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Majjhima Nikaya IntraText CT - Text |
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(Jhana)"He by allaying initial thought and discursive thought, with the mind subjectively tranquilized and fixed on one point, enters on and abides in the second meditation4 which is devoid of initial and discursive thought, is born of concentration and is rapturous and joyful. By the fading out of rapture, he dwells with equanimity, attentive and clearly conscious, and experiences in his person that joy of which the ariyans say: 'Joyful lives he who has equanimity and is mindful,' and he enters and abides in the third meditation. By getting rid of joy, by getting rid of anguish, by the going down of his former pleasures and sorrows, he enters and abides in the fourth meditation which has neither anguish nor joy, and which is entirely purified by equanimity and mindfulness.
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4. It is noteworthy that the section on the Four Applications of Mindfulness (satipatthana) is here followed by the second meditation (jhana) without mention of the first. This may either refer to a meditator who, already previously, has attained to the first jhana, or, which seems more probable, it is meant to indicate that the intensive practice of Satipatthana which, through emphasis on bare observation, tends to reduce discursive thought, and enables the meditator to enter directly into the second jhana, which is free from initial and discursive thought (vitakka-vicara). This latter explanation is favored by the facts that (1) in our text, the practice of Satipatthana is preceded by the temporary abandonment of the five Hindrances, which indicates a high degree of concentration approaching that of the jhana; (2) in our text, the meditator is advised not to engage in the thought about the body, feelings, etc. -- that is, in discursive thinking, which is still present in the first jhana. [Ed., The Wheel]. |
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