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For cittani, however, sanna is substituted, possibly limiting the appli- cation of the discernment of diversity to the sensuous basis 73 even the Fourth Jhana, to gain which^ all sense of ease must have been put away, and all sense of ill must have been put away, and there must have been a dying out of the happiness and misery he was wont to feel — (the rapt meditation) which is imbued with disinterestedness, and where no ease is felt nor any ill, but only the perfect purity that comes of mindfulness and disinterestedness — then the contact, etc. . . . [c/. § 165] the balance that arises, these . . . are states that are good. [2. The Sphere of Inlinite Intellection (vinnanaiica- y a t a n a m).^] [266] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the Formless heavens, he cultivates the way thereto, and, having passed^ wholly beyond the sphere of boundless space, enters into and abides in that rapt meditation which is accompanied by the of all those ' thoughts.' The context, nevertheless, seems to point to a certain general, abstract, ' re-representative ' import in saniia as here applied. It is said to be the consciousness of one who is occupied with manodhatu or with manovinfianadhatu — with, let us say, representa- tive or with re-representative cognition — with ideas or with cognition of those ideas. The ideation in this case is about sensuous phenomena as manifold, and the abstract nature of it lies, of course, in considering their diversity as such. ^ In the text the formula of the Fourth Jhana remains unaltered (c/. § 165). But it is sandwiched between the cumbrous adjectival compounds referring to space and to disinterestedness. Hence some modification was necessary to avoid uncouthness of diction. ^ Strictly viiinananancayatanam. The usually elided syllable (rulhi-saddo) is noticed in the Cy. (205). ^ K., here and in the two following replies, has the gerund samatikkamma, following the usage in the Nikayas (see, e.g.,!)., M. P. S., 30; M. i. 174, 209; S. iii. 237, 238; A. iv. 306). Buddhaghosa apparently reads samatik- kama (2^5), as is the unvarying case in the first only of these four arupajjhanas. 74 consciousness of a sphere of infinite intellection ^ — even the Fourth Jhana, to gain which all sense of ease must have been put away, etc. [Continue as in previous section.^ [3. The Sphere of Nothingness (ak in c a fin ay a ta- na m).] [267] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the Formless heavens, he cultivates the way thereto, and, having passed wholly beyond the sphere of infinite intellection, enters into and abides in that rapt meditation which is accompanied by the consciousness of a sphere of nothingness — even the Fourth Jhana, to gain which all sense of ease must have been put away, etc. [Continue as in § 265.] [4. The Sphere where there is neither Perception nor Non-perception (neva-sanna-nasaniiayatanam).] [268] Which are the states that are good ? When, that he may attain to the Formless heavens, he cultivates the way thereto, and, having passed wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness, enters into and abides in that rapt meditation which is accompanied by the con- sciousness of a sphere where there is neither perception nor non-perception 2 — even the Fourth Jhana, to gain which all sense of ease must have been put away, etc. [Contifiue as in § 265.] ^ The only explanation given of a term on which one would gladly have heard Buddhaghosa expatiate is, * There is no end for him in respect to that which has to be cogi- tated' (^t^., minded ; manasikatabba-vasena) (Asl. 205). On the next stage, too (§ 267), no light at all is thrown (p. 206). ^ Buddhaghosa explains this mental state as the cultiva- tion of the functioning of the subtle residuum of conscious 75 The Four Jhanas connected with Formless Existence may be developed in sixteen combinations. syntheses (sankharavasesa-sukhuma-bhavam). In so far as perception (presumably understood as being wholly introspective) has become incapable of effective functioning (patu-saniia-kiccam), the state is non-perceptual. In so far as those faint, fine conscious reactions are maintained, the state is ' not non-perceptual.' This oscillation about a zero-point in consciousness is illustrated by the similes quoted (not from this Cy.) by Hardy {oj). cit., 264), namely, of the bowl containing just so much oil as suffices for cleansing purposes, but not to be poured out ; also, of the little pool, sufficient to wet the feet, but too shallow for a bathe. Both oil and water exist, or do not exist, according to what action can be taken with respect to them. The Cy. adds that this liminal point obtains not only in sanna, but also in feeling, thought, and contact (208). The study of the ' threshold ' of consciousness, and of the supra- and sub-liminal grades clustering about it, is familiar enough to the investigator in psychophysics. What is unfamiliar to us is the exploitation of the borderland of consciousness in the interests of ethical growth. Leibnitz might have found in the neva-saiina-nasaiinayatanam, had he had opportunity, the inspiration for his theory of petites perceptions. [Chaptek IV. Degrees of Efficacy in Good relating to the Three Kealms. 1. Good in relation to the Universe of Sense (kama- V a c a r a k u s a 1 a m).] [269] Which are the states that are good ? When a good thought concerning the sensuous universe has arisen, which is (I.) accompanied by happiness and associated with knowledge — a thought which is of inferior, or of medium, or of superlative efficacy,^ or the dominant influence in which is desire, or energy, or ^ The effective power or karma of all the foregoing thoughts and exercises to modify the individual's existence in one universe or another for good seems to have been, for practical purposes, distinguished under three grades of efficacy. So I gather, at least, from the comment on this curious section (pp. 211, 212) : ' " inferior " (hinam) must be understood to mean paltry in respect of heaping up.' ' Heaping up ' is in later books almost always associated with karma. Meaning to toil, more specifically to dig up, pile up, it is used to express the metaphorical notion of ever accumulating merit or demerit constituting the indi- vidual's potentiality in the way of rebirth. Cf. Mil. 109 ; also below, § 1059, n. 9, on ' she who toils.' The Patthana may throw more light on the subject (AsL, ibid.). 77- [another] thought, or investigation ;^ or the dominant influence in which is desire of inferior, of medium, or of superlative efficacy ; or the dominant influence in which is energy of inferior, of medium, or of superlative efficacy ; or the dominant influence in which is [another] thought of inferior, of medium, or of superlative efficacy ; ^ An explanation is also needed, it seems to me, for this association of the Four Iddhipadas (M. i. 103 ; A. iii. 82 ; S. V. 264-266) with this special aspect of karma ; for they lead to Arahatship rather than to rebirth in some other plane. The Cy. only states that when anyone, in the act of accumulating, relinquishes desire or the rest, ' that ' is called inferior [in efficacy] ; that when these four states are moderately or superlatively efficacious they are called accordingly ; and that * when anyone has accumulated, having made desire (chando), i.e., the wishing-to-do, his sovereign, chief and leader,' then the procedure is said to be under the dominant influence of desire. So for the other three. It is to be regretted that the Cy. does not discuss the term vimamsa (investigation), or the propriety of its position in this series of four. It would be interesting to have learnt its psychological import in relation to vitakko and vicar 0. There is a suggestion of dual symmetry about the series: as chando is to viriyarn (conation passing into action), so is cittam (the idea) to the dis- cursive re-representative intellection of vimamsa. I have rendered cittadhipateyyam by the influence of another thought in accordance with the Cy. (213), where it is said to be an associated thought, or states associated with the original ' good thought.' There is another brief comment on the adhipateyyas below, § 1034, n. 2. 78 or the dominant influence in which is investigation of inferior, of medium, or of superlative efficacy,^ then the contact . . . the balance that arises — these . . . are states that are good. [270] Which are the states that are good ?