The Development of Samatha - the jhāna-factors & nīvaraṇa dhammas

The Development of Samatha - the jhāna-factors & nīvaraṇa dhammas

The development of five cetasikas which are the jhāna-factors condition the arising of rūpāvacara kusala citta of the first stage of jhāna. These factors accompanying the jhānacitta are: applied thinking, vitakka, sustained thinking, vicāra, rapture, pīti, happy feeling, sukha and concentration, ekaggatā. Among the sobhana cetasikas accompanying the jhānacitta these five factors are specifically counteractive to the "hindrances", the nīvaraṇa Dhammas. The five hindrances are akusala Dhammas which disturb the citta and prevent it from the development of calm. They are the following:

kāmacchanda, sensuous desire, which is attachment to visible object, sound, odor, flavor and tangible object,

vyāpāda, ill-will or displeasure,

thīna-middha, sloth and torpor, which are listlessness and dejectedness, inertness and drowsiness,

uddhacca-kukkucca, restlessness and worry,

vicikicchā, doubt about realities, doubt about cause and result.

The five jhāna-factors are opposed to the five hindrances. Vitakka cetasika applies itself to the object, it "touches" it, so that the citta is calm. Vicāra cetasika continually occupies itself with the object vitakka touches, so that the citta does not become restless and takes another object. Pīti cetasika is satisfied with and takes delight in the meditation subject and sukha vedanā, happy feeling, increases this satisfaction. Ekaggatā cetasika which supports the other jhāna-factors is firmly concentrated on the object of the jhāna-citta of the first stage.

The five jhāna-factors are opposed to, counteractive to the five hindrances in the following way (Visuddhimagga IV, 86):

Vitakka cetasika is opposed to thīna-middha, sloth and torpor. When vitakka "thinks" only of the meditation subject, touches it time and again, dejectedness, list-less-ness and drowsiness cannot arise.

Vicāra cetasika is opposed to vicikicchā, doubt. When vicāra cetasika is continually occupied with the object which vitakka touches, doubt about realities and doubt about cause and result cannot arise.

Pīti cetasika is opposed to vyāpāda, ill-will. When calm with the meditation subject increases there will also be more rapture and delight with the subject of calm and then ill-will and displeasure cannot arise in between.

Sukha, happy feeling, is opposed to uddhacca-kukkucca, rest-less-ness and worry. When there is happy feeling about the meditation subject, rest-less-ness and worry which could turn to another object cannot arise.

Ekaggatā cetasika is opposed to kāmacchanda, sensuous desire. When samādhi is firmly concentrated on the meditation subject, there cannot be attachment to sense objects.

When rūpāvacara kusala citta of the first stage of jhāna accompanied by five jhāna-factors arises, attainment-concentration, appanā-samādi, is firmly concentrated on the object. This jhānacitta which arises for the first time is not succeeded by other jhāna-cittas, it arises only once. After several bhavanga-cittas have arisen and fallen away in between there is a mind-door process of cittas. The mind-door adverting-consciousness adverts to the jhānacitta and after it has fallen away it is succeeded by seven maha-kusala cittas accompanied by paññā which considers the jhāna-factors and then there are bhavanga-cittas arising in between, to be followed by other mind-door processes. Only one of the jhāna-factors at a time is considered during one process of cittas. The mind-door processes of cittas which consider the jhāna-factors one at a time are called the processes of reviewing, paccavekkhaṇa vīthi, and these have to arise each time after jhāna has been attained.

The paññā of the person who attains rupa-jhāna has to know the different characteristics of the five jhāna-factors. Thus, paññā must know the difference between vitakka cetasika, applied thinking, and vicāra cetasika, sustained thinking, it must know the difference between pīti, rapture, and sukha, happy feeling, and it must also know the characteristic of ekaggatā cetasika which is of the degree of appanā samādhi.

The person who develops samatha should have sati-sampajañña in his daily life, he should have right understanding of the characteristic of kusala citta and of akusala citta which may follow one upon the other very rapidly. If this is not known, he may erroneously believe that lobha-mūla-citta accompanied by pleasant feeling is calm and that it is kusala.

The person who develops samatha does not have extraordinary experiences. The development of samatha is the development of kusala through the mind-door. When the citta has become calm only the mental image of the meditation subject appears and this is the condition for the citta to become more firmly established in kusala. The person who, for example, develops the meditation subject of the water kasina has the mental image of this kasina as object, and he does not have visions of hell, of heaven or of different happenings. If someone tries to concentrate and believes to have all kinds of visions, he does not develop samatha.

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