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59 cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self,^ but seeing external objects to be limited, gets the mastery over them with the thought 'I know, I see !'^ and so, aloof from sensuous appetites, aloof from evil ideas, enters into and abides in the First Jhana, etc. . . . then the contact, etc., that arises — these . . . are states that are good. [205] [Repeat in the case of the 2nd to the 4ih Jhana on the Fourfold System^ and of the 2nd to the 5th Jhana on the Fivefold System,^ [(c) The Four Modes of Progress.] [206-210] Repeat the four combinations of progress as painful or easy, and of intuition as sluggish or quick set out in §§ 176-180, substituting for ' earth - gazing ' the Mastery formula just stated. ^Ajjhattam arupasaniii ( = na rupasafini). This rendering is in accordance with Buddhaghosa's comments (Asl. 188, 189, 191). The student, either because he has tried and failed, or because he did not wish to try, has not induced Jhana by way of fixing attention on his own hair or the rest. Cf. the Maha Eahulovada-Sutta (M. i. 62), where the individual's rupa-skandha is fully set forth with reference to the four elements, ajjhattika pathavid- hatu, etc., beginning with ' hair ' and the rest. Cj. § 248 n. ^ The external objects in question are contemplated on the kasina system (Asl. 188). And just as a man of vigorous digestion bolts a spoonful of rice, so the aspirant after sublime truth swiftly and easily transcends the initial act of external perception when the object is insignificant, and brings forth the desiderated concept (appana). The judgments by which he registers the consciousness of in- tellectual mastery have reference, according to Buddhaghosa, to past experience of enlightenment, and indicate simply a recognition, or, in terms of syllogism, a minor premise identified. But he states that, in the Sinhalese commentary on the Nikayas, they are interpreted as implying a present access of new light, a fresh moral attainment, gained after the thinker transcends perceptual consciousness {ibid.). 60 [(d) The Two Objects of Thought.] [211-213] Repeat, substituting for ' earth - gazing ' the Mastery -formula f § 181, where the Jhana * is limited, and has a Hmited object of thought,' and § 183, where the Jhana * is capable of infinite extension, but has a limited object of thought.'! [(e = c and d) The Eightfold Combination (atthak- khattuka m.]'^ [214-221] Repeat, with the same substitution, §§ 186, 188, 190, 192, 194, 196, 198, and 200 of the Sixteenfold Com- bination. [222] Repeat these eight combinations in the case of each of the remaining Jhclnas. [2. * Forms as limited and as beautiful or ugly'^ (rupani parittani suvann a-d ubbannani). ! The ' objects of thought' are here the kasinas, essentially discerned to be ' limited ' or insignificant. Hence two, not four varieties ; and hence eight, not sixteen combinations. The term appamanain connoting merely a relative, not an absolute infinitude, there is only a difference of degree in the depth, purifying efficacy, or what not, of the Jhana attained to. The same illustrative figure is accordingly used, varied in degree. The gourmand, discontented with a small dish of rice, demands more and more. So the aspirant (now iianuttaro, not nanuttariko), aiming at perfect self-concentration, refuses to call that infinite which seems so (ibid.). 2 So K. ^ The general aesthetic designations of suvann arn and dubbanam are in the Cy. paraphrased by parisuddhaiii and its negative. Just as the limited nature of visible things was held to be an efficacious consideration for con- ceptual efforts, and the notion of 'infinite' helpful for dulness, so the beautiful and the ugly were prescribed for inimical conduct and for indulgence in passion respectively. The appropriateness of it all is said to be discussed in the Cariya-niddesa of the Visuddhi Magga (Asl. 189). 61 (a) and (h)] [223] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects to be limited, and to be beautiful or ugly, gets the mastery over them with the thought, *I know, I see!' and so, aloof from sensuous appetites, aloof from evil ideas, enters into and abides in the First Jhana, etc. . . . then the contact, etc., that arises — these . . . are states that are good. [224] Repeat in the case of each of the remaining Jhanas, Develop in eightfold combination. [3. ' Forms as infinite '( r u p a n i appaman ani).^ {a) and (/>)] [225] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects to be infinite, gets the mastery over them with the thoughts *I know, I see!' and so, aloof from sensuous appetites, etc. [Continue as in § 204.] [226] Repeat in the case of each of the remaining Jhanas. [(c) The Four Modes of Progress.] [227-231] Repeat §§ 206-210, substituting * infinite '/or ' limited.' 1 See note on §§ 211-213. Taken in order, Buddha- ghosa's comment there reproduced applies to that part of the text. According to the context, it might better apply here, where the external forms or kasina-objects are now contemplated as * infinite.' The reflection, however, appHes to either passage. 62 [(d) The Two Objects of Thought.] [232-234] Repeat, with the same substitution as in (c), §§ 211-213. [(e = ca.ndd) The Eightfold Combination.] [235-242] Develop, icith the same substitution as in (c) and (d), after the manner o/ §§ 187, 189, and so on to § 201. [243] Repeat these eight combinations in the case of each of the remaining Jhdnas. [4. ' Forms as infinite and as beautiful or ugly ' (r ii p a n i appamanani suvann a-d u b b a n n a n i). (a) and (b)] [244] Repeat § 223, substituting * infinite ' /o^' * limited.' [245] Repeat in the case of each of the remaining Jhanas. Develop in eightfold combination. [5. * Forms as blue-black,' etc. (riipani nilan i).^ ^ It is well known that it is as difiicult to determine the range of colour indicated by nil am as to decide the colour-value of the word ryXavKo^;, Like the latter term, nilam may originally have referred more to lustre than to tinge, meaning darkly lustrous, jetty, or nigrescent. Any way, it is not plausible to render the term by * blue ' when one is referred to human hair or bile (pit tarn) as instances of it in the human body. See note 2 to § 248. In Jat. iii. 138 hair-dye or hair- wash is called niliyam — much, perhaps, as we speak of * blacking ' or ' russet polish ' for shoes. This implies that the colour called nil am was, if not the usual, at least the desiderated colour of human hair. If it were what we understand by a typical blue, the term would be applied to sky and sea, or the violet band of the rainbow, which is, I believe, never the case. Pos- sibly our own colour -parallels in these respects are a modern development. Cf. Havelock Ellis in Contemporary Revieiv, vol. Ixix., p. 727. Modern Hindu colour-terms are, I am told, largely of Persian origin. 63 ()] [246] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, unconscious of any part of his corporeal self, but seeing external objects which are blue-black, blue-black in colour, blue-black in visible expanse,^ blue-black in luminousness, gets the mastery over them with the thought, *I know, I see !' and so, aloof from sensuous appetites, etc. [Continue as in § 204.] ♦ * -^ -x- * -K- [6-8. 'Forms as yellow,' etc. (rupani pitani). [247] Repeat § 246, substituting for * blue-black, blue-black in colour,' etc., * yellow,' ' red,' and ' white '^ successively. Develop these Stations of Mastery in the Sixteenfold Combination. [TIL The Three First Deliverances (tini vimokkhan i.^] 1. [248] When, that he may attain to the heavens of Form, he cultivates the way thereto, and, conscious of his bodily ^ Nilanidassanam, indicating, according to the Cy. (190), a uniform sheet of blue without break. The colours in this and following sections may reside in a flower, a piece of cloth, or some other basis. ^ The remaining three English colour-names may match the Pali terms as loosely as in the previous case. Cf. S. B. E. xi., loc, cit.