Treasures of Wisdom (Earth-Spirit/flickr)

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One [the Buddha] was staying in Savatthi, Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. He addressed the monastics: "Meditators!" "Yes, venerable sir," they replied.
 
The Blessed One then said, "Meditators, before my enlightenment (awakening), when I was still an unenlightened bodhisattva (a "being bent on supreme enlightenment"), this thought occurred to me:
 
"'Why not divide my thinking into two categories?' So I sorted thinking imbued with sensuality, thinking imbued with ill will, and thinking imbued with harming into one category, and thinking imbued with renunciation, thinking imbued with non-ill will, and thinking imbued with nonharming another category.
 
"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with sensuality arose in me. I knew, 'Thinking imbued with sensuality has arisen in me, and that I know to lead to my own affliction, the affliction of others, and/or the affliction of both [myself and others]. It obstructs wisdom, promotes vexation, and leads away from nirvana (liberation).'
 
"As I noticed (and paid attention to the fact) that it leads to my own affliction, it subsided. As I noticed that it leads to the affliction of others... to the affliction of both... it obstructs wisdom, promotes vexation, and leads away from nirvana, it subsided.

"Whenever thinking imbued with sensuality had arisen, I simply abandoned it, dispelled it, sent it out of being (existence).

• [Bhavana, usually translated as "meditation" literally means "bringing into being" -- as in virtue, energy, concentration, absorption, purity, systematic contemplation of Dependent Origination, insight.]

"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with ill will arose in me. I knew, 'Thinking imbued with ill will has arisen in me, and that I know to lead to my own affliction, to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both. It obstructs wisdom, promotes vexation, and leads away from nirvana.'
 
"As I noticed that it leads to my own affliction, it subsided. As I noticed that it leads to the affliction of others... to the affliction of both... it obstructs wisdom, promotes vexation, and leads away from nirvana, it subsided. Whenever thinking imbued with ill will arose, I simply abandoned it, dispelled it, sent it out of being.
 
"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with harming arose in me. ...Whenever thinking imbued with harming arose, I simply abandoned it, dispelled it, sent it out of being.

Meditation

The meditation experience can be full of proliferation or the clarity of peace.

 
"Whatever a meditator keeps pursuing by thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of one's awareness. If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with sensuality, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with renunciation, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.

"If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with ill will, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with non-ill will, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.

"If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harming, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with nonharming, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.
 
"Just as in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn when the crops are ripening, a cowherd would look after the cattle -- tapping, prodding, checking, and curbing them with a stick on this side and that. And why is that? It is because the cowherd foresees flogging or imprisonment or a fine or public censure arising from neglect [letting them wander into others' crops].

"In the same way I foresaw in unskillful qualities drawbacks, degradation, and defilement [of the mind/heart], and I foresaw in skillful qualities benefits related to renunciation and cleansing [simply abandoning them, letting them go, detachment].
 
"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with renunciation [letting go, being able to drop, detach, be free] arose in me. I knew, 'Thinking imbued with renunciation has arisen in me, and that I know to lead neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. Instead, it gives rise to wisdom, abandons vexation, and leads to nirvana.

"If I were to think and ponder in line with that even for a night... even for a day... even for a day and night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it, except that thinking and pondering a long time would tire the body. When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed. And a disturbed mind is far from concentration.'

• Concentration (samadhi) comes in many purifying forms: access, neighborhood, blissful absorptions (jhanas), equanimous absorptions, temporary unity of mind, temporary purity of heart. These can then serve a greater good of forming the stable foundation for insight-practice leading to permanent and final liberation of mind/heart, to enlightenment (bodhi), to emancipation (nirvana).

Gonna rise above, rise above! (BF)

"So I steadied my mind/heart, settled, unified, and concentrated it. And why is that? I did it so that my mind/heart would not be disturbed [distracted, unconcentrated, perturbed, annoyed, weakened].
 
"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with non-ill will arose in me. I knew, 'Thinking imbued with non-ill will has arisen in me, and I know that to lead neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It gives rise to wisdom, abandons vexation, and leads to nirvana.

"If I were to think and ponder in line with that even for a night... even for a day... even for a day and night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it, except that thinking and pondering a long time would tire the body. When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed. And a disturbed mind is far from concentration.' So I steadied my mind/heart, settled, unified, and concentrated it. And why is that? It is so that my mind/heart would not be disturbed.
 
"And as I remained heedful, ardent, and resolute, thinking imbued with nonharming arose in me. I knew, 'Thinking imbued with nonharming has arisen in me...
 
"Whatever a meditatorkeeps pursuing by thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of the mind/heart. If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with renunciation, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with sensuality, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.

"If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with non-ill will, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with ill will, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.

"If a meditator keeps pursuing thinking imbued with nonharming, thereby abandoning thinking imbued with harming, one's mind/heart is bent by that thinking.
 
"Just as in the last month of the hot season, when all the crops have been gathered and brought into the village, a cowherd would look after the cattle: While simply resting under the shade of a tree or out in the open, one remains mindful [with bare awareness] of 'those cows' [in the field]. In the same way, I simply kept myself mindful of 'those mental qualities' [in my field of perception].
 
"Unflagging persistence was aroused in me, and clearly-conscious mindfulness was established. My body was calm and undisturbed (unaroused). My mind/heart was concentrated and onepointed (unified).

Blissful Absorption

Golden Buddha in blissful jhana (meditative absorption), Thailand (thai-on/flickr.com)

 
"Quite withdrawn (apart) from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities, I entered and remained in the first absorption (jhana) full of [supersensual] rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by applied and sustained attention.

"With the stilling of applied and sustained attention, I entered and remained in the second absorption, which is accompanied by rapture and pleasure born of equanimity, unification of mind free from applied and sustained attention.

"With the fading of rapture I remained equanimous, mindful and fully alert, sensitive to great [supersensual] pleasure. I entered and remained in the third absorption, of which the noble ones [arya, those entered onto the stages of enlightenment] say, 'Pleasant is the abiding of one who is equanimous and mindful.'

"With the abandoning of pleasure and pain -- as with the earlier fading away of elation and distress -- I entered into and remained in the fourth absorption, which is accompanied by purity of equanimity and mindfulness, free of all [disturbances whether manifesting as] pleasure or pain.

Insight

When the heart opens and gets clear

"When the mind/heart was made concentrated (unified), purified, brightened, free of blemish, rid of all defilements, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives.

"I recollected my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two... five, 10... 50, 100, 1000, 100000, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion (lesser and great kalpas): 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I rearose there. There, too, I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such was the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I rearose here.' Thus, I remembered my manifold past lives in general and in detail.
 
"This was the first knowledge, which I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, and resolute.
 
"When the mind/heart was made concentrated (unified), purified, brightened, free of blemish, rid of all defilements, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearing of beings [others' past lives].

"I saw by means of the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses human sight, beings passing away and reappearing, and I knew how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their karma (the previous actions of body, speech, and mind): 'These beings, who were previously engaged in bad conduct of body, speech, and/or mind, who reviled (abused insulted) the noble ones, held wrong views, and undertook actions (karma, behavior, conduct) under the influence of those wrong views -- with the break-up of the body, after death, have reappeared in the planes of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, even in hell.

"But these other beings, who were engaged in good conduct of body, speech, and/or mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions (karma) under the influence of right views -- with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in the good destinations [in human and higher planes], even in the heavenly worlds.'

"So by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, and I knew how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their karma.
 
"This was the second knowledge, which I attained in the second watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, and resolute.
 
"When the mind/heart was made concentrated (unified), purified, brightened, free of blemish, rid of all defilements, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental defilements.

"I knew just as it had come to be,

• 'This is suffering (dukkha, disappointment, distress)...
• This is the origination of suffering...
• This is the cessation of suffering...
• This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering...

• These are defilements...
• This is the origination of defilements...
• This is the cessation of defilements...
• This is the way leading to the cessation of defilements.'

"My heart -- by directly knowing-and-seeing -- was released from the defilement of sensuality, released from the defilement of becoming [i.e., continuously wandering in samsara], released from the defilement of ignorance.
 

 

"With this release, there came the knowledge, 'Released.' I knew, 'Rebirth is ended, the supreme life has been fulfilled, the task is done. There is nothing further for this world.'

"This was the third knowledge, which I attained in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, and resolute.
 
"Suppose, meditators, that in a forest or jungle wilderness there were a large low-lying marsh, depending on which there lived a large herd of deer. And say a certain person were to appear -- not desiring their benefit, not desiring their welfare, not desiring their release from bondage. That person would close off the safe, easy path that led to their rapture, and would open up a false path, set out a male and female decoy, and in this way the large herd of deer would eventually fall into ruin, disaster, and be decimated.

"Then suppose that a certain person were to appear to that same large herd of deer, desiring their benefit, desiring their welfare, desiring their release from bondage. That person would open up the safe, easy path that led to their rapture, would close off the false path, take away the male and get rid of the female decoy, and in this way the large herd of deer would eventually come into growth, increase, and abundance.
 
"I have given this simile in order to convey this meaning:

1. 'The large, low-lying marsh' stands for sensuality.
2. 'The large herd of deer' stands for beings.
3. 'The person not desiring their benefit, not desiring their welfare, not desiring their release from bondage' stands for Mara, the Evil One.
4. 'The false path' stands for the eightfold wrong path (wrong view, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration).
5. 'The male decoy' stands for passion and delight.
6. 'The female decoy' stands for ignorance.
7. 'The person desiring their benefit, desiring their welfare, desiring their release from bondage' stands for the Wayfarer (the Tathagata), the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened One.
8. 'The safe, easy path that led to their rapture' stands for the Noble Eightfold Path (right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration).

"So, meditators, I have opened up the safe, easy path, closed off the false path, removed the male decoy and got rid of the female decoy. Whatever a teacher should do in seeking the welfare of disciples, out of sympathy for them, that have I done for you.

"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice absorption (jhana), meditators. Be heedful not heedless, lest you regret it later. This is our message to you."
 
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the meditators delighted in the Blessed One's words.

(Black Flag) RISE ABOVE: Jealous cowards try to control/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ They distort what we say/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ Try and stop what we do/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ When they can't do it themselves// We are tired of your abuse/Try to stop us its no use// Society's arms of control/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ Think they're smart/ Can't think for themselves/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ Laugh at us behind our backs/ I find satisfaction in what they lack// We are tired of your abuse/ Try to stop us its no use// We are born with a chance/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above/ I am gonna have my chance/ Rise above, we're gonna rise above.