should be determined fivefold by color, shape, odor, support, and location; every part should also be separately determined by color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation.

First, “body-hairs”: in their natural color they are not unmixed black like head-hairs but brownish black. In shape their tips bend downward like palm roots. In direction they arise in both directions. In location, apart from the place where head-hairs are established and the palms and soles, they grow mostly on the skin covering the rest of the body. By delimitation, body-hairs are bounded below by the surface of their own roots, established about a nit’s depth (likhā)²⁰ in the skin covering the body; above by space; and across by each other. No two body-hairs are joined together—this is their homogeneous delimitation. Their heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Nails” is the name for the twenty nail plates. All are white in color and shaped like fish scales. In direction, toenails arise below and fingernails above, so they arise in both directions. In location they are established on the backs of the tips of the digits. By delimitation, on both sides they are bounded by the flesh at the tips of the digits, inside by the flesh on the backs of the digits, outside and at the tips by space, and across by each other. No two nails are joined together. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Teeth” are the thirty-two tooth-bones of a person with a full set. They too are white in color. Their shapes are varied. First, the four middle teeth in the lower row are like gourd seeds placed in sequence in a lump of clay. On either side of those four is a tooth with a single root and a single point, shaped like a jasmine bud. Farther outward on either side is a tooth with two roots and two points, shaped like the support of a cart; farther outward are two teeth on either side with three roots and three points, then two on either side with four roots and four points. The upper row follows the same method. In direction they arise above. In location they are established in the two jawbones. By delimitation they are bounded below by the surface of their own roots established in the lower jawbone, above by space, and across by each other. No two teeth are joined together. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Skin” is the membrane that envelops the whole frame. Above it is the outer skin (chavi),²¹ whose colors include black, brown, and yellow; even if scraped together from the entire frame, the outer skin would make a lump only the size of a jujube seed. The skin itself is only white in color. Its whiteness becomes evident when the outer skin is destroyed through burning by a flame, a blow, a weapon strike, or the like. In shape it has the shape of the physical frame. This is the brief account.

In detail: the skin of the toes is shaped like silkworm cocoons; the skin of the tops of the feet like shoes tied as a packet; the skin of the calves like packets of cooked rice in palm leaves; the skin of the thighs like long bags full of rice; the skin of the buttocks like a water-straining cloth full of water; the skin of the back like hide stretched over a board; the skin of the abdomen like skin stretched over the trough of a lute; the skin of the chest is generally square; the skin of both arms like hide stretched over quivers; the skin of the backs of the hands like razor sheaths or comb bags; the skin of the fingers like key bags; the skin of the neck like a neck cloth; the skin of the face like a worm’s nest full of holes; and the skin of the head like a bowl bag.

A practitioner apprehending the skin should begin at the upper lip, direct knowledge upward, and first determine the skin enveloping the face. Next comes the skin of the forehead bone. Then, as though inserting a hand between a bag and a bowl inside it, direct knowledge between the skull and scalp, separate the skin’s attachment to the bone, and determine the scalp. Next determine the skin of the shoulders; then the skin of the right hand forward and backward; the left hand in the same way; the skin of the back; the right foot forward and backward; and the left foot in the same way. Next, in sequence, determine the skin at the bladder, abdomen, heart, and neck. After the skin of the neck, determine the skin of the lower jaw, ending at the lower lip. As the practitioner apprehends the gross parts in this way, the subtle parts also become evident.

In direction, skin arises in both directions. In location it envelops the entire physical frame. By delimitation it is bounded below by the surface on which it rests and above by space—this is its homogeneous delimitation. Heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.6 Vakkapañcake: The Kidney Pentad—Flesh, Sinews, Bones, Marrow, and Kidney 〔Vism VIII·pp.252–256〕

“Flesh” means nine hundred pieces of flesh. All flesh is red like a kiṃsuka flower. Its shape differs by location: the flesh of the calves is shaped like cooked rice wrapped in a palm leaf; thigh flesh like a small grinding stone; buttock flesh like the end of a hearth; back flesh like a slab of palm sugar; flesh on the two sides like a thin layer of clay spread inside a granary; breast flesh like a rounded lump of clay thrown down; and flesh of the two arms like a large skinned rat folded in two and laid down. Apprehending the gross parts in this way makes the subtle parts clear. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it remains plastered over three hundred and twenty bones.²² By delimitation it is bounded below by the surface resting on the collection of bones, above by the skin, and across by each piece. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Sinews” means nine hundred sinews. In color they are all white, while their shapes vary. From the upper part of the neck, five great sinews bind the body and descend along the front, five along the back, five along the right, and five along the left. Five bind the right hand along its front and five along its back; likewise for the left hand. Five bind the right foot along its front and five along its back; likewise for the left foot. Thus sixty great sinews called “supporters of the body” bind the body and descend. Also called tendons, they are all shaped like kandala buds. Others, spread over their respective regions, are finer and shaped like threads; others finer still, like rotten creepers; others finer still, like strings of a great lute; and others like thick thread. Sinews on the backs of the hands and feet resemble birds’ feet; those on the head a child’s head-net; those on the back a wet net spread in the sun. The rest, following the various limbs, resemble a net coat put on the body. In direction they arise in both directions. In location they bind together the bones throughout the body. By delimitation they are bounded below by the surfaces resting on three hundred bones, above where they touch flesh and skin, and across by each other. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Bones,” apart from the thirty-two tooth-bones, comprise sixty-four bones of the hands, sixty-four of the feet, sixty-four soft bones supported by flesh, two heel bones, two ankle bones in each foot, two shin bones, a knee bone, a thigh bone, two hip bones, eighteen vertebrae, twenty-four ribs, fourteen breast bones, a heart bone, two collarbones, two shoulder-blade bones, two upper-arm bones, two forearm bones on each side, seven neck bones, two jawbones, a nose bone, two eye bones, two ear bones, a forehead bone, a crown bone, and nine skull bones—about three hundred bones in all.

All bones are white in color and varied in shape. The terminal toe bones resemble kataka seeds; the next middle joints resemble paṇasa seeds; the root joints resemble paṇava drums. The bones on the tops of the feet resemble heaps of chopped kandala roots. The heel bone resembles the seed of a single-seeded palm fruit. The ankle bones resemble paired play balls tied together; where the shin bones rest upon them resembles a skinned sindi shoot. The small shin bone resembles a bow stave, the large bone the back of a withered snake. The knee bone resembles foam worn away on a single side; where the shin bone rests in it resembles the tip of a very sharp cow horn. The thigh bone resembles a roughly hewn axe or adze handle; where it rests in the hip bone resembles a play ball, and where the hip bone rests upon it resembles a large puṇṇāga fruit with the tip cut off. The two hip bones joined together resemble a potter’s furnace; separately, each resembles the rope knot on a smith’s hammer. The tailbone at their end resembles a snake’s hood held upside down, pierced with large and small holes at seven places. From within, the vertebrae resemble superimposed rolls of headcloth; from outside, a chain of rings; between them are two or three spines like saw teeth. Of the twenty-four ribs, the incomplete ones resemble incomplete swords and the complete ones complete swords; together they resemble the spread wings of a white fowl. The fourteen breast bones resemble the frame of a decayed carriage. The heart bone resembles the face of a spoon. The collarbones resemble handles of small iron chisels. The shoulder blades resemble Ceylonese hoes worn down on a single side. The upper-arm bones resemble mirror handles, and the forearm bones paired palm-root stems. The wrist bones resemble rolls of headcloth laid touching each other. The root joints of the finger bones resemble paṇava drums, their middle joints incomplete paṇasa seeds, and their terminal joints kataka seeds. The seven neck bones resemble discs of bamboo shoots pierced by a stick and arranged in sequence. The lower jaw resembles the rope knot on a smith’s iron hammer; the upper jaw a scraping knife. The bones of the eye sockets and nostrils resemble young palm kernels with the marrow removed. The forehead bone resembles a fragment of a conch bowl laid face down. The bones at the roots of the ears resemble a barber’s razor sheath. The bone above the forehead and ear roots, at the place where a headcloth is tied, resembles a fragment of wrinkled membrane filled with ghee. The crown bone resembles a curved coconut with its mouth cut off. The skull bones resemble pieces of an old broken gourd shell stitched together.

In direction bones arise in both directions. In location, without distinction they occupy the whole body; distinguished individually, the skull bones rest on the neck bones, the neck bones on the vertebrae, the vertebrae on the hip bones, the hip bones on the thigh bones, the thigh bones on the knee bones, the knee bones on the shin bones, the shin bones on the ankle bones, and the ankle bones on the bones on top of the feet. By delimitation, they are bounded inside by marrow, above by flesh, and at the tips and roots by each other. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Marrow” means the marrow inside the various bones. In color it is white.²³ In shape, marrow in the very large bones resembles a large cane shoot steamed inside a bamboo tube; that in the smaller bones resembles a fine cane shoot steamed inside a bamboo joint. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it is established inside the bones. By delimitation it is bounded by the inner surfaces of the bones. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Kidney” means two lumps of flesh joined at a single stem. In color it is pale red, like the color of pālibhaddaka seeds. In shape it resembles a child’s paired play balls, or two mango fruits attached to a single stem. In direction it arises above. In location, a thick sinew leaves the base of the throat, goes a short way, divides in two, binds it, and surrounds the flesh of the heart. By delimitation the kidney is bounded by the kidney itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.7 Papphāsapañcake: The Lungs Pentad—Heart, Liver, Membranes, Spleen, and Lungs 〔Vism VIII·pp.256–258〕

“Heart” means the flesh of the heart. In color it is red like the back of a lotus petal. In shape it resembles a lotus bud with its outer petals removed and placed face down: smooth outside, within like the inside of a loofah fruit. In a wise person it is slightly open; in a person of dull wisdom it remains only a closed bud. Within is a hollow large enough to hold a puṇṇāga seed, containing about half a pasata of blood; supported by it, the mind element and mind-consciousness element occur. This blood is red in a person of greedy temperament, black in a person of hating temperament, like meat-washing water in a person of deluded temperament, like kulattha bean broth in a person of speculative temperament, like a kaṇikāra flower in a person of faithful temperament, and clear, bright, unclouded, pale, and pure in a person of wise temperament, appearing luminous like a polished gem of the finest water.²⁴ In direction it arises above. In location it is established inside the body between the two breasts. By delimitation the heart is bounded by the heart itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Liver” means a double slab of flesh. In color it is red tinged with yellow, not excessively red, like the back of a water-lily petal. In shape it is single at the root and double at the tip, like a kovilāra leaf. A dull person has a single large piece; a wise person has two or three small pieces. In direction it arises above. In location it remains inside the two breasts toward the right side. By delimitation the liver is bounded by the liver itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Membranes” means enveloping flesh of two kinds, concealed and unconcealed. Both are white, the color of a worn dukūla cloth. Their shape follows their location. In direction the concealed membrane arises above and the other in both directions. In location the concealed membrane covers the heart and kidneys; the unconcealed membrane extends through the whole body, enveloping the flesh beneath the skin. By delimitation it is bounded below by flesh, above by skin, and across by the portion of membrane. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Spleen” means the tongue-like flesh in the abdomen. In color it is blue like a niggundi flower. In shape it is about seven fingers long, unattached, and resembles the tongue of a black calf. In direction it arises above. In location it remains to the left of the heart, supported by the upper side of the stomach lining; if a blow forces it outside, the being’s life ends. By delimitation it is bounded by the spleen itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Lungs” means lung flesh divided into thirty-two pieces. In color it is red like a not-quite-ripe udumbara fruit. In shape it resembles an unevenly cut piece of thick cake. When there is no food or drink within it, it is assaulted by the heat of rising kamma-produced fire and becomes flavorless and without nutriment, like a chewed lump of straw. In direction it arises above. In location it hangs inside the body between the two breasts, covering the heart and liver from above. By delimitation it is bounded by the parts of the lungs. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.8 Matthalungapañcake: The Brain Pentad—Bowels, Mesentery, Stomach-Contents, Feces, and Brain 〔Vism VIII·pp.258–260〕

“Bowels” means the intestinal tube, thirty-two cubits long in a man and twenty-eight in a woman, coiled at twenty-one places. In color it is white like sand and lime. In shape it resembles a decapitated snake coiled and placed in a trough of blood. In direction it arises in both directions. In location, because it is bound above at the base of the throat and below at the fecal passage, it extends inside the body from the base of the throat to the end of the fecal passage. By delimitation it is bounded by its coils. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Mesentery” means the binding at the coils of the bowels. In color it is white like the root of dakasītalika; in shape it likewise resembles that root. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it binds the intestinal coils so they do not fall apart and remains among the twenty-one coils, like a machine cord binding machine boards when craftsmen pull a device to make hoes, axes, and the like, or like a cord sewn into the middle of the round pad on a foot-wiping rope. By delimitation it is bounded by the part of the mesentery. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Stomach-contents” means what has been eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted in the stomach. Its color is that of the food swallowed. In shape it resembles rice loosely wrapped in a water-strainer. In direction it arises above. In location it remains in the stomach. What is called the “stomach” is a section of intestinal membrane, like a swelling in the middle of a wet cloth twisted at both ends; it is smooth outside, while inside it resembles a filthy pāvāraka flower wrapped in scraps of flesh, or the inside of a rotten paṇasa fruit. There live worms divided into thirty-two families—taḷ-koṭakā, gaṇḍuppādakā, tālahīrakā, sūcimukhakā, paṭatantukā, suttakā, and others—tangled together and moving in swarms. When there is no food or drink, they leap and cry, striking the flesh of the heart; when food and drink are swallowed, they raise their heads and hurriedly seize the first two or three mouthfuls. The [stomach] is these worms’ birthing room, latrine, infirmary, and charnel ground.

Suppose that in the sewage pit at the gate of a caṇḍāla village, when great drops of rain fall in summer and runoff flows, various kinds of corpse-filth—urine, feces, fragments of skin, bones, sinews, spittle, snot, blood, and the rest—are washed in and mixed with muddy water. After two or three days, swarms of worms arise; heated by the sun, the mass boils, gives off layer upon layer of foam and bubbles, becomes deep blue, extremely foul-smelling and repulsive, unfit to approach or look at, much less to smell or taste. In the same way, various foods and drinks are crushed by the pestles of the teeth, turned by the tongue and hands, and moistened by spittle. In that very moment they lose their fine color, odor, taste, and other qualities and become like a weaver’s paste trough or a dog’s vomit. After falling, they are enveloped in bile, phlegm, and wind, boiled by the force of the stomach fire’s heat, filled with swarms of worms, and release layer upon layer of foam and bubbles. They remain as an extremely filthy, foul-smelling, repulsive mass. Merely hearing this establishes distaste for food and drink; how much more seeing it with the eye of wisdom.

Food fallen there divides into five parts: worms eat a part, the stomach fire burns a part, a part becomes urine, a part becomes feces, and a part turns into nutritive essence and sustains blood, flesh, and the rest. By delimitation it is bounded by the stomach lining and the stomach-contents. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Feces” means excrement. Its color is generally that of the food swallowed. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises below. In location it remains in the receptacle for digested food. This receptacle lies below the navel and the base of the spine at the end of the bowels, is about eight fingers high, and resembles a length of bamboo tube. Just as rainwater fallen on high ground runs down and fills a low place, food and drink entering the receptacle for undigested food are cooked by the stomach fire until foaming, cooked repeatedly, ground fine as though on a grinding stone, repeatedly pass through the opening of the bowels, and are compressed. They accumulate like yellow clay packed into a bamboo joint. By delimitation feces are bounded by the membrane of the receptacle for digested food and by the feces themselves. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Brain” means the mass of marrow inside the skull. In color it is white like a lump of mushrooms, or like spoiled milk not yet curdled. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises above. In location it is gathered inside the skull along four suture lines, like four lumps of dough placed together. By delimitation it is bounded by the inner surface of the skull and by the brain itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.9 Medachakke: The Fat Sextad—Bile, Phlegm, Pus, Blood, Sweat, and Fat 〔Vism VIII·pp.260–262〕

“Bile” is of two kinds, bound and unbound. Bound bile is the color of thick madhuka oil; unbound bile the color of a withered ākulī flower. The shape of each follows its location. In direction bound bile arises above, the other in both directions. In location unbound bile pervades the rest of the body like drops of oil in water, apart from places where head-hairs, body-hairs, teeth, and nails are separate from flesh and apart from hard, dry skin. When it is disturbed, the eyes turn yellow and dizzy, and the body shakes and itches. Bound bile remains between the heart and lungs in the gall bladder, which is supported by the flesh of the liver and shaped like a large loofah pod. When it is disturbed, beings go mad, their minds become deranged, they abandon shame and moral dread, do what should not be done, say what should not be said, and think what should not be thought. By delimitation bile is bounded by the bile itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Phlegm” means the roughly bowlful of phlegm inside the body. In color it is white like the juice of nāgabalā leaves. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises above. In location it rests on the stomach lining. When food and drink are swallowed, just as duckweed on water parts in two when a piece of wood or potsherd falls through and then closes and covers the water again, phlegm parts in two as food and drink fall through and afterward closes and covers it again. If it becomes thin, the stomach is extremely repulsive like a ripe sore or rotten egg and emits a corpse-smell; the odor rising from there makes the belch and mouth stink like a rotten corpse. People tell that person, “Go away! You stink.” But if the phlegm increases and grows thick, it seals the corpse-smell inside the stomach lining like the cover-board of a latrine. By delimitation it is bounded by the phlegm itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Pus” means pus arising from putrefied blood. In color it resembles a withered yellow leaf; on a corpse it resembles rotten, thick rice water. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises in both directions. In location pus has no fixed place where it accumulates and remains. Wherever a part of the body is injured by a stake, thorn, weapon, flame, or the like and blood settles there and festers, or wherever a boil or similar lesion arises, pus remains there. By delimitation it is bounded by the pus itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Blood” is of two kinds, accumulated and circulating. Accumulated blood is the color of thick, well-cooked lac juice, while circulating blood is the color of clear lac juice. The shape of each follows its location. In direction accumulated blood arises above, the other in both directions. In location circulating blood pervades the entire appropriated body through the network of blood vessels, apart from places where head-hairs, body-hairs, teeth, and nails are separate from flesh and apart from hard, dry skin. Accumulated blood fills the lower part of the liver’s location, about a bowlful, and trickles little by little over the heart, kidneys, and lungs, moistening the kidneys, heart, liver, and lungs. If it does not moisten the kidneys, heart, and the rest, beings become thirsty. By delimitation it is bounded by the blood itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Sweat” means the water element flowing from pores and the like. In color it resembles clear sesame oil. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises in both directions. In location sweat has no fixed place where it always remains as blood does. When the body is heated by fire, sun, seasonal change, and the like, sweat flows from all the pores of head-hairs and body-hairs like a bundle of unevenly cut lotus, mulāla, and water-lily stalks just pulled from water. Its shape should therefore be understood according to the pores. A practitioner apprehending sweat should attend to it as filling and remaining in those pores. By delimitation it is bounded by the sweat itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Fat” means congealed grease. In color it resembles split turmeric. In shape, in a stout body it resembles a worn strip of turmeric-colored dukūla cloth placed between skin and flesh; in a lean body it resembles a worn strip of turmeric-colored dukūla cloth folded double or triple and placed along the calf flesh, thigh flesh, back flesh supported by the spine, and abdominal-wall flesh. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it pervades the entire body of a stout person, while in a lean person it remains supported by calf flesh and the rest. Although classed as grease, it is so repulsive that people take it neither as oil for the head nor for nasal medicine and similar uses. By delimitation it is bounded below by flesh, above by skin, and across by the portion of fat. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.10 Muttachakke: The Urine Sextad—Tears, Grease, Spittle, Snot, Oil-of-the-Joints, and Urine 〔Vism VIII·pp.262–265〕

“Tears” means the water element flowing from the eyes. In color they resemble clear sesame oil. Their shape follows their location. In direction they arise above. In location they remain in the eye sockets, but unlike bile in the gall bladder they do not constantly accumulate there. When beings are joyful and laugh loudly, sorrowful and cry and lament, eat unsuitable food, or have their eyes assaulted by smoke, dust, ashes, and the like, tears arise from joy, sorrow, unsuitable food, and season; they fill the eye sockets and remain or flow out. A practitioner apprehending tears should apprehend them as filling and remaining in the eye sockets. By delimitation they are bounded by the tears themselves. This is their homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Grease” means melted fat. In color it resembles coconut oil, or oil poured over rice water. In shape it resembles drops of oil dispersing and circling over clear bathwater. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it remains mostly on the palms, backs of the hands, soles, tops of the feet, nostrils, forehead, and shoulder tips. It does not always remain melted in these places; when these regions heat up through fire, sun, seasonal imbalance, or imbalance of elements, it moves here and there like drops of oil dispersing across clear bathwater. By delimitation it is bounded by the grease itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Spittle” means the water element mixed with foam inside the mouth. In color it is white like foam. Its shape follows its location, or resembles foam. In direction it arises above. In location it descends from the sides of both cheeks and rests on the tongue. It does not constantly accumulate there. When beings see or remember certain food, put something hot, bitter, pungent, salty, or sour into the mouth, feel sick at heart, or become disgusted by something, spittle arises, descends from the sides of both cheeks, and rests on the tongue. It is thin at the tip of the tongue and thick at the root. Like water in a little well dug in riverbank sand, it can moisten dry rice flakes, grains of rice, or any other chewable food put into the mouth without being exhausted. By delimitation it is bounded by the spittle itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Snot” means impurity flowing from the brain. In color it resembles the marrow of a young palm kernel. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises above. In location it fills and remains in the nostrils, but it does not constantly accumulate there. Suppose a person wraps curds in a lotus leaf and pierces it from below with a thorn so that the curds flow through the hole and fall outside. Likewise, when beings cry, or when disturbance of the elements arises through unsuitable food or season, brain matter inside the head that has become putrid phlegm flows down through the opening at the roof of the palate, fills and remains in the nostrils, or flows out. A practitioner apprehending snot should apprehend it as filling and remaining in the nostrils. By delimitation it is bounded by the snot itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Oil-of-the-joints” means the sticky corpse-filth inside the body’s joints. In color it resembles kaṇikāra resin. Its shape follows its location. In direction it arises in both directions. In location it remains inside the one hundred and eighty joints, performing the function of lubricating the bones. When a person has little joint oil, the bones crack while the person rises, sits, moves forward, moves back, bends, and extends, and walking sounds like snapping fingers; after traveling a league or two, the wind element is disturbed and the limbs hurt. When a person has abundant joint oil, the bones do not crack while rising, sitting, and so forth; even after a long journey the wind element is not disturbed and the limbs do not hurt. By delimitation it is bounded by the oil-of-the-joints itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

“Urine” is the color of māsa bean lye. In shape it resembles water inside a water pot placed mouth down. In direction it arises below. In location it remains inside the bladder. “Bladder” means the bladder sac. Suppose a mouthless pot is thrown into a sewage pit: liquid from the pit enters it, though the route of entry cannot be seen. Likewise, urine enters from the body though its route of entry cannot be seen, while the route out is evident. When the bladder is full of urine, beings make the effort, “I shall urinate.” By delimitation urine is bounded by the inner surface of the bladder and by the urine itself. This is its homogeneous delimitation; heterogeneous delimitation is as described for head-hairs.

§2.11 Appanā: The Arising of First-Jhāna Absorption and the Benefits of Cultivation 〔Vism VIII·pp.265–266〕

Having determined the parts beginning with head-hairs by color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation, the practitioner attends in five respects—color, shape, odor, support, and location—according to the methods beginning “in sequence, not too quickly,” repeating, “Repulsive! Repulsive!” At the end of transcending the concept, just as all flowers in a garland of thirty-two colors strung on a single thread appear together, neither first nor last, to a person with sight, all those phenomena appear together, neither first nor last, to the practitioner reviewing the body as “In this body there are head-hairs.” Therefore the discussion of skill in attention says: “When a beginner attends to ‘head-hairs,’ attention proceeds and stops only at the final part, ‘urine.’”

If the practitioner also directs attention outward, then once all the parts have become evident in this way, passing humans, animals, and the rest give up the appearance of beings and appear only as heaps of parts. The food and drink they swallow appear as though being thrown into a heap of parts.

Afterward, as the practitioner attends repeatedly to “Repulsive! Repulsive!” by the method of successive release and the rest, absorption arises in sequence. The appearance of head-hairs and the rest by color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation is the learning sign; their appearance as repulsive in every aspect is the counterpart sign.²⁵ For a practitioner who works with and cultivates it, absorption arises only by way of the first jhāna, by the method already stated, as with the foul meditation subjects.

If only a single part is evident to a practitioner, or if the practitioner reaches absorption in a single part and does not work at another, only a single [first jhāna] arises. If many parts are evident, or if after reaching jhāna in a part the practitioner works at another, first jhānas arise according to the number of parts, as they did for Mallaka Thera.²⁶

It is said that the venerable elder took the hand of Abhaya Thera, reciter of the Dīgha Nikāya, and said, “Friend Abhaya, first learn this question.” Then he said, “Mallaka Thera attained thirty-two first jhānas in the thirty-two parts. If he enters a single attainment at night and a single attainment by day, he completes the cycle again in a little more than half a month. If he enters a single attainment each day, he completes the cycle again in a little more than a month.”

Although this meditation subject succeeds by way of the first jhāna, it is called “mindfulness of the body” because it succeeds through the power of mindfulness applied to color, shape, and the rest.

A bhikkhu devoted to mindfulness of the body endures non-delight and delight;²⁷ non-delight and delight do not overcome him, and he dwells repeatedly conquering arisen non-delight. He endures fear and dread; fear and dread do not overcome him, and he dwells repeatedly conquering arisen fear and dread. He endures cold and heat . . . pe . . . becomes capable of enduring [painful feelings] even to the point of taking life. Through differences in the colors of head-hairs and the rest, he gains the four jhānas and penetrates the six direct knowledges.²⁸

Therefore, indeed, a wise person should heedfully cultivate this mindfulness of the body, which has so many benefits.

*This is the opening for the detailed exposition of mindfulness of the body.*²⁹

Notes

¹ Meditation subject (kammaṭṭhāna): the general term for an object supporting concentration and the method of cultivating it; the treatise lists forty meditation subjects in all.

² Urgency (saṃvega): a pressing shock that arises in relation to the contemplated object, distinct from ordinary fear.

³ Section (pabba): the name for a division of a discourse, not a “chapter” or treatise “section”; this meditation subject is taught through fourteen such sections.

⁴ The sections on the postures, the four kinds of clear comprehension, and attention to elements are taught by way of insight; insight is developed in Chapter 18, not here.

⁵ Contemplation of danger is developed in Chapter 21; this chapter gives only its name.

⁶ The exposition of foulness is Chapter 6, “Foul Meditation Subjects”; the treatise itself says that the cultivation of absorption on the bloated corpse and the rest has already been explained there.

⁷ Meditation subject of the thirty-two aspects (dvattiṃsākāra-kammaṭṭhāna): contemplation of the thirty-two parts of the body by way of attention to repulsiveness.

⁸ Ill-looking (assirika): the word may also mean “lacking splendor”; because it occurs here beside “extremely foul-smelling” and “repulsive,” this edition takes it in the sense of an inauspicious appearance.

⁹ Son of good family (kulaputta): literally a son of a good family; in the treatise it is a general designation for a person who has undertaken cultivation.

¹⁰ Teacher (ācariya): the teacher who gives and explains a meditation subject.

¹¹ Seven kinds of skill in learning (sattadhā uggaha-kosalla): skill in learning the body parts through seven approaches—by speech, mind, color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation.

¹² Stream-enterer (sotāpanna): a person who has realized the first noble fruit and entered the stream of the noble path.

¹³ The skin pentad (taca-pañcaka) and the other five groups: the thirty-two parts are divided five, five, five, five, six, and six, with each group named after its final part.

¹⁴ Homogeneous delimitation (sabhāga-pariccheda) distinguishes the reach of a part below, above, and across; heterogeneous delimitation (visabhāga-pariccheda) distinguishes its non-mixture with the remaining parts.

¹⁵ Absorption (appanā-samādhi, absorption concentration): concentration in which the mind fully enters its object without wavering; the preceding level is access concentration (upacāra-samādhi), where the hindrances are suppressed but the mind has not fully entered.

¹⁶ Concept (paññatti): a designation established through language; here the practitioner is to pass beyond the names “head-hairs” and “body-hairs” and remain only with the nature of repulsiveness.

¹⁷ “Preliminary work” (parikamma): repeatedly attending to an object before absorption arises; also called “preparation.”

¹⁸ The discussion of “skill in absorption” occurs in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa”; this section only refers back to it and does not reopen it.

¹⁹ The five items of determination (color, shape, direction, location, and delimitation) and the five modes of repulsiveness (color, shape, odor, support, and location) are distinct sets; only color, shape, and location are shared.

²⁰ Nit (likhā): a louse egg; contrasted with the “louse’s head” (vihagga) in the preceding description of head-hairs. The two similes give different measures and should not be conflated.

²¹ Outer skin (chavi): the outer layer of the skin, varying in black, brown, and yellow; “skin” (taco) among the thirty-two parts means the membrane beneath it, which is only white.

²² The base text reads “three hundred and twenty” here, which does not agree with the later total of “about three hundred” bones. This edition retains the base reading unchanged.

²³ The wording in the base text does not yield a color name here; another recension reads “white,” which also fits the context. This edition reads “white” and leaves the base text unchanged.

²⁴ The six temperaments beginning with the greedy temperament are developed in Chapter 3, “Taking a Meditation Subject”; here they are named only in relation to the color of the blood in the heart.

²⁵ Learning sign (uggaha-nimitta) and counterpart sign (paṭibhāga-nimitta): two levels of the concentration sign; their settled renderings are established at their first occurrence in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa.”

²⁶ Mallaka Thera (Mallaka-tthera): Chapter 4 contains another episode involving an elder of the same name; this edition does not determine whether they are the same person.

²⁷ “Non-delight” (arati) and “delight” (rati): according to the treatise’s usage, these are not interpreted as “anger” and “joy.”

²⁸ Six direct knowledges (cha abhiññā): six exceptional powers of knowledge attained through the four jhānas; this section gives only their name.

²⁹ Opening for the detailed exposition (vitthārakathāmukha): the fixed closing formula after a section has been explained in detail; “detailed,” “exposition,” and “opening” correspond respectively to vitthāra, kathā, and mukha.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine), made from the public-domain PTS text.

§3.1 Ānāpānasati: Mindfulness of Breathing—Introduction and Scriptural Testimony 〔Vism VIII·pp.266–267〕

Third: Mindfulness of Breathing

Now the Blessed One praised it in these words: “Bhikkhus, when this concentration through mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati-samādhi)¹ has been cultivated and repeatedly practiced, it is indeed peaceful and excellent, an unadulterated abiding in ease, and it makes evil unwholesome states vanish and become still on the spot whenever they arise.” He then asked: “Bhikkhus, how is concentration through mindfulness of breathing cultivated? How is it repeatedly practiced so that it is indeed peaceful and excellent, an unadulterated abiding in ease, and makes evil unwholesome states vanish and become still on the spot whenever they arise?” [And he taught as follows:] “Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who has gone to the forest, to the root of a tree, or to an empty place sits down, folds the legs crosswise, sets the body erect, and establishes mindfulness to the fore. Mindfully the bhikkhu breathes out, and mindfully breathes in. Breathing out long, the bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe out long’ . . . pe . . . breathing out short . . . pe . . . breathing in short, the bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe in short.’ The bhikkhu trains: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out’; the bhikkhu trains: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in.’ The bhikkhu trains: ‘Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe out’; the bhikkhu trains: ‘Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe in.’ Experiencing rapture . . . pe . . . experiencing pleasure . . . experiencing the mental formation . . . tranquillising the mental formation, experiencing the mind . . . gladdening the mind . . . concentrating the mind . . . liberating the mind . . . contemplating impermanence . . . contemplating fading-away . . . contemplating cessation . . . the bhikkhu trains: ‘Contemplating relinquishment, I shall breathe out’; the bhikkhu trains: ‘Contemplating relinquishment, I shall breathe in.’”

Thus the meditation subject of mindfulness of breathing in sixteen items² has been taught.

[Now] the method of its cultivation is due to be explained. Since this [method of cultivation] becomes complete in every aspect only when explained in accordance with the interpretation of the canonical text, the exposition here is therefore led by an interpretation of the canonical text.

First, in the phrase “Bhikkhus, how is concentration through mindfulness of breathing cultivated?” this is a question asked out of a wish to explain in detail the various modes of cultivating concentration through mindfulness of breathing. “Bhikkhus, concentration through mindfulness of breathing, when cultivated” indicates in various ways the quality that was asked about. The method is the same for the phrase “How is it repeatedly practiced . . . so that it becomes still?”

§3.2 Bhāvito: Word-by-Word Explanation of “Cultivated,” “Repeatedly Practiced,” and the Rest 〔Vism VIII·pp.267–270〕

Here, “cultivated” (bhāvito) means produced or made to grow. “Concentration through mindfulness of breathing” means concentration associated with the mindfulness that apprehends the out-breath and in-breath, or concentration within mindfulness of breathing; thus it is concentration through mindfulness of breathing. “Repeatedly practiced” (bahulīkato) means done again and again.

“Indeed peaceful and excellent”: [the words should be read as] “only peaceful and also only excellent”—in both places the word ca should be understood as imposing a restriction. What does this mean? The meditation subject of foulness is peaceful and excellent only in respect of penetration; because its object is coarse and repulsive, however, in respect of the object it is neither peaceful nor excellent. This [concentration through mindfulness of breathing] is not like that: from no perspective is it unpeaceful or unexcellent. Because its object is peaceful, it is peaceful, stilled, and quenched; and it is likewise peaceful because the factors called penetration are peaceful. Because its object is excellent, it is excellent and never wearies the practitioner; and it is likewise excellent because its factors are excellent. Therefore it is called “indeed peaceful and excellent.”

“An unadulterated abiding in ease”: here “unadulterated” (asecanaka)³ means that nothing is to be admixed with it, so it is unadmixed, unmixed, distinct, and unique. Its peacefulness does not depend on preliminary work or access⁴; from the very first directing of attention, it is peaceful and excellent by its own nature—this is the meaning. Some also say: “‘Unadulterated’ means unadmixed, full of savor, and naturally sweet.” Thus this [concentration] is unadulterated and, because it brings bodily and mental ease at each moment of absorption,⁵ it should be understood as an “abiding in ease.”

“Whenever they arise” means whenever they have not been suppressed. “Evil” means base. “Unwholesome states” means states born of unskillfulness. “Makes them vanish on the spot” means that it makes them vanish and suppresses them in an instant.

“Makes them still” means that it thoroughly stills them; or, because [this concentration] belongs to the part of penetration, it gradually reaches the development of the noble path, cuts them off, and brings them to complete stilling—this is what is meant.

The meaning in brief is this: “Bhikkhus, in what manner, in what aspect, and by what method is concentration through mindfulness of breathing cultivated? In what manner is it repeatedly practiced so that it is indeed peaceful . . . pe . . . and makes them still?” Now, to explain this meaning in detail, [the Blessed One] said “Here, bhikkhus,” and so forth.

Here, “Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu” means: bhikkhus, a bhikkhu in this Dispensation. For the word “here” shows that the Dispensation is the support for a person who produces concentration through mindfulness of breathing in all its modes, and it denies that any other teaching has this character. As has been said: “Bhikkhus, only here is there an ascetic . . . pe . . . other outside teachings are empty of ascetics.” Therefore it is said, “a bhikkhu in this Dispensation.”

“Gone to the forest . . . pe . . . or to an empty place” shows the selection of a lodging place suited to cultivating concentration through mindfulness of breathing. For a long time this bhikkhu’s mind has wandered among visible forms and other objects; it refuses to mount the object of concentration through mindfulness of breathing and, like a cart yoked to a stubborn ox, runs only onto a wrong road. Suppose a cowherd wanted to tame a stubborn calf raised on the milk of a stubborn cow. The cowherd would lead it away from its mother, drive a great post into the ground off to the side, and tie it there with a rope. The calf would struggle this way and that but, unable to escape, would finally sit or lie beside that very post. In the same way, a bhikkhu who wishes to tame the unruly mind, raised for so long on the savor of visible forms and other objects, should lead it away from those objects and take it into “the forest . . . pe . . . or an empty place,” then bind it there with the rope of mindfulness to the post of the out-breath and in-breath. Though the mind struggles this way and that, it cannot obtain the objects to which it was formerly accustomed or cut the rope of mindfulness and escape; by access and absorption it therefore comes to sit and lie upon that very object. Thus the Ancients⁶ said:

Just as a person in this world would tie a calf to a post in order to tame it, so should the practitioner firmly bind their own mind to the object of mindfulness.

That lodging place is thus suited to the bhikkhu’s cultivation. Therefore it is said: “This shows the selection of a lodging place suited to cultivating concentration through mindfulness of breathing.”

It may also be put in this way. Among the various meditation subjects, this meditation subject of mindfulness of breathing is foremost: it is the proximate cause by which omniscient Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and disciples of Buddhas attain distinction and a pleasant abiding here and now. Since sound is a thorn to jhāna, it is not easy to cultivate without leaving the edge of a village filled with the sounds of women, men, elephants, horses, and so forth. In a forest without a village, by contrast, a meditator can readily apprehend this meditation subject, produce the jhānas of the breathing tetrad, and, making them the proximate cause, contemplate formations and attain the supreme fruit, arahantship. Therefore, in order to indicate a lodging place suitable for the bhikkhu, the Blessed One said, “gone to the forest,” and so forth.

For the Blessed One is like a master geomancer. Just as a master geomancer examines a site for a city, inspects it thoroughly, and directs, “Build the city here,” and after the city has been built safely receives great honor from the royal family, so the Blessed One, after examining a lodging place suitable for the meditator, directs, “The meditation subject should be pursued here.” Later, when the meditator who pursues the meditation subject there gradually attains arahantship, people say, “That Blessed One is indeed Fully Awakened”—and he receives great honor.

This bhikkhu, moreover, is said to be like a leopard. Just as a great leopard-king hides in a thicket of grass, forest, or mountain and catches wild buffalo, antlered deer, wild boar, and other beasts, so it should be understood that a bhikkhu who pursues the meditation subject in the forest and similar places gradually catches the paths of stream-entry, once-return, non-return, and arahantship, together with the noble fruits.⁷ Thus the Ancients said:

Just as the creature called a leopard hides and catches wild beasts, so too does this Buddha’s child, yoked to meditation and cultivating insight: entering the forest, the practitioner gains the supreme fruit.

§3.3 Araññagato vā: The Three Places—Forest, Root of a Tree, or Empty Place—and Sitting Cross-Legged 〔Vism VIII·pp.270–271〕

Therefore, to point out the forest lodging that is the ground for the bhikkhu’s energetic advance, the Blessed One said “gone to the forest,” and so forth. Here, “gone to the forest” means that the bhikkhu has gone to any forest offering the ease of seclusion among the forests characterized in such statements as: “What is called forest is everything outside the boundary post (indakhīla); all of it is forest,”⁸ and “A forest lodging is at least five hundred bow-lengths away.”

“Gone to the root of a tree” means arrived in the vicinity of a tree. “Gone to an empty place” means arrived at an empty, secluded place. Here, moreover, a person who has gone to any of the other seven kinds of lodging besides the forest and the root of a tree may also be said to have “gone to an empty place.”

Having thus indicated a lodging place suited to the three seasons, suited to the temperament of the elements, and appropriate for cultivating mindfulness of breathing, [the Blessed One] said “sits” to indicate a calm posture belonging neither to the side of sluggishness nor to the side of agitation. Then, to show the stability of the posture, the ease with which the out-breaths and in-breaths proceed, and the means of apprehending the object, he said “having folded the legs crosswise,” and so forth.

Here, “cross-legged” means the seated posture in which the legs are folded all around. “Having folded” means having bent them into position.

“Sets the body erect” means placing the upper body straight, with the eighteen vertebrae aligned end to end. When a person sits in this way, the skin, flesh, and sinews do not twist; consequently, the feelings that would otherwise arise moment after moment because of their twisting do not arise. When those [feelings] do not arise, the mind becomes one-pointed, the meditation subject does not fall away, and it reaches growth and fullness.

“Establishes mindfulness to the fore”: “The practitioner places mindfulness in the direction facing the meditation subject. Alternatively, parī means apprehension, mukha means deliverance, and sati means manifestation; therefore it is called ‘mindfulness to the fore.’” The meaning here should also be understood according to the method stated in the Paṭisambhidāmagga. Its meaning in brief is: “Having made mindfulness apprehend deliverance.”

“Mindfully the bhikkhu breathes out, and mindfully breathes in”: having sat down in this way and established mindfulness in this way, the bhikkhu does not abandon that mindfulness but breathes out only with mindfulness and breathes in only with mindfulness—what is meant is that “the bhikkhu acts mindfully.”

Now, to point out the aspects by which the bhikkhu acts mindfully, the text says “breathing out long,” and so forth. The Paṭisambhidāmagga says: “In the analysis of the phrase ‘Mindfully the bhikkhu breathes out, and mindfully breathes in,’ the bhikkhu acts mindfully in thirty-two aspects. Mindfulness becomes manifest in a person who, by means of a long out-breath, understands one-pointedness of mind and non-distraction; through that mindfulness and that knowledge, the person acts mindfully. By means of a long in-breath . . . pe . . . mindfulness becomes manifest in a person who, by means of the out-breath while contemplating relinquishment and the in-breath while contemplating relinquishment, understands one-pointedness of mind and non-distraction; through that mindfulness and that knowledge, the person acts mindfully.”

§3.4 Dīgham vā assasanto: Breathing Out Long and Breathing Out Short 〔Vism VIII·pp.271–274〕

Here, “breathing out long” means producing a long out-breath. “The out-breath (assāsa) is the wind that goes outward; the in-breath (passāsa) is the wind that enters inward”—this is stated in the Vinaya Commentary; in the Sutta Commentaries, however, the order is reversed. When any womb-born being emerges from the mother’s womb, first the wind within goes outward; afterward the wind outside, carrying fine dust, enters inward, strikes the palate, and becomes still. This is how the out-breath and in-breath should first be understood. Their longness or shortness should be understood by duration. Water or sand occupying a stretch of space is called long water or long sand, short water or short sand. In the same way, although the out-breaths and in-breaths are broken into particles as fine as powder, in the bodies of elephants and snakes they slowly fill the long duration called their own bodily existence and then slowly go out; therefore they are called long. In the bodies of dogs, rabbits, and the like, they quickly fill the short duration called their own bodily existence and then quickly go out; therefore they are called short. Among human beings, some breathe out and breathe in for a long span of time, like elephants, snakes, and the like; others do so briefly, like dogs, rabbits, and the like. It should therefore be understood that, in terms of time, their out-breaths and in-breaths are long when they go out and come in over a long duration, and short when they go out and come in over a brief duration. Here this bhikkhu breathes out and breathes in long in nine aspects and understands, “I breathe out long; I breathe in long.” It should be understood that when the bhikkhu understands in this way, the cultivation of the foundation of mindfulness as contemplation of the body in the body is fulfilled in a single aspect.

As the Paṭisambhidāmagga says: “How is it that, breathing out long, the bhikkhu understands ‘I breathe out long,’ and, breathing in long, understands ‘I breathe in long’? The bhikkhu breathes out a long out-breath over what is reckoned as a duration, breathes in a long in-breath over what is reckoned as a duration, and both breathes out and breathes in a long out-breath and in-breath over what is reckoned as a duration. While both breathing out and breathing in a long out-breath and in-breath over what is reckoned as a duration, desire arises. Because of that desire, the bhikkhu breathes out a long out-breath subtler than before over what is reckoned as a duration; because of that desire, [the bhikkhu breathes in] a long in-breath subtler than before . . . pe . . . both breathes out and breathes in a long out-breath and in-breath over what is reckoned as a duration. While, because of desire, both breathing out and breathing in a long out-breath and in-breath subtler than before over what is reckoned as a duration, gladness arises.

Because of gladness, the bhikkhu breathes out a long out-breath subtler than before over what is reckoned as a duration; because of gladness, [the bhikkhu breathes in] a long in-breath subtler than before . . . pe . . . both breathes out and breathes in a long out-breath and in-breath over what is reckoned as a duration. While, because of gladness, both breathing out and breathing in a long out-breath and in-breath subtler than before over what is reckoned as a duration, the mind turns away from the long out-breath and in-breath, and equanimity becomes established. In these nine aspects, the long out-breaths and in-breaths are the body; that is the manifestation. Mindfulness is contemplation and knowledge. The body is the manifestation, but not mindfulness; mindfulness is both the manifestation and mindfulness. With that mindfulness and that knowledge the bhikkhu contemplates that body. Therefore it is said: this is the cultivation of the foundation of mindfulness as contemplation of the body in the body.”

The method is the same in the passage on “short.” The only difference is that there it says, “breathes out a long out-breath over what is reckoned as a duration,” while here it says, “breathes out a short out-breath over what is reckoned as a brief duration.” The entire passage should therefore be adapted to “short,” down to “Therefore it is said: this is the cultivation of the foundation of mindfulness as contemplation of the body in the body.” The bhikkhu thus understands the out-breaths and in-breaths by duration and brevity, in these aspects, and should be understood as “breathing out long, the bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe out long’ . . . pe . . . breathing in short, the bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe in short.’” And when the bhikkhu understands in this way:

Long is the out-breath, and short; the in-breath is likewise; these four kinds proceed only at the tip of the bhikkhu’s nose.

“The bhikkhu trains: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out’ . . . ‘I shall breathe in’”: making the beginning, middle, and end of the whole out-breath body known and clear, the bhikkhu trains, “I shall breathe out”; making the beginning, middle, and end of the whole in-breath body known and clear, the bhikkhu trains, “I shall breathe in.” Because the bhikkhu breathes out and breathes in with a mind associated with knowledge while making them known and clear in this way, it is said: “The bhikkhu trains, ‘I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.’” For a certain bhikkhu, among the out-breath body or in-breath body dispersed in particles as fine as powder, only the beginning is clear, while the middle and end are not; the bhikkhu can apprehend only the beginning and grows weary at the middle and end. For another bhikkhu, the middle is clear, but not the beginning and end. For another, the end is clear, but not the beginning and middle; the bhikkhu can apprehend only the end and grows weary at the beginning and middle. For another, everything is clear; that bhikkhu can apprehend everything and grows weary nowhere. To show that the practitioner should become such a person, [the Blessed One] said: “The bhikkhu trains, ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out’ . . . pe . . . ‘I shall breathe in.’”

§3.5 Sikkhati: Training—The Three Trainings and the Word-by-Word Explanation of the First Tetrad 〔Vism VIII·pp.274–277〕

Here, “trains” (sikkhati) means that the bhikkhu strives and makes an effort in this way. Alternatively, the restraint belonging to such a person is here the training in higher virtue; the concentration belonging to such a person is the training in the higher mind; the wisdom belonging to such a person is the training in higher wisdom. The bhikkhu trains, practices, cultivates, and repeatedly practices these three trainings upon that object, with that mindfulness and that attention. The meaning here should be understood in this way.

In the earlier method the bhikkhu need only breathe out and breathe in, without doing anything else; from this point onward, however, effort must be made to produce knowledge and the rest. Therefore the canonical text in the former passage is stated only in the present tense: “The bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe out’; the bhikkhu understands, ‘I breathe in.’” From this point onward, in order to point out such actions to be performed as the production of knowledge, the canonical text is established in the future tense in the form “The bhikkhu trains, ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out,’” and so forth. This is how it should be understood.

“The bhikkhu trains: ‘Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe out’ . . . pe . . . ‘I shall breathe in’”: stilling, thoroughly tranquillising, causing to cease, and quieting the coarse bodily formation, the bhikkhu “trains, ‘I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.’”

Here, coarseness and subtlety, together with tranquillity, should be understood as follows. Before this bhikkhu has apprehended [body and mind], both body and mind are agitated and coarse. While the coarseness of body and mind has not subsided, the out-breaths and in-breaths are also coarse and proceed more forcefully; the nose cannot contain them, and the bhikkhu remains breathing out and breathing in through the mouth. But when the body and mind have been apprehended, they become peaceful and still. Once they are still, the out-breaths and in-breaths proceed subtly, reaching a state in which they must be examined to determine whether they exist at all. Suppose a person stands after running, coming down from a mountain, or lowering a heavy burden from the head: the person’s out-breaths and in-breaths are coarse, the nose cannot contain them, and the person remains breathing out and breathing in through the mouth. But once the person has dispelled that fatigue, bathed, drunk, placed a wet cloth over the chest, and lain down in the cool shade of a tree, the out-breaths and in-breaths become subtle, reaching a state in which they must be examined to determine whether they exist at all. In the same way, before this bhikkhu has apprehended [body and mind], the body . . . pe . . . reaches a state in which it must be examined. Why is that? Before apprehension, the bhikkhu has no inclination, focusing, attention, or reviewing directed toward “I shall tranquillise successively coarser bodily formations,” but after apprehension these are present. Therefore the bodily formation is subtler after apprehension than before apprehension. Thus the Ancients said:

When body and mind are strained, [the bodily formation] proceeds excessively; when the body is not strained, [the bodily formation] proceeds subtly.

At the time of apprehension it is still coarse, while in access to the first jhāna it is subtle; there too it is coarse, while in the first jhāna it is subtle. In the first jhāna and in access to the second jhāna it is coarse, while in the second jhāna it is subtle; in the second jhāna and in access to the third jhāna it is coarse, while in the third jhāna it is subtle; in the third jhāna and in access to the fourth jhāna it is coarse, while in the fourth jhāna it is extremely subtle, even reaching non-occurrence. This, first, is the opinion of the Dīgha- and Saṃyutta-reciters.⁹ The Majjhima-reciters, however, maintain that it is coarse in the first jhāna and subtle in access to the second jhāna, and in this way subtler in access to each successively higher jhāna than in the jhāna immediately below. According to all [the reciters], however, the bodily formation that proceeds before apprehension becomes thoroughly tranquillised at apprehension; the bodily formation that proceeds at apprehension becomes thoroughly tranquillised in access to the first jhāna . . . pe . . . and the bodily formation that proceeds in access to the fourth jhāna becomes thoroughly tranquillised in the fourth jhāna.

This is the method with respect to serenity. With respect to insight, the bodily formation proceeding before apprehension is coarse, while it is subtle when the great elements are apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when derived materiality is apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when all materiality is apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when the immaterial is apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when materiality and the immaterial are apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when conditions are apprehended; that too is coarse, while it is subtle when mentality-materiality together with its conditions is seen; that too is coarse, while it is subtle in insight that takes the characteristics as its object; that too is coarse in weak insight, while it is subtle in strong insight. In each case the earlier should be understood to become thoroughly tranquillised by the later, according to the method already stated. This is how coarseness and subtlety, together with tranquillity, should be understood here.

The Paṭisambhidāmagga, together with a challenge and its resolution, explains the meaning as follows:

“How does the bhikkhu train: ‘Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe out’ . . . pe . . . ‘I shall breathe in’? What are the bodily formations? The long out-breath . . . [the long] in-breath: these states are bodily, bound up with the body, and [are] bodily formations. Tranquillising, causing to cease, and stilling those bodily formations, the bhikkhu trains . . . pe . . . The bhikkhu trains, ‘Tranquillising the bodily formation because of which there is bending, flexing, inclining, extending, trembling, quivering, moving, and shaking of the body, I shall breathe out’; the bhikkhu trains, ‘Tranquillising [that bodily formation], I shall breathe in.’ The bhikkhu trains, ‘Tranquillising the peaceful, subtle bodily formation because of which there is no bending, no flexing, no inclining, no extending, no trembling, no quivering, no moving, and no shaking of the body, I shall breathe out and breathe in.’—[Challenge:] It is said, ‘The bhikkhu trains: “Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe out”; the bhikkhu trains: “Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe in.”’ If so, there is no manifestation of the wind, no manifestation of the out-breaths and in-breaths, no manifestation of mindfulness of breathing, no manifestation of concentration through mindfulness of breathing, and the wise neither enter nor emerge from this attainment. [Resolution:] It is said, ‘The bhikkhu trains: “Tranquillising the bodily formation, I shall breathe out and breathe in.”’ If so, there is manifestation of the wind, manifestation of the out-breaths and in-breaths, manifestation of mindfulness of breathing, manifestation of concentration through mindfulness of breathing, and the wise both enter and emerge from this attainment.

What is this like? When a bronze cymbal is struck, a coarse sound occurs first. Because the sign of the coarse sound has been well apprehended, well attended to, and well retained, after the coarse sound has ceased a subtle sound still occurs. Because the sign of the subtle sound has been well apprehended, well attended to, and well retained, even after the subtle sound has ceased, the mind continues with the sign of the subtle sound as its object. In the same way, coarse out-breaths and in-breaths occur first. Because the sign of the coarse out-breaths and in-breaths has been well apprehended, well attended to, and well retained, after the coarse out-breaths and in-breaths have ceased, subtle out-breaths and in-breaths still occur. Because the sign of the subtle out-breaths and in-breaths has likewise been well apprehended, well attended to, and well retained, even after the subtle out-breaths and in-breaths have ceased, the mind takes the sign of the subtle out-breaths and in-breaths as its object and does not go to distraction. If so, there is manifestation of the wind, manifestation of the out-breaths and in-breaths, manifestation of mindfulness of breathing, manifestation of concentration through mindfulness of breathing, and the wise both enter and emerge from this attainment. The out-breaths and in-breaths that tranquillise the bodily formation are the body; that is the manifestation. Mindfulness is contemplation and knowledge. The body is the manifestation, but not mindfulness; mindfulness is both the manifestation and mindfulness. With that mindfulness and that knowledge the bhikkhu contemplates that body. Therefore it is said: this is the cultivation of the foundation of mindfulness as contemplation of the body in the body.”

This completes the word-by-word explanation of the first tetrad, spoken here by way of contemplation of the body.

Only this first tetrad is stated here as the meditation subject for a beginner; the remaining three tetrads are stated by way of contemplation of feeling, mind, and phenomena for a person who has already attained jhāna through this practice. Therefore a beginning clansman¹⁰ who wishes to cultivate this meditation subject and, through insight having the jhānas of the breathing tetrad as its proximate cause, attain arahantship together with the analytical knowledges, should perform all the tasks beginning with purification of virtue according to the method previously stated, and then receive the meditation subject’s five matters from a teacher of the kind described earlier. The five matters here are learning-grasp, inquiring, manifestation, absorption, and characterisation.

§3.6 Uggaho · Manasikāravidhi · Gaṇanā: The Five Matters Beginning with Learning-Grasp; the Eight Stages of Attention; Counting 〔Vism VIII·pp.277–280〕

Here, “learning-grasp” (uggaha) is the learning-grasp of the meditation subject; “inquiring” is inquiry into the meditation subject; “manifestation” is the manifestation of the meditation subject; “absorption” is the absorption of the meditation subject; “characterisation” is the characterisation of the meditation subject—what is meant is the retention of the meditation subject’s own nature in the form, “This meditation subject has such a character.”

A person who receives these five matters of the meditation subject neither tires themself nor troubles the teacher. The person should therefore ask [the teacher] to recite a little at a time, recite it personally for a long time, and receive the meditation subject’s five matters in this way. Then, while living near the teacher or elsewhere in a lodging place of the kind described earlier, having cut off minor obstacles,¹¹ completed the business of the meal, dispelled post-meal drowsiness, and seated themself at ease, the person should gladden the mind by recollecting the qualities of the Triple Gem and attend to this meditation subject of mindfulness of breathing without confusing even a single phrase received from the teacher.

The method of attention here is this: “counting, following, touching, settling, observing, turning-away, purification, and looking-back.” Here “counting” (gaṇanā) is counting itself; “following” (anubandhanā) is following; “touching” is the place touched; “settling” is absorption; “observing” is insight; “turning-away” is the path; “purification” is fruition; “looking-back” is reviewing them.

Here, the beginning clansman should first attend to this meditation subject by counting. When counting, the practitioner should not stop below five, go beyond ten, or show a break in the middle. For a person who stops below five, the arising of the mind struggles in a narrow space, like a herd of cattle confined in a cramped pen. For a person who goes beyond ten, the arising of the mind comes to depend only on the count. For a person who shows a break in the middle, the mind wavers: “Has my meditation subject reached its peak or not?” Therefore the practitioner should avoid these faults and count. At first, the practitioner should count slowly, in the manner of a grain measurer. A grain measurer fills a measure, says “one,” and empties it. While filling it again, on seeing some rubbish the measurer casts it aside while saying, “One, one.” The method is the same for “two, two,” and so forth. In the same way, taking whichever of the out-breath and in-breath becomes manifest, this [bhikkhu] should begin with “one, one” and count up to “ten, ten,” simply observing each successive occurrence. While counting in this way, the out-breaths and in-breaths going out and coming in become clear. The practitioner should then abandon slow counting in the manner of a grain measurer and count quickly, in the manner of a cowherd. A skillful cowherd gathers pebbles and the like in the fold of a garment, takes rope and staff in hand, goes to the cattle pen early in the morning, strikes the backs of the cattle, and sits atop the gatepost. Counting only each cow as it arrives at the gate, the cowherd drops the pebbles individually: “One, two.” Because the herd has suffered through the three watches of the night in a cramped place, on coming out the cattle jostle each other and emerge rapidly in groups. The cowherd counts them rapidly: “Three, four, five, up to ten.” In the same way, while this [bhikkhu] counts according to the former method, the out-breaths and in-breaths become clear and repeatedly travel back and forth in quick succession. Knowing “They repeatedly travel back and forth,” the bhikkhu does not take what is inside or outside, but counts only each [breath] that reaches the gate: “One, two, three, four, five; one, two, three, four, five, six; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven . . . pe . . . eight . . . nine . . . ten.” The bhikkhu should count rapidly in this way. For in a meditation subject tied to counting, it is through the power of counting itself that the mind becomes one-pointed, as a boat is held steady in a swift current by bracing it with a punt pole. As the bhikkhu counts rapidly, the meditation subject appears to proceed without interruption. Knowing “It proceeds without interruption,” the bhikkhu does not apprehend the wind inside or outside, but counts rapidly according to the former method. For a person who sends the mind inward together with the wind entering within feels as if the inside had been struck by wind and filled with fat; a person who sends the mind outward together with the wind going out has the mind scattered outside among various objects. Cultivation succeeds only for a person who places mindfulness at each point of contact and cultivates. Therefore it is said: without apprehending the wind inside or outside, the practitioner should count rapidly according to the former method.

“How long should the practitioner count in this way? Until mindfulness becomes established on the object of the out-breath and in-breath without relying on counting.” Counting is solely for cutting off thoughts scattered outward and establishing mindfulness on the out-breath and in-breath as its object. After attending by counting in this way, the practitioner should attend by following.

§3.7 Anubandhanā: Following—the Similes of the Cripple, the Gatekeeper, and the Saw 〔Vism VIII·pp.280–282〕

“Following” (anubandhanā) means putting aside counting and continuously following the out-breaths and in-breaths with mindfulness; but this is not done by following their beginning, middle, and end. For the wind going outward, the navel is the beginning, the heart is the middle, and the tip of the nose is the end;¹² for the wind entering inward, the tip of the nose is the beginning, the heart is the middle, and the navel is the end. A person’s mind becomes distracted when following this [beginning, middle, and end], causing strain and agitation. As it is said: “For a person who follows the beginning, middle, and end of an out-breath with mindfulness, the body and mind become strained, agitated, and trembling because the mind is distracted internally. For a person who follows the beginning, middle, and end of an in-breath with mindfulness, the body and mind become strained, agitated, and trembling because the mind is distracted externally.” Therefore a person attending by following should not attend by way of beginning, middle, and end, but by way of touching and settling. There is no separate mode of attention by touching or by settling, distinct from attention by counting and following. Rather, while counting at the repeated point of contact, the practitioner attends by counting and by touching; then, at the same place, after putting aside counting, continuously following the [breaths] with mindfulness, and settling the mind by absorption, the practitioner is said to attend by following, touching, and settling.

This meaning should be understood through the cripple simile (pangulopamā) and gatekeeper simile (dovārikūpamā) stated in the Commentaries,¹³ and the saw simile (kakacūpamā) stated in the Paṭisambhidāmagga. Here the cripple simile is as follows. Suppose a cripple sets a swing in motion for a mother and child playing on it, then sits at the foot of the swing-post. The cripple sees the swing-board’s two ends and middle as they come and go in sequence, but need not bustle about in order to see its two ends and middle. In the same way, a bhikkhu stands by means of mindfulness at the foot of the post of binding and sets the swing of the out-breaths and in-breaths in motion. Sitting with mindfulness upon that same sign, at the point touched the bhikkhu follows with mindfulness the beginning, middle, and end of the out-breaths and in-breaths as they come and go in sequence, settles the mind there, and sees them without bustling about in order to see them. This is the cripple simile.

Then there is the gatekeeper simile. Suppose a gatekeeper does not question people inside and outside the city—“Who are you? Where have you come from? Where are you going? What are you carrying in your hand?”—because those people are not the gatekeeper’s responsibility. The gatekeeper questions only each person who reaches the gate. In the same way, for this bhikkhu the winds that have entered inside and the winds that have gone outside are not the bhikkhu’s responsibility; only those that reach the gate are the bhikkhu’s responsibility. This is the gatekeeper simile.

The saw simile should be understood from the beginning as follows. It is said:

Sign, out-breath, and in-breath—these three are not the object of a single mind; cultivation cannot be found in a person who does not know these three states. Sign, out-breath, and in-breath—these three are not the object of a single mind; cultivation can be found only in a person who knows these three states.

“How are these three states not the object of a single mind, yet not unknown, while the mind does not go to distraction, effort becomes manifest, exertion is accomplished, and distinction is attained? Suppose a tree were laid on level ground and a person were to cut it with a saw. The person’s mindfulness is manifest through the teeth of the saw that touch the tree; the person does not attend to the teeth as they come or go, yet the teeth as they come or go are not unknown; effort becomes manifest, exertion is accomplished, and distinction is attained. As the tree laid on level ground, so is the sign of binding; as the saw’s teeth, so are the out-breaths and in-breaths. Just as the person’s mindfulness is manifest through the saw’s teeth that touch the tree, while the person does not attend to the teeth as they come or go, yet the teeth as they come or go are not unknown, effort becomes manifest, exertion is accomplished, and distinction is attained, so a bhikkhu sits after establishing mindfulness at the tip of the nose or at the sign of the mouth. The bhikkhu does not attend to the out-breaths and in-breaths as they come or go, yet the out-breaths and in-breaths as they come or go are not unknown; effort becomes manifest, exertion is accomplished, and distinction is attained.”

“What is called ‘effort’—what is effort? For a person who has aroused energy, body and mind become workable: this is effort. What is exertion? For a person who has aroused energy, the defilements are abandoned and thoughts are stilled: this is exertion. What is distinction? For a person who has aroused energy, the fetters are abandoned and the latent tendencies come to an end: this is distinction. Thus these three states are not the object of a single mind, yet are not unknown, while the mind does not go to distraction, effort becomes manifest, exertion is accomplished, and distinction is attained.”

A person whose mindfulness of breathing is complete and well cultivated, familiarized in due sequence, just as the Buddha taught, illuminates this world like the moon freed from cloud.

§3.8 Kakacūpamā: Completion of the Saw Simile; Essential Practice; the Breath Growing Subtle 〔Vism VIII·pp.282–286〕

This is the saw simile. Here it should be understood that its use for the practitioner lies only in not attending to the [breaths] by way of their repeated coming. For some people attending to this meditation subject, before long the sign arises and the settling called absorption, adorned with the remaining jhāna factors, is accomplished. But for some, beginning from the time of attention by counting and proceeding in sequence, the coarse out-breaths and in-breaths cease, bodily agitation subsides, body and mind become light, and the body seems capable of leaping into the air. When a person whose body is strained sits on a bed or chair, the bed or chair sinks and creaks, and the covering wrinkles; when a person whose body is not strained sits down, the bed or chair neither sinks nor creaks, and the covering does not wrinkle—the bed or chair seems filled with kapok. Why? Because a body that is not strained is light. In the same way, beginning from the time of attention by counting and proceeding in sequence, the coarse out-breaths and in-breaths cease, bodily agitation subsides, body and mind become light, and the body seems capable of leaping into the air. Once the coarse out-breaths and in-breaths have ceased, the mind proceeds with the sign of the subtle out-breaths and in-breaths as its object; when that too ceases, the mind proceeds again and again with a sign subtler and still subtler than the preceding sign as its object.

How so? Suppose a person strikes a bronze plate with a great iron bar. A loud sound arises with a single blow, and the person’s mind proceeds with the coarse sound as its object. When the coarse sound ceases, it proceeds afterward with the sign of the subtle sound as its object. When that too ceases, the mind proceeds again and again with the sign of a sound subtler and still subtler than the preceding sound as its object. This is how it should be understood.

It is also said: “Suppose a bronze vessel were struck”—the full passage is as cited above. Other meditation subjects become progressively clearer, but this meditation subject is not like that: for a person who cultivates it to higher and higher levels, it becomes progressively subtler and even ceases to become manifest. When it does not become manifest in this way, the bhikkhu should not rise from the seat, shake out the leather sitting-cloth,¹⁴ and leave. What should be done? The bhikkhu should not rise from the seat thinking, “I shall ask my teacher,” or “My meditation subject is now lost.” For a person who breaks posture and leaves, the meditation subject must be begun anew again and again. The bhikkhu should therefore remain seated just as before and recover it from that place.

The method of recovery is as follows. Knowing that the meditation subject has ceased to become manifest, the bhikkhu should reflect: “Where do these out-breaths and in-breaths exist, and where do they not? Who has them, and who does not?” On reflection the bhikkhu understands that these breaths do not occur inside the mother’s womb or in people submerged in water; likewise they do not occur in unconscious beings, the dead, those who have entered the fourth jhāna, beings possessing existence in the form or formless realm, or those who have entered the attainment of cessation.¹⁵ The bhikkhu should then admonish themself: “Wise person! You are not inside the mother’s womb, are not submerged in water, are not an unconscious being, are not dead, have not entered the fourth jhāna, do not possess existence in the form or formless realm, and have not entered the attainment of cessation. Your out-breaths and in-breaths certainly exist; you simply cannot apprehend them because your wisdom is dull.” The bhikkhu should then place the mind according to the usual point of contact and set attention in motion. For these breaths proceed touching the nose-wing of a long-nosed person and the upper lip of a short-nosed person. The bhikkhu should therefore establish the sign in this way: “They touch this place.” It was precisely because of this meaning that the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhus, I do not say that a person who has lost mindfulness and lacks clear comprehension cultivates mindfulness of breathing.”

Although every meditation subject succeeds only for a person with mindfulness and clear comprehension, other meditation subjects become evident to a person who attends to them. This meditation subject of mindfulness of breathing, however, is weighty¹⁶ and must be cultivated weightily; it is the field of attention only for the great persons who are Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and children of the Buddhas. It is neither slight nor cultivated by slight beings. The more it is attended to, the more peaceful and subtle it becomes; therefore strong mindfulness and wisdom are required here.

When fine cloth is mended, the needle must be fine, and the implement that passes through the eye of the needle must be finer still. Likewise, when cultivating this meditation subject, which is like fine cloth, both the mindfulness resembling the needle and the wisdom associated with it, resembling the implement that passes through the needle’s eye, must be strong. A bhikkhu endowed with such mindfulness and wisdom should not seek the out-breaths and in-breaths anywhere outside their usual point of contact.

Further, suppose a farmer finishes plowing, unyokes the oxen and lets them graze, then sits resting in the shade of a tree. The oxen swiftly enter the forest. If the farmer is skillful and wishes to catch and yoke them again, the farmer does not follow their tracks and wander through the forest searching everywhere. Instead the farmer takes a rope and goad, goes straight to the ford where the oxen descend to the water, and sits or lies there. After wandering for most of the day, the oxen descend to the ford, bathe and drink, then come back up and stand. As soon as the farmer sees them, the farmer binds them with the rope, drives them back with the goad, yokes them, and returns to work. In the same way, the bhikkhu should not seek the out-breaths and in-breaths anywhere outside their usual point of contact. Taking the rope of mindfulness and the goad of wisdom, the bhikkhu should place the mind at the usual point of contact and set attention in motion. When the bhikkhu attends in this way, before long the breaths become manifest, like the oxen [returning] to the ford. The bhikkhu should then bind them with the rope of mindfulness, yoke them at that very place, and, prodding with the goad of wisdom, pursue this meditation subject again and again. Pursuing it in this way, the sign appears before long.

But this [sign] is not the same for everyone. Some say that for certain people it produces a pleasant touch and appears like a tuft of kapok, like a tuft of cotton, or like a current of air.

The Commentaries, however, decide as follows. For some people this [sign] appears like a star, a gem, or a pearl; for some it becomes a coarse touch, like a cotton seed or a needle made of heartwood; for some it appears like a long necklace-cord, a garland, or a plume of smoke; for some like a spread-out cobweb, a bank of clouds, a lotus flower, a cartwheel, the disk of the moon, or the disk of the sun.¹⁷ This is like the case of many bhikkhus sitting after reciting a discourse, when a bhikkhu asks, “In what form does this discourse become manifest to you?” A bhikkhu says, “To me it becomes manifest like a great mountain river.” Another says, “To me, like a forest.” Yet another says, “To me, like a tree with cool shade, abundant branches and leaves, and a heavy load of fruit.” For them the same discourse becomes manifest in various forms because their perceptions differ. In the same way, the same meditation subject becomes manifest in various forms because perceptions differ. For this [sign] is born of perception, has perception as its condition, and has perception as its source. It should therefore be understood that it becomes manifest in various forms because perceptions differ.

Here, the mind with the out-breath as its object is distinct, the mind with the in-breath as its object is distinct, and the mind with the sign as its object is yet another. For a person who lacks these three states, the meditation subject reaches neither absorption nor access; only for a person who has these three states does the meditation subject reach access and absorption. Thus it is said:

Sign, out-breath, and in-breath—these three are not the object of a single mind; cultivation cannot be found in a person who does not know these three states. Sign, out-breath, and in-breath—these three are not the object of a single mind; cultivation can be found only in a person who knows these three states.

§3.9 Nimittam: Arising of the Sign; Reporting to the Teacher; Guarding It; Skill in Absorption 〔Vism VIII·pp.286–287〕

When the sign has appeared in this way, the bhikkhu should go to the teacher and report: “Venerable sir, [my sign] appears in such-and-such a form.” The teacher should not say, “This is the sign,” nor say, “This is not the sign.” The teacher should say, “Friend, it is just so,” and instruct the bhikkhu, “Attend to it again and again.” For if the teacher says, “This is the sign,” the bhikkhu may stop there; if the teacher says, “This is not the sign,” the bhikkhu may become discouraged and sink. The teacher therefore says neither, but directs the bhikkhu only to continue attending—this, first, is what the Dīgha-reciters say. The Majjhima-reciters, however, say that the teacher should tell the bhikkhu: “Friend, this is the sign. Good person, attend to this meditation subject again and again.” The bhikkhu should then place the mind only on the sign; from that point onward the cultivation is performed by way of settling. Thus the Ancients said:

Placing the mind upon the sign and making its various aspects clear, the steadfast practitioner binds their own mind to the out-breaths and in-breaths.

From the time the sign appears in this way, the hindrances are suppressed, the defilements subside, mindfulness becomes manifest, and the mind becomes concentrated by access concentration.

The bhikkhu should not attend to the sign by way of its color, nor examine it by way of its characteristic. Instead, as a chief queen of warrior caste [guards] the embryo of a Wheel-Turning Monarch, or as a farmer [guards] the germ of rice and barley, the bhikkhu should avoid the seven unsuitable conditions beginning with lodging and resort to the seven suitable conditions, guarding it well.

Having guarded it in this way, the bhikkhu should make it grow and expand by repeated attention, perfect the tenfold absorption-skill, and balance energy.¹⁸ As the bhikkhu strives in this way, the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold systems¹⁹ arise on that sign in the same sequence described under the earth kasiṇa. Here, a bhikkhu who has thus produced the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold systems and wishes to develop the meditation subject by observing and turning-away until reaching purification makes that jhāna mastered and proficient in five ways, then determines mentality-materiality and sets insight in motion.

How? Having emerged from the attainment, the bhikkhu sees that the origin of the out-breaths and in-breaths is the kamma-born body²⁰ together with the mind. When a smith’s bellows is blown, air moves dependent on the leather bag and the corresponding effort of a person; in the same way, the out-breaths and in-breaths occur dependent on body and mind. The bhikkhu then determines that the out-breaths, in-breaths, and body are materiality, while the mind and the states associated with it are immaterial.

This is only a brief account; the detailed determination of mentality-materiality will be made clear later.²¹ Having determined mentality-materiality in this way, the bhikkhu seeks its conditions; seeking and seeing them, the bhikkhu crosses beyond doubt about the occurrence of mentality-materiality in the three times.

Having crossed beyond doubt, the bhikkhu raises the three characteristics through comprehension by groups; abandons the ten corruptions of insight, beginning with illumination, that arise in the former part of contemplation of rise and fall;²² determines that knowledge of the course, freed from the corruptions,²³ is the path; abandons rise and reaches contemplation of dissolution. As all formations appear as dissolution through uninterrupted contemplation of dissolution, the bhikkhu becomes disenchanted, fades away from lust, and is liberated; in sequence the bhikkhu reaches the four noble paths, becomes established in the fruit of arahantship, reaches the limit of the nineteenfold reviewing knowledge,²⁴ and becomes the supreme recipient of gifts in the world with its deities.

§3.10 Itaresu tīsu catukkesu: The Remaining Three Tetrads—the Second and Third Tetrads, Contemplation of Feeling and Mind 〔Vism VIII·pp.287–290〕

At this point, the bhikkhu’s cultivation of concentration through mindfulness of breathing, beginning with counting and ending with looking-back, is complete. This is the explanation of the first tetrad in all its aspects.

As for the remaining three tetrads, since there is no separately established method for cultivating the meditation subject, their meaning should be understood by the method of word-by-word explanation as follows. “Experiencing rapture” means making rapture experienced and clear; the bhikkhu trains, “I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

Here, rapture is experienced in two aspects: by the object and by non-delusion. How is rapture experienced by the object? The bhikkhu enters the two jhānas accompanied by rapture. At the moment of attainment, through gaining jhāna, rapture is experienced by the object, because the object has been experienced. How is it experienced by non-delusion? The bhikkhu enters the two jhānas accompanied by rapture and, after emerging, comprehends the rapture associated with jhāna as ceasing and passing away. At the moment of insight, through penetrating the characteristics, rapture is experienced by non-delusion. The Paṭisambhidāmagga says: “When a person understands one-pointedness of mind and non-distraction by means of a long out-breath, mindfulness becomes manifest; through that mindfulness and that knowledge, that rapture is experienced. By means of a long in-breath . . . by means of a short out-breath . . . by means of a short in-breath . . . when a person understands one-pointedness of mind and non-distraction by means of out-breaths and in-breaths that experience the whole body and out-breaths and in-breaths that tranquillise the bodily formation, mindfulness becomes manifest; through that mindfulness and that knowledge, that rapture is experienced. Through adverting that rapture is experienced; through knowing, seeing, observing, resolving the mind, resolving through faith, exerting energy, making mindfulness manifest, concentrating the mind, and understanding with wisdom; by [directly knowing] what should be directly known . . . [fully understanding] what should be fully understood . . . [abandoning] what should be abandoned . . . [cultivating] what should be cultivated, and realizing what should be realized, that rapture is experienced. In this way that rapture is experienced.”

The remaining clauses should be understood in meaning according to the same method. The only differences here are these: “experiencing pleasure” should be understood by way of the [first] three jhānas, while “experiencing the mental formation” should be understood by way of all four jhānas. “The mental formation” means the two aggregates beginning with feeling. In the clause “experiencing pleasure,” to show the ground of insight, the Paṭisambhidāmagga says: “There are two kinds of pleasure: bodily pleasure and mental pleasure.” “Tranquillising the mental formation” means tranquillising and causing the coarse mental formation to cease; the details should be understood according to the same method stated for the bodily formation. Further, here the rapture clause speaks of feeling under the heading of rapture; the pleasure clause speaks of feeling in its own form; and the two clauses on the mental formation speak of feeling associated with perception, in accordance with the statement, “Perception and feeling are mental factors; these states are bound up with the mind and are mental formations.” It should therefore be understood that this tetrad is spoken by way of contemplation of feeling.

In the third tetrad, “experiencing the mind” should likewise be understood by way of all four jhānas.

“Gladdening the mind” means gladdening the mind, making it rejoice, making it smile, and making it smile exceedingly; the bhikkhu trains, “I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.” Here the mind is gladdened in two aspects: by concentration and by insight. How by concentration? The bhikkhu enters the two jhānas accompanied by rapture; at the moment of attainment, the bhikkhu gladdens and delights the mind with the associated rapture. How by insight? The bhikkhu enters the two jhānas accompanied by rapture and, after emerging, comprehends the rapture associated with jhāna as ceasing and passing away. Thus at the moment of insight the bhikkhu gladdens and delights the mind by taking that rapture associated with jhāna as the object. A practitioner who proceeds in this way is said to train, “Gladdening the mind, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

“Concentrating the mind” means evenly placing and establishing the mind upon the object by means of the first jhāna and the rest; alternatively, after entering and emerging from those jhānas, the bhikkhu contemplates the mind associated with jhāna as ceasing and passing away, and at the moment of insight momentary one-pointedness of mind arises through penetration of the characteristics. By means of the momentary one-pointedness of mind arisen in this way, the bhikkhu also evenly places and establishes the mind upon the object, and is therefore said to train, “Concentrating the mind, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

“Liberating the mind” means freeing and liberating the mind from the hindrances by means of the first jhāna, from applied and sustained thought by means of the second, from rapture by means of the third, and from pleasure and pain by means of the fourth. Alternatively, after entering and emerging from those jhānas, the bhikkhu comprehends the mind associated with jhāna as ceasing and passing away. At the moment of insight, the bhikkhu frees and liberates the mind from the perception of permanence through contemplation of impermanence, from the perception of pleasure through contemplation of suffering, from the perception of self through contemplation of not-self, from delight through contemplation of disenchantment, from greed through contemplation of fading-away, from origination through contemplation of cessation, and from grasping through contemplation of relinquishment, while breathing out and breathing in. Therefore the bhikkhu is said to train, “Liberating the mind, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.” It should be understood that this tetrad is spoken by way of contemplation of mind.

§3.11 Catutthacatukke: The Fourth Tetrad—Contemplation of Phenomena and the Concluding Verses 〔Vism VIII·pp.290–293〕

In the fourth tetrad, in the clause “contemplating impermanence,” impermanent (aniccam) should first be understood, impermanence (aniccatā) should be understood, contemplation of impermanence (aniccānupassanā) should be understood, and a contemplator of impermanence (aniccānupassī) should be understood. Here, the impermanent is the five aggregates. Why? Because they have the nature of arising, ceasing, and alteration. “Impermanence” is the arising, ceasing, and alteration of those [five aggregates], or the nonexistence of what has arisen. The meaning is that they do not remain in the same mode, but break apart through momentary dissolution. “Contemplation of impermanence” is contemplation of materiality and the other states as “impermanent” by way of that impermanence. “A contemplator of impermanence” is a person endowed with that contemplation. It should therefore be understood that such a person, while breathing out and breathing in, is the person spoken of here as training, “Contemplating impermanence, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

In the clause “contemplating fading-away,” fading-away is of two kinds: exhaustion-fading-away and ultimate fading-away. Here, “exhaustion-fading-away” is the exhaustion and dissolution of formations, while “ultimate fading-away” is Nibbāna. “Contemplation of fading-away” is insight and path that proceed through seeing these two. It should be understood that a person endowed with these two kinds of contemplation, while breathing out and breathing in, trains, “Contemplating fading-away, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

The method is the same in the clause “contemplating cessation.”

In the clause “contemplating relinquishment,” relinquishment is also of two kinds: relinquishment as giving up and relinquishment as entering into. Relinquishment itself is contemplation, and so it is called contemplation of relinquishment; this is a designation for insight and path. For insight gives up the defilements together with the aggregates and volitional formations by substitution, and, because it sees the danger in conditioned states, inclines toward and enters into their opposite, Nibbāna. Thus it is called both relinquishment as giving up and relinquishment as entering into. The path gives up the defilements together with the aggregates and volitional formations by full cutting off, and, by taking [Nibbāna] as its object, enters into Nibbāna. Thus it too is called both relinquishment as giving up and relinquishment as entering into. Both are called contemplation because they repeatedly contemplate in continuity with the preceding knowledges. It should be understood that a person endowed with these two kinds of contemplation of relinquishment, while breathing out and breathing in, trains, “Contemplating relinquishment, I shall breathe out; I shall breathe in.”

This fourth tetrad is stated solely by way of insight, whereas the preceding three [tetrads] are stated by way of serenity and insight. The cultivation of mindfulness of breathing in sixteen items should be understood in this way, according to the four tetrads.

When cultivated in this way according to the sixteen items, mindfulness of breathing has great fruit and great benefit. Its great benefit should be understood from its peacefulness and the rest, according to the statement, “Bhikkhus, when this concentration through mindfulness of breathing is cultivated and repeatedly practiced, it is indeed peaceful and excellent,” and so forth; it should also be understood from its ability to cut off applied thought. Because this concentration is peaceful, excellent, and an unadulterated abiding in ease, it cuts off the mind’s running here and there under the influence of obstructive thoughts and directs the mind solely toward the out-breath and in-breath as its object. Therefore it is said: “Mindfulness of breathing should be cultivated for the cutting off of applied thought.”

Its great benefit should also be understood from its being “the root of the fulfillment of true knowledge and liberation.” For the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhus, mindfulness of breathing, when cultivated and repeatedly practiced, fulfills the four foundations of mindfulness; the four foundations of mindfulness, when cultivated and repeatedly practiced, fulfill the seven factors of awakening; the seven factors of awakening, when cultivated and repeatedly practiced, fulfill true knowledge and liberation.”

Further, its great benefit should be understood from the fact that “it makes the final out-breaths and in-breaths known.” For the Blessed One said: “Rāhula, when mindfulness of breathing is cultivated and repeatedly practiced in this way, even those final out-breaths and in-breaths cease only when known, not when unknown.” Here there are three kinds of finality by cessation: final in an existence, final in jhāna, and final at death. Out-breaths and in-breaths occur in sensual existence but not in form or formless existence, so they are final in an existence. Among the jhānas, they occur in the first three jhānas but not in the fourth, so they are final in jhāna. Those that arise together with the sixteenth mind before death-consciousness and cease together with death-consciousness are called final at death. It is these final [breaths] that are intended here. It is said that, because a bhikkhu who pursues this meditation subject has thoroughly apprehended the out-breath and in-breath as the object, at the moment when the sixteenth mind before death-consciousness arises, their arising is clear if the bhikkhu adverts to arising; their presence is clear if the bhikkhu adverts to presence; and their dissolution is clear if the bhikkhu adverts to dissolution.

For a bhikkhu who attains arahantship after cultivating some other meditation subject, the span of life is sometimes delimited and sometimes not. For a bhikkhu who attains arahantship after cultivating mindfulness of breathing in sixteen items, however, the span of life is always delimited. Knowing “My life-formations will now proceed only this much, no further,” the bhikkhu, by the natural order of things, completes all duties such as attending to the body and putting on the lower and upper robes, then closes the eyes—like Tissa Thera resident at Koṭapabbata Monastery, Mahā-Tissa Thera resident at Mahākarañjiya Monastery, the alms-going Tissa Thera in the great realm of Devaputta, and the two brother elders resident at Cittalapabbata Monastery.

Here is a case-illustration. It is said that, on a full-moon uposatha day, one of the two brother elders completed the recitation of the Pātimokkha and, surrounded by the community of bhikkhus, returned to his own lodging. Standing on the walking path, he looked at the moonlight, examined his own life-formations, and asked the community of bhikkhus: “How have you seen bhikkhus attain parinibbāna?” Some said, “We have seen bhikkhus attain parinibbāna while sitting on their seats.” Others said, “We [have seen them] sitting cross-legged in the air [and attaining parinibbāna].” The elder said: “I will now show you parinibbāna while walking.” He drew a line on the walking path and said: “I shall walk from this end of the path to the other end, turn back, and attain parinibbāna the instant I reach this line.” Having spoken, he stepped onto the walking path, went to the far end, turned back, and attained parinibbāna at the very moment one foot stepped on the line.

Therefore the wise should indeed remain heedful, continually pursuing mindfulness of breathing with its many benefits.

This is the detailed exposition of mindfulness of breathing.²⁵

Notes

¹ Concentration (samādhi): the mind’s even maintenance upon a single object without distraction; “concentration through mindfulness of breathing” is concentration associated with the mindfulness that apprehends the out-breath and in-breath.

² Sixteen items (solasavatthuka): the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing, arranged as four tetrads of four steps each.

³ At the end of this passage, the base text prints a form without the initial a-, contradicting the passage’s own preceding explanation; other texts read asecanako. This edition follows the contextual a- form without altering the base text.

⁴ Access (upacāra-samādhi, access concentration): the level of concentration at which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered; “preliminary work” refers to the preparatory attention that precedes it.

⁵ Absorption (appanā-samādhi, absorption concentration): concentration in which the mind is fully immersed in its object and unmoving.

⁶ The Ancients (Porāṇā): teachers of earlier generations whose teachings the author inherits; their verses are not the author’s own compositions.

⁷ The four noble paths of stream-entry, once-return, non-return, and arahantship are explained in Chapter 22; this section only names them.

⁸ Boundary post (indakhīla): a marker erected at a village boundary; the term can also be read “Indra’s pillar” or “threshold,” but here it is rendered literally.

⁹ The Dīgha-, Saṃyutta-, and Majjhima-reciters: lineages devoted to preserving the recitation of the respective Nikāyas; the treatise records their positions without deciding among them.

¹⁰ Beginning clansman (ādikammika kulaputta): a person of good family just beginning the practice.

¹¹ Minor obstacle (khuddaka-palibodha): such small impediments as overgrown hair and nails or robes and bowl needing attention; the ten obstacles are listed in Chapter 3, “Receiving a Meditation Subject.”

¹² The two occurrences of “tip of the nose” in this sentence are both printed as “tip of the navel” in the base text, contrary to the wording of the same section and to the context; other texts likewise read “tip of the nose.” This edition follows “tip of the nose” without altering the base text.

¹³ Commentaries (Aṭṭhakathā): the ancient commentarial works inherited by the author; the account cited here is theirs, not the author’s own.

¹⁴ Leather sitting-cloth (cammakhaṇḍa): a leather seat used by monastics.

¹⁵ The fourth jhāna, form and formless existence, and the attainment of cessation are explained respectively in Chapters 4, 10, and 23, not in this chapter.

¹⁶ “Weighty” (garuka) and “slight” (ittara): the two terms are contrasted; the former describes the weightiness of the practice, the latter what is shallow and slight.

¹⁷ The treatise gives fourteen similes here for the sign’s various appearances.

¹⁸ The tenfold absorption-skill, the balancing of energy, and the sequence in which the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold systems arise are all explained in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa”; this section only refers back to them.

¹⁹ “The jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold systems”: the four jhānas of the fourfold system and the five jhānas of the fivefold system are named together.

²⁰ Kamma-born body (karaja-kāya): the material body produced by kamma.

²¹ The detailed analysis of mentality-materiality is given in Chapter 18; the treatise itself marks it as “to be explained later.”

²² Comprehension by groups and the ten corruptions of insight are explained in Chapter 20.

²³ Knowledge of the course (paṭipadāñāṇa): knowledge of the course of practice freed from the corruptions; the complete name used in a later chapter is not introduced here.

²⁴ The development from contemplation of dissolution through the nineteenfold reviewing knowledge is explained in Chapters 21 and 22.

²⁵ Detailed exposition (vitthārakathāmukha): the fixed closing formula at the end of a detailed section; “detailed,” “exposition,” and the close-formula respectively render vitthāra, kathā, and mukha.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine), made from the public-domain PTS text.

§4 Upasamānussati, Recollection of Peace 〔Vism VIII·pp.293–294〕

Fourth: Recollection of Peace

A practitioner who wishes to cultivate recollection of peace, listed immediately after mindfulness of breathing, should go into seclusion and withdraw alone, recollecting in this way the qualities of Nibbāna, reckoned as the stilling of all suffering: “Bhikkhus, among all states, whether conditioned or unconditioned, fading-away is declared the foremost; that is, the crushing of vanity, the removal of thirst, the uprooting of attachment,¹ the cutting-off of the round, the destruction of craving, fading-away, cessation, Nibbāna.”

Here, “among all” (yāvatā) means “however many there are.” “States” (dhammā) means individual natures. “Whether conditioned or unconditioned” means made by the coming together and concurrence of conditions, or not made. “Fading-away is declared the foremost of those states” means that, among those conditioned and unconditioned states, fading-away is declared foremost—said to be the best and highest.

Here, “fading-away” is not merely the absence of greed. Rather, as stated in “that is, the crushing of vanity . . . pe . . . Nibbāna,” the unconditioned state that receives the names beginning with “the crushing of vanity” should be recognized as “fading-away.” Because through recourse to it all forms of intoxication, such as the intoxication of pride and the intoxication of manhood, are crushed, become devoid of intoxication, and vanish, it is called “the crushing of vanity.” Because through recourse to it every thirst for sensual pleasure proceeds to removal and disappearance, it is called “the removal of thirst.” Because through recourse to it attachments to the five strands of sensual pleasure are uprooted, it is called “the uprooting of attachment.” Because through recourse to it the round of the three planes is cut off, it is called “the cutting-off of the round.” Because through recourse to it craving goes entirely to destruction, fades away, and ceases, it is called “the destruction of craving, fading-away, cessation.” And because craving received the designation “weaving” (vāna) by weaving, binding, and sewing beings into repeated becoming among the four wombs, five destinies, seven stations of consciousness, and nine abodes of beings, while Nibbāna has gone forth from, escaped, and become disjoined from that craving, it is called “Nibbāna” (nibbāna, that is, “the un-weaving”). In this way, peace reckoned as Nibbāna should be recollected through its qualities beginning with “the crushing of vanity.”

Alternatively, in discourses where the Blessed One said, “Bhikkhus, I shall teach you the unconditioned . . . [I shall teach] the truth, the far shore, the very-hard-to-see, the unaging, the stable, the undiffused, the deathless, the auspicious, the secure, the wonderful, the unailing, the unafflicted, purity, the island, the shelter, and the refuge—bhikkhus, I shall teach you [these],” and so forth, other qualities of peace were also stated; peace should likewise be recollected through them.

When the practitioner thus recollects peace through its qualities beginning with “the crushing of vanity,” “at that time the mind is not obsessed by greed, not by aversion . . . not obsessed by delusion; at that time the mind is upright with reference to peace.” As in the method stated under recollection of the Buddha and the rest,² the jhāna factors arise in a single moment when the hindrances are suppressed. Yet because the qualities of peace are profound, or because the practitioner is resolved upon recollecting qualities of many kinds, the jhāna does not reach absorption and reaches only access.³ Since this [jhāna] arises through recollecting the qualities of peace, it is called recollection of peace.

Further, like the six recollections, this [recollection of peace] succeeds only for a noble disciple (ariyasāvaka). Even so, an ordinary person (puthujjana) who esteems peace should also attend to it, for the mind becomes serene in peace even by mere hearing. A bhikkhu devoted to recollection of peace sleeps happily, wakes happily, has peaceful faculties and a peaceful mind, is endowed with conscience and moral shame, inspires confidence, is resolved upon the sublime, and is respected and esteemed by companions in the holy life. Even without penetrating anything higher, the bhikkhu is bound for a happy destination.

Therefore the discerning should cultivate heedfully, mindfulness of noble peace, so rich in benefits.

This is the detailed exposition of recollection of peace.

Thus, in the Path of Purity, composed for the gladness of good people, in the Division on the Cultivation of Concentration, the eighth chapter is called the “Discussion of the Recollection Meditation-Subjects.”

Notes

¹ Attachment (ālaya): an abode of clinging or attachment; here it means attachment to the five strands of sensual pleasure. This edition translates the word’s primary sense and does not use a transliterated form.

² The six recollections beginning with recollection of the Buddha are expounded in Chapter 7; this section only refers back to the formula for suppressing the hindrances and the statement that they “succeed only for noble disciples,” without expounding them again.

³ Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi): the level of concentration at which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered; in absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi), the mind is fully immersed in its object and does not move.