The Fourth Jhāna

183. And at this point, “With the abandoning of pleasure and pain and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief he enters upon and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity” (Vibh 245), and so he has attained the fourth jhāna, which abandons one factor, possesses two factors, is good in three ways, possesses ten characteristics, and is of the earth kasiṇa.

184. Herein, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain: with the abandoning of bodily pleasure and bodily pain. With the previous: which took place before, not in the moment of the fourth jhāna. Disappearance of joy and grief: with the previous disappearance of the two, that is, mental bliss (pleasure) and mental pain; with the abandoning, is what is meant.

185. But when does the abandoning of these take place? At the moment of access of the four jhānas. For [mental] joy is only abandoned at the moment of the fourth-jhāna access, while [bodily] pain, [mental] grief, and [bodily] bliss (pleasure) are abandoned respectively at the moments of access of the first, second, and third jhānas. So although the order in which they are abandoned is not actually mentioned, nevertheless the abandoning of the pleasure, pain, joy, and grief, is stated here according to the order in which the faculties are summarized in the Indriya Vibhaṅga (Vibh 122).

186. But if these are only abandoned at the moments of access of the several jhānas, why is their cessation said to. take place in the jhāna itself in the following passage: “And where does the arisen pain faculty cease without remainder? Here, bhikkhus, quite secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable things, a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the first jhāna, which is … born of seclusion. It is here that the arisen pain faculty ceases without remainder … Where does the arisen grief faculty [cease without remainder? … in the second jhāna] … Where does the arisen pleasure faculty [cease without remainder? … in the third jhāna] … Where does the arisen joy faculty cease without remainder? [166] Here, bhikkhus, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain [and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief] a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which … has mindfulness purified by equanimity. It is here that the arisen joy faculty ceases without remainder” (S V 213–15).

It is said in that way there referring to reinforced cessation. For in the first jhāna, etc., it is their reinforced cessation, not just their cessation, that takes place. At the moment of access it is just their cessation, not their reinforced cessation, that takes place.

187. For accordingly, during the first jhāna access, which has multiple adverting, there could be rearising of the [bodily] pain faculty^[1] due to contact with gadflies, flies, etc. or the discomfort of an uneven seat, though that pain faculty had already ceased, but not so during absorption. Or else, though it has ceased during access, it has not absolutely ceased there since it is not quite beaten out by opposition. But during absorption the whole body is showered with bliss owing to pervasion by happiness. And the pain faculty has absolutely ceased in one whose body is showered with bliss, since it is beaten out then by opposition.

188. And during the second-jhāna access too, which has multiple advertings, there could be rearising of the [mental] grief faculty, although it had already ceased there, because it arises when there is bodily weariness and mental vexation, which have applied thought and sustained thought as their condition, but it does not arise when applied and sustained thought are absent. When it arises, it does so in the presence of applied and sustained thought, and they are not abandoned in the second-jhāna access; but this is not so in the second jhāna itself because its conditions are abandoned there.

189. Likewise in the third-jhāna access there could be rearising of the abandoned [bodily] pleasure faculty in one whose body was pervaded by the superior materiality originated by the [consciousness associated with the] happiness. But not so in the third jhāna itself. For in the third jhāna the happiness that is a condition for the [bodily] bliss (pleasure) has ceased entirely. Likewise in the fourth-jhāna access there could be re-arising of the abandoned [mental] joy faculty because of its nearness and because it has not been properly surmounted owing to the absence of equanimity brought to absorption strength. But not so in the fourth jhāna itself. And that is why in each case (§186) the words “without remainder” are included thus: “It is here that the arisen pain faculty ceases without remainder.”

190. Here it may be asked: Then if these kinds of feeling are abandoned in the access in this way, why are they brought in here? It is done so that they can be readily grasped. For the neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling described here by the words “which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure” is subtle, hard to recognize and not readily grasped. So just as, when a cattle-herd^[2] wants to catch a refractory ox that cannot be caught at all by approaching it, he collects all the cattle into one pen [167] and lets them out one by one, and then [he says] “That is it; catch it,” and so it gets caught as well, so too the Blessed One has collected all these [five kinds of feeling] together so that they can be grasped readily; for when they are shown collected together in this way, then what is not [bodily] pleasure (bliss) or [bodily] pain or [mental] joy or [mental] grief can still be grasped in this way: “This is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.”

191. Besides, this may be understood as said in order to show the condition for the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance. For the abandoning of [bodily] pain, etc., are conditions for that, according as it is said: “There are four conditions, friend, for the attainment of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant minddeliverance. Here, friend, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the fourth jhāna … equanimity. These are the four conditions for the attainment of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance” (M I 296).

192. Or alternatively, just as, although mistaken view of individuality, etc., have already been abandoned in the earlier paths, they are nevertheless mentioned as abandoned in the description of the third path for the purpose of recommending it (cf. §155), so too these kinds of feeling can be understood as mentioned here for the purpose of recommending this jhāna. Or alternatively, they can be understood as mentioned for the purpose of showing that greed and hate are very far away owing to the removal of their conditions;for of these, pleasure (bliss) is a condition for joy, and joy for greed; pain is a condition for grief and grief for hate. So with the removal of pleasure (bliss), etc., greed and hate are very far away since they are removed along with their conditions.

193. Which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure: no pain owing to absence of pain; no pleasure owing to absence of pleasure (bliss). By this he indicates the third kind of feeling that is in opposition both to pain and to pleasure, not the mere absence of pain and pleasure. This third kind of feeling named neither-pain-nor-pleasure is also called “equanimity.” It has the characteristic of experiencing what is contrary to both the desirable and the undesirable. Its function is neutral. Its manifestation is unevident. Its proximate cause should be understood as the cessation of pleasure (bliss).

194. And has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity: has purity of mindfulness brought about by equanimity. For the mindfulness in this jhāna is quite purified, and its purification is effected by equanimity, not by anything else. That is why it is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. Also it is said in the Vibhaṅga: “This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified, by equanimity; hence it is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity” (Vibh 261). [168] And the equanimity due to which there comes to be this purity of mindfulness should be understood as specific neutrality in meaning. And not only mindfulness is purified by it here, but also all associated states. However, the teaching is given under the heading of mindfulness.

195. Herein, this equanimity exists in the three lower jhānas too; but just as, although a crescent moon exists by day but is not purified or clear since it is outshone by the sun’s radiance in the daytime or since it is deprived of the night, which is its ally owing to gentleness and owing to helpfulness to it, so too, this crescent moon of equanimity consisting in specific neutrality exists in the first jhāna, etc., but it is not purified since it is outshone by the glare of the opposing states consisting in applied thought, etc., and since it is deprived of the night of equanimity-as-feeling for its ally; and because it is not purified, the conascent mindfulness and other states are not purified either, like the unpurified crescent moon’s radiance by day. That is why no one among these [first three jhānas] is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. But here this crescent moon consisting in specific neutrality is utterly pure because it is not outshone by the glare of the opposing states consisting in applied thought, etc., and because it has the night of equanimity-as-feeling for its ally. And since it is purified, the conascent mindfulness and other states are purified and clear also, like the purified crescent moon’s radiance. That, it should be understood, is why only this jhāna is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.

196. Fourth: it is fourth in numerical series; and it is fourth because it is entered upon fourth.

197. Then it was said, which abandons one factor, possesses two factors (§183); here the abandoning of the one factor should be understood as the abandoning of joy. But that joy is actually abandoned in the first impulsions of the same cognitive series (cf. §185). Hence it is called its factor of abandoning.

The possession of the two factors should be understood as the arising of the two, namely, equanimity as feeling and unification of mind.

The rest is as stated in the case of the first jhāna.

This, in the first place, is according to the fourfold reckoning of jhāna.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

“They say that with the words, ‘There could be the arising of the pain faculty,’ it is shown that since grief arises even in obtainers of jhāna, it is demonstrated thereby that hate can exist without being a hindrance just as greed can; for grief does not arise without hate. Nor, they say, is there any conflict with the Paṭṭhāna text to be fancied here, since what is shown there is only grief that occurs making lost jhāna its object because the grief that occurs making its object a jhāna that has not been lost is not relevant there. And they say that it cannot be maintained that grief does not arise at all in those who have obtained jhāna since it did arise in Asita who had the eight attainments (Sn 691), and he was not one who had lost jhāna. So they say. That is wrong because there is no hate without the nature of a hindrance. If there were, it would arise in finematerial and immaterial beings, and it does not. Accordingly when in such passages as, ‘In the immaterial state, due to the hindrance of lust there is the hindrance of stiffness and torpor … the hindrance of agitation, the hindrance of ignorance’ (Paṭṭh II 291), ill will and worry are not mentioned as hindrances, that does not imply that they are not hindrances even by supposing that it was because lust, etc., were not actually hindrances and were called hindrances there figuratively because of resemblance to hindrances. And it is no reason to argue, ‘it is because it arose in Asita,’ since there is falling away from jhāna with the arising of grief. The way to regard that is that when the jhāna is lost for some trivial reason such men reinstate it without difficulty” (Vism-mhṭ 158–59).

[2]:

Gopa—“cowherd (or guardian)”: not in PED.