清淨道論 義疏通講 · 冊10Visuddhimagga · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 10

Even the Kasiṇa Sign Must Be Released: Neither Rolled nor Pulled Away, Simply No Longer Looked At—the Space Left by Removing the Kasiṇa Appears, and Concentration Passes Beyond the Domain of Form

The Big Picture — The Door to the Immaterial

When all four form-sphere jhānas have been cultivated, their object is still form: the sign of a kasiṇa. This chapter opens the four immaterial attainments, and this unit takes the first station, the base of infinite space. Its entire work is compressed into a single act: removing the kasiṇa. The kasiṇa is not rolled up or pulled away; one simply ceases to turn toward it, attend to it, or review it, attending only to the space touched by it as “space, space” (Vernacular §2). The commentator then unpacks, phrase by phrase, the fixed formula: “With the complete surmounting of perceptions of form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and with non-attention to perceptions of diversity, thinking ‘space is infinite,’ one enters and dwells in the base of infinite space.” Each of the three phrases governs a distinct field of abandonment (§§3–5), and the unit closes by explaining the name (§6). Begin with the two similes in §1: someone afraid of snakes cannot bear even to look at a patterned leaf. Form is abandoned so thoroughly that even what resembles form must be left behind. 〔What Is Seen〕

§01 Why Form Is Abandoned—Two Similes and Their Correspondence → Vernacular §1

Following the canonical statement that taking up sticks and weapons, quarrels, fights, and disputes occur because of form but are wholly absent in the immaterial, and seeing the danger in material form produced by kamma through the thousand afflictions, the meditator wishes to surmount it and arouses the fourth jhāna in any of the nine kasiṇas other than the limited-space kasiṇa. Although that fourth jhāna has already carried the meditator beyond material form produced by kamma, the form of the kasiṇa resembles that material form, and so it too must be surmounted. The first simile is of someone who has fled a snake but is terrified by a patterned palmyra leaf, creeper, rope, or fissure in the earth. The second is of someone who moves away from a hostile neighbor but is terrified by a person in the new village whose appearance, voice, and conduct resemble the enemy’s. The correspondence is exact: harassment by snake or enemy corresponds to association with material form produced by kamma; flight or relocation corresponds to surmounting that form through the fourth jhāna; and recoiling from the look-alike corresponds to observing that “the form of the kasiṇa merely resembles that” and wishing to surmount it too (Vernacular §1). 〔Reading〕 The force of both similes rests on “resemblance.” The kasiṇa sign is a purified object fashioned through the meditator’s own work, yet it must now be left because it still “resembles form.” The threshold of the immaterial is not the gross evil of form but the very trace of form.

§02 Removing the Kasiṇa and Taking Space—Preparatory Work and Absorption → Vernacular §2

Having gained mastery in five ways, the meditator emerges from the fourth form-sphere jhāna and sees its dangers: its object is the form with which one has become disenchanted; it is close to joy, its adversary; and it is gross compared with the peaceful liberations. Its factors, however, are not gross, since both the fourth form-sphere jhāna and the immaterial attainments have two factors. Having exhausted longing for it, one attends to the base of infinite space as peaceful, extends the kasiṇa to the world’s boundary or as far as desired, and removes the kasiṇa by attending to the space it touched as “space, space.” It is neither rolled like a mat nor lifted like a cake from a pot. One simply does not turn toward it, attend to it, or review it. Space left by removing the kasiṇa, space touched by the kasiṇa, and space free from the kasiṇa are all one. Repeatedly turning toward this sign and striking it with thought and applied thought suppresses the hindrances, establishes mindfulness, and concentrates the mind by access. Repeated cultivation brings the consciousness of the base of infinite space into absorption upon space: three or four preliminary impulsions belong to the sense sphere and are associated with equanimity; the fourth or fifth belongs to the immaterial sphere, with the rest as under the earth kasiṇa. One final simile marks the difference. A person watches an old blue, yellow, red, or white cloth tied over a carriage bag or jar; when the wind suddenly takes the cloth away, only space remains in view. Likewise, after the kasiṇa disk has been watched with the eye of jhāna, the preparatory attention “space, space” suddenly removes the sign, and one dwells looking only at space (Vernacular §2). 〔Reading〕 “Neither rolling nor pulling” is the contemplative heart of the unit. The kasiṇa is not carried away; it withdraws when it is no longer fed. Advancement in concentration does not expel the old object but redirects attention. The image of the cloth vanishing and space appearing captures the suddenness precisely.

§03 Surmounting Perceptions of Form → Vernacular §3

“Perceptions of form” has two meanings: the form-sphere jhānas spoken of with perception as the heading—fifteen when divided into wholesome, resultant, and functional—and their nine objects, the earth kasiṇa and the rest. “Surmounting” means through dispassion and cessation. The Vibhaṅga speaks only of surmounting perceptions, not the object, because without dispassion toward the object perception cannot be surmounted, while once perceptions are surmounted the object is surmounted as well. Yet these attainments are reached by surmounting their object, unlike the first jhāna and the others, which deepen upon the same object; hence the explanation also proceeds in terms of surmounting the object (Vernacular §3). 〔Reading〕 This section answers a fine-grained question: is it “perception” or the “object” that is surmounted? They are two faces of the same event. But the commentator identifies the distinctive structure of the immaterial attainments: the four form-sphere jhānas deepen upon one object, whereas the four immaterial attainments advance by replacing the object.

§04 The Disappearance of Perceptions of Resistance → Vernacular §4

Perceptions of resistance are perceptions produced when the eye and other physical bases strike visible form and the other objects: perceptions of visible form, sound, odor, flavor, and touch—five wholesome resultants and five unwholesome resultants, ten in all. They are already absent in one who has entered the first jhāna, since consciousness then does not occur through the five doors. Why mention them again here? As pleasure and pain, abandoned elsewhere, are mentioned with the fourth jhāna, and identity view with the third path, they are stated to inspire effort and praise this attainment. Alternatively, development in the form sphere does not lead to dispassion toward form, whereas this development does; therefore they may properly—and categorically—be said to be abandoned here. The Blessed One accordingly calls sound a “thorn” to the first jhāna, but calls the immaterial attainments unwavering and peaceful liberations. Āḷāra Kālāma, while in an immaterial attainment, neither saw nor heard five hundred carts passing nearby (Vernacular §4). 〔Reading〕 The five hundred carts are a measured instance of the immaterial attainment’s “unwavering” character. Read against “sound is a thorn to the first jhāna,” it shows two degrees of collectedness: form-sphere concentration suppresses the five doors without leaving their root behind; the immaterial attainment departs from that root as well.

§05 Non-attention to Perceptions of Diversity and the Summary of the Three Phrases → Vernacular §5

Perceptions of diversity belong to one who is not in attainment, are associated with the mind element or mind-consciousness element, and occur toward such diverse objects as visible form and sound. Eight wholesome sense-sphere perceptions, twelve unwholesome, eleven wholesome resultants, two unwholesome resultants, and eleven functional perceptions make forty-four, diverse in nature and mutually unlike. “Non-attention” means not turning toward them, not bringing the mind together with them, and not reviewing them. The three phrases divide the work: perceptions of form and perceptions of resistance do not exist even in an existence produced by this jhāna, so they are said to be “surmounted” and to “disappear,” expressions of their absence. But twenty-seven perceptions of diversity—eight wholesome, nine functional, and ten unwholesome—still exist in such an existence, so they receive “non-attention.” Attend to them, and one is no longer in attainment. In brief, the first phrase abandons all form-sphere phenomena; the latter two abandon and withhold attention from all sense-sphere consciousness and mental factors (Vernacular §5). 〔Reading〕 The three phrases seal three inventories: “no longer present” for form-sphere phenomena, “disappeared” for the perceptions of the five doors, and “still present but not looked at” for miscellaneous sense-sphere perceptions. The last is closest to practice. A person in attainment has not destroyed the seeds of diverse perception; one simply does not attend to them. Once attention turns to them, the attainment yields.

§06 Infinite Space and the Name “Base of Infinite Space” → Vernacular §6

“Infinite” means that the boundary of its arising and the boundary of its cessation cannot be discerned; its infinitude is also known through attention, which places and establishes the mind in space and pervades it as infinite. “Space” is the space left by removing the kasiṇa. The “base of infinite space” is the infinity of space serving as the place in which that jhāna dwells, just as the deva realm is the dwelling place of devas. “Entering and dwelling” means that, after accomplishing it, one dwells in a bodily posture suited to it (Vernacular §6). 〔Reading〕 The explanation of the name closes on the word “base.” Infinite space is not a location; it is the dwelling place of this concentration. The word carries the same sense as “base” among the twelve bases in chapter 15: the ground on which phenomena dwell and arise. 〔What Is Seen〕

For the General Reader

This unit teaches the most counterintuitive step in cultivation: letting go of the good thing one has made. The kasiṇa sign became pure only through great effort, yet here it must be left because it still “resembles form.” The method is one sentence: do not roll it, do not pull it away, and no longer look at it. Attend to the space touched by the kasiṇa as “space, space”; the cloth is blown away, and space appears by itself. Remember the three formulas this way: form-sphere phenomena have been “surmounted”; perceptions of the five doors have “disappeared”; miscellaneous sense-sphere perceptions receive “non-attention.” They are not destroyed; they are not fed. The base of infinite consciousness follows: even this “space” must be released, and the consciousness that formerly pervaded it becomes the object of the next unit.

To read this unit in full: Vernacular §§1–6 gives the complete paragraph-by-paragraph rendering of the two similes for abandoning form and their correspondence, the method of removing the kasiṇa and entering absorption, the phrase-by-phrase explanation of perceptions of form, resistance, and diversity, the example of the five hundred carts, and the explanation of the name.

Turn Back to the Consciousness That Once Pervaded Space: The Object Changes from “Space” to “Consciousness Taking Space”—and One No Longer Attends to “Infinite,” Only to “Consciousness, Consciousness”

The Big Picture — The Second Station: Consciousness Replaces Space

Once the base of infinite space has been attained, the movement of the second station is to turn back. One no longer looks at space, but takes the consciousness that once occurred while pervading it: the mind of the preceding attainment becomes the object of this one. The unit is brief and exact. Section 1 gives the practice—see danger, exhaust longing, and turn toward “consciousness, consciousness.” Section 2 explains the formula. Its two meanings of “base”—a dwelling place like the devas’ realm and a place of origin like Kamboja as a source of horses—together with one grammatical decision, interpreting the instrumental “by consciousness” in an accusative sense, establish the model for explaining names throughout the chapter. 〔What Is Seen〕

§01 Seeing Danger and Taking the Consciousness That Pervaded Space → Vernacular §1

The meditator gains mastery in five ways over the attainment of the base of infinite space and sees its dangers: it is close to the form-sphere jhāna, its adversary, and is not as peaceful as the base of infinite consciousness. Having exhausted longing and attended to the base of infinite consciousness as peaceful, one repeatedly turns toward the consciousness that occurred while pervading space as “consciousness, consciousness,” attends to and reviews it, and strikes it with thought and applied thought—but should not attend to it as “infinite, infinite.” The hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness becomes established, and the mind becomes concentrated by access. Repeated cultivation brings the consciousness of the base of infinite consciousness into absorption upon the consciousness pervaded by space, just as the consciousness of the base of infinite space entered absorption upon space (Vernacular §1). 〔Reading〕 “Do not attend to ‘infinite, infinite’” is the operational hinge. Infinity is a quality of this consciousness, not its name. The preparatory phrase takes “consciousness,” not “infinite,” so the mind lands on the object itself. The four immaterial attainments follow this rhythm throughout: the simpler the phrase, the purer the object.

§02 The Meaning of Surmounting and the Name “Base of Infinite Consciousness” → Vernacular §2

“Having surmounted the base of infinite space”: both the jhāna and its object are called the base of infinite space. The infinity of space is a base in the sense of a dwelling place, like the devas’ realm, and in the sense of a place of origin, like Kamboja as a source of horses. Both jhāna and object are surmounted—the former made not to occur, the latter not attended to—and are brought together under one phrase. “Infinite consciousness” means attending to the consciousness that had occurred while pervading infinite space, or consciousness made infinite through exhaustive attention. In the Vibhaṅga phrase “space pervaded by consciousness,” the word “by consciousness” is instrumental, but the teachers of the commentary explain it in the accusative sense: one attends to the consciousness that pervaded that same space. The name “base of infinite consciousness” uses a contracted rather than a full grammatical form, a conventional expression; its sense of “base” is as before (Vernacular §2). 〔Reading〕 The two senses of “base”—dwelling place and place of origin—become the chapter’s model here and are repeated at the next two stations. The decision to read an instrumental as accusative and the note on conventional form show how finely the commentator works when a name is unclear: grammar is exposed rather than blurred.

For the General Reader

The second station can be stated in one sentence: turn back and look at the mind that looked at space. The consciousness that pervaded space in the previous attainment now becomes the object, and the practice phrase changes accordingly to “consciousness, consciousness.” Notice that it does not say “infinite.” This is the common measure of the four immaterial attainments: each uses the preceding one as a stepping-stone, sees its danger, exhausts longing for it, and takes something subtler. The base of nothingness follows by attending even to the “absence” of this consciousness.

To read this unit in full: Vernacular §§1–2 gives the complete paragraph-by-paragraph rendering of the development of the base of infinite consciousness—danger, longing, and its preparatory phrase—and the phrase-by-phrase explanation of its formula, including the two meanings of “base,” the instrumental-accusative decision, and the conventional expression.

See Consciousness as “Not There”: The Community Disperses, One Returns to the Door and Sees Only Emptiness—not Even a Portion of Dissolution Remains

The Big Picture — The Third Station: Absence Replaces Consciousness

The third station goes one step further. Its object is neither space nor consciousness, but the non-presence of the preceding attainment’s consciousness—its absence, emptiness, and aspect of seclusion. One simile sets the tone. A community has gathered and then dispersed; when a man returns and stands at the door, he sees only that the hall is empty, without wondering where everyone went (Vernacular §1). Section 2 drives the meaning of “nothingness” to its limit: not even a mere portion of dissolution remains. 〔What Is Seen〕

§01 Attention to Absence and the Simile of the Dispersed Gathering → Vernacular §1

Having mastered the base of infinite consciousness in five ways, the meditator sees its dangers—it is close to the base of infinite space, its adversary, and is not as peaceful as the base of nothingness—exhausts longing, and attends to the base of nothingness as peaceful. Without attending to that consciousness, one repeatedly turns toward “there is not, there is not,” “empty, empty,” or “secluded, secluded,” striking it with thought and applied thought. The hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness becomes established, and the mind becomes concentrated by access. Through repeated cultivation, the consciousness of the base of nothingness enters absorption upon the emptiness, seclusion, and absence of that same exalted consciousness that had pervaded space. Here is the distinctive simile. A man sees the community gathered in a circular hall and goes elsewhere. After the business ends and the community disperses, he returns and stands at the door: he sees only emptiness and seclusion. He does not think, “So many bhikkhus have died or gone in different directions.” He sees only absence: “This is empty; this is secluded.” Likewise, after dwelling while seeing the consciousness upon space through the eye of the jhāna of infinite consciousness, when that consciousness disappears through the preparatory phrase “there is not, there is not,” one sees only the absence called its departure (Vernacular §1). 〔Reading〕 The cutting edge of the simile is “he does not wonder where they went.” Ask where, and the mind runs after consciousness. See only “now absent here,” and the mind rests upon absence. The object of the base of nothingness is a clean absence. Nothing is destroyed; nothing is pursued.

§02 The Meaning of Nothingness and Its Name → Vernacular §2

“Having surmounted the base of infinite consciousness” follows the preceding pattern: the jhāna and its object—the infinity of consciousness as a base in both the dwelling-place and place-of-origin senses—are brought together and surmounted. “There is nothing” means attending to “there is not,” “empty,” or “secluded.” The Vibhaṅga says one “makes that same consciousness be absent, makes it disappear, and causes it to vanish.” This sounds like contemplation based on exhaustion, but its actual meaning is otherwise: one simply does not turn toward, attend to, or review that consciousness, and attends instead to its absence, emptiness, and seclusion. This is why it is said to be made absent, disappear, and vanish; there is no other meaning. “One who possesses nothing” has no possession whatsoever, not even a mere portion of dissolution remaining. Nothingness is the designation for the departure of the consciousness of the base of infinite space and is a base in the dwelling-place sense (Vernacular §2). 〔Reading〕 The commentator deliberately blocks a misreading. “Making consciousness absent” does not destroy consciousness—which would turn the practice into annihilation—but ignores it completely. “Not even a portion of dissolution remains” marks the boundary between this concentration and insight. Insight contemplates dissolution directly, as in the contemplation of dissolution in chapter 21; this attainment does not even look at dissolution, but remains with a clean absence. 〔What Is Seen〕

For the General Reader

The third station is especially easy to misstate, and the commentator’s simile guards its measure. The community disperses; you return and see the empty hall, without asking where they went. The base of nothingness does not extinguish the mind. It leaves “consciousness was here” entirely unattended and remains with that clean absence. Its distinction from insight is equally sharp: insight watches dissolution, whereas this attainment leaves even dissolution out of view. The fourth station follows by refining perception itself until it seems both present and absent.

To read this unit in full: Vernacular §§1–2 gives the complete paragraph-by-paragraph rendering of the development of the base of nothingness and its three preparatory phrases, the simile of the dispersed gathering, the correct reading of the Vibhaṅga phrase, and the explanation of the name.

Perception Refined Beyond Further Refinement: Oil in a Bowl, Water on the Road—Both “There Is” and “There Is Not” Are True; Praise Its Peace without Wishing to Enter, as a King Praises an Artisan’s Skill without Becoming an Artisan

The Big Picture — The Fourth Station: Perception at the Threshold

The fourth station no longer changes the “content” of the object. Instead, it refines perception itself to a threshold: gross perception is gone, while subtle perception remains—neither percipient nor non-percipient. The unit has three sections: two ways of seeing danger and the method of development (§1), the difficulty of “praising without entering” and the king’s simile (§2), and the word explanation with two accounts of novices (§3). Here the commentator offers the chapter’s finest cluster of similes—the king and artisan, oil smeared on a bowl, and water on the road—to make an almost inexpressible attainment intelligible. 〔What Is Seen〕

§01 Two Ways of Seeing Danger and Attention to Peacefulness → Vernacular §1

Having mastered the base of nothingness in five ways, the meditator sees its danger in either of two forms: it is close to the base of infinite consciousness, its adversary, and not as peaceful as the base of neither perception nor non-perception; or, in the canonical words, “Perception is a disease, perception is a boil, perception is a dart; this is peaceful, this is sublime—namely, neither perception nor non-perception.” Having exhausted longing and attended to the base of neither perception nor non-perception as peaceful, one repeatedly turns toward the attainment of nothingness that took absence as its object as “peaceful, peaceful.” The hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness becomes established, and the mind becomes concentrated by access. Through repeated cultivation, the consciousness of the base of neither perception nor non-perception enters absorption upon the four aggregates called the attainment of the base of nothingness (Vernacular §1). 〔Reading〕 Notice where the object lands. The fourth station does not take “nothing”; it takes the concentrated mind of the preceding station itself, the four aggregates of the attainment of nothingness. This is structurally parallel to the second station taking “consciousness whose object was space,” completing a chain in which each station is a stepping-stone for the next. “Perception is a disease, boil, and dart” also signals that there is no further concentration above this one: perception itself has become the final thing to be treated.

§02 The Meaning of Surmounting and the King’s Simile → Vernacular §2

Surmounting follows the same pattern, bringing jhāna and object together. The Vibhaṅga says one “attends to that same base of nothingness as peaceful and develops the attainment with formations as residue.” A difficulty arises: if it is attended to as peaceful, how can it be surmounted? The answer is because one does not wish to enter it. Although praising its peace, one has no inclination, bringing together of the mind, or attention of the form “I shall turn toward it, enter it, remain in it, emerge, and review,” because the base of neither perception nor non-perception is more peaceful and sublime. In the king’s simile, a king riding an elephant along the street sees ivory workers, clothed tightly, their heads wrapped and their bodies covered in ivory dust as they make delicate objects. He praises them: “These masters are truly skilled”—but does not think, “If only I might abandon the kingship and become an artisan.” The glory of kingship has great benefit, and he passes them by. In the same way one reaches perception that is supremely subtle and has entered absorption, becoming “neither percipient nor non-percipient”; the concentration is called “the attainment with formations as residue,” the fourth immaterial attainment in which formations have reached supreme subtlety (Vernacular §2). 〔Reading〕 The king’s simile unknots a fine point in the psychology of practice: appreciation is not aspiration. The first three stations are left by seeing danger; the object of the fourth transition is so peaceful that no danger can readily be found. The commentator changes the mechanism: praise it, but do not wish to become it. Only when praise and movement toward are separated can one pass beyond.

§03 Explanation of “Neither Perception nor Non-perception” and Two Accounts of Novices → Vernacular §3

The expression has two explanations. Gross perception is absent while a subtle perception exists; therefore it is neither percipient nor non-percipient. Or this perception is “not perception” because it cannot perform the function of acute perception, yet is “not non-perception” because it remains as the subtle residue of formations. Nor does this apply only to perception: feeling is neither feeling nor non-feeling, consciousness neither consciousness nor non-consciousness, contact neither contact nor non-contact. The teaching uses perception as the heading. Two novice stories explain it. Oil on a bowl: “There is oil in the bowl,” because it would make gruel improper, yet “there is no oil,” because there is not enough to fill a tube. Water on the road: “There is water,” because it can wet the sandals, yet “there is none,” because it is insufficient for bathing. What is the function of perception? To recognize the object and to become a field for insight that generates disenchantment. This perception cannot acutely perform the recognizing, like the fire element in warm water that cannot burn acutely; nor can it, like perception in the other attainments, become a field for insight and give rise to disenchantment. Therefore no bhikkhu who has not established an approach to the other aggregates can contemplate these aggregates and reach disenchantment—apart from Sāriputta. A habitual insight practitioner of comparable great wisdom could do so, but only by contemplating groups—“these phenomena arise after not having been and disappear after having been”—not by insight into each phenomenon successively. Such is the attainment’s subtlety (Vernacular §3). 〔Reading〕 The oil and water are a textbook in the relativity of “present” and “absent.” The same thing is present for one use and absent for another. Perception is likewise present because it remains, absent because it cannot function. The final paragraph is the chapter’s most solemn point: this attainment is so subtle that insight can scarcely take hold of it, and only wisdom like Sāriputta’s can contemplate it by groups. This also explains why the summit of mundane concentration is not an exit. Where phenomena become too subtle to contemplate, wisdom finds no purchase. 〔What Is Seen〕

For the General Reader

Carry away three similes from the fourth station. The king and the artisan show that appreciation is not aspiration: only by praising the peace of the preceding station without entering it can one pass beyond. Oil in the bowl and water on the road show how both “there is” and “there is not” may be true: perception has become so subtle that neither “perception” nor “non-perception” fits. Remember the commentator’s warning too. This is the summit of mundane concentration, not liberation. When the object is too subtle even for insight to grasp, wisdom has no leverage. The exit lies not in a still subtler concentration, but in turning to insight, beginning with chapter 14. The next unit summarizes the four immaterial attainments and the attainments as a whole.

To read this unit in full: Vernacular §§1–3 gives the complete paragraph-by-paragraph rendering of the two ways of seeing danger and the development, the difficulty of praising without entering and the king’s simile, both word explanations, the oil and water similes, the function of perception, and the example of Sāriputta.

The Four Immaterial Attainments Have the Same Factors but Different Objects: Transcendence of the Object, Not Transcendence of Factors; Stories, Four Cloths, Four People Clinging to a Shed, People Depending on a King, and Ladder-Mountain-Knee—Five Groups of Similes Complete the Chapter

The Big Picture — An Overview of the Four Stations

Having traversed the four stations one by one, this unit places them in a row and views them together: all four attainments come to be through transcendence of the object, while their factors are not transcended (all have only the two factors of equanimity and one-pointedness of mind, §1); although their factors are the same, each successive attainment is more sublime (the two similes of the stories and the four cloths, §2); one simile lays out the relations of dependence among all four (the four people clinging to a shed, §3); the helplessness of the fourth attainment in “still taking it as object despite seeing its danger” (the simile of people depending on a king, §4); and finally the three similes of ladder, mountain, and knee, followed by the chapter-ending colophon (§5). This unit consists almost entirely of similes: Buddhaghosa hands over the most abstract structural relations among the four immaterial attainments entirely to images. 〔What Is Seen〕

§01 Opening Verses and Transcendence of the Object—Not Transcendence of Factors → Vernacular §1

The opening verse establishes the Miscellany Discussion. The four attainments differ in object: the first through transcending the sign of form, the second through transcending space, the third through transcending the consciousness that had occurred upon space, and the fourth through transcending the departure of that consciousness—all come to be through transcendence of the object. Their factors, however, are not transcended. Unlike the form-sphere attainments, whose factors progressively drop away, all four immaterial attainments have only the two factors of equanimity and one-pointedness of mind (Vernacular §1). 〔Reading〕 This section gives a precise structural judgment on the four immaterial attainments. The four form-sphere jhānas are an engineering of factors (applied thought, sustained thought, rapture, and pleasure fall away stage by stage); the four immaterial attainments are an engineering of objects (space → consciousness → nothingness → the mind of the preceding attainment, progressively refined). The factors were already reduced to their minimum at the fourth form-sphere jhāna; only the object continues upward.

§02 Each Successive Attainment Is More Sublime—The Similes of the Stories and the Cloths → Vernacular §2

If the factors are the same, how can there be superior and inferior attainments? Two similes answer. In a four-storied mansion there is no difference in respect of being a story, yet through the abundance of the five cords of sensual pleasure the upper stories are more sublime. Four cloths made from coarse and fine threads spun by one woman have the same length and breadth, yet each successive cloth is more sublime by reason of pleasant touch, fineness, and high value. So too, although the four attainments have only two factors, through distinction in development their factors become progressively more sublime (Vernacular §2). 〔Reading〕 Each simile supplies one side. The mansion says “the same structure with differing abundance.” The four cloths are finer still—the same measure, but different thread: cloth of the same length and breadth is more costly when woven from finer thread. The difference among the four attainments lies not in their skeleton, but in the fineness of the thread.

§03 The Simile of Four People at a Shed in a Foul Place → Vernacular §3

Four people stand at a foul place: one is disgusted with the foulness and clings to the shed, hanging there; one depends upon the person clinging to the shed; one reflects that the first two are insecure (if the shed collapses, they must fall) and stands outside; one judges the person outside to be well placed and depends upon the person outside. The correspondences are: shed = the space left by removing the kasiṇa; the person clinging to it = the base of infinite space, which takes space as object; the person depending upon him = the base of infinite consciousness, which occurs with reference to the former; the person outside = the base of nothingness, which does not take the base of infinite space as object but takes its absence as object; and the person depending upon the one outside = the base of neither perception nor non-perception, which occurs with reference to the base of nothingness (Vernacular §3). 〔Reading〕 This is the finest structural diagram in the whole chapter. The four attainments form two dependent pairs—the first and second depend upon one another (consciousness takes space), and the third and fourth depend upon one another (the fourth takes the third). The third station’s “standing outside” is precisely the portrait of its taking absence as object. Who depends upon whom and who does not depend upon whom are all conveyed by one picture.

§04 Taking It as Object Despite Seeing Its Danger—The Simile of People Depending on a King → Vernacular §4

The fourth attainment has already seen the danger in the third (it is close to the base of infinite consciousness, its adversary), yet because there is no other object it still makes that attainment its object—as people who have seen the faults of a coarse and violent king still depend upon him for a livelihood because they can find none elsewhere (Vernacular §4). 〔Reading〕 This is the ceiling declaration of the chain of four immaterial attainments: there is no still subtler object above to which one can shift. The fourth attainment takes the third not because the third is good, but because there is no other. Here the path of concentration acknowledges that it has reached its end. The next step is not within concentration.

§05 The Three Similes of Ladder, Mountain, and Knee, and the Chapter Ending → Vernacular §5

Three similes close the discussion: as one who climbs a long ladder leans upon its rail, one who reaches a mountain peak leans upon its summit, and one who climbs a mountain leans upon one’s own knee, so the fourth attainment occurs leaning upon that jhāna. The chapter-ending colophon reads: in the Visuddhimagga, composed to gladden good people, in the chapter on the development of concentration, the exposition named “The Immaterial,” the tenth chapter is complete (Vernacular §5). 〔Reading〕 The three similes of ladder, mountain, and knee have the same meaning as the simile of people depending on a king, but a different feeling. Leaning is not attachment; it is necessary in order to stand there. Only one chapter now remains in the concentration division (perception of repulsiveness in food, defining of the four elements, and the benefits of concentration); this chapter’s final section already turns the reader’s face toward wisdom. At the point where the object cannot be refined any further, insight becomes the way forward. 〔What Is Seen〕

For the General Reader

This unit is a one-page diagram of the four immaterial attainments, written entirely in similes. Carry away three pictures: the four cloths (the same length and breadth but different thread—the four attainments have the same factors but different fineness), the four people at the shed (who depends upon whom is clear at a glance—the third station stands outside and takes absence as its object), and people depending on a king (the fourth attainment takes the third only because there is no other—the path of concentration has reached its end). After reading, one may ask: the object has been abstracted from form to space, consciousness, nothingness, and finally the mind of the preceding attainment—can it be abstracted any further? The Commentator’s answer is already in the picture: no. The way out is to turn toward insight. The concentration division concludes in the next chapter.

To read this unit in full: Vernacular §§1–5 gives the complete paragraph-by-paragraph rendering of the opening verses, the judgment that the object is transcended while the factors are not, the two similes of the stories and the four cloths, the account and correspondences of the four people at the shed, the simile of people depending upon a king, the three similes of ladder, mountain, and knee, and the chapter-ending colophon.