Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c19.s1.34

c19.s1.34

¹⁴⁰ Which is the usual treatment in the Abhidhamma (vide Sakya pp. 168-'69), in the last Nipātas of the AN., and in many suttas of the MN. The four Jhānas correspond to the Rūpa-worlds, after which come the four Āruppas corresponding to the Arūpa worlds. The latter can only follow the former, and within them each succeeding stage is realizable only in correlation to the preceding. This is the result of increasing abstraction, till at last perception (Saññā) is so subtle as to be unnoticeable. While the Jhānas are described as Diṭṭhadhammasukhavihāra, the Āruppas are called Santavihāras (MN. S. 8). At one place it is stated that the Jhānas are Abhicetasika, while "Ye te santā vimokkhā atikkamma rūpe āruppā te kāyena phassitvā (vihareyyanti)" (MN. s. 6). This is curious. The non-material realms should have been the less accessible bodily.