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Manual of Indian Buddhism c5.s3: 3. Spiritual Exercises

Manual of Indian Buddhism c5.s3

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3. Spiritual Exercises

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The striving for Nirvāṇa requires a good deal of constant spiritual exercise, meditation and contemplation, such as with insignificant variations are practised by all Indian ecstatics.

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As a preparatory to soaring into the higher regions of thought, must be considered the bhāvanā, cultivation, cherishing of the sentiments of maitrī, benevolence, karuṇā, compassion, muditā, cheerfulness, and upekṣā, indifference, equanimity. These four Bhāvanās, identical in name and character with those of all Yogins³, are otherwise termed brahmavihāra, living in the spiritual world, and P. appamaññā, Skr. apramāṇa⁴.

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³ Definition in Yogas. I, 33.

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⁴ Aṅg. N. II, p. 130; Nip. p. 89; Vyu. § 72; Lal. V. 35; 371; Jat. Mala XXXII. CHILDERS is right in deriving the P. term from appamāṇa, as appears from mettam cittaṃ bhāvanam appamāṇaṃ S. Nip. I. c.; appamāṇasamādhi = appamaññā Aṅg. N. I, p. 236; appamāṇaṃ cetosamādhiṃ II, 54; cp. Majjh. N. I, p. 283. We have also aparimāṇa S. Nip. p. 26.

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Sometimes a fifth Bhāvanā is added to the four Brahmavihāras, to wit the Aśubhabhāvanā, realisation of the loathsomeness of the body, but in this case bhāvanā means conception, realisation; synonymous terms are asubhasañña and aśubhapratyavekṣā⁵. There are 10 Aśubhas, notions arising from the contemplation of a dead body; the names in P. are: uddhumātaka, bloated; vinīlaka, blackish; vipubbaka, festering; vicchiddaka, fissured from decay; vikkhāyitaka, gnawed by animals; vikkhittaka, scattered; hatavikkhittaka, injured and scattered; *lohitaka*, bloody; *puḷavaka*, full of worms; *aṭṭhika*, bones¹.

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⁵ Majjh. N. I, p. 424; Vyu. § 52, Title; Lal. V. 36; CHILDERS s. v. asubho.

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¹ Dh. Saṅg. 264. The corresponding terms Vyu. § 52 are: *vinīlaka-*, *vīpūyaka-*, *vīpadumaka-*, *vyādhmātaka-*, *vilohitaka-*, *vikhāditaka-*, *vikṣiptaka-*, *vidagdhaka-*, and *asthi-sañjñā*. This list counts one term less than the P. Asubhas, for a detailed account of which see HARDY E. M. 268.

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The ten Asubhas, as well as the four Brahmavihāras, belong to the 40 philosophical Operations or Kammaṭṭhānas². These Operations include the tenfold Kasiṇa, a kind of mystic Bhāvanā. The ten objects on which the attention at this operation must be fixed are: earth, water, fire, air, blue, yellow, red, white, light, and ether or space³. The same rite is practised by the the N. Buddhists, who term it *kṛtsnāyatana*, object or base of Kṛtsna. The ten modes of operation are given in the following order: *nīla-*, *pīta-*, *lohita-*, *avadāta-*, *pṛthivī-*, *ap-*, *tejas-*, *vāyu-*, *ākāśa-*, and *vijñāna-kṛtsnāyatana*⁴.

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² Enumerated from Vis. M. by CHILDERS s. v. They are included in the more extensive series of 108 Dharmālokamukhas in Lal. V. 34 ff.

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³ See CHILDERS s. v. *kasino*. In Majjh. N. I, 423 we find the 5 elements, earth, water, fire, air, and ether or space as objects of *pathavīsamā bhāvanā* &c. The 5 elements with Vijñāna constitute the 6 *Dhātus*; see Dharma-S. LVIII, note. The following bhāvanās l. c. are *metta-*, *karuṇā-*, *muditā-*, *upekkhābhāvanā*; then *asubha*; further *aniccasaññā*; finally *ānāpāna-sati*.

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⁴ Vyu. § 72. The *vijñāna-k.* instead of *āloka-k.* recurs in a Pāli source, Saṅgtti-S.; see CHILDERS l. c. and HARDY E. M. 252 ff. for a more detailed description.

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The 40 Operations further comprise the 10 kinds of *anusmṛti*, P. *anussati*, recollection, constant thinking: on the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha; morality; liberality (*cāga*, *tyāga*); the gods; death; the body; the regulation of inspiration and expiration (*ānāpānasmṛti*); and quietude⁵.

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⁵ Aṅg. N. I, 42. Out of these 10 the first six are given by CHILDERS s. v. *anussati*; likewise in Lal. V. 34; Vyu. § 51; Dharma-S. LIV, note.

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The exercise of Ānāpānasmṛti consists in fixing the mind intently on one's own breathing, in connection with certain set subjects of reflection; it is a highly valued kind of Samādhi⁶.

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⁶ For the details of this mystic operation we refer to Majjh. N. I, p. 425; S. Vibh. I, p. 70; Vyu. § 53 (where the term is *ānāpānabhāvanāvidhi*); HARDY E. M. 267 ff. Cp. WASSILIEF B. 139.

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Four species of Kammaṭṭhāna are termed Āruppa, belonging to the 4 incorporeal Brahmalokas: *Ākāsānañcāyatana*, place of infinity of space; *Viññāṇānañcāy.*, p. of infinity of clear consciousness; *Ākiñcaññāy.*, p. of nothingness; *Nevasaññānāsaññāy.*, p. of neither-consciousness-nor-unconsciousness; in Skr. *Ākāśānantyāyatana*, *Vijñānānantyāy.*, *Ākiñcanyāy.*, *Naivasañjñā-nāsañjñāyatana*⁷. Those who by dint of ecstatic meditation soar into those regions, have reached a very high standpoint, there remaining but one superior: the *Saññāvedayitanirodha*, Skr. *Sañjñāveditanirodha*, cessation of consciousness; the same have arrived at the corresponding exalted states of *vimokṣa*, P. *vimokha*, emancipation, deliverance⁸. There is, of course, not much that is particularly Buddhist in this system. For we know that Ārāḷa Kālāma was proficient in the state of Nothingness, and Udraka Rāmaputra in that of Neither-consciousness-nor-unconsciousness, but they were surpassed by the Buddha, who attained to cessation of consciousness⁹.

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⁷ Vyu. §§ 68; 119; BURNOUF Lotus p. 811; HARDY E. M. 261. Cp. Majjh. N. I, p. 455.

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⁸ Majjh. N. I, p. 456; cp. p. 296; Vyu. § 70; Dharma-S. LIX; the form *Sañjñāvedayita* in Mhv. I, 126. — In some passages we meet with a fourfold *cetovimutti*, mental emancipation; viz. *appamaññā*, *ākiñcaññā*, *suññatā*, and *animittā* c.; Majjh. N. I, p. 297; Aṅg. N. I, p. 4; in others, five; see CHILDERS s. v. *vimutti*. The *cittavimukti* in the Yoga is threefold; Yogas. II, 27, Comm.

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⁹ Majjh. N. I, p. 165; Lal. V. 295; 306; Buddhac. XII, vss. 63; 83.

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It results from the foregoing that the four degrees of Dhyāna, P. Jhāna, abstract meditation, though nominally, excluded from the system of Kammaṭṭhānas, are nothing else but the four lower stages of ecstasy. Since the exercise of Dhyāna is confessedly anterior to Buddhism¹, we content ourselves with producing the following passage from the racy description by CHILDERS². "The priest — concentrates his mind upon a single thought. Gradually his soul becomes filled with a supernatural ecstasy and serenity, while his mind still reasons and investigates the subject chosen for contemplation; this is the first Jhāna. Still fixing his thoughts upon the same subject, he then frees his mind from reasoning and investigation, while the ecstasy and serenity remain, and this is the second Jhāna. Next, his thoughts still fixed as before, he divests himself of ecstasy, and attains the third Jhāna, which is a state of tranquil serenity. Lastly, he passes to the fourth Jhāna, in which the mind, exalted and purified, is indifferent to all emotions, alike of pleasure and of pain". Each of the first three Dhyānas is subdivided into three degrees, the inferior, the medial and the superior meditation; the attainment of the first Dhyāna gives the power of working miracles, *rddhi*, P. *iddhi*. In general the Dhyānas secure access to the sixteen corporeal (*rūpa*) Brahmalokas, the peculiar *loka* being determined by the degree of Dhyāna attained³. It is, consequently, plain that the 4 Dhyānas represent a lower stage of ecstatic contemplation than the 4 Āruppas.

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¹ See c. g. Jat. I, p. 58; Mhv. I, 228; Lal. V. 147; Buddhac. XII, vs. 49. Cp. Yogas. III, 2.

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² Dict. p. 169. Original text e. g. in Majjh. N. I, pp. 21; 117; 455; Lal. V. 147; 439; Mhv. I, 228; Vyu. § 67. Cp. Buddhac. XII, vss. 49 ff.

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³ The names of these Lokas in the sequel.

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Sometimes there is question of 5 Dhyānas (*pañcangikam jhānam*). They differ in no essential point from the 4 Dhyānas, the second stage being separated into two⁴.

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⁴ In Dh. Saṅ. §3 the degrees are *vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and cittass'ekaggatā*.

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In connection with Dhyāna we have to speak of Samādhi, properly a state of most intense concentration and absorption⁵, but in Buddhist writings a wider term. There are different sets of Samādhi. The 3 Samādhis are Savitakka-savicāra-, Avitakka-vicāramatta-, and Avitakka-avicāra. Three others are Suññata, void, Animitta, groundless, reasonless, and Appaṇihita, without fixed purpose⁶, to which correspond 3 states of emancipation⁷. A set of 4 Samādhis is designated by the qualifications of *hānabhāgīya*, leading to rejection; *ṭhitibhāgīya*, l. to firmness; *visesabhāgīya*, l. to distinction, and *nibbedhabhāgīya*, l. to excellence⁸.

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⁵ Mil. P. 38; Yogas. III, 3; Sarvad, S. 164.

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⁶ Aṅg. N. I, p. 299; Mil. P. 337, where the 6 Samādhis are qualified as one of the 7 Ratnas of the Buddha. — Cp. Yogas. 1, 17 f.

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⁷ Dhp. vs. 92 and Comm.; CHILDERS Dict. p. 270. The three Vimoksas or Vimuktis in Vyu. § 73 are: *Śūnyatā, Animittam, Apraṇihitam*. Cp. Dharma-S. LXXII, note.

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⁸ Vyu. § 55 *Nirvedhabhāgīya*, synonymous with *uṣmagata, mūrdhāna, kṣānti, and laukikāgradharma*. Cp. *uṣmagata* &c. WASSILIEF B. 139; 246; Pali *uṣmagata* = *samaṇateja*, Jat. V, p. 208; *usmikata*, highly proficient, brilliant, Majjh. N. I, p. 132.

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In Samādhi one distinguishes two degrees, the inferior called Upacāra-samādhi, and the superior, Appaṇā-S., i. e. initiatory, and penetrating, thoroughly grasping⁹.

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⁹ HARDY E. M. 257. The same division applies to the Kammaṭṭhānas.

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The original meaning of Samādhi is such that any profound pious meditation can be brought under that head. Hence it is not to be wondered at that the Mahāyānists with their ritualistic propensities invented a series of Samādhis adorned with more or less sensational names, but with no definite meaning. The number in the Prajñā-Pāramitā is no less than 108¹.

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¹ Enumerated in Vyu. § 21.

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Theoretically there should be as many Samāpattis as Samādhis. For the latter does not differ more from the former than a process going on does from its accomplishment. It is, in fact, expressly stated that there are eight Samāpattis, coinciding with the four inferior kinds of Samādhi, i. e. the four Dhyānas, and with the four Āruppa Kammaṭṭhānas. The ninth, Nirodha-samāpatti, answers to the Saññāvedayitanirodha².

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² Pugg. P. p. 20; Samy. N. II, p. 216 (nine Vihārasamapattis); Vyu. § 68; BURNOUF Lot. 348; 789; WASSILIEF B. 140; 240. Cp. Yogas. I, 42-48.

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Reverting to the Kammaṭṭhānas, we farther come across the Āhārapaṭikkūlasaññā, consciousness of the impurity of material food³. The last of the list is Catu-dhātu-vavatthāna, determination of the four elements.

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³ HARDY E. M. 96, from Vis. M.

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Besides the forty Operations occasionally occur some exercises not included in the list, and yet termed Kammaṭṭhānas; e. g. the Suññatā-kammaṭṭhāna, but this is obviously merely another name for Suññato (sic) samādhi⁴.

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⁴ Aṅg. N. I, p. 299.

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The base or substratum of an idea, and as such the subject for meditation is called ārammaṇa, Skr. ārambaṇa or, more usually, ālambana⁵.

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⁵ Ārambaṇa in Aṣṭas. P. Pāram. passim, e. g. p. 138; 269; Vyu. § 21; cp. anārambaṇa Chāndogyopaniṣad 2, 9. But ālambana Yogas. I, 10; 38; 42, Comm.

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In the foregoing we have had occasion to name several ideal worlds, the corporeal and the incorporeal Brahmalokas. These and similar worlds are spoken of in a way as if they constituted parts of the universe. The Buddhists, being idealists, make no marked difference between cosmical facts based on observation⁶ and the products of fancy. The one and the other belong to their cosmical system, whereof we will try to give a succinct view.

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⁶ In an idealistic system where there is no room for absolute reality, as the whole world is a product of imagination; in other words: the world is created by Dhyāna. Cp. HODGSON Ess. 28; BEAL Cat. 124.

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4. COSMICAL SYSTEM. CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING BEINGS.

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The universe consists of innumerable spheres, Cakravālas, each of which has its own earth, sun, moon, heavens and hells⁷. Between those spheres are situated certain hells, termed Lokāntarika. The centre of our earth is occupied by Mount Meru or Sumeru (P. also Sineru), around which are the principal mountains, Kulācalas⁸ and beyond these the four continents or Mahā-dvīpas, viz. Uttara-Kuru, the country of the Hyperboreans; Jambudvīpa, India, to the South of the Meru; Apara-Godāna or -Godānīya (P. Apara-Goyāna) to the West; Pūrva-Videha (Pubba-V.) to the East⁹.

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⁷ For details see CHILDERS s. v. sattaloka; HARDY M. of B. 1 ff.; Legends 80 ff. BURNOUF Intr. 599 ff.; WADDELL Buddh. of Tib. 77-104.

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⁸ Cp. Dharma-S. CXXV, note.

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⁹ Cp. Vyu. § 154; Lal. V. 170; Divy. 213 ff.

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Each of the spheres consists of three Avacaras, regions, also styled Lokas, worlds, or Dhātus, layers, floors, the lowest being the region of Kāma, sensual pleasure; higher is the region of Rūpa, form, divided into four stages of Dhyāna; the highest is the region of Arūpa, formlessness¹⁰.

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¹⁰ Vyu. § 155: kāma-, rūpa-, arūpya-dhātu.

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The lowest region is the abode of six classes of gods: 1. the four Rulers of the cardinal points; 2. the Thirty-three gods; 3. the Yāmas; 4. the Tuṣitas; 5. the Nirmāṇaratis; 6. the Parinirmita-vaśavartins¹. These six Devalokas constitute with the world of men, of Asuras, of Pretas, the animal kingdom and the hells, the eleven Kāmalokas².

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¹ Lal. V. 170; Divy. 200; BURNOUF Intr. 212. The gods are longlived, dīghāyuka, but not immortal; Aṅ. II, 33. The same view is common enough among Hindus; e. g. Yājñavalkya Dharmaś. III, 10; Yogas. II, 5, Comm.

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² Vyu. § 156 only eight; to wit the worlds of 6 kinds of gods, of terrestrial beings, and of inhabitants of the atmosphere (antarikṣavāsin).

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The second region, that of Rūpa, or more accurately the Rūpa-brahmaloka — for Rūpaloka in a wider sense includes the Kāmaloka — is divided into sixteen sections, the abodes of as many classes of gods who are free from kāma. Beginning from below we have: 1. Brahmapārisajjas; 2. Brahmapurohitas; 3. Mahābrahmas; 4. Parittābhas; 5. Appamāṇābhas; 6. Ābhassaras; 7. Parittasubhas; 8. Appamāṇasubhas; 9. Subhakiṇṇas; 10. Vehapphalas; 11. Asaññasattas; 12. Avihas; 13. Atappas; 14. Sudassas; 15. Sudassins; 16. Akaniṭṭhas³. The abodes of 1-3 are attained by those who exercise the three degrees of the first Dhyāna, severally. The next three by proficients in the second Dhyāna; the next three by the adepts in the third Dhyāna; 10 and 11 are assigned to the fourth Dhyāna, and the remaining five to the Anāgāmins⁴.

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³ In Majjh. N. I, p. 329 occur the groups 6-10, followed by Abhibhu; cp. there p. 327.

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⁴ CHILDERS s. v. jhānam.

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The Northern texts contain nearly the same names. The first group is made up of Brahmakāyikas, Brahmapāriṣadyas, Brahmapurohitas, Mahābrahmas⁵; the second, of Parittābhas, Apramāṇābhas, and Ābhāsvaras; the third, of Parittaśubhas, Apramāṇaśubhas, and Subhakṛtsnas; the fourth, of Anabhrakas, Puṇyaprasavas, and Vṛhatphalas⁶. The last five are Avṛhas, Atapas, Sudṛśas, Sudarśanas, and Akaniṣṭhas⁷.

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⁵ Thus Vyu. § 157; the second name is wanting in BURNOUF Intr. 212. As there ought to be only three names, it is probable that Brahmakāyikas properly is a comprehensive term for the whole group, as in Pāli; see CHILDERS Dict. p. 486. Cp. Dharma-S. CXXVIII.

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⁶ Lal.V. 171 adds.: Asañjñisattvas, agreeing with P. Asaññasattas; so, too, Dharma-S. l. c.

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⁷ The Atapas wanting in Lal. V. l. c. Vyu. § 161 adds Aghaṇiṣṭhas(!) and Mahāmaheśvarayatana.

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Higher than the Rūpabrahmaloka is the Arūpabr., divided into four degrees which bear the same names as the Aruppa-kammaṭṭhānas⁸.

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⁸ An account of the exact duration of life of the gods residing in the Ākāsānañcāyatana &c. is found Aṅ. N. I, p. 267.

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The very lowest of the thirtyone abodes of living beings are the hells or places of punishment (naraka, niraya). The principal hells are eight in number and known by the names of Sañjīva, Kālasūtra, Saṅghāta, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Tapana, Pratāpana, and the very deepest, Avīci⁹. Apart from these there is the Lokāntarika hell, already mentioned, and many minor hells. In the old system of the N. Buddhists there are besides the eight hot hells just enumerated as many cold hells: Arbuda, Nirarbuda, Aṭaṭa, Hahava, Huhava, Utpala, Padma, and Mahāpadma¹⁰; in the Pāli canon we meet with the same and a few more: Aṭaṭa, Abbuda, Ahaba, Ababa, Kumuda, Uppalaka, Sogandhika, Puṇḍarīka, and Paduma¹¹. In later N. works the number of hells is still greater¹².

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⁹ A detailed description of these hells occurs e. g. Aṅ. N. I, pp. 141 ff. Mhv. I, 7 ff. Cp. Vyu. § 214.

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¹⁰ BURNOUF Intr. 201; Vyu. § 215; Divy. 67. Somewhat different Dharma-S. CXXII, where Apapa = P. Ababa.

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¹¹ S. Nip. p. 123. These terms also denote certain high numerals.

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¹² E. g. in Karaṇḍa-Vyūha. Cp. L. FEER, L'enfer indien, JA 1892 and 1893.

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Above the hells is placed the animal kingdom or brute creation. Not unlikely we have to see in this notion the survival of ancient myths, for real animals are living on our planet, the world of men. Higher than the animal kingdom is the abode of Pretas, ghosts, spectres, though these beings are also placed in the Lokāntarika hell¹. Still higher is the domain of Asuras, demons, among whom ranks foremost Rāhu, the personified eclipse². The hells, together with the next three worlds, constitute the four Apāyalokas³, places of suffering. Adding to them the state of men, we get the 5 Gatis or states of existence⁴.

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¹ Cp. the tales in the Book of Ghost stories, Petavatthu, and CHILDERS s. v. peto.

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² CHILDERS s. v. asuro and Vyu., § 171.

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³ Lal. V. 236 mentions three Apāyas, without specifying them.

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⁴ Or six, if the Asuranikāya be added; BURNOUF Lot. 309; cp. Dharma-S. LVII, note.

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It is difficult for us to realise in how far such theories were matter of serious belief. This much is certain that in the canonical books, both of the South and the North, we repeatedly hear the Master gravely and in a tone of perfect earnest discoursing on his visits to various heavens &c. A visit to the Brahmaloka is vividly described by him in the Brahmanimantaṇika-Sutta⁵. In another passage he asserts that he had received a visit from Brahma Sahampati⁶. Suchlike declarations are numberless, not to speak of the passages where in the history of the Buddha the gods, especially Brahmā and Indra enter as actors, represented with as much reality as the Tathāgata himself. The Master knows all about the destiny of persons in the life to come, and freely predicts where so and so will be reborn, at the same time expressly — and suspiciously — stating that he does not use his transcendent faculty, as other teachers do, out of greed or in order to deceive the world⁷.

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⁵ Majjh. N. I, p. 326.

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⁶ Aṅg. N. II, p. 20; Majjh. N. I, p. 458.

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⁷ Majjh. N. I, p. 464.

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What have we to infer from all this? Whatever may have been the conviction and purpose of those who composed the canonical texts, it can hardly be doubted that the majority of the believers, both among the laity and the monks, have, up to this day, put implicit faith in the contents of their sacred books⁸.

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⁸ On the other hand it cannot be denied that in later Mahāyānist or Tantric works we come across instances of thorough going scepticism. In the Vajramanda Dhāraṇī the Buddha declares: "The hells, o Mañjuśrī, are a creation of ignorant men who foolishly believe in what does not exist; the hells are a product of their fancy"; BURNOUF Intr. p. 544.

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Besides this system of 31 worlds and their inhabitants, there is another in which living beings are distinguished according to their higher and lower degree of spiritual excellence; a distinction, it must be observed, of a temporary character. For the lowest beings in the scale may by dint of Karman rise to the highest rank, and the most elevated can descend, with the exception of Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats, who are certain of reaching final Nirvāṇa.

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According to this classification the highest beings are: 1. the Supreme Buddhas; then follow: 2. Pratyekabuddhas; 3. Arhats; 4. Devas; 5. Brahmas; 6. Gandharvas, celestial musicians; 7. Garuḍas, winged beings flying through the sky like lightning; 8. Nāgas, snake-like beings, resembling clouds; 9. Yakṣas⁹;

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⁹ This word has in B. writings sometimes a wider and older meaning, viz, that of a being to be worshipped or a powerful spirit; Indra e. g. is called a Yakṣa; even the Buddha is glorified by Upāli as an āhuṇeyyo yakkho uttamapuggalo atulo, Majjh. N. I, p. 386. The term is used synonymously with devaputta Saṃy. N. I, p. 54. In a more restricted sense the Yakṣas are the attendants of Kubera as in Hindu mythology; cp. Vyu. § 169.

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10. Kumbhāṇḍas, goblins; 11. Asuras, demons; 12. Rākṣasas, giants, monsters; 13. Pretas, ghosts, spectres; 14. the inhabitants of hell¹.

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¹ The series in Vyu. § 166 is: Devas, Nāgas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Daityas, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, and Kumbhāṇḍas. Several names of these beings are recorded § 167–175. Cp. Divy. 148. Lal. V. 184 omits Daityas, but adds Śakra, Brahmā, the Lokapālas, monks, nuns, lay devotees of both sexes.

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Of all these only the first three will occupy us; the others need no particular notice, the less so, because they belong to Indian mythology in general.

Cites (35)