Professor Lin Chong'an: Calming and Insight in the Northern Transmission of the Āgama Sūtras and Commentaries

Lin Chong'an

Most people live in a world of "outward looking"—their gaze fixed always on others. When others please them, they're happy; when things don't go their way, they get angry. Without realizing it, they've become slaves to external conditions. Their minds follow whatever objects appear, giving rise to craving and aversion again and again, until inner peace is lost. If we go on living this way, what radiance or meaning does life hold? To give life meaning, we need to turn around and start cultivating the capacity for "inward looking." In the Saṃyuktāgama, the Buddha said:

"What dharmas should be known and understood, fully known and fully understood? Name and form. What dharmas should be known and abandoned? Ignorance and craving for existence. What dharmas should be known and realized? Clear knowing and liberation. What dharmas should be known and cultivated? Calming and insight."

This makes clear that the objects a Buddhist disciple must observe closely are name and form—one's own body and mind. What must be cultivated is calming and insight, that is, meditative stillness and inward insight. Through cultivating calming and insight, one can sever ignorance and craving for the three realms of existence, thereby realizing clear knowing and liberation. This is the purpose of the practice. Inward insight means observing one's own body and mind from within, so that in the very moment of interacting with the world, one sees clearly without wavering. But how does one learn to see clearly without wavering? That is what meditation training is for.

I. Calming

Taking the observation of breath as an example, the entire process of attaining "calming" can be described through the "nine abidings of mind":

(1) Internal abiding: Shift the mind from external objects to the breath, aware of its in- and out-flow.

(2) Continuous abiding: Keep the mind steadily on the observed breath, gradually refining it into a subtle object.

(3) Established abiding: When the mind occasionally wanders off into distraction, gather it back and settle it on the breath.

(4) Close abiding: Through the power of mindfulness, the mind no longer strays far to external objects.

(5) Taming: Recognizing that sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, greed, hatred, delusion, and thoughts of male and female—all of these—are sources of trouble, the mind no longer flows out toward them.

(6) Quieting: Recognizing that unwholesome thoughts such as sensual desire, ill will, and harmfulness, along with accompanying afflictions like the hindrance of sensual desire, are all faults, the mind no longer flows out toward them.

(7) Supreme quieting: Unable to tolerate even momentarily arising unwholesome thoughts and accompanying afflictions, one immediately cuts them off, dispels them, and roots them out.

(8) Single-minded focus: One attains a continuous, uninterrupted state of concentration that still involves effort and exertion but has no gaps.

(9) Equanimous absorption: One enters a state of concentration free of effort and exertion, in which the gathered mind continues naturally, without any scattering.

After that, when bodily and mental lightness and pliancy arise, "calming" has been attained.

The above describes calming through breath observation, but there are many possible objects for keeping the mind from scattering. Using awareness of bodily movements to gather the mind is another skillful approach.

II. Insight

What is insight? The Sanskrit term is vipaśyanā, transliterated into Chinese as biposhen'a (毗婆奢那) and more recently rendered by meaning as "inward insight" (内观). In the Saṃyuktāgama, "aggregate" is translated as yīn (阴, "shade" or "covering"), meaning a collection; "grasped aggregate" is rendered as shòuyīn (受阴). The five grasped aggregates are form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—the composite of one's own body and mind. Among these, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness together are called "name," so the five grasped aggregates and "name-and-form" both refer to an individual's body and mind. "Inward insight" means observing the five grasped aggregates, or name-and-form, just as they truly are—clearly seeing the causal processes of arising and of cessation. The Buddha said:

"There are five grasped aggregates: the aggregate of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Regarding these five grasped aggregates, I truly know them in five ways: form as it really is, the arising of form, the satisfaction of form, the danger of form, and the escape from form—as they truly are. The same applies to feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness: consciousness as it really is, the arising of consciousness, the satisfaction of consciousness, the danger of consciousness, and the escape from consciousness—as they truly are.

"What is knowing form as it really is? All form—all four great elements and what is produced by the four great elements—this is called form. Thus form is known as it really is. What is knowing the arising of form as it really is? Fondness for form—this is called the arising of form. Thus the arising of form is known as it really is. What is knowing the satisfaction of form as it really is? The joy and happiness that arise conditioned by form—this is called the satisfaction of form. Thus the satisfaction of form is known as it really is. What is knowing the danger of form as it really is? Form being impermanent, suffering, and subject to change—this is called the danger of form. Thus the danger of form is known as it really is. What is knowing the escape from form as it really is? The taming, severing, and transcending of desire and greed regarding form—this is called the escape from form. Thus the escape from form is known as it really is.…

"Feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are likewise explained." (Saṃyuktāgama 41)

Here, the five grasped aggregates are observed through five aspects:

1. The inherent nature of the five aggregates: Form is the four great elements and what is produced by them, and so on.

2. The conditions of the five aggregates: Fondness for form is the arising of form; the arising of contact is the arising of feeling, and so forth. Through this observation, one sees that each aggregate arises from its respective conditions.

3. The conditions of defilement in the five aggregates: Conditioned by form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, joy and happiness arise—and with them, attachment and relishing. From this comes the round of becoming.

4. The conditions of purity regarding the five aggregates: The five aggregates are impermanent, suffering, and subject to change—this is their danger.

5. The purity of the five aggregates: Toward the five aggregates, one tames desire and greed, severs desire and greed, and transcends desire and greed. From this comes cessation.

So the object of "inward insight" is one's own body and mind. One must directly and truthfully see their impermanent, suffering, and changeable nature, and through sustained practice, finally let go of desire and attain liberation.

III. The Threefold Training

In inward insight meditation, the three trainings are fully encompassed: ethical conduct, meditative concentration, and wisdom. The following explanation is drawn from Chapter 9 of the Abhidharma Saṅgītiparyāya (Apidamo Jiyimen Zulun):

01 The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, perfect in knowledge and conduct, the Well-Gone One, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed One, the Tamer of the Untamed, the Teacher of Gods and Humans, the Buddha, the Bhagavān—such a one appears in the world and proclaims the true Dharma, revealing what is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end, refined in wording and meaning, pure and complete—the spotless holy life.

02 Good sons and good daughters, having heard this Dharma, give rise to deep and pure faith.

03 Having given rise to pure faith, they reflect: "Household life is cramped, dusty with defilement—like a prison. The life of homelessness is spacious, free of noise and distraction—like open sky. Those bound to home and family cannot, for the whole of their lives, diligently cultivate the pure, complete, spotless holy life. Therefore, with right faith, I should shave off my hair and beard, don the monastic robe, leave behind the household life, and go forth into homelessness." Having reflected thus, they give up their possessions, status, and relatives—whether few or many—entirely.

04 Having done so, with right faith they shave off their hair and beard, don the monastic robe, leave behind the household life, and go forth into homelessness.

05 Having gone forth, they uphold the pure precepts, diligently guarding the rules of individual liberation. Their conduct and deportment are fully complete; they regard even the slightest transgression with dread; and they undertake and practice all the rules of training.

a. They abstain from taking life, setting aside all weapons and clubs. Endowed with conscience and shame, with loving-kindness and compassion, they feel deep tenderness toward all living beings—even down to ants and their eggs—and would never harm them, fully and finally leaving behind the taking of life.

b. They abstain from taking what is not given, delighting in giving. When they receive pure offerings, they accept only what is measured and appropriate. They develop no attachment to possessions, maintaining a livelihood that is pure and blameless, fully and finally leaving behind the taking of what is not given.

c. They abstain from unchaste conduct, constantly cultivating the holy life—remote, sublime, and pure of heart. They stay far from the foul and filthy dharmas of lust, fully and finally leaving behind unchaste conduct.

d. They abstain from false speech, always delighting in truthful words, honest words, trustworthy words, words that can be relied upon, words beyond dispute in the world, fully and finally leaving behind false speech.

e. They abstain from divisive speech. They do not divide others; they do not carry words spoken here in order to divide those over there, nor carry words spoken there in order to divide those over here. They delight in reuniting those who are divided and in strengthening the bonds of those who are already harmonious. They take pleasure in speaking words of reconciliation and never words of division, fully and finally leaving behind divisive speech.

f. They abstain from harsh speech. The words they utter are neither coarse, nor rough, nor bitter. They do not provoke resentment in others, nor cause many to feel displeasure, discomfort, or distaste, nor obstruct the cultivation of balanced concentration and meditative equipoise. All such harsh words they extinguish. The words they utter are gentle, pleasing to the ear, joyful, delightful, refined, clear and easy to grasp, making others glad to listen—boundless and unending. They bring delight, satisfaction, and joy to many, enabling the cultivation of balanced concentration and meditative equipoise. In such beautiful words they constantly delight, fully and finally leaving behind harsh speech.

g. They abstain from frivolous chatter. Whatever they say is fitting to the time and place, in accord with the Dharma and its meaning, grounded in truth and reality, calming and quieting, orderly and purposeful, reasonable and proper, free of admixture and defilement, capable of bringing benefit and meaning, fully and finally leaving behind frivolous chatter.

h. They avoid using false weights, false measures, and false containers in buying and selling. They never keep elephants, horses, cattle, donkeys, chickens, pigs, dogs, or other animals. They do not keep male or female servants, old or young, friends or relatives. They do not store grains, wheat, beans, and the like, nor do they hoard gold, silver, or other valuables. They do not eat at improper times; they may eat only once a day. At improper times and in improper places they do not go about. Whether speaking or silent, they invite no criticism. With clothing, they are content with what roughly covers the body; with food, they are content with what merely relieves hunger and thirst.

i. Wherever they travel or dwell, they carry their robe and bowl with them—like a bird that never sheds its wings in flight or at rest. Through all of this, they perfect the aggregate of ethical conduct, closely guard the sense doors, and abide in right mindfulness.

06 Through the power of right mindfulness, they guard the mind. When the eye sees forms, the ear hears sounds, the nose smells fragrances, the tongue tastes flavors, the body feels tactile sensations, and the mind cognizes dharmas, they neither grasp at general features nor fixate on pleasing details. At each sense door, they maintain the discipline of the faculties, fending off greed, sorrow, and all evil and unwholesome states, never allowing them to take root and grow in the mind.

07 Through the aggregate of ethical conduct and close guarding of the sense doors, they remain fully present in all activities—coming and going, bending and stretching, looking ahead and looking down, putting on robes and carrying the bowl.

08 Having thus perfected the pure aggregate of ethical conduct, closely guarding the sense doors, with right mindfulness and right knowing, wherever they may be—in city or village—in the early morning they take up robe and bowl, guard the sense doors, and abide in right mindfulness.

09 With composed and dignified bearing, they go for alms. Having received food, they return to their lodging. After eating, they put away robe and bowl, wash their feet, and take up their sitting mat.

10 They go to a secluded place—a wilderness, a forest, far from harmful beings—leaving behind all bedding, dwelling only where non-humans reside, or in an open space, or beneath a tree.

11 They sit cross-legged, body upright, setting aside all distracting thoughts, abiding in mindfulness placed right before them, the mind steadily focused—far from greed, hatred, dullness and drowsiness, agitation and remorse, doubt and wavering. For those accompanying afflictions that obstruct wholesome states, weaken the power of wisdom, prevent the realization of nirvana, and keep one in the round of birth and death—

12 Through this, free from desire and evil unwholesome states, they successively attain up to the fourth dhyāna.

13 With such a mind of exalted concentration—pure, untainted, free of accompanying afflictions, pliant and capable—they abide unshaken. Their mind inclines toward realizing the exhaustion of defilements. Through knowledge and vision, through clarity and awakening, they truly know and see: This is the noble truth of suffering; this is the noble truth of origin; this is the noble truth of cessation; this is the noble truth of the path. Through such knowing and seeing, the mind is liberated from the flood of sensuality, the flood of becoming, and the flood of ignorance. Having been liberated, they truly know and see: "Birth is exhausted; the holy life is established; what had to be done has been done; there will be no further becoming." (T26, p. 406c)

Paragraphs 1 through 4 show that after hearing the true Dharma from the Buddha, one develops pure faith and goes forth into homelessness to study the path. Paragraphs 5 through 8 show that after going forth, one must guard the precepts—refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, and frivolous chatter—while maintaining right mindfulness and right knowing in all activities of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Paragraph 9 shows that meals are to be taken in accordance with the Dharma. Paragraphs 10 through 12 show that one must seek out solitude, gather the mind in single-pointed contemplation, abide diligently, cast off the five hindrances, and cultivate right concentration. Paragraph 13 shows that through right concentration, wisdom arises; one directly realizes the four noble truths, suffering is extinguished, and liberation is attained.

One can see that the Buddha's teaching fully encompasses the threefold training of ethical conduct, meditative concentration, and wisdom.