The Seven Attentions

IV. The Fourth Yogasthāna

Of the practitioner who has obtained attention, who has thus entered into limited delight in abandonment, two paths upward become available — none other. What two? Namely: the mundane and the supramundane. This beginning practitioner, with-attention, thinks: 'Shall I go by the mundane path, or by the supramundane?' — and cultivates that very attention. Inasmuch as he cultivates, the praśrabdhi and one-pointedness-of-mind, by the passing of those days and nights, go to expansion, growth, abundance. When his attention has become view-stable and forceful, and the object-resolve proceeds relaxed, proceeds thus, and the śamatha-vipaśyanā signs have been grasped — then, wishing to go by the mundane path, he begins the practice there; or by the supramundane path.

How many persons, in this very life, go by the mundane path alone, not by the supramundane? It is said: Four. Namely: the wholly outsider; even within the dharma, the dull-faculty practitioner; one previously practicing only śamatha who is, moreover, of unripe wholesome roots; a bodhisattva wishing to attain bodhi in the future, not in this very life. These four persons go by the mundane-path-vehicle in this very life.

The mundane-path travel itself is twofold: that of the completely-bound ordinary persons, and that of the partially-bound, the trainees.

What is it?

Seeing the grossness of sense-pleasures and the defilement-edge of the first dhyāna attainment-and-rebirth — that is the going-to-dispassion-toward-sense-pleasure. Up through — dispassion toward the ākiñcanyāyatana is to be known thus. Likewise the unconscious attainment. Supported by the dhyāna attainment, there is the manifestation of five of the six consciousnesses.

The practitioner engaged in dispassion toward sense-pleasure attains kāma-vairāgya through seven attentions. He attains kāma-vairāgya.

What seven attentions?

It is said: The characteristic-knowing, the resolve-born, the seclusion, the delight-gathering; the examination attention; the practice-culminating, and the fruit-of-practice-culmination.

What is the characteristic-knowing attention?

It is said: The attention by which the practitioner comprehends the gross characteristic of sense-pleasures, and the calm characteristic of the first dhyāna.

How does he comprehend the gross characteristic?

It is said: Investigating the six investigation-subjects of sense-pleasures: meaning, specific characteristic, general characteristic, side, time, and reasoning.

Investigating the gross meaning: 'These sense-pleasures are with-fault, with-many-troubles, with-many-afflictions, with-many-disturbances.' The much-fault-character of these sense-pleasures, up to much-disturbance-character — this is the gross meaning.

Investigating substance: 'There exists, inwardly, sense-desire toward sense-pleasures.'

Investigating the specific characteristic: 'These are the defilement-sense-pleasures (kleśa-kāma); these are the substance-sense-pleasures (vastu-kāma). They are in turn bases for pleasant feeling, bases for painful feeling, or bases for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. The bases for pleasant feeling are bound to kāma-rāga, bound to perception-and-mind-perversion. The bases for painful feeling are bound to hatred, anger, resentment. The bases for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling are bound to concealment, malice, deception, fraud, shamelessness, lack of remorse, and view-perversion. Thus these sense-pleasures are followed by tainted feelings and by their corresponding defilements.' Thus he investigates the specific characteristic of sense-pleasures.

How does he investigate the general characteristic?

'All these sense-pleasures, together with the suffering-of-birth, the suffering-of-aging, up through the suffering-of-thwarted-desire, are equally bound and bound-together. Even those sense-pleasure-enjoyers who proceed in great sense-pleasure-abundance — they too are not free from the dharmatā of birth-and-the-rest. Their abundance is only momentary.' Thus he investigates the general characteristic.

How does he investigate the side?

'These sense-pleasures fall on the dark side. They are like a skeleton, like a piece of meat, like a grass-torch; like a coal-pit; like a venomous snake; like a dream; like borrowed ornaments; like fruit on a tree. Even beings seeking sense-pleasures experience the suffering of the seeking. They experience the suffering of guarding, of loss-of-affection, of dissatisfaction, of non-autonomy, of misconduct. So also for one indulging in sense-pleasures. Five faults have been spoken of by the Blessed One: 'Sense-pleasures give little gratification, much suffering, much fault.' 'To one indulging in sense-pleasures, there is no measure of satisfaction or sufficiency. By this enumeration, sense-pleasures are reproached by the Buddhas, by the Buddha-disciples, by the well-gone ones, by the noble persons.' 'To one indulging in sense-pleasures, the fetters go to accumulation.' 'There is no evil, unwholesome action that I say is not-to-be-done [by such a one].' 'These sense-pleasures are dissatisfaction-makers, common, causes of unrighteous and unequal conduct; increasers of sense-craving, to be avoided by the noble, swift-going to sense-objects, dependent on conditions, places of heedlessness, hollow, impermanent, vain, falsely-pretending, illusion-like, child-prattle.' Whether sense-pleasures of this very life, or of the next life, whether divine or human — beginning with Māra, this is Māra's range, this is Māra's pasture, where these manifold evil, unwholesome mental dharmas come about: namely covetousness, ill-will, agitation — or whatever else is obstructive to a noble disciple in training. By many enumerations these sense-pleasures fall on the dark side. By this much, in this manner, he investigates the side.

'Across past, future, and present times — these sense-pleasures are impermanent in every time, unstable in every time. Thus they are with-many-troubles, with-many-afflictions, with-many-faults.' Thus he investigates time.

How does he investigate reasoning?

'With great endeavor, with great seeking, with great labor, by various assorted craftsmanship-and-occupations, sense-pleasures are gathered. They are generated, accumulated. Once gathered well and generated well, they extend as far as external objects of attachment: mother, father, son, wife, female slave, male slave, worker, servant, friend, minister, kinsman, blood-relation. Or, with respect to this inward body — of form, gross, made of the four great elements, accumulated by gruel and barley, subject to constant smearing, washing, rubbing, breaking, cutting, scattering, and destruction — they serve merely as counteractions to sufferings as they arise. Food is the counter-action of the suffering of hunger. Clothing is the counter-action of the suffering of cold and heat, and for covering up shame. Bedding is the counter-action of the suffering of sleep-fatigue. Walking-and-standing is the counter-action of the suffering of posture. And for the counter-action of the suffering of illness, medicine for the sick — these sense-pleasures are counteractions to suffering.' 'These are not to be enjoyed with attachment, nor with clinging — except by one ill, weakened, suffering, taking medicine simply for the appeasement of illness. So this is trustworthy testimony.' 'So these sense-pleasures are gross thus and thus.' 'Direct knowing-and-seeing has also arisen in me.' 'There is also this inferential rule.' It is also the nature of sense-pleasures — beginningless, established-dharma, unthinkable-dharma. It is not to be thought. It is not to be discriminated. Thus he investigates reasoning.

Having thus comprehended the gross-characteristic of sense-pleasures by the six investigation-subjects, he comprehends the calm-characteristic in the first dhyāna: 'There is not at all this gross-character in the first dhyāna that there is in the desire-realm.' By this, he comprehends the gross-characteristic of the desire-realm and the calm-characteristic of the first dhyāna. This is called the characteristic-knowing attention. This attention is to be known as mixed with hearing-and-thinking.

Having thus fully understood sense-pleasures and properly investigated the first dhyāna by the gross-and-calm-characteristic, he transcends hearing and thinking, and resolves purely by the cultivation-aspect alone. He cultivates śamatha-vipaśyanā with that very sign as object. As, by cultivation, he resolves on that gross-and-calm character again and again — thus arises the resolve-born attention.

Through familiarization, cultivation, and frequent practice of that, for the first time the path arises for the abandoning of defilements. When the path for the abandoning of defilements has arisen, that attention [Damaged/Conjectural: connected with that state] is called the seclusion attention.

For the first time, by abandoning the desire-realm defilements and other things to be abandoned, and by the dissipation of the corresponding-side encumbrance — beyond that, he becomes one delighting-in-abandonment, delighting-in-seclusion. There, seeing the benefit of abandonment, touched by limited seclusion-born rapture-and-happiness, from time to time he gladdens the mind by inspiring attention, rouses it. By uplifting attention he arouses it. All for the dissipation of sloth-and-torpor and agitation. This is called the delight-gathering attention.

Of him thus delighting-in-abandonment, delighting-in-cultivation, properly engaged — with the establishment-of-the-wholesome-side, the defilement-and-action-obsession bound to sense-pleasures does not occur, whether walking or sitting. It occurs to him: 'Am I sensing sense-desire toward sense-pleasures as actually present, or do I want to examine whether it is absent?' He attends to one or another inspiring fair sign. Because of the non-abandoned-ness of all the latent tendency — even attending to that sign, his mind goes to inclination-toward-indulgence, propensity-toward-indulgence, leaning-toward-indulgence. There is no genuine recoil, disgust, or repugnance. It occurs to him: 'My mind is not properly dispassionate, not liberated from sense-pleasures. My mind is restrained by formations like water held by a dam, restrained by dharmatā. Let me, by greater measure, abide more delighting-in-abandonment for the complete abandoning of that latent tendency.' and delighting-in-cultivation. This is called the examination attention.

By a greater measure, he abides delighting-in-abandonment, delighting-in-cultivation, joined with śamatha-vipaśyanā. He examines his progress again and again. Of him cultivating the antidote, time after time examining the abandoned-and-not-abandoned, the mind disengages from all desire-realm defilements — by time-bound practice. But the seed is not yet completely uprooted. At that time, having reached the limit of preliminary-dhyāna-practice path, the antidote to all defilements arises. This is called the practice-culminating attention.

And, conditioned on that very attention [the practice-culminating attention] as the cause, he attains the first dhyāna. The attention conjoined with the basic-first-dhyāna is called the fruit-of-practice-culmination attention.

Abiding in the seclusion-attention and the delight-gathering-attention, by the seclusion-born rapture-and-happiness, he saturates the body. Sometimes by some particular conditions, by the manifesting of a thinned aspect, in the time of the practice-culminating attention there is non-delight. Sometimes again, when a broader dhyāna is brought into presence and the fruit-of-practice-culmination attention is occurring, [Damaged/Conjectural: no part of his body remains] [Damaged/Conjectural: unsuffused throughout by seclusion-born rapture-and-happiness.] At that time, secluded from sense-pleasures, secluded from evil unwholesome dharmas, with thought and examination, he attains and abides in the five-factored first dhyāna, with seclusion-born rapture-and-happiness. Having stood in the fruit of cultivating-the-counter-action-to-the-desire-realm, he attains kāma-vairāgya.

By the characteristic-knowing attention, he properly knows what is to be abandoned, and his mind sets the determination toward the abandoning of what is to be abandoned and the attaining of what is to be attained. By the resolve-born attention, he properly begins the practice for abandoning and attaining. By the seclusion attention, he abandons [Damaged/Conjectural: the strong grade of defilement]. By the delight-gathering attention, he abandons [Damaged/Conjectural: the middling grade of defilement]. By the examination attention, he establishes the mind in non-pride-of-attainment. By the practice-culminating attention, he abandons the mild defilement-modes. By the fruit-of-practice-culmination attention, of these defilement-modes that have been cultivated and well-cultivated, he experiences the cultivation-fruit.

Furthermore: the characteristic-knowing attention and the resolve-born attention — this is called the conforming attention, also conjoined with the fault-counteraction. The seclusion attention and the practice-culminating attention — this is the counter-action attention, conjoined with the counteraction for abandonment. The delight-gathering attention is both counter-action and inspiring. The examination attention is the review attention. Thus it is said. In this manner, among the six attentions [prior to the fruit attention], four functional attentions are to be known as outstanding: namely, conforming, counter-action, inspiring, and review.

As is the first-dhyāna attainment with the seven attentions, so the second, third, fourth dhyāna attainments, and the attainments of the spheres of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither-perception-nor-non-perception — with the seven attentions.

Among them, by which attention he comprehends the gross-characteristic in vitarkas, and the calm-characteristic in the without-thought second dhyāna — that is the characteristic-knowing attention for second-dhyāna attainment. There [in the first jhāna] the dhyāna-attainer — the first-dhyāna-obtainer sees grossness in vitarkas. That mental-talking, though belonging to the concentrated plane, bears a forceful object and is gross because it first falls upon the object. This is vitarka. Following along after it, moving diffusely over the object, is the subtler dwelling in mental-talking [vicāra]. These vitarka-vicāras are mental-factor-experiences arising in the mind, co-arising, conjoined, single-object-functioning. Thus they arise inwardly. Not at all does this gross-characteristic exist in the without-vitarka second dhyāna. Therefore the second is calm. And [these vitarka-vicāras] are reckoned as belonging to the external sense-base. All [are] past, future, present; arisen from causes, arisen dependently; bodily, momentary; ephemeral [in their] presentation, agitators of the mind, perturbers — they proceed in a non-calm mode. [They are] dark-side, by way of being conjoined with pain-dwelling, beginning from the upper stage [downward]. [This is] a stage conjoined with the [putative] joy-and-pleasure of sense-desire-seclusion as benefit — such by its own nature, in which one situated [has] perpetual, ever-perpetual, fixed, ever-fixed vitarka, vicāra, mental flow proceeding. 'Not calm, not very calm' — by such modes the [practitioner] discerns the grossness-mark in vitarkas. The dhyāna [is called calm] from the departure of [the first dhyāna's] grossness. The remaining attentions for the second-dhyāna-attainment are to be known as appropriate, just as [for] yoga, as before. Thus stage by stage, up through the attainment of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, seven attentions are to be known as appropriate.