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

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.