CHAPTER 6 FURTHER MEDITATIONS

Descent Into Voidness
Discussion
The Mahāsuññata (MN122)
Discussion
Venerable Māluṅkyaputta
MahāKoṭṭhita Quizzes Sāriputta
Exalted Deliverance of Mind and Immeasurable Deliverance of Mind
The Brahmā Vihāra Meditations
Brahmā Vihāra Contemplation Technique
Five-Stage Mettābhāvanā
Stage One – One self
Discussion
Stage Two – A Person Held in Positive Regard
Stage Three – A Neutral Person
Stage Four – A Difficult Person
Stage Five - All Around
Discussion
Saṅgha Function and Brahmā Vihāra
The Kasiṇa Meditations
Buddhagosa and Light Kasina
Discussion – What is an Element?
Sāriputta Teaches the Elements and Proper Wisdom

 Descent Into Voidness

    And where, bhikkhus, do these three unwholesome thoughts cease without remainder? For one who dwells with a mind well established in the four establishments of mindfulness [the 4 Satipaṭṭhānana*], or for one who develops signless concentration.
SNIII 22:80

The three unwholesome thoughts cease without remainder are greed, hatred and aversion. We are here told, this is dealt with by either mindfulness, as described in the 4 SATIPAṬṬHĀNAṂ: (see chapter 5), or ‘… by non-attention to all signs153 .
    By signless meditation, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the signless concentration of mind (SNIV 40:6-9).’ According to Sāriputta, ‘unshakable deliverance of mind’, is achieved only through signless concentration, and is ‘the best’ meditation technique (Mahāvedalla MN43:33-36).
    There was an occasion when Buddha and Ānanda were sojourning in the town of Nagaraka, in Sakyan country, when Ānanda asked the Buddha to repeat a previous teaching on the descent into voidness (Cūḷasuññata154 Suttaṃ MN121). In characteristic didactic style, he gave a graduated lesson. The Buddha started with their here-and-now, describing how the Palace of Migara’s mother was void of village life, such as elephants, cattle, horses, malevolent spirits, gold and silver, men, and women. He then taught, rather than being concerned with these perceptions, the meditator should bring his attention to bare on the Saṅgha, until ‘there is present only this non-voidness, namely, the singleness dependant on the Saṅgha of bhikkhus.’
    By ‘non-voidness’, he means the meditator is not experiencing voidness. This is, of course, because he is singularly holding in mind the thought of the Saṅgha. In technical language, ‘singleness dependant on the Saṅgha’ is merely one sign that functions as passing nimittaṃ.
    The discourse does not elaborate on how one can hold a single thought about the Saṅgha, but it could be a visualisation of a group of bhikkhus, or perhaps a general sentiment about the Saṅgha. Like all nimittaṃ, a sign won’t remain in the mind for long without having to be refreshed. So, upon losing the image, or sentiment, immediately make a simple return. Bear in mind the effort to do this is just enough.
    Of course, you don’t need to use the Saṅgha for a nimittaṃ. One starts with one’s current reality. The idea behind your graduated approach is to get your attention from what is in front of you to a subtler image, thus making mind(s) less gross. Continued to the nth degree the result is pure awareness, leaving nothing to apperceive.
    The Buddha then instructed Ānanda to leave behind images of village life by focusing on a nimittaṃ of the Saṅgha. Then, detach from images of the Saṅgha, and focus on an image of the forest. The bhikkhu is to understand, ‘There is only this moment of disturbance … there is present only this non-voidness, namely, the singleness dependent on the perception of the forest (4). The image of the forest is referred to as a ‘disturbance’ because it is not voidness. Even so, the meditator is still to acquire, steadiness, and resolution on the sign. We know from experience that for this to happen, a mind must be settling down, and becoming quite malleable, which means the meditator must be well into the tranquilisation stage, as an agitated body will agitate the mind.
    Only after having acquired ‘steadfastness and resolution’ upon the sign, does the meditator move on. This does not mean the signs become crystal-clear and self-sustaining. It matters not a jot if a sign keeps fading. It matters not a jot. What matters is that a simple return is made; this is how steadfastness is realised. This is the very point the wisdom refrain is making. This repeated refocusing on a sign will have the effect of bringing about tranquilisation and equanimity, regardless of how clear a sign is.
    Next, the Buddha introduces a perception of the earth. Again, this is maintained until the meditator’s ‘mind enters into that perception of earth, and acquires confidence, steadfastness, and resolution.’ He tells Ānanda not to be concerned with details, such as ridges and hollows, rivers, ravines, thorns, mountains, and uneven places, but ‘to the singleness dependent upon the perception of the earth (5).’
    We can see how each successive sign is less exciting than the previous, containing less noise, movement and detail.
    The Buddha explains this strategy using a simile of a bull’s hide being stretched on tenterhooks. The gradual stretching of the hide, slowly rids it of creases. This gradual approach strategy is also taught using the similes of the Trainer Of Thoroughbred Colts (Bhaddali Suttaṃ MN65:33), and the Clever Horse Trainer (Gaṇakamoggalāna Suttaṃ MN107:3), and the Good Elephant Trainer (Dantabhūni Suttaṃ MN125:12).
    The experienced meditator appreciates the body takes time to settle down, and for this reason so too the mind. Hence, meditation is best approached gradually, regardless of how many decades of experience one has.
    The visualisation of the earth concludes the jhānic phase of the meditation. What follows are the immaterial absorptions. By not attending to the perception of the earth, the bhikkhu attends singularly to the Base Of Infinite Space, acquiring confidence, steadiness, and resolution. The perception of Infinite Space is not a nimittaṃ. There is only one way to bring about the absorptions, and that is by signlessness (the apperceptive gaze).
    Despite this lofty height of meditation, the Buddha still refers to the Base Of Infinite Space as ‘this moment of disturbance, namely singleness dependent on the Base Of Infinite Space (6).’ The Buddha then tells Ānanda to continue to the Base Of Infinite Consciousness, then to the Base Of Nothingness, and to Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception (MN121:5-9). The absorptions are also described as disturbances and as singularities. The Buddha now instructs Ānanda to abandon Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, even though it is the loftiest absorption state (MN66:26-33). This is not done by an act of will. Apperception, and only apperception, brings about the letting go. Only upon successfully transcending this last absorption state, does the Buddha describe the meditation as “signless (MN121:10).”
    The Buddha finishes by telling Ānanda there is only one voidness. All recluses and Brahmins of past, present and future can only ever experience the same voidness. He exhorts Ānanda to train in entering into the voidness.
    Voidness is not ninth jhāṇaṃ/fifth absorption. What is reached is nothing less than Full Liberation, which, by the way, is only ever temporary. ‘The Buddha describes it as the consummation of direct knowledge (MN77:23, MN137:27).’ Direct knowledge is personal experience.
    Once voidness is attained, the meditator is said to be imperturbable (see DN16:4.27-4.33).
    I have drawn up table 16 below to summarise the graduate approach to Voidness (Nibbāna).
 

Table 16 The Descent Into Voidness

153 Animittacetovimutti
(a + nimitta + ceto + vimutti =
not + nimitta + mind + release
= signless deliverance).

154 Suññata; empty, void.

Discussion

When a meditator has found his form, such as on a meditation retreat, it likely he will not need to start with a graduated approach, and signlessness, apperception, can be used from the very start of a meditation.
    Even if a nimittaṃ is used with diligence, the meditator will still lose his focus on it, but not though lack of application. The meditators mind and body will have settled down so much that glimpses of only clear awareness are apparent. This is time to let stop using the nimittaṃ. What remains is awareness of one of the absorptions. It will likely be a transient experience, as the mind will try to grab it for the memories. Only the signless technique (the apperceptive gaze) will maintain this condition. Remember, use the least amount of effort, which means easing off on the apperceptive gaze as well.
   Discerning a clear distinction between the absorptions155 is something I have never experienced for myself. But then, it should be understood that consciousness becomes ever subtler, making the distinctions between states ever difficult to discern. It is not a good idea to break focus in an attempt to label the different qualities of meditation. It may seem reasonable, but it is still a loss of focus the meditator should avoid.
    We have already learned that Sāriputta gave no care to what level of meditation he was in. When Ānanda asked him in which dwelling he had spent the day, Sāriputta replied, “I encountered and dwelt in first jhānaṃ …Yet, friend, it did not occur to me, I am attaining first jhānaṃ, or I have emerged from first jhānaṃ.” Similarly, Ānanda asked Sāriputta the same question, for all the remaining seven levels of meditation. Sāriputta gave the same response every time: “It did not occur to me … (SN III, 28:1-9).”
    My experience of meditation is that there are three qualitatively distinct stages that are discernible. These are the settling down of mind and body (tranquillisation), followed by jhanic meditation, where the imagination and discursive mind are still apparent but malleable, and thirdly there is the pure-mindedness, of fourth jhānaṃ and the absorptions.
    The meditator may safely satisfy himself with these three levels of discernment, and not worry about recognising all levels of attainment.

155 (Base Of Infinite Space, the Base Of Infinite Consciousness, the Base Of Nothingness, and Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception)

The Mahāsuññata (MN122)

There still a little bit more to unpack from the Mahāsuññata (MN122) discourse. It gives us some crucial information regarding signless meditation.

    Indeed, Ānanda, it is not possible that a bhikkhu who delights in company, takes delight in company, and devotes himself to delight in company, who delights in society, takes delight in society, and rejoices in society, will ever obtain at will, without trouble or difficulty, the bliss of renunciation, the bliss of seclusion, the bliss of peace, the bliss of enlightenment.
    Indeed, Ānanda, it is not possible that a bhikkhu who delights in company, takes delight in company, and devotes himself to delight in company, who delights in society, takes delight in society, and rejoices in society, will ever enter upon and abide in either the deliverance of mind that is temporary and delectable or in [the deliverance of mind] that is perpetual and unshakeable.
MN122:3-4

In the first paragraph, the Buddha says that the bliss of enlightenment (Nibbāna) is not possible without trouble or difficulty, for those who routinely indulge in urban life. But in the second paragraph he changes his mind, and says it is impossible. So, which is it? The reason for the apparent change of mind is actually a Pāli language protocol, used to affirm an answer. We saw this when the buddha changed his mind no less than 16 times regarding how long it took to attain the point of no return, from 7 years, to months, to days (MN122:46-47). This is not saying an urban dweller cannot attain the bliss (delectable benefits) of meditational experience and ultimately the deliverance of mind that is perpetual and unshakeable.

But it is saying that to attain the above self-indulgence will have to be seriously reigned for a substantial period. The fact is, an urbanite, a householder, can never make an end of suffering without abandoning the fetter of householdship (MN71:11). But the Saḷāyatanavibhanga discourse tells us how to do this. For example, a householder may be hungry, have lost his equanimity and feel grief. He can dispel his grief and restore joy or equanimity simply by eating. But the renunciant’s way is to transcend joy and grief by purifying the mind, as distinct from sating the senses. “When, by knowing the impermanence, change, fading away, and cessation of sounds … of odours … of flavours … of tangibles … of mind-objects both formally and now are all impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, equanimity arises (15).” In other words, the renunciant has restored his balance of mind the noble way; through self-transcendence. So, the householder’s equanimity, joy and grief is dependent upon capitulating to the bases, and the renunciant’s equanimity, joy and grief is dealt with by transcending the bases.

There are six kinds of equanimity, six kinds of joy, and six kinds of grief, based on the household life. These are collectively known as the 18 Positions Of Being based on the household life.
    The discourse then differentiates between equanimity, joy and grief of the householder and the renunciant’s equanimity, joy and grief. It does this on the basis of how equanimity, joy and grief are managed. For example, a householder may be hungry, have lost his equanimity and feel grief. He can dispel his grief and restore joy or equanimity simply by eating. This is the mundane way of doing things. But, “Such equanimity as this does not transcend the form … sound … smell … flavour … tangible … mind-object; which is why it is called equanimity based on the household life (14).” In other words, the householder has restored his balance of mind in an ordinary, mundane way.
    But the renunciant’s way is to transcend joy and grief by purifying the mind, as distinct from sating the senses. “When, by knowing the impermanence, change, fading away, and cessation of sounds … of odours … of flavours … of tangibles … of mind-objects both formally and now are all impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, equanimity arises (15).” In other words, the renunciant has restored his balance of mind the noble way; through self-transcendence.
    So, the householder’s equanimity, joy and grief is dependent upon capitulating to the bases, and the renunciant’s equanimity, joy and grief is dealt with by transcending the bases.
    This, of course, does not mean that a householder can’t equalise his mind by self-transcendence, or that the bhikkhu does not equalise his mind by meeting his bodily needs. The teaching is simply distinguishing two fundamental ways to equalise the mind; one being expected of the householder and the other being expected of the Bhikkhu.

    But some urbanites do live with one foot in the renunciant life by maintaining a relatively strong practice. This is a difficult and hazardous way to live in my experience (see Chapter 21 A Final Word). But for such urbanites, the all-but-impossible is possible, provided they condition themselves with the mental training, and crucially, are well acquainted with signlessness. Given the right training, knowledge, opportunity, and a personally excellent effort, full (temporary) Liberation is attainable. Full Liberation is “deliverance of mind that is temporary and delectable”, and is also called Voidness (MN13:32).
    I have realised Full Liberation several dozen times, as an urbanite. I describe how to prepare, and descend into voidness in Chapter 20, A Meditation Retreat.

Discussion
    The Mahāsuññata Suttaṃ (MN122) does not give detailed descriptions of the levels of meditation during the descent into voidness. There is no need to know one’s meditational attainment. Further, it is simpler to use the apperceptive gaze from the very start of a meditation, all the way through to voidness. When the apperceptive gaze slips, a simple return to bear awareness is made. It’s that simple.
    The wisdom refrain is found in the Mahāsuññata also.

‘He gives attention to voidness internally’ means the mind is focused successfully on attaining voidness (idiomatic use). But this doesn’t mean voidness is attained. It means the meditator is steadfast on a sign, or applying the apperceptive gaze, during an endeavour to attain voidness. Similarly, giving attention to voidness externally means focus has been lost during the endeavour.
    In respect of voidness, even the jhāṇa and absorption levels are ultimately disturbances. This isn’t to say they are unwholesome, but in the context of a descent into voidness, they are disturbances.
    The following teaching underlines the need for avoiding mundane life, and the need for solitude.

Venerable Māluṅkyaputta

The venerable Māluṅkyaputta was an old bhikkhu, who still was not fully enlightened. He stopped the Buddha who was on his alms round, and asked for a teaching. The Buddha told Māluṅkyaputta to wait until he had returned. But Māluṅkyaputta pointed out he was so old, he might not be alive upon the Buddha’s return. The Buddha capitulated and gave him the following teaching.

In the seen only the seen;
In the heard only the heard;
In the smelled, tasted, and touched, only the smelled, tasted and touched;
In the cognised merely the cognised.
SN, Salayatana Vagga, Book IV,
Māluṅkyaputta, 35:95

The venerable Māluṅkyaputta retorted, he understood the teaching to mean whatever one sees, hears, tastes, touches, cognises, one is mindful not to become inflamed. The Buddha was pleased with Māluṅkyaputta’s156 response.

MahāKoṭṭhita Quizzes Sāriputta

The reader does not need the following. It is included for those with an academic interest.
    The venerable MahāKoṭṭhita felt somewhat overwhelmed by the many terms used, so he undertakes his own disambiguation, by quizzing Sāriputta (Mahāvedalla Suttaṃ MN43).

MahāKoṭṭhita
Friend, what can be known by purified mind-consciousness released from the five faculties?

Sāriputta  
Friend, by purified mind-consciousness released from the five faculties, the base of infinite space can be known thus; ‘Space is infinite’; the base of infinite consciousness can be known thus; ‘Consciousness is Infinite’; and the base of nothingness can be known thus; ‘There is nothing’.’157

MahāKoṭṭhita
Friend, with what does one understand a state that can be known?

Sāriputta
Friend, one understands a state that can be known with the eye of wisdom.

MahāKoṭṭhita
Friend, what is the purpose of wisdom?

Sāriputta  
The purpose of wisdom, friend, is direct knowledge, its purpose is full understanding, its purpose is abandoning.

MN43:10-12

This teaching is saying: By purifying the mind of the five faculties, we enter the absorptions. That which does the discerning, when in the absorptions, is the facet of intelligence referred to as the Eye of Wisdom. Wisdom is the know-how for purifying the mind.

MahāKoṭṭhita continues his questioning:
Friend, how many conditions are there for the attainment of neither-painful-nor-pleasant deliverance of mind?

Sāriputta  
Friend, there are four conditions for Neither-Painful-Nor-Pleasant deliverance of mind. Here with the abandoning of pleasure and pain and the previous disappearance of joy and grief, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mind due to equanimity (26).

This teaching is a description of fourth jhāṇaṃ (Neither-Painful-Nor-Pleasant), which is the transcending of physical pleasure, the transcending of physical pain, the transcending of grief (emotional pain) and the transcending of joy (emotional succour). There is equanimity.
    MahāKoṭṭhita continues his questioning regarding the immaterial absorptions.

Friend, how many conditions are there for the attainment of the signless deliverance of mind?

Sāriputta
There are two conditions for the attainment of the signless deliverance of mind: non-attention to all signs and attention to the signless element (27)

So, Sāriputta describes signless deliverance as a two-fold effort; non-attention to all signs and attention to the signless element. In my language, non-attention to all signs is the simple return of attention to the signless element which requires the apperceptive gaze.
    MahāKoṭṭhita continues his questioning.

Friend, how many conditions are there for the persistence of signless deliverance of mind?
Sāriputta
There are three conditions for the persistence of signless deliverance of mind: non-attention to all signs, and attention to the signless element, and the prior determination (28).

Signless deliverance of mind is the successful descent into voidness, which is Nibbana (Nirvana) and the deliverance is always temporary. It requires being adept in the apperceptive gaze, making a simple return to pure awareness, and crucially the will to succeed. This is quite doable with the right preparation. It doesn’t take life times!
   MahāKoṭṭhita continues his questioning.

Friend, how many conditions are there for the signless emergence from the deliverance of mind?

Sāriputta
There are two conditions for the signless emergence from the deliverance of mind: attention to all signs and non-attention to the signless element (29).

MahāKoṭṭhita’s question is asking how does one stop meditating. The conditions for desisting in signlessness are the opposite of persistence of signless deliverance. The meditator relinquishes his attention to signlessness, and responds to distractions, such as the inclination to move, which never seems for away.
    MahāKoṭṭhita has still not finished questioning Sāriputta. He requires clarification on the meanings of various phrases containing the deliverance of mind.  He asks:

    Friend, the Immeasurable Deliverance Of Mind, the Deliverance Of Mind Through Nothingness, the Deliverance Of Mind Through Voidness, and the Signless Deliverance Of Mind: are these states different in meaning and different in name, or are they one in meaning and different only in name? (30).

This question receives lengthy responses. What we are focusing on are the words Immeasurable, Nothingness, Voidness and Signless, and the different applicaions. Here are Sāriputta answers in short order.

1. Immeasurable Deliverance Of Mind is the practice of the Brahma Abodes (31).
   
   
2. Deliverance Of Mind Through Nothingness is the attainment of the Base Of Nothingness (32).
   
   
3. Deliverance Of Mind Through Voidness is described by Sāriputta as, ‘This is void of self or of what belongs to self (33).’
   
   
4. Signless Deliverance Of Mind is described by Sāriputta as, ‘with non-attention to all signs, a bhik
5. Signless Deliverance Of Mind is described by Sāriputta as, ‘with non-attention to all signs, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the signless concentration of mind (34)158 .’

Sāriputta is elucidating the level of consciousness resulting from these practices. The first two lead to the Brahma Abodes and the Base Of Nothingness and the final two result in Nibbana (suññatta).

MahāKoṭṭhita is still not content and continues to quiz Sāriputta. He asks, “And what friend, is the way in which these states are one in meaning”. That is, what do they have in common. Sāriputta explains that lust, hate and delusion are three signs that hinder all meditations. In this sense, they are one in meaning. With this MahāKoṭṭhita, ends his questioning.
    Sāriputta then adds another term. He says: The best of all meditations is the Unshakeable Deliverance of Mind because it is “void of lust, void of hate, void of delusion (35-36)”. In the Laṭukikopanna Suttaṃ, the first three jhāna are described as perturbable, but fourth jhānaṃ is described as imperturbable (MN66:25), and so are the immaterial absorptions (MN106:3-9). Imperturbable means a meditator cannot be roused from meditation (DN16:4.27-4.33). I take 'unshakeable' and 'imperturbable' as synonymous.

157Curiously, the Buddha does not include Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception.

158 Footnote 458 in Wisdom Publications states: ‘All the four deliverances of mind are one in meaning in that they all refer to the fruition attainment of arahantship. MA also points out that the four deliverances are one in meaning because the terms — the immeasurable, nothingness, voidness, and the signless — are all names for Nibbāna, which is the object of the fruition attainment of arahantship.’
I say, footnote 458 is misleading. Doing the Brahma Abodes or the Absorptions precludes Nibbana. You can't have Nibbana is suññatta (Voidness) and anything else at the sametime.

MA= Majjhima Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā, is one of the five collections in the Sutta Piṭaka of the Pali Canon, which forms the core of Theravada Buddhist scriptures. The Majjhima Nikāya itself contains 152 discourses attributed to the Buddha and his chief disciples. The Aṭṭhakathā provides explanations and interpretations of the suttas (discourses) within the Majjhima Nikāya. 

                                            
Exalted Deliverance of Mind and Immeasurable Deliverance of Mind

What follows is an example of the Bhikkhus, not the Buddha, teaching higher Dhamma to a householder.
    MahāKoṭṭhita was not the only one who needed help distinguishing so many terms. There was an occasion when carpenter Pañcakanga invited the venerable Anuruddha, and three other bhikkhus, to have evening meal with him. After dining, Pañcakanga told Anuruddha he had encountered a group of elders, who had exhorted him to practice Exalted Deliverance Of Mind (yet another term). But on another occasion, he encountered some elders who commended Immeasurable Deliverance Of Mind. He asked Anuruddha to explain the difference between the two.

    Householder, the immeasurable deliverance of mind and the exalted deliverance – these states are different in meaning and different in name. And it should be understood as follows how these states are different …
    What, householder, is the immeasurable deliverance of mind? Here a bhikkhu abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with loving kindness, likewise a second, likewise a third, likewise a fourth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will …

The discourse then repeats the above formatting three times, changing loving kindness for compassion, then altruistic joy, and then equanimity. Anuruddha then explains exalted deliverance of mind.

    And what, householder, is the exalted deliverance of mind? Here a bhikkhu abides resolved on an area the size of the root of one tree, pervading it as exalted: this is called the exalted deliverance of mind. Here a bhikkhu abides resolved upon an area the size of the roots of two or three trees, pervading it as exalted ... Here a bhikkhu abides resolved upon an area the size of one village, pervading it as exalted … an area the size of two or three villages … an area the size of one major kingdom … two or three major kingdoms … an area the size of the earth bound by ocean, pervading it as exalted: this too is called the exalted deliverance of mind. It is this way, householder, that it can be understood how these states are different in meaning and different in name.
MN127:6-8

The above teaching confirms Immeasurable Deliverance Of Mind is a collective term for the Brahma Vihāra. It may be the case that ‘immeasurable’ is describing the nature of the sentiment employed in the Brahma Vihāra, as in not limited.
     Exalted Deliverance Of Mind is a kasina practice. The above example is Earth kasina. The mind is gradually given more image to appreciate and thereby its grip on consciousness dilutes, so to speak.

The Brahmā Vihāra Meditations

Let’s elucidate the Brahmā Vihāra. They are the four contemplation practices of, loving kindness (Mettābhāvanā), compassion (Karuṇā), altruistic joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkhā). Brahmā Vihāra literally means abode of the gods, but in this context, Brahmā vihara does not refer to location but virtuous sentiments you’d expect of the gods. The Buddha tells us the path to the heavenly realms is by the practice of the Brahmā viharas (MN97:32).
    Mettābhāvanā (mettā + bhāvanā = asexual love + becoming) is the cultivation of loving-kindness. Mettābhāvanā is found translated by other adjectival phrases, such as unconditional love, universal love, and brotherly love.
    The adjectival noun, Loving-kindness159 is borrowed by translators from the Old Testament160 where it is used for invoking the compassion of a peerless creator, and to describe affection between people. Whilst the latter is true for Buddhists, the former is not. Buddhists work towards their liberation from suffering independently of God(s).
    Karuṇā is usually translated as compassion.
    Muditā can be found translated as sympathetic happiness, appreciative joy, or altruistic joy.
   Upekkhā is not a volition or emotion but the practice of equanimity.
    Anyone can practice the Brahmā Vihāra (MN96:13-15). For the Buddhist they are also the basis for dedicated meditation.
    Note well, they are not about ramping up emotion. Like all nimitta, just enough effort is used to create and maintain a focus of attention. It does not matter how weakly the sentiment sits in the mind’s eye, or how many times focus is lost, as the sentiment will be weak, and the focus is likely quickly lost. It is a mild effort you are making, after all. Even so, the meditator keeps making the simple return. Patience and resolve, not wilfulness, is the key in meditation. Keep the ego out of it.

159The Oxford Dictionary says the phrase was first combined by J Coverdale 1535 to describe love from God.

160 KJ Bible (1611) Books of Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Hosea.

 Brahmā Vihāra Contemplation Technique

To get the full picture of a Brahmā Vihāra meditation, we have to gather details from several discourses. Here is the description of mettābhāvanā (loving kindness) from the Cūla-Assapura.

    He sees himself purified of all these evil unwholesome states, he sees himself liberated from them. When he sees this, gladness is born in him. When he is glad, rapture is born in him; in one who is rapturous, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated.
    He abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, likewise a second, likewise a third, likewise a fourth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will.
MN40:8-12. MN7:13-14, MN127:7.

In the above teaching, the meditator starts by using himself as the focus for mettābhāvanā, and attains to a modest first jhānaṃ (see Chapter 4, first jhānaṃ). In a graduated manner, he then extends the compassion he feels towards the rest of the world, a quarter at a time. This is, of course, done imaginatively. Exactly how one pictures this in the mind’s eye doesn’t matter. It’s the sentiment (nimittaṃ) and the simple return that is the practice.
    Mettābhāvanā, or just Mettā, can be undertaken in a variety of formattings. I have encountered it most usually in four stages, firstly starting with oneself, followed by someone you are indifferent to, then people in the local area, then a very extended area. Below is a 5-staged mettābhāvanā practice.

Five-Stage Mettābhāvanā

Mettābhāvanā is often taught as a guided meditation. That is, the tutor talks the meditators through the sit. Not every meditation teacher teaches mettābhāvanā identically. What follows is a fulsome, graduated version, which, by the way, doesn’t have to be undertaken in its entirety.

Stage One – One self

In the first stage, the meditator directs loving-kindness towards himself.

Discussion

How? How does one direct loving-kindness towards oneself, as this isn’t elucidated in the Canon. It needs investigating.
    There are several strategies that can help bring this about. 1) Invocation. This means subvocalise or contemplate the meaning of a phrase. In Buddhist circles, a common one is, “May I be happy, may I be well”. 2) Use the memory. Think of an occasion when someone helped you and you felt gratitude, perhaps your pet cat or dog raises your spirits? 3) Imagine an act of loving-kindness.
    While learning Mettābhāvanā, and for a while after, it is just as well to keep things simple, and dedicate a whole session of loving kindness to yourself.
    Be careful to not laps into daydreaming. Use ‘just enough’ effort to get a waft of sentiment. After that, just feel; don’t think, don’t emote. Just apperceive what comes up. Most likely, any sentiment will immediately fall away. No matter, this is not an entertainment or about ramping up emotion. It is an exercise in self-mastery through awareness.
    You might not be able to muster any sentiment at all. It doesn’t matter, It’s not a failure. Let that sink in. It’s not a failure! And this is true for all meditations. What matters in every Buddhist meditation is making what I call the simple return.
    Even if no sentiment arises, and you are left with signlessness, no matter, we have been told by the Buddha and Sāriputta that signlessness is the best. Even in signless meditation, as long as a simple return is made, you are as successful as it is possible to ever be in that moment.
    Making the simple return, and reestablishing the apperceptive gaze upon whatever, will preclude discursive mind (the mind that moves.) and preserve still mind.
    Emotion is a mind that motions imagination. Our imagination manifests as images and words. It’s audio and visual. The point of the apperceptive gaze is to preclude the audio-visual and leave a still mind.
     The gaze, however, does not always preclude strong emotional and physical feelings. Strong emotional and physical feelings require a strong apperceptive gaze to match. This is called suppression and suppression has its place.
    If a negative emotion/feeling such as anxiety, won’t shift, send it loving kindness, or compassion to the specific feeling manifesting161. Talk to it if you have to, as you would if you were comforting a hurt child, and then listen/feel the response. Use the two-char technique if necessary162.
    This is the Mettābhāvanā technique according to me.

161 Try researching, Internal Family Systems.

162 The two-chair technique, also known as chairwork, is a therapeutic method where a client engages in a dialogue with an empty chair, or two chairs, representing different aspects of themselves or other people

Stage Two – A Person Held in Positive Regard

Under the didactic of a graduated approach, the person in this stage should be someone you feel well balanced towards, as this is less of a contrast than if it were a person you find difficult. As there may be some emotional attachment in this stage, some caution has to be maintained. A lover is not the best choice.
    As above, imaginatively extend feelings of love and kindness to this person using one or more of the above three strategies.
    As in the first stage, treat all undirected discursive mind with the apperceptive gaze, and make simple returns as best you can.
    Body and mind are a psychophysical entity and the body will keep triggering the mind until it gets through the tranquilisation stage. After all, mind(s) and body are not yours (See Impermanence Applied To Selfishness. Buddha’s response to Saccaka (MN35)).

Stage Three – A Neutral Person

Still maintaining a graduated approach, the next person is someone the meditator feels neutral towards.
    It is likely the body and mind will be settled at this juncture (10-15 minutes into things). In this case, the mind is more malleable. With regular practice, positive feelings can be generated at will, without an invocation or visualisation. Even so, don’t ramp up the sentiment. The sentiment is the nimittaṃ to which you make a simple return, unless you return to signlessness.

Stage Four – A Difficult Person

Not every stage is compulsory. The point is to make each stage gradual and to keep bringing the mind’s attention back to the focal point of love and kindness, regardless of whether there is any or not.
    Ordinarily speaking sending kindness to a difficult person isn’t appealing. Nor is it impossible to love or want someone you do not like, such is the psycho-physical mechanism that we are. We should be aware that feelings can conflict, and one good feeling doesn’t necessarily cancel out a bad one. You could end up with two opposite emotions about the same person and feeling confused. Clearly, this is not good. In this situation; know the person for what they are and that your feelings need protecting. You may need to marshal your feelings towards a difficult person. Consciously resolve to let go of the negative feeling towards them, and consciously replace it with something positive. Then wish them well, even if it doesn’t feel sincere. This, at least, is a first step to reprogramming your new sentiment towards them. After all, the negative feeling was hurting you and likely only you. That’s not emotionally intelligent is it, even when your upset is justified?
    Bare in mind, even though you have detached from them emotionally the other person likely to remain just the same.
    Sometimes, when meditation fails, all one can do it maintain the gaze to stop the imagination motioning more audio/visual. Know that feelings wax and wane. All compounded things are transient. Sometimes wilfully directed suppression is the intelligent way to go.

Stage Five - All Around

The final stage involves extending loving kindness to those living above, below, and all around, in the all-encompassing world.

... by this liberation of the heart [mind(s)*] through loving kindness he leaves nothing untouched, nothing unaffected in the sensuous sphere. This, Vasettha, is the way to union with Brahma.
DN13:77

The all-encompassing world can be extended into the seas, skies, and even into deep space, towards infinity. In the Mettā sutta (Sutta Nipata 1.8) loving kindness is extended to beings in other planes of existence.
    Clearly not everyone you know can be considered in one stage. But the sentiment is that in principle no being is excluded from one’s love and kindness.

Just as a vigorous trumpeter could make himself heard without difficulty in the four quarters, so too, when the deliverance of mind by loving kindness is developed in this way, no limiting action [kamma, volition*] remains there, none persists there. This is the path to the company of the Brahmā.
MN99:24

Discussion

The above strategies are also applicable for the practices of Karuṇā (compassion) and Muditā (altruistic joy). Upekkhā (equanimity) is something of an odd-one out, as it doesn’t use a sentiment as a nimittaṃ. Upekkhā is, using my own language, brought about through the practice of the apperceptive gaze. Upekkhā, the apperceptive gaze, is the only way to traverse all the way through the absorptions. Equanimity is the very last mind to go before voidness. You will never know you have succumbed to voidness, although afterwards, you might find yourself wondering how the time past so quickly. Voidness, being what it says it is, is timeless, and that is the end of all suffering.

I heartily recommend a psychology called Internal Family Systems (IFS) which is complimentary to the Bhrama Vihara practices. There are free videos on the internet explaining its use.

The four quarters may seem a strange expression but anciently awareness of North, South, East and West carried great significance, and not just in Buddhism. Astro-archaeology is pervasive in megalithic structure, such as henges and pyramids. Its presence in the Pāli Canon may be a colloquialism .

Five stages of 10 minutes each makes a reasonable 50-minute sit. Even so, five stages all at once is not usually undertaken. Sometimes, one stage of mettābhāvanā is tagged on at the end of a samadhi meditation, when the mind is malleable.

All serious meditators must realise that the mind is quite capable of turning an uncomfortable physical feeling into an uncomfortable mental feeling, and projecting it onto the person at the centre of the contemplation (See appendix 8, The Mechanism). Ever snapped at anyone while you were hungry or just feeling unsettled? It can happen quickly; it can be protracted. Either way we’ve lost contact with the eye of wisdom, the I-consciousness.

The Brahmā Vihāra are good for up to and including fourth jhānaṃ. As 4th jhanaṃ, involves Neither-Pain-Nor-Pleasure, the feeling that is there is the subtlest of sensuous feelings. Levels of meditation are commensurate with levels of existence (See table 24 Fine-Material Existence Rupa-loka). The above strategies are also applicable for the practices of Karuṇā (compassion) and Muditā (altruistic joy).
    Upekkhā (equanimity) is something of an odd-one out, as it doesn’t use a sentiment as a nimittaṃ. Upekkhā is, using my own language, brought about through the practice of the apperceptive gaze. Upekkhā, the apperceptive gaze, is the only way to traverse all the way through the absorptions. Equanimity is the very last mind to go before voidness. You will never know you have succumbed to voidness, although afterwards, you might find yourself wondering how the time past so quickly. Voidness, being what it says it is, is timeless, and that is the end of all suffering.

I heartily recommend a psychology called Internal Family Systems (IFS) which is complimentary to the Bhrama Vihara practices. There are free videos on the internet explaining its use.

The four quarters may seem a strange expression but anciently awareness of North, South, East and West carried great significance, and not just in Buddhism. Astro-archaeology is pervasive in megalithic structure, such as henges and pyramids. Its presence in the Pāli Canon may be a colloquialism.

Five stages of 10 minutes each makes a reasonable 50-minute sit. Even so, five stages all at once is not usually undertaken. Sometimes, one stage of mettābhāvanā is tagged on at the end of a samadhi meditation, when the mind is malleable.

All the Brahmā Vihāra contemplations are excellent for maintaining good mental housekeeping. Used over the years, they help attenuate the calculus of negative experience. They support emotional intelligence, as distinct from taking a fateful and laisser-faire, approach to our emotional lives. For the earnest renunciant, emotions are not something that just happen to us. They can and should be managed, in an ethical context. Emotions are tools for communication and navigation in life, and then put away after use. We cannot stop emotion, any more than we can stop feeling hungry. But, we can, like a kindly guardian, watch over them and treat them kindly, even speak to them intelligently and aloud. Emotion is alive I tell you. It’s living sentience.
    According to the Mahārahulavāda discourse, mettābhāvanā (loving-kindness) can be used as an antidote for ill-will, and Karuṇā (compassion) can be used as an antidote for cruelty, and Muditā (sympathetic joy) as an antidote for discontent, and Upekkhā (equanimity) for and antidote for aversion (MN62:18-21).
    We have to be careful what we understand by antidote. It is easy to see how the Brahmā Vihāra can work in a situation where everyone reciprocates. But in environments where people are insensitive to each other, other strategies, particularly avoidance, will be needed.
    When emotions are too strong and the Brahmā vihāra are beyond reach, the application of equanimity-by-suppression might be the only effective strategy (see Table 12 Techniques For Self-Transcendence).
    The idea of feeling compassion towards one’s enemies, will be considered stupid and even offensive by many. There are certainly practical reasons for thinking so. But we must distinguish here, showing love and kindness to others, from generating loving-kindness as a tool for equalising and mastering one’s own emotions.
    Emotions can be debilitating. The predicament of being stuck with negative emotion is worth considering (see appendices 7). Being able to detach from emotion is clearly invaluable. After all, if I am not master of my emotions, who, or what is? What skill is wiser than that which serves our escape from slavery to the mind?
    In my experience, the Brahmā Vihāra are not guaranteed magic spells.

    The Brahmā Vihāra need using with insight. The mind is impressionable and the Brahmā Vihāra should not be used to avoid squaring up to what is happening. The fact is, nice people make attractive targets for the mischievous. Simply not defending oneself is enough to attract such people. There is no shortage of people who enjoy practicing indifference and contempt in return for someone else’s kindness and honesty. Many people deliberately practice the opposite of the Brahmā Vihāra, even if they don't use this term. For some, mischievousness is their principal social skill.

    There is a much vaunted idea in the mind-body-spirit movement that the reader should not confuse with Buddhist practice. It is the belief that a person can change his external environment by changing what he thinks. The idea goes something like: by letting go of the negative and embracing the positive, or letting go of both negative and positive, your relationships, employment, finances, life generally will spontaneously improve. Of course, a healthy mental attitude to life always helps, but if it were that simple, we would all be performing miracles to order.

The principle of the external reflecting the internal does feature in Buddhism. It is found in the law of kamma, which unfolds over time. Also, in the Dhammapada, Chapter 1, we find,    

“1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox163.”
Dhammapada, Chapter 1.

   

Whether this reflects the belief that one can manifest objects by direct thinking and feeling, is for the individual to consider.

 Saṅgha Function and Brahmā Vihāra

The BrahmāVihāra are central to the lives of both layman and bhikkhu. The Buddha once questioned the Venerable Anuruddha on how he and his fellow monks were getting along. Anuruddha replied:

I maintain bodily acts of loving kindness towards those venerable ones both openly and privately: I maintain verbal acts of loving kindness towards those venerable ones both openly and privately: I maintain mental acts of loving kindness towards those venerable ones both openly and privately. I consider: ‘Why should I not set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do?’ Then I set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do. We are different in body, venerable sir, but one in mind.
MN31:7

The venerable Kimbila confirmed this adding, “That is how, venerable Sir, we are living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without dispute, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.”
    The Buddha didn’t leave it at that. He further questioned Anuruddha over how he and his colleagues did this. Anuruddha explained how they had a system for sharing the alms round, tidying up, and sanitization.
    Interestingly, they also had a strategy for minimising speaking. For example, if something was too heavy to lift, they used hand gestures to signal for help. They did, however, timetable all-night discussions of the dhamma for every five days164 (9) . The Buddha taught,

If a bhikkhu should wish: ‘May I be dear and agreeable to my companions in the holy life, respected and esteemed by them,’ let him fulfil the precepts, be devoted to internal serenity of mind, not neglect meditation, be possessed of insight, and dwell in empty huts.
MN6:3

In other words, anyone who has a strong practice should be respected. Clearly, getting along with each other is a collective effort, and a code of behaviour does help. The Buddha taught,

Herein Bhikkhus you should train thus: “Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no evil words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving-kindness, without inner hate. We shall abide pervading that person with a mind of loving kindness, and starting with him, we shall abide pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will”.
MN21:11

    The Buddha taught renunciants following his discipline (as distinct from the householder) to abide compassionate towards all beings (MN27:13), and even to abstain from injuring seeds and plants (MN51:14).

164 Also see MN128:11-15.

The Kasiṇa Meditations

There are 10 Kasiṇa practices (MN77), although the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna discusses only eight. There are four colour-kasina: blue, yellow, red and white, and there are four dhātu-kasina: earth (pathavi), wind (vayo), fire (tejo) and water (apo). The discourse does not teach space (paricchinnākāsa) and consciousness (viññanaṇ) Kasinas; at least, not explicitly, as we will see.
     The Mahāsakuludayi says we can borrow colour to help develop a meditation. It tells us we can take an object, such as the flax flower, which is vibrant blue, and use it for blue-kasina, or we can use blue Banares cloth (a shiny cloth smoothed on both sides). Similarly, yellow can be borrowed from the Kaṇṇikāra flower, red from hibiscus, and white from the Morning Star165 (23).
    It seems safe to assume that any vibrantly coloured object can be used. At least at the start of a meditation. The idea of colour-kasina meditation is not to bathe in an expanse of incandescent colour. It does not matter if the colour of the nimittaṃ doesn’t stay in the mind’s eye. As with all nimitta, they act as a singularity, upon which to return the awareness. The moment focus is lost, all that is needed is a simple return, all done using just enough effort.
    As with the Brahmā Vihāra, colour-kasina are good for up to, and including, 3rd jhānaṃ.
     The dhātu (earth, wind, fire and water) are used in body contemplations, which we have already studied in Kāyānupassanā section (see chapter 5 5. The Four Elements (Dhātuamanasikāra)).
    In a Buddhist context, body contemplations involving the Four Elements, work at the level of emotion and intellect. Their purpose is to develop disenchantment with the body through insight into its fundamental nature.
    One might think space kasina, and consciousness kasina, mean the Base Of Infinite Space, and the Base Of Consciousness. But this is not so, as these are absorptions, and the absorptions preclude the use of the imaginative faculties, and therefore nimitta. Absorptions are technically classified as animttanupassanā (not + nimitta + seeing).
    The Mahāhatthipadopama discourse (MN28) does give short descriptions of space and consciousness Kasinas, although they are not given their own chapter headings, as the other four kasina are. They are merely tacked on at the end of the chapter on Air Element (21). The descriptions are unsatisfactory, and so I’ve done some investigating. Fortunately, we are able to glean a little more about them from other discourses.
    The Dhātivibhanga Suttaṃ gives an example of internal space as ear-holes and digestive tract (MN140:18-19). The Mahāhatthipadopama gives an example of space as defined by the walls of a house (MN28:26). So we see space kasina can be used as nimittaṃ, and classified by an ordinary use of the terms internal and external.

165 This is likely to be Venus, as Mercury is not as bright. Both can be seen in the evening and mornings.

Buddhagosa and Light Kasina

There’s a shortfall of explicit teachings in the Pāli Canon on consciousness kasina, which has not been helped by fifth century Buddhagosa, author of the canonical commentary Vissudhimagga. He taught consciousness kasina was synonymous with something he invented, which he called light-kasina166. Equating consciousness to light is curious indeed. Whatever the merits of this are, I say, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna discourse already provided the information we need. A glance at table 10 Mind(s), compiled from the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna discourse, shows consciousness listed as the 16 different types of minds, under Cittanupassanā. That makes mindfulness of mind(s) a Consciousness kasina. In my language that’s the apperceptive gaze.
   

166Buddhagosa's light kasina should be visualised as a spot of light like that shining through a keyhole. Light kasina, and limited-space kasina as a hole in a thatched roof, which is practically the same as colour kasina based on the morning star.

Discussion – What are the Element?

The term element, needs disambiguating due to its various applications. They don’t need memorising, but awareness of this minimises confusion.
    In the Bahudhātuka discourse, the Buddha explains toĀnanda that there are six different categories of element (MN115:4-9). He lists them as follows.

• 18 elements consisting of the internal base, the external base and its corresponding class of consciousness, For example, the eyes and form-element, give rise to eye-consciousness (And so for ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. See Chapter 5 Table 13 The Saḷāyatana).
• Six elements: earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness.
• Six elements: Pleasure, pain, joy, grief, equanimity and ignorance.
• Six elements: Sensual desire, renunciation, ill-will, cruelty, non-cruelty.
• Three elements: Sense sphere, fine material, and immaterialelements (see table 21).
• Two elements: Conditioned and unconditioned element (Voidness) (see Table 11 The Eight Liberations).

Sāriputta Teaches the Elements and Proper Wisdom

Sāriputta teaches us how to view earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness as contemplations of impermanence. Here is how he explains the earth element:

    What, friends, is the earth element? The earth element may be either internal or external.  What is the internal? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is solid ... hairs of head, body hair, nails … Now both internal earth element and the external earth element are simply earth element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the earth element.
    Now there comes a time when the water element is disturbed and the external earth element vanishes. When even this external earth element, great as it is, is seen to be impermanent, subject to destruction, disappearance, and change, what of this body, which is clung to by craving and lasts but a while? There can be no considering that as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ or ‘I am’.
MN28:6-7

Sāriputta is comparing the solidity of the earth element in his body with the solidity of the actual Earth. His point is that as substantial as the Earth is, it can still be eroded, in this case by water. We can contrast this with the solid parts of the human body and ask ourselves, if the solid Earth is transient, just how substantial are the solid parts in one’s body?
    Sāriputta then applies the same insight to water, fire, air, space and consciousness elements in respect to the human body. Table 17 gives these teachings in short order. Again, we see how transient the elements are when applied to the human body (internal element) and the physical world (external element) (ordinary use).
    In the case of consciousness, Sāriputta explains how it is dependent on the internal and external bases (see table 13 The Bases) and how it clings (27-28) (MN38:6-7). The Buddha teaches that consciousness (minds), as with all elements, is “feeble” (MN112:6), and that consciousness can be made “pure and bright” (MN140:19). Clinging and craving bring suffering, because disappearance and destruction are inevitable.
    The contemplation of impermanence is prescribed as an antidote for clinging and craving.

Table 17, The Six Elements

After teaching the above (to Bhikkhus not lay people), Sāriputta goes on to teach another context of consciousness element. He teaches, even when a bhikkhu is subjected to verbal abuse, having recognised this element of consciousness as pain born of abuse (aversion), the bhikkhu is able to mindfully watch it, and keep his behaviour within ethical parameters. He does this with confidence and steadfastness (MN28:8).
    Sāriputta continues: even if a bhikkhu is physically attacked with fists, clods of earth, sticks and knives, he is not to lose sight of proper wisdom; the discomfort is not ‘I’, the discomfort is not ‘mine’. Sāriputta then recounts an example taught by the Buddha. Even, if a bhikkhu is attacked by bandits who cut him up limb by limb, using a two-handled saw, a bhikkhu who gets angry would not be practicing the Dhamma.

    So tireless energy shall be aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness established, my body shall be tranquil and untroubled, my mind concentrated and unified. And now let contact with fists, clods, sticks, and knives assail this body; for this is just how the Buddha’s teaching is practiced.

MN28:9