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and because, with mindfulness established, he is mindful, just as joy does not arise, and because he experiences with the body that noble, undefiled happiness that is cultivated by noble ones, therefore he is worthy of praise; thus, knowing that he is worthy of praise, the noble ones, revealing the qualities that are the cause of praise, praise him thus, saying, "He dwells with equanimity, mindful, in happiness." "Third" means the third in the order of enumeration. Also, "third" means that this is the third that is attained. In the phrases beginning "At that time there is contact," even the word "joy" is absent in the five jhānas. The determination of words with and without inflections should be understood based on that as well. In the section on constituents, it is stated that the jhāna has two factors. The rest is similar to the second jhāna. The Third. The Fourth Jhāna 165. In the analysis of the fourth jhāna, "with the abandoning of pleasure and the abandoning of pain" means with the abandoning of bodily pleasure and bodily pain. "Formerly" means that before, not at the moment of the fourth jhāna. "With the disappearance of gladness and sadness" means that even these two, mental pleasure and mental pain, disappear before; it is simply stated as "abandoning." But when does their abandoning occur? At the access moment of the four jhānas. For gladness is abandoned at the access moment of the fourth jhāna itself. Pain, sadness, and pleasure are abandoned at the access moments of the first, second, and third jhānas. Thus, although these are not mentioned in the order of their abandonment, in the analysis of the faculties, here too, pleasure, pain, gladness, and sad The abandoning of mental obsessions should be understood. But if these are abandoned in the access moment of that jhāna, then why is it said, "Where is the painful feeling utterly ceased upon arising? Here, a bhikkhu, quite secluded from sensual pleasures… …attains and abides in the first jhāna, here the painful feeling utterly ceases upon arising. Where is the feeling of displeasure… the pleasant feeling… the feeling of joy utterly ceased upon arising? Here, a bhikkhu, with the abandoning of pleasure… …attains and abides in the fourth jhāna. Here the feeling of joy utterly ceases upon arising" (SN 36.6)? Because of the surpassing cessation. For their surpassing cessation is in the first jhāna, etc., not just cessation. But there is just cessation in the access moment, not surpassing cessation. For indeed, even though the painful feeling is ceased in the access to the first jhāna by various diversions, it could arise through contact with gnats, mosquitoes, etc., or through discomfort from an uneven seat, but not in the attainment itself. Or that which is ceased in the access is not well ceased, because it is not overcome by its opposite. But in the attainment itself, the whole body is suffused with pleasure through the suffusion of joy. And for one whose body is suffused with pleasure, the painful feeling is well ceased, because it is overcome by its opposite. And since the feeling of displeasure, abandoned in the access to the second jhāna by various diversions, arises when there is physical fatigue and mental agitation due to thought and examination, but does not arise when there is no thought and examination; and where it arises, there is thought and examination; and thought and examination are not abandoned in the access to the second jhāna, therefore it could arise there, but not in the second jhāna, because its condition is abandoned. Similarly, even though the pleasant feeling abandoned in the access to the third jhāna could arise for one whose body is touched by refined forms arising from joy, it does not arise in the third jhāna. For in the third jhāna, joy, the condition for pleasure, utterly cease. Likewise, even for the joy faculty abandoned in the vicinity of the fourth jhana, because of its nearness, and because the equanimity has not yet attained absorption and thus has not been fully transcended, there could be arising, but certainly not in the fourth jhana. Therefore, it is precisely because of this that "here, the pain faculty, having arisen, ceases without remainder" is stated, with the inclusion of "without remainder" in each instance. Here one might ask: "But if these feelings are abandoned in the vicinity of each respective jhana, why are they gathered together here?" "For the sake of grasping pleasure." For the feeling described here as "neither-painful-nor-pleasant" is subtle, difficult to discern, and not easy to grasp. Therefore, just as a cowherd, to catch a bull that is wild and cannot be approached and caught easily, gathers all the cows into one enclosure, and then, leading them out one by one, points out the one that comes in order, saying, "This is it, catch it!"; even so, the Blessed One gathers all these together for the sake of grasping pleasure. For having shown these gathered together, it becomes possible to point out, "That which is neither pleasure nor pain, neither joy nor sorrow, this is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling." Moreover, it should be understood that these are stated also to show the conditions for the liberation of mind through neither-pain-nor-pleasure. For the abandonment of pleasure and pain, etc., are its conditions. As it is said: "There are these four conditions, friend, for the attainment of the liberation of mind through neither-pain-nor-pleasure. Here, friend, a bhikkhu, with the abandoning of pleasure... attains and abides in the fourth jhana. These, friend, are the four conditions for the attainment of the liberation of mind through neither-pain-nor-pleasure" (M. i, 458). Or, just as the views of self, etc., although abandoned elsewhere, are said to be abandoned there for the sake of praising the third path, so too, it should be understood that these are stated here for the sake of praising this jhana. Or, it should be understood that these are stated to show the extreme remoteness of lust and hatred through the striking of the conditions. For in these, pleasure and joy Pleasure is the condition, for gladness and lust; pain for sadness, sadness for hate. By the striking down of pleasure and so on, lust and hate, being conditioned, are destroyed and are very far away. Neither-painful-nor-pleasant means not painful because of the absence of pain, not pleasant because of the absence of pleasure. By this, it indicates the third feeling, which is the opposite of pain and pleasure, not merely the absence of pain and pleasure. The third feeling is called neither-painful-nor-pleasant. It is also called equanimity. It should be understood as having the characteristic of experiencing the opposite of what is liked and disliked, having neutrality as its essence, having unobvious manifestation, and having the cessation of pleasure as its proximate cause. 'Purity of mindfulness due to equanimity' means purity of mindfulness generated by equanimity. For in this jhāna, mindfulness is very pure. And the purity of that mindfulness is done by equanimity, not by anything else. Therefore, this is called purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. It is also said in the Vibhanga: "This mindfulness is clear, pure, and brightened by this equanimity; therefore, it is called purity of mindfulness due to equanimity" (Vibh. 597). And the equanimity by which mindfulness is purified here should be understood as neutrality in that place in meaning. And not only mindfulness is purified here, but also all the associated states. However, the teaching is stated with mindfulness as the head. Although this equanimity exists even in the three lower jhānas, just as the crescent moon, existing during the day, is impure and not bright due to the overpowering of the sun's radiance, and because of not obtaining its own share of the night, which is helpful to it, so too this equanimity-crescent-moon, being overpowered by the opposing states of thought and so on, and not obtaining its own share of the night of equanimity-feeling, is impure even though it exists in the divisions of the first jhāna and so on. And like the radiance of the impure crescent moon during the day, mindfulness and so on, which are born together with it, are also impure. Therefore, none of them is called 'purity of mindfulness due to equanimity'. Here, however, due to the absence of the overpowering of the opposing states of thought and so on, And equanimity towards what is agreeable, the attainment of the feeling of equanimity at night, this equanimity-moon-line there, is exceedingly pure. Because of its purity, like the light of the pure moon-line, even the co-arisen mindfulness and so on, are pure and very clear. Therefore, this alone, is to be understood as the purity of equanimity and mindfulness, thus it was said. "Fourth" means the fourth in the order of enumeration. This is the fourth, it attains the fourth, thus it is the fourth. Among "contact exists" and so on, in the five contacts, "feeling" should be understood as the feeling of equanimity. But in the five jhānas, the faculties, and the eight aggregates, it was indeed said that equanimity exists, the faculty of equanimity exists. The remaining terms omitted in the third, are omitted here as well. In the section on constituents, "a jhāna with two factors" should be understood only in terms of equanimity and one-pointedness of mind. The rest is all similar to the third. The tetrad method is finished. The Pentad Method 167. Now, the pentad method is begun, with "which states are wholesome?" Why is that? Because of the inclinations of individuals, and the elegance of the teaching. It seems that for some of the assembled deities, only initial thought arose as gross, while sustained thought, rapture, happiness, and one-pointedness of mind were subtle.