Guide to Enlightenment (Part 2)

Dhr. Seven, Ananda M., Amber Larson (eds.) based Into the Stream: A Study Guide on the First Stage of Awakening by Ven. Thanissaro (Mr. Geoffrey DeGraff), accesstoinsight.org

What is meditation in practice? Allowing, noticing, feeling, accepting, observing, sensing...

  

Meditation is the way to get your goals.

(See Part 1) ...For one's practice to lead to enlightenment -- whether stream entry or arhatship -- one must develop reliable standards for answering these questions.

The Buddha offers some preliminary guidance on developing these standards in his instructions to the Brahmin teenager Kapadika Bharadvaja.

The Chunky Sutra

(Canki Sutta, MN 95)
[Kapadika Bharadvaja:] "To what extent is there an awakening to the truth? To what extent does one awaken to the truth? We ask Master Gautama about awakening to the truth."

[The Buddha:] "In one case, Bharadvaja, a Buddhist monastic lives in dependence on a certain village or town. Then a householder or child of a householder goes to that monastic to observe with regard to three mental characteristics:

1. characteristics of greed (craving, grasping, clinging)
2. characteristics of hatred (aversion, fear, antipathy)
3. characteristics of delusion (wrong view, confusion, ignorance):

Yoga. It's not just about exercise anymore.

"'Are there in this venerable one any such characteristics of greed that, with mind overcome by these things, one might say "I know" while not knowing or say "I see" while not seeing, or that one might urge another to act in a way that is for his/her long-term harm and pain?'
 

"As one observes one comes to know, 'There are in this venerable one no such characteristics of greed... This venerable monastic's bodily and verbal conduct (behavior) are those of one free of greed. And the Dharma this person teaches is deep, hard to know/see, hard to realize, tranquil, sublime, beyond the scope of mere speculation, subtle, to-be-directly-experienced only by the wise. This Dharma cannot easily be taught by a person who is greedy.

 

I think I'm starting to see! Truth.

"'When observing that the Buddhist monastic is purified with regard to characteristics of greed, one next observes for characteristics of hatred... characteristics of delusion:

"'Are there in this venerable one any such characteristics of delusion that, with his mind overcome by these [three] thing, one might say "I know" while not knowing or say "I see" while not seeing, or that one might urge another to act in a way that was for his/her long-term harm and pain?'

"As one observes one comes to know, 'There are in this venerable one no such characteristics of hatred...delusion... This person's bodily and verbal conduct are those of one free of hatred...delusion. And the Dharma this monastic teaches is deep, hard to know/see, hard to realize, tranquil, sublime, beyond the scope of mere speculation, subtle, to-be-directly-experienced only by the wise. This Dharma cannot easily be taught by a person who is hateful...deluded.
 
"When observing that the monastic is purified with regard to characteristics of hatred...delusion, one is filled with confidence (verified faith, conviction, saddha) in that practitioner.

• With the arising of confidence, one visits and grows close.
• Growing close one lends ear.
• Lending ear, one hears the Dharma.
• Hearing the Dharma, one remembers it.
• Remembering it, one penetrates the meaning of those teachings.
• Penetrating the meaning, one agrees by contemplating those teachings.
• There being an agreement through contemplating those teachings, zest (motivation, eagerness) arises.
• With the arising of zest, one becomes willing.
• Willing, one contemplates (weighs, compares).
• Contemplating, one makes an exertion.
• Exerting oneself, one both realizes the ultimate meaning of the truth with this body and sees by penetrating it with wisdom (discernment, insight, intuition).

"To this extent, Bharadvaja, there is an awakening to the truth. To this extent one awakens to the truth. I describe this as an awakening to the truth. But this is not yet the final attainment of the truth."
 
[Kapadika Bharadvaja:] "Yes, Master Gautama, to this extent there is an awakening to the truth. To this extent one awakens to the truth. We regard this as an awakening to the truth. But to what extent is there the final attainment of the truth? To what extent does one finally attain the truth? We ask Master Gautama about the final attainment of the truth."
 
[The Buddha:] "The cultivation, development, and pursuit of these very same characteristics -- to this extent, Bharadvaja, there is the final attainment of the truth. To this extent one finally attains the truth. I describe this as the final attainment of the truth."— (MN 95) More