English
having spread the kasiṇa as far as the limit of the universe, or as far as one wishes, or without thinking of the kasiṇa, having opened up the kasiṇa with the thought, "space, space" or "infinite space," or having opened up that kasiṇa-opening-space-sign, repeatedly thinking "space," the ākāsānañcāyatana arises, to show that, he said, "with the complete transcending of perceptions of form," etc. There, "completely" means in every way, or without exception. "Perceptions of form" means the fifteen forms, spoken of with perception as the head, in terms of wholesome, result, and functional. Of the sphere of the infinity of space, and of those things having that as object. For even the form-sphere is called "perception of form, form-perception" by way of the head of perception, and the kasiṇa having that as object is called "form-perception" because perception is the name of form. Overcoming means by detachment, and by cessation. But in the Vibhaṅga, when perceptions are overcome, the object is indeed overcome, thus, "for one who has attained or arisen or is experiencing a pleasant abiding in the present life," etc. (Vibh. 602) only the overcoming of perception is stated, since there is no overcoming of perception for one not detached from the object, therefore, the explanation of the meaning should be made by way of that overcoming. The passing away of perceptions of resistance means the passing away of the perceptions of the five-sense consciousnesses, which arise due to the impact of the sense-bases, such as the eye, and the objects, such as forms, and their objects. Although these do not exist for one who has attained the form-sphere, they do not exist because they are not abandoned. For the development of the form-sphere does not lead to detachment from form, the arising of these is dependent on form, but this development leads to detachment from form, therefore, it is fitting to say that these are abandoned here. The non-attention to perceptions of diversity means the non-attention, the non-directing of the forty-four perceptions of the sense-sphere, which arise in diverse objects, or which arise by way of the mind-consciousness element of diversities. And here, since the form-resistance perceptions do not arise even in the existence produced by this jhāna, only the non-existence is stated, thus, "by overcoming, by passing away." It should be understood that "by non-attention to perceptions of diversity" only the non-attention to the twenty-seven perceptions by way of the eight wholesome sense-sphere, the nine functional, and the ten unwholesome, is stated, since there is a possibility of their arising by attention even in the formless existence. Infinite is space, here, its arising or passing away is not evident, therefore, infinite. Space means the space of the kasiṇa-removal, here, infinity should be understood by way of attention. Therefore, in the Vibhaṅga it is said, "he establishes his mind in that space...and...infinite It spreads, therefore it is called endless space. This is the showing of its mode of development. In the sphere of infinite space, there is no end to it, so endless space itself is infinite space, infinite space itself is the infinity of space, that itself is the infinity of space in the sense of determination, and in the sense of the confluence of perception, it is a sphere, that is the object of his associated states of mind, of the jhāna, so it is the sphere of infinite space. Having attained that, he dwells in the manner described, is the meaning. Having shown the attainment of the sphere of infinite space in this way, now, having made that first immaterial attainment, which is immediately after that, mastered, and seeing the fault in it because it is an adversary to the nearby rūpa jhāna, and because it has the space of the counterpart sign as its object, having exhausted the attachment, for the sake of transcending that, repeatedly thinking, "Consciousness is infinite," consciousness that has arisen having pervaded space, the sphere of infinite consciousness arises, to show that, "Having entirely transcended the sphere of infinite space," etc., was said. There, in the manner previously stated, the jhāna is also the sphere of infinite space, and the object is also. For the object, too, in the former manner, is both the infinity of space, and because that is the object of the first immaterial attainment, it is a sphere in the manner described, so it is called "the sphere of infinite space." Thus, it should be understood that "Having entirely transcended the sphere of infinite space" was said having made both of them together by not letting them arise, and by not attending to them. "Consciousness is infinite" means he thinks in this way that very first immaterial consciousness, having pervaded space infinitely, has arisen, or it is infinite by way of thinking. For in the Vibhaṅga, too, "It spreads infinitely" was said. In the sphere of infinite consciousness, in the manner described, the infinite itself is the infinity, and that infinity is consciousness, and that infinity is consciousness, so it should be said "consciousness-infinity," but idiomatically it is said "consciousness-infinity," that itself is the sphere, the object of his, so it is the sphere of infinite consciousness. The rest is in the manner described. Having shown the sphere of infinite consciousness in this way, now... Having made that second immaterial attainment, which was immediately after, mastered, and seeing the fault in the nearness of the realm of consciousness, and abandoning attachment, and repeatedly attending to that same realm of nothingness, as "peaceful, peaceful," for the sake of transcending it, the realm of neither perception nor non-perception arises, to show that, he said, "altogether," and so on. Here, too, the transcendence of the jhana, and of the realm of consciousness, which is its object, should be understood in the manner stated. The meaning is, he attends to it as "peaceful, peaceful." Here, in the realm of neither perception nor non-perception, "nothing is his" is nothingness, it is said that not even a fragment remains for him, the state of nothingness is the realm of nothingness, this is a designation for the removal of the consciousness of the realm of consciousness, the realm of nothingness is the object, therefore it is the realm of nothingness. The rest is easily understood. Having shown the attainment of the realm of nothingness in this way, now, having made that third immaterial attainment, which was immediately after, mastered, and seeing the fault in the nearness of the realm of consciousness, and abandoning attachment, and repeatedly attending to that same realm of nothingness, as "peaceful, peaceful," for the sake of transcending it, the realm of neither perception nor non-perception arises, to show that, he said, "altogether," and so on. There, in the realm of neither perception nor non-perception, because of the absence of gross perception, and the presence of subtle perception, that perception of his associated states and jhana is neither perception nor non-perception, that same is a realm because it is included in the realm of phenomena and non-realm, therefore it is the realm of neither perception nor non-perception. Or, alternatively, that perception here, because it is incapable of performing the function of strong perception, is neither perception, because it exists in a subtle state with the residue of formations, it is non-perception, and that neither perception nor non-perception is a realm by way of being the basis for the associated states. And also the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Not only is perception such here, but also feeling is neither-feeling nor non-feeling, the mind is neither-mind nor non-mind, and so are the remaining associated phenomena. But it should be understood that this teaching was given with perception as the chief. There, "by way of the remaining subtle formations" means by way of the formations having attained extreme subtlety. The rest is as said before. Here, from the beginning, is the explanation of the condensed meaning: "Here, a bhikkhu, restrained by the Pātimokkha restraint," etc., teaches the purity of virtue of the Pātimokkha restraint among the virtues that are the basis for a person who produces mundane and supramundane meditation in the Dispensation. "Dwells" indicates the possession of suitable conduct. "Accomplished in conduct and resort" indicates the virtue of purity of livelihood, and the qualities that are helpful to it. "In minor faults," etc., indicates non-transgression of the virtues as stated, and the complete undertaking of them. "With guarded doors to the senses" indicates the virtue of sense restraint. "Moderate in food" indicates the virtue of dependence on requisites, and the qualities of contentment, etc. "During the first and last watches of the night," etc., indicates the qualities helpful to one delighting in meditation, established in virtue and the ascetic practices. "Of the qualities conducive to enlightenment" indicates the partaking in penetration by way of practice. "He, having gone out," etc., indicates the application of mindfulness for the non-decline of the qualities as stated, and for the attainment of those to be stated. "He, secluded," etc., indicates the acceptance of a dwelling suitable for meditation. "He, gone to the forest," etc., indicates the manner of beginning meditation practice. "He, having abandoned covetousness," etc., indicates the arising of access meditation in one who has abandoned the five hindrances by application to meditation practice. "He, these five hindrances," etc., teaches the order of the arising of form and formless meditations in one who strives further and further. This, for now, is the meaning of the words here. The distinction of the Dhamma here will become clear in the method of analysis.