Note 2--puthujjana and Noble Ones. (Text 2)

    A worldling is one who has not yet attained to one of the four stages of Noble Ones, which are:
1. Stream-enterer: one who has entered the stream of nirvana. He is destined to sure and steady progress along the Path with no possibility of retrogression or decline in spiritual development and he will be born no more than seven times. He is characterized by the eradication of three of the ten spiritual fetters:
a. wrong idea regarding self or personality. The idea of self or personality is wrong when it is based on clinging to the five aggregates, name-and-form, as the real person or self.

b. doubt or hesitation. This is doubt or hesitation or uncertainty in belief in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

c. clinging to the efficacy of rites and rituals. Belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals over the effects of karma, which is a cause of superstition, black magic and ritualism.

2. Once-returner: one destined to be born in the human world only one more time (after birth in a celestial realm) and then to attain Enlightenment here. He has also eradicated the above three fetters but has minimized the remaining seven to a greater degree than has the Stream-enterer.

3. Non-returner: one destined to be born in a particular celestial realm of his own where he will attain to Enlightenment. He will not return to the human world again. In addition to the above three fetters, he has eradicated another two:

d. lustful desire. This means even the minutest grain of desire for sensual pleasure.

e. irritation. This means the smallest possibility for a person to be aroused to anger.

4. Enlightened One: one who has eradicated all ten spiritual fetters. His is the last birth. After the dissolution of the physical body there is no more birth for him in any plane of existence.

The remaining five fetters are:

f. delight in (subtler) forms ('form' meditation). The condition of being absorbed in ecstasy and bliss born of meditation in the level of absorption concentration. (see Note 4, b, Text 2)

g. delight in the 'formless' meditation. A somewhat similar absorption but in a higher level. (see Note 4, c, Text 2)

h. pride or ego. Comparing oneself with others.

i. distracting thoughts. This results from a still imperfect control of thoughts.

j. ignorance. Ignorance of the true nature of things, tricking beings by making life appear to them as permanent, happy, substantial and beautiful, and preventing them from seeing that everything in reality is impermanent, liable to suffering, void of I and mine or self, and basically impure. It is ignorance of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the way to its cessation. [Go back]

 

Note 3--patisambhida-nana: fluency or discernment. (Text 2)

    It is of four kinds:
a. Fluency in giving explanations of the summarized teachings, or discernment with regards to results, that is, the ability to evaluate or envisage results by means of insight into the future.

b. Fluency in summarizing complicated details and lengthy descriptions for the sake of quick reference and memorizing, or discernment with regards to causes, that is, the ability to trace effects back to their causes by means of insight into the past.

c. Fluency in the use of words and language in preaching to make the teaching understandable and appeal to a wider circle of listeners.

d. Fluency in the way of application and adaptation, that is, the possession of tact and wit, the capacity for adapting and applying a particular practice to a particular person on a particular occasion, the ability to handle any emergency or unexpected situation. [Go back]

 

Note 4--The Three Realms. (Text 2)

a. The planes of sensuality. The realms of those sentient beings whose minds are still dominated by the desire for sensual pleasures. The plane of human beings and the six celestial planes are included here.

b. The planes of form. These planes are for those who have won some achievement in 'form' meditation (one based on contemplation of a material object). From this level onwards the mind can transcend the desire for sensuality and become absorbed in the transcendental bliss and ecstasy born of meditation.

c. The formless planes. These planes are for those who have merged into the 'formless' meditation (one based on contemplation of an immaterial object).

    These three are called the Three Planes of Existence, the Three Planes of Become, or the Three Worlds.

    For those who have realized the Supramundane, those Noble Disciples, their plane is only called Plane of Existence and not Planes of Becoming, because their minds are incapable of retrogression. [Go back]

 

Note 5--nimitta. (Text 3)

    The term nimitta literally means 'mark' or 'sign'. A vision or an image here means the mark of the degree or depth of meditation or recollection of a subject of contemplation. There are three stages.

    The first is called 'vision during meditation' and it is the object used in meditation, such as a corpse, a colored disc (red, yellow, etc.), a light, etc., upon which the mind is fixed.

    The second is called 'created vision', which is the exact image of the object of meditation reproduced by the mind and seen in the minds' eye. This is the first stage of matter created by mind.

    The third is called 'controlled vision', whereby the image created can be controlled, made larger or smaller at will, all the time being a facsimile of the original, the difference being in scale but with strict identity in details and general structure. [Go back]

 

Note 6--corpse (Text 3)

    In the sequel to this biography of the Venerable Phra Acharn Mun, entitled 'The Manner of Practice of the Dhutanga Bhikkhu Disciples of the Venerable Phra Acharn Mun' by the same Venerable author, this point is touched on in detail and is given here for those who wish further information about it.

    'When the Venerable Acharn's mind was calmed down, there appeared a vision of a festering and bloating corpse, sometimes that of his own body and at other times that of someone else, with scavengers such as vultures, crows and dogs scrambling for it. Before long it was torn to pieces and scattered all over the area. The meditation sittings which followed were based on the corpse and which he developed for greater proficiency and profundity of insight into the nature of the body.

    'The Venerable Acharn's mind was by nature ultra-dynamic and highly resourceful, being inclined towards bold and dramatic adventures, and this type of meditation suited him very well. He would visualize a skeleton falling apart, each bone scattering to various places. He would then visualize those bones being collected and piled in a heap, and then being reduced ashes. He applied this process to his own skeleton and to that which he visualized, after which his mind withdrew into the base of concentration and rested there for several hours. He repeated this process until it became automatic, responding to his will. He then applied this process to the skeleton of his body in every posture.

    'These visions in his sitting meditation served as grinding stones to sharpen his mindfulness-and-wisdom, steadily enhancing his powers of meditation and contemplation. When the skeleton which he had visualized became one with that of his own body, there was no need to visualize anything 'external' to himself. His own body then became the basis of his meditation. His meditation was firmly established as well as his ability to withdraw into the base of concentration at will.

    'The Venerable Acharn then ceased to use the word BUD-DHO as his subject of meditation, replacing it with the word atthi (bone), coupled with the formation and dissolution of the body visualized in every position. Using bone during his meditation sittings, his body vanished. The mind was delivered from material bond. Every level of meditation was attained to at will. Insight into materiality was fully developed and could be recalled with ease. The Venerable Acharn said that this level of meditation made the mind wonderfully bright. With self-complacency, an aspirant is very likely to become absorbed in this bliss and stop there. This happens most often to those who are heedless of wisdom, and so are engrossed in this 'emptiness' or 'void', concluding that it is nirvana. Such a conclusion is reached because of the traditional assumption that nirvana is a void or emptiness, they not knowing what 'emptiness' is, or what is still lurking behind the so-called emptiness being experienced. Even at this lofty stage there are still latent subtle defilements which most craftily obstruct the mind from realizing nirvana. Thus before surpassing corporeality (internal and external matter), through a variety of contemplation processes, mindfulness-and-wisdom must revolve with the body in its every movement and moment. This contemplation of the body is centered on the three signs of being (changeability, flux, and ownerlessness), and thus the body is of great importance in this stage of practice. The more subtle an aspirant's contemplation, the more courageous he is in the course of his practice. When the searching and digging mind becomes tired, it then withdraws into the base of concentration for a temporary rest.

    'Before contemplation of the body is to be considered fully developed, the body revolves into the oneness of mind. At that moment there is simultaneously the cessation of two sankharas [thoughts and moods; attitudes of mind; assumption, taking something as true]: the sankhara leading to the increase of suffering, and the sankhara leading to the cessation of suffering [including the realization of the repulsiveness of the body, its changeability, flux and ownerlessness]. Hence the separation of the assumption that the body is beautiful, attractive, etc., and the assumption that body is repulsive, ugly, etc., with the consequent passing of the mind through the 'gap' with complete detachment. Henceforth, no such [extreme emotional] assumptions can disturb [the peace and blessedness of] the mind.... Thereafter the mind is detached from and devoid of the phenomena of materiality, both internal and external. The mind remains bathed in light supreme and continues its contemplation, based on mindfulness-and-wisdom, of the immaterial aggregates (nama) of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, all of which are continuously arising and passing away simultaneously with the mind, with ignorance, the origin or prime mover of defilements.' [Go back]

 

Note 7--paccavekkhana. (Text 7)

    A Buddhist monk is allowed to have only four requisites which are used properly by him only after the following contemplation on their use.
Properly considering the robe, I use it: only to ward off cold, to ward off heat, to ward off the touch of gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and reptiles, only for the purpose of covering the shame (causing) sexual organs.

Properly considering alms-food, I use it: not playfully, nor for intoxication, not for fattening, nor for beautification; only for the continuation and nourishment of this body, for keeping it unharmed, for helping with the chaste life (thinking) I shall destroy old feelings (of hunger) and not produce new feeling (of overeating, etc) Thus there will be for me freedom from (bodily) troubles and living at ease.

Properly considering the lodging, I use it: only to ward off cold, to ward off heat, to ward off the touch of gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and reptiles, only for the purpose of removing the dangers from weather and for living in seclusion.

Properly considering supports for the sick--medicines and utensils--I use it: only to ward off painful feelings that have arisen, for the maximum freedom from disease.

    Such contemplation is to increase the monk's mindfulness of his feelings of attachment to and cravings for things which are pleasing to the eyes, ears, tongue and body, and to help him root them out of his mind with wisdom. [Go back]

 

Note 9--walking meditation practice. (Text 8)

    In the sequel to the Biography of the Venerable Phra Acharn by the same Venerable author, it is said about walking meditation that:
    Should space not permit, the shortest track allowable was one not less than ten paces in length. A medium length track would be twenty paces, and a long track would be twenty-five to thirty paces in length. The track should run along the east-west axis or not more than 45 degrees above or below that line. The Venerable Acharn was never seen walking on a track that ran along the north-south axis, and if he saw his disciples using such a track, he would tell them to stop. There had to be some underlying principle for his prohibiting this kind of track, since it was believed that he was able to survey the ancient practices in the time of the Buddha before he was sure of the correctness of his method and would tell his disciples to follow it.

    While walking on this track, the outer robe may or may not be worn, depending upon the location of the track itself. The aspirant should not fold his arms, cross them in back of him, or swing them back and forth. He should cross them in front of him, right hand over the left, both resting below the navel. One may walk for a while and then stop if one wishes. There is no need to walk continuously. Whenever contemplation becomes profound, the aspirant may stop, even perhaps for an hour, before walking is resumed. There is also no fixed length of time for walking meditation, nor even its frequency day or night, it all depends on the aspirant's physical health and mental requirements.

    Walking meditation is for the purpose of developing meditation or the power of contemplation. It is to be based on the presence of mindfulness, without which the walking would become mechanical and robot-like. [Go back]

 

Note 15--dhatu. (Text 17)

    According to Buddhist analysis, the body is made up of the four elements of earth, water, fire and air.

    The earth element is that which is hard, solid, and which includes hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bone-marrow, bone, kidneys, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, undigested food or gorge, and excrement

    The water element is that which is liquid, fluid, and which includes bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, solid fat, tears, liquid fat, spittle, mot, oil of the joints, and urine.

    The fire element is that which is heat, warmth, that is, that whereby one is warmed, one is consumed, one is burned up, and whereby what is eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted gets completely digested.

    The air element is that which is motion, wind, and which includes winds going downwards, winds in the abdomen, winds in the bowels, winds that course through all the limbs, the in-breath and the out-breath.

    Specifically, this meditation is used to contemplate the body in all its parts so that one may realize by means of wisdom that the physical body is not self, not mine, that it is a compounded thing, subject to decay, break up and death, and that it is a foul thing. When one realize the body as such, one is detached from it, one does not cling to it as one's own, as belonging to oneself, nor does one hold the body to be oneself, nor oneself the body. [Go back]

 

Note 17--preliminary instruction. (Text 22)

    All applicants for ordination, during the ordination ceremony itself, receive a preliminary instruction from their Preceptor. The content will vary according to each Preceptor, but it can be safely stated that it will contain a short life of the Buddha and his Dharma and the Sangha, the Triple Gem to which all Buddhists go for Refuge. He will also tell the applicant the importance of the development of mindfulness-and-wisdom, the importance of keeping his monk's discipline pure, and the importance of meditation. After having received such an instruction, the applicant will be given a meditation subject which will protect his chaste monk's life with frequent contemplation. This meditation subject is one aspect of body meditation and is the five external, visible parts of the body: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, and skin. [Go back]

 

Notes 19 and 26--The Law of Dependent Origination. (Text 30, 64)

    The Law of Dependent Origination is the doctrine of the conditionality or all physical and psychical phenomena, a doctrine which, together with that of not-self, forms the indispensable condition for the real understanding and realization of the teaching of the Buddha. It shows the conditionality and dependent nature of the uninterrupted flux of manifold physical and psychical phenomena of existences conventionally called the ego, or man, or animal, etc.

    The formula of the Law of Dependent Origination runs as follows:

1-2. Through ignorance are conditioned the rebirth-producing volitions or karma-formations.
   3. Through the karma-formations (in past life) is conditioned consciousness (in the present life).
   4. Through consciousness are conditioned the mental and physical phenomena(nama-rupa), i.e. that which makes up our so-called individual existence.
   5. Through the mental and physical phenomena are conditioned the six bases (the five physical sense organ, and consciousness as the sixth).
   6. Through the six bases is conditioned the (sensorial mental) impression.
   7. Through impression is conditioned feeling.
   8. Through feeling is conditioned craving.
   9. Through craving is conditioned clinging.
 10. Through clinging is conditioned the process of becoming, consisting in the active and the passive life-process, i.e. the rebirth-producing karma-process, and, as its result, the rebirth-process.
 11. Through the (rebirth-producing karma) process of becoming is conditioned rebirth.
 12. Through rebirth are conditioned old age and death (sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair).
    Thus arise this whole mass of suffering again in the future.

    The following diagram shows the relationship of dependence between three successive lives:
   Past     1. ignorance
  2. karma-formations		  karma-process
  five causes: 1, 2, 8, 9, 10
   Present      3. consciousness
  4. corporeality and mentality
  5. six bases
  6. impression
  7. feeling		  rebirth-process
  five results: 3-7
  8. craving
  9. clinging
10. process of becoming		  karma-process
  five causes: 1, 2, 8, 9, 10
   Future   11. rebirth
12. old age and death		  rebirth-process
  five results: 3-7
The Law of Dependent Origination in its serial order can be considered a detailed analysis of the Second of the Four Noble Truths: the cause of suffering. In its reverse order, it is thus the Third of the Four Noble Truths: the cessation of suffering. The formula of its reverse order runs as follows:

1-2. Ignorance ceasing, the rebirth-producing volitions or the karma-formations cease.
   3. The karma-formations ceasing, consciousness ceases.
   4. Consciousness ceasing, mental and physical phenomena cease.
   5. Mental and physical phenomena ceasing, the six bases cease.
   6. The six bases ceasing, (sensorial mental) impression ceases.
   7. (Sensorial mental) impression ceasing, feeling ceases.
   8. Feeling ceasing, craving ceases.
   9. Craving ceasing, clinging ceases.
 10. Clinging ceasing, the process of becoming ceases.
 11. The process of becoming ceasing, rebirth ceases.
 12. Rebirth ceasing, old age and death cease.
Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.

(Buddhist Dictionary by Nyanatiloka, pp. 128-136)

[Go back Note19][Go back Note26]

 

Note 36--kinds of arahants. (Text 102)

    An arahant is one who is purified, an enlightened one. Arahants can be divided into four types, as follows:
1. Those who have achieved Full-final Attainment without any byproducts. Their minds are absolutely purified, perfected is their task with regard to mind-development, there being for them no more rebirth. In other words, they have met the minimum requirement for such an attainment and are endowed with no additional qualities.

2. Those who have achieved Full-final Attainment with the threefold knowledges: recollection of past lives, clairvoyance (into the births and deaths of other beings), and the attainment of insight.

3. Those who have achieved Full-final Attainment blessed with the sixfold psychical feats. In addition to insight, the minimum requirement, the others are: psychic feats of all kinds (levitation, for example), clairaudience, mind-reading, recollection of past lives, and clairvoyance.

4. Those who have achieved Full-final Attainment with fluency of discernment which are four in number: fluency in giving explanations or discernment with regards to results, fluency in summarizing or discernment with regards to causes, fluency in the use of words or language, fluency in the manners of application and adaptation. [Go back]