Daniel Ingram - Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha - An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

As my dear old meditation friend Kenneth so rightly points out, between the 8th jhana and Nirodha there are a number of states very worth mentioning, thought the standard texts strangely don’t for reasons I can’t fathom. We have come to call them Pure Land One and Pure Land Two, as this seemed as good a thing to call them as anything, thus making a total of 10 jhanas and Nirodha. Both have as their

overwhelming quality the feeling of deep gratitude in the purest and most profound sense, with Pure Land Two being a deepening and strengthening of Pure Land One, though it is also a bit wider and more diffuse. These are remarkably healing, complete, pervasive, satisfying and heartfelt states, and the word “pure” applies quite nicely. Early on I barely noticed them and would jump as fast as I could from the 8th jhana to Nirodha. Now I know better and take the time to enjoy them. They write gratitude, beauty, clarity, and contentment onto the mind.

There is also a state somewhere in that territory that seems basically like pure presence, like being a super-pervading Watcher, with the quality of perceiving or awareness itself being the dominant quality. This has a very different quality from the 6th jhana Boundless Consciousness, and in my opinion is far superior, more fundamental, and could be argued as the highest of the states that involve experience. However, the fact that states that are so clear to me continue to show up that were never described in the old texts so far as I can tell brings up another important point: the territory out there past the fourth jhana and particularly the eighth jhana is very malleable. Kenneth and I have 354

speculated that the limits to the states attainable out there are limited by our imagination and concentration skill only, and I have imagined staging a friendly contest among high-level practitioners to dream up states that are even better than the ones I know so that we can play around with attaining them and seeing if there are any limits to the thing.

The large list of all the exotic heaven realms found in the old texts adds credence to this belief. I realize this may seem like a contradiction to earlier statements I have made about being able to master concentration practices absolutely. It is. Back to describing Nirodha…

The texts rightly say that, on the entrance to Nirodha, verbal formations cease first, then bodily sensations, then the whole of mental functioning ceases when the attainment is finally entered. This is traditionally explained as correlating to the first jhana, fourth jhana and then the entrance into Nirodha respectively. However, it may be noticed that in the three moments before cessation of perception sets in (during the complete power failure-like entrance) the verbal formations, bodily formations and mental formations cease in that order also in three consecutive and definable moments, with the whole thing taking about 1/3 of a second. Thus, the texts may have a double meaning, or were misinterpreted by scholars who had not ever attained Nirodha Samapatti. I say this because it is still typical for many bodily and verbal formations to arise between the eighth jhana the entrance to Nirodha, and thus the traditional interpretation does not hold up.

The texts also say that this attainment may last seven days or even longer, but I don’t personally know of anyone who has admitted to having this happen. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but would probably require a long and sustained retreat before hand. The duration of such attainments will be related directly to one’s concentration abilities, and these are very dependent upon local practice conditions and the amount that they have recently been exercised.

Unlike Fruition, one exits this attainment in the reverse of the way one came in, with mental formations arising first, quickly followed by physical and then verbal formations in the characteristic analogue way of the entrance and with the same timing. After leaving this attainment, the mind tends to be deeply peaceful and very clear, and one’s body tends to be very relaxed. The longer the attainment lasted, the stronger and 355

more durable this effect will be. Thus, I would not recommend attaining this immediately before entering into situations that require high-speed decisions or actions. The texts say that one inclines to solitude or quiet after attaining this state, and in general I agree.

I mention this attainment because it is one more of those things that is found today but has often been relegated to the realm of myth and legend or has been forgotten entirely. It is not that Nirodha is necessary, but it definitely is a good and useful thing to be able to attain. In fact, I have not yet spoken with anyone who had attained it who didn’t consider it among the absolute King Daddy of meditation attainments other than arahatship, as the depth of its afterglow never fails to impress and amaze. Hopefully, mentioning it will raise the standard to which people feel they can reasonably aspire, which is basically the whole goal of this book.

One more little morsel for you brave adventurers… I have noticed that the easiest time to attain Nirodha is usually a few weeks after attaining a path, when the vipassana jhana aspect of the progress of insight is becoming clear and a nice degree of mastery has been attained in that Review phase. However, it has this nice/nasty habit of helping to precipitate a new progress cycle, as the level of clarity gained in its wake is impressive. Thus, one may go from the best highs of a Review phase and Nirodha’s glorious afterglow to the 3rd ñana, A&P and the Dark Night quickly. In fact, this seems to be a very natural part of many cycles of anagamis who also know the samatha jhanas and formless realms.

Best of luck and practice well,

Daniel

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Index

INDEX

1.A&P Event..........................................238

of the unfinished operation..............201

as minimum attainment for teaching

the boulder and the hill......................69

....................................................344

anaolgy.........................................................

difficulty obtaining Fruition after.....255

of Agean Stables...............................126

mimicking enlightenment................248

angels...........................................................

sorting out from Fruition.................240

visions of..........................................145

A&P/A&P Event....................................179

anger......................................................120

abandonment...............................................

compassion in..................................121

of altered states...................................12

arahat.....................................219, 329, 353

of morality..........................................12

arahat...........................................................

absorption..............................................133

and ego.............................................276

acceptance....................................................

below buddhahood..........................329

exploration with.................................21

master of ultimate............................331

access concentration..........................9, 139

revised model...................................282

foundation of insight practices.........171

taking bochisattva vows....................331

near enemy of first jhana..................141

traditional definition.........................274

Achaan Chah...............................................

two types...........................................283

on arahats.........................................341

Wisdom Eye....................................282

advanced practitioner..................................

arahats..........................................................

example of practice..................129, 130

knowing the Three Kayas................308

afterglow.......................................................

limited action models.......................285

of enlightenment..............................213

still think...........................................309

aftershocks...................................................

technically enlightened.....................288

of Fruition........................................212

vs. buddhas.......................................330

agendas......................................................3

which bhumi?...................................330

for Morality..........................................6

arahatship.....................................................

altered states............................9, 13, 52, 53

defilements and................................275

abandonment of.................................12

arrogance.....................................................

insights beyond...................................12

and ego.............................................275

ordinary practice and.......................116

as map side effect.............................170

severe...............................................115

of arahats..........................................275

sleep deprivation and.......................115

of the Mahayana...............................218

anagami........................................................

ascetics.........................................................

anagami............................................274

neurotic..............................................62

mature..............................................281

astral plane.............................................148

analogy.........................................................

attachment...............................................62

of a racecar driver..............................22

and suffering door............................242

of confetti...........................................24

seeing clearly....................................197

of Damnitall.....................................232

to rights and rituals.............................96

of dog chasing own tail.......................63

attention.......................................................

of horse trainer...................................42

focus of...................................................

of Shootin' Aliens...............................42

in 8th jhana

of the candle.....................................315

..................................................

of the cart...........................................34

163

of the Ferrari....................................237

in first jhana

of the hill (and fractals)....................225

..................................................

of the stinking drunk........................201

140

of the toothless dog..........................195

of the two waves...............................309

Index

in fourth jhana

in the Dark Night.............................201

..................................................

blinking..................................................208

143

bliss..............................................................

in the 7th jhana

of third jhana....................................142

..................................................