In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [136]
Established upon moral discipline, the disciple takes up the practice of meditation, intended to stabilize the mind and clear away the obstacles to the unfolding of wisdom. Because meditation elevates the mind beyond its normal level, this phase of practice is called the training in the higher mind (adhicittasikkhā). Because it brings inner stillness and quietude, it is also called the development of serenity (samathabh̄van̄). Successful practice results in deep concentration or mental unification (samādhi), also known as internal serenity of mind (ajjhattạ cetosamatha ). The most eminent types of concentration recognized in the Nikāyas are the four jhānas, which constitute right concentration (samm̄ sam̄dhi) of the Noble Eightfold Path. Beyond the jhānas lie the four formless attainments (ar̄pasam̄patti), which carry the process of mental unification to still subtler levels.
The third stage of practice is the training in the higher wisdom (adhipaññāsikkhā), designed to awaken direct insight into the true nature of things as disclosed by the Buddha’s teaching. This will be dealt with in detail in the following chapter.
The first selection below, Text VIII,1, is a miscellany of short epigrams that stress the need for mental cultivation. The sayings occur in pairs. In each pair, the first member signals the dangers of the uncultivated mind, the second extols the benefits of the cultivated mind. The uncultivated mind is easy prey to the defilements—greed, hatred, and delusion and their offshoots. The defilements generate unwholesome kamma, which brings painful results both in this life and in future lives. Since the defilements are the cause of our suffering and bondage, the path to liberation necessarily involves a meticulous process of mental training intended to subdue them and ultimately uproot them from their nesting place in the deep recesses of the mind. From development of the mind arise happiness, freedom, and peace.
Development of the mind, for the Nikāyas, means the development of serenity (samatha) and insight (vipassanā). Text VIII,2(1) says that when serenity is developed, it leads to concentration and the liberation of the mind from such emotional defilements as lust and ill will. When insight is developed, it leads to the higher wisdom of insight into the true nature of phenomena and permanently liberates the mind from ignorance. Thus the two things most needed to master the mind are serenity and insight.
Since concentration is the basis for wisdom, the Nikāyas usually treat the development of serenity as the precursor to the development of insight. However, because the aptitudes of meditators differ, several suttas allow for alternative approaches to this sequence. Text VIII,2(2) speaks of four approaches to mental cultivation:
1. The first approach, the classical one, is to develop serenity first and insight afterward. By “serenity” is meant the jhānas or (according to the Pāli commentaries) a state bordering on the jhānas called “access” or “threshold” concentration (upacārasamādhi).
2. A second approach is to develop insight first and serenity afterward. Since there can be no real insight without concentration, such meditators—presumably people with sharp intellectual faculties—must initially use concentration as the basis for acquiring insight into the true characteristics of phenomena. However, it seems that such concentration, though sufficient for insight, is not strong enough to allow for a breakthrough to the supramundane path. These meditators