Buddhist meditation

sutta, and the way the pericopes are worked
into them suggest the text was tailor-made for the individual concerned. Sariputta
may have felt Rahula only needed breathing mindfulness; the Buddha, not
disagreeing, sees however the need for other meditations as preparation for this.
Buddhaghosa cites it as a text in which a number of meditations are given to one
person, thereby making the crucial point that one temperament may need to work
on a number of problems through a range of different meditation subjects,
carefully selected for him (see Vism III 122). The Buddha was not partial when
teaching his own son. The Cu
¬arahulovada-Sutta, with its brief exposition of the
relationship between the mind, the senses and corresponding sense base, employs
a far more technical vocabulary and is decidedly weighted towards the development
of wisdom (M I 277–80). On the basis of this, Rahula, ready for such a finely
detailed and thorough analysis, attains enlightenment: this is shortly after his full
ordination, presumably at the age of twenty.
Maharahulovada-Sutta
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Exalted One was staying at
Savatthi at Jetavana, Anathapijdika’s grove. Then, when it was morning,
the Exalted One dressed, took his bowl and outer robe and went to
Savatthi for alms. The Venerable Rahula also dressed, took his bowl and
robe and followed the Exalted One close behind.
Then the Exalted One looked over his shoulder and addressed the
Venerable Rahula. ‘Rahula, whatever kind of material form, whether
past, future or present, within or without, gross or subtle, inferior or
superior, far or near: all material form should be seen with right wisdom
just as it is: “This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self ”.’
‘Do you mean just material form? Just material form, Exalted One?’
‘Material form, Rahula, and, in addition, feeling, perception, forma-
tions and consciousness.’
Then Rahula reflected in this way. ‘Who would go into town today to
collect alms after receiving an admonishment from the Exalted One?’
He turned back and sat at the roots of a tree, crossed his legs, made
his body straight and established mindfulness in front of him. The
Venerable Sariputta saw him sitting there and addressed him in this way:
‘Cultivate mindfulness of breathing, Rahula. When mindfulness of
breathing is cultivated and made much of, it is of great fruit and great
reward’.
Then, when it was evening, Rahula rose from his meditation and went
to the Exalted One. He paid homage to him, sat down to one side and
asked the Exalted One: ‘Sir, how is mindfulness of breathing cultivated
and made much of, so that it is of great fruit and great reward?’
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‘Whatever, Rahula, is internal, belonging to oneself, that one
appropriates to oneself, that is earth, earthy: that is, hairs of the head, hairs
on the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone–marrow, kidneys,
heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, the
contents of the stomach, excrement, or whatever else belonging to oneself,
that one appropriates to oneself, that is earth, earthy: this is called the
internal element of earth. Indeed both the internal and the external earth
element are just that: earth. And this should be seen just as it is, with right
wisdom: “This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self ”. When one
sees it just as it is, with right wisdom, one turns away from the element of
earth and the mind is freed from the element of earth.
What, Rahula, is the element of water? The water element may be inter-
nal or it may be external. What is the internal water element? Whatever
there is that is water, or watery, belonging to oneself, that one appropri-
ates to oneself, such as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease,
saliva, mucus, oil in the joints or urine, or anything else that is water, or
watery, belonging to oneself, that one appropriates to oneself: this is
called, Rahula, the internal element of water . . . and the mind is freed
from the element of water.
What, Rahula, is the element of fire? The element of fire may be inter-
nal or external. Whatever there is that is fire, or fiery, belonging to oneself,
that one appropriates to oneself, such as the means by which one is
warmed, the means by which one ages, the means by which one is con-
sumed and the means by which what has been enjoyed, drunk, eaten and
tasted is completely digested, or anything else that is fire, or fiery, belong-
ing to oneself, that one appropriates to oneself: this is called, Rahula, the
internal element of fire . . . and the mind is freed from the element of fire.
What, Rahula, is the element of air? The element of air may be internal
or external. Whatever there is that is air, or airy, belonging to oneself, that
one appropriates to oneself, such as winds going up, winds going down,
winds in the belly, winds in the bowels, winds that flow through the limbs,
or anything else that is air, or airy, belonging to oneself, that one appro-
priates to oneself: this is called, Rahula, the internal element of air . . . and
the mind is freed from the element of air.
What, Rahula, is the element of space? The element of space may be
internal or external. Whatever there is that is space, or spacious, belong-
ing to oneself, that one appropriates to oneself, such as the cavities in the
ears, the nostrils, the door of the mouth, the means by which what is
enjoyed, drunk, eaten and tasted is swallowed, the place where what
is enjoyed, drunk, eaten and tasted collects and the place from where it
is excreted in the lower part of the body, or anything else that is space,
or spacious, belonging to oneself, that one appropriates to oneself: this
is called the internal element of space . . . and the mind is freed from the
element of space.

Cultivate the meditation that is like the earth, Rahula. Cultivating the
meditation that is like the earth, Rahula, contacts that have arisen that are
pleasant and unpleasant will not take hold of the mind and remain. Just
as people cast down what is clean and unclean, excrement, urine, saliva,
pus and blood on the earth, and the earth is not distressed, ashamed and
disgusted because of that, even so, cultivate the meditation that is like the
earth, for when you cultivate the meditation that is like the earth, contacts
which have arisen that are pleasant and unpleasant will not take hold of
the mind and remain.
Cultivate the meditation that is like water, Rahula. Cultivating the
meditation that is like the water, contacts that have arisen that are pleasant
and unpleasant will not take hold of the mind and remain. Just as, Rahula,
people wash what is clean and unclean, excrement, urine, saliva, pus and
blood in water, and the water is not distressed, ashamed and disgusted
because of that, even so, cultivate the meditation that is like water . . .
Cultivate the meditation that is like fire, Rahula. Cultivating the medita-
tion that is like fire, Rahula, contacts that have arisen that are pleasant and
unpleasant will not take hold of the mind and remain. Just as people burn
what is clean and unclean, excrement, urine, saliva, pus and blood in fire,
and the fire is not distressed, ashamed and disgusted because of that, even
so, cultivate the meditation that is like fire . . .
Cultivate the meditation that is like air, Rahula. Cultivating the medita-
tion that is like air, Rahula, contacts that have arisen that are pleasant and
unpleasant will not take hold of the mind and remain. Just as air blows on
what is clean and unclean, excrement, urine, saliva, pus and blood in fire,
and the air is not distressed, ashamed and disgusted because of that, even
so, cultivate the meditation that is like air . . .
Cultivate the meditation that is like space, Rahula. Cultivating the
meditation that is like space, Rahula, contacts that have arisen that are
pleasant and unpleasant will not take hold of the mind and remain. Just
as space is not fixed anywhere, even so, cultivate the meditation that is
like space, for when you cultivate the meditation that is like space, con-
tacts which have arisen that are pleasant and unpleasant will not take
hold of the mind and remain.
Cultivate the meditation on loving-kindness. When you cultivate the
meditation on loving-kindness, any ill-will (vyapada)is abandoned.
Develop the meditation on compassion; when you cultivate the medi-
tation on compassion, any cruelty (vihesa) will be abandoned.
Develop the meditation on sympathetic joy; when you cultivate the
meditation on sympathetic joy, discontent (arati) will be abandoned.
Develop the meditation on equanimity; when you cultivate the medi-
tation on equanimity, any aversion ( patigha) will be abandoned.
Develop the meditation on foulness; when you develop the meditation
on foulness, desire (raga) will be abandoned.
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Develop the meditation on the perception of impermanence; when
you develop the meditation on the perception of impermanence, the
conceit “I am” will be abandoned.
Develop the meditation on mindfulness of breathing, Rahula. When
mindfulness of breathing is cultivated and made much of, it is of great
fruit and great reward. How is this breathing mindfulness, of great fruit
and great reward, cultivated and made much of? Here, a monk goes to a
wilderness . . . [  as  for breathing mindfulness (29)] . . .
In this way, mindfulness of breathing, when cultivated and made much
of, is of great fruit and great reward. When, Rahula, mindfulness of
breathing is cultivated and made much of in this way, then those which
are the final in-breaths and out-breaths, when they cease, are known and
are not unknown.’
Thus spoke the Exalted One. Delighted, the Venerable Rahula rejoiced
in what the Exalted One had said.
(M I 420–6)

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CONCLUSION
As the texts here indicate, meditation is taught by the Buddha as a kind of craft
or skill. This is demonstrated both in his great love of similes derived from work
in gold, ivory, wood, clay and even cooking and in the range of his teaching
methods and approaches for different audiences. And just as a good cook has to
relinquish his work, so the meditator’s work is incomplete without the element of
insight, the discernment of the marks of impermanence (anicca), suffering
(dukkha) and not-self (anatta), found in all conditioned phenomena. Neither
insight nor calm can be complete without work on virtue, both as a preparation
for meditation and for a return to the world, where their effects can help others.
The eightfold path is a teaching from which it is difficult to extract any one
element without involving the others. The Mahasakuludayi-Sutta and the
Samaññaphala-Sutta , for instance, include teachings that start with virtue and
culminate in insight, the natural pattern of many canonical suttas. Both
Buddhaghosa and Upatissa place the practice of bhavana, as it is represented by
the various objects, between large sections on virtue and even larger sections on
the cultivation of wisdom. The implications of this interconnectedness are
profound: the notion that how we behave affects how we are and that, in turn,
affects how we think, and that this process works the other way too, impresses the
importance of each factor in the eightfold path.
A stress on the needs of the practitioner is found in many texts. In some, such
as those concerning the six recollections (21–6), the teaching given rests prima-
rily on an interplay between the practice of sila and samatha, a relationship little
discussed in modern times: the recollection of sila, generosity and devas all
require some prior virtue and generosity to be conducted in the first place. The
commentaries say that the recollections are not developed to jhana, though the
Buddha stresses rather the potential of these practices (see A I 30). They appear,
in modern terms, as an emotional reinforcement of the psychological effects
of giving and restraint: as for other meditations, such acts ‘made much of ’
(bahulikata) and, appreciated, bring contentment.
1
This deepening of sila into
samadhi seems to have been particularly aimed at the laity: it is interesting that,
in contrast to the advice given by some modern commentators, the Buddha often
suggests calm, not insight, to busy people.

From the other end of the spectrum, many texts have included an element of
insight, either as the culmination of other practices or as an underlying theme. The
Satipatthana-Sutta, taken as the principal text by many vipassana schools,
provides, in its stress upon mindfulness and clear comprehension at all times, an
enactment of the principles it describes. It is difficult to read this text without
feeling the dynamic movement of all the three signs of anicca, dukkha and anatta
in the process of observing the rise and fall of each event, or dhamma, described.
The five hindrances, listed under the fourth foundation, are treated not only as
obstructions to samatha practice but to insight too. They are said to make ‘the
mind neither soft, nor manageable, nor shining, but brittle and not properly
prepared for the elimination of the corruptions’ (S V 92). The practitioner who
overcomes the hindrances, ‘with strong wisdom . . . will be able to experience for
himself the excellence of the noble knowledge and vision that surpasses that of
men: this has to be so’ (A III 62). Arahatship is sometimes defined by the absence
of the five hindrances, which are said then to be cut off, at the root, like palm
stumps (S V 327).
Where other meditation instructions are given, single approaches to insight
are often recommended. Rahula and Meghiya, after receiving their various
meditation objects, are instructed to be aware of impermanence, ‘for the removal
of the conceit “I am” ’. As Meghiya is told, ‘in one who perceives impermanence,
the perception of not-self becomes established. And the one who perceives
not-self attains the removal of the conceit “I am” and finds nibbana in this very
life.’ (Ud 37). At the end of a discourse on overcoming sleepiness, the Buddha
addresses first the symptoms Moggallana presents and then the cause:
Moggallana should attend to the statement ‘It is not fitting that things in the world
should be attached to.’ Then he will know each state, see its impermanence and
will attain nibbana. Tissa is roused from sloth and torpor by an appeal to insight,
in the rigorous questioning that enables him to see impermanence and suffering
in each of the khandhas of material form, feeling, perception, formations and
consciousness (S III 106–9).
Adaptability is evident in the way some objects are taught with a varied emphasis
on calm or insight. Kulla, who takes the foul as a meditation object (11–20), loses
his delight in ‘the five kinds of musical instruments’, the senses, and, attaining
knowledge and vision, becomes or already is one-pointed, when, an arahat, he
‘sees things truly’ (Th 393–8). Kappa, who also conducts this practice, is told
that those who follow it ‘will become cooled, without corruptions’ (Th 567–76).
The meditation on death (27) is taught as arousing both calm and insight: ‘We live
carefully and are alert as we practise mindfulness of death, in order to destroy the
corruptions’ (A III 303). In some suttas the balance between calm (samatha) and
insight (vipassana) is explicitly poised. Breathing mindfulness (29) leads to and
develops the seven factors of enlightenment, that both characterize and awaken
the enlightened mind: ‘When the seven factors of enlightenment are cultivated in
this way, monks, when they are made much of, they fulfil knowledge and
deliverance’ (M III 88). The Satipatthana-Sutta, primarily intended to arouse
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mindfulness and clear comprehension, includes many elements usually or often
treated as samatha objects: the breath (29), meditation on the parts of the body
(28), the four elements (40) and the stages of bodily decomposition (11–20).
The extent to which vipassana alone or with samatha is considered by the
Buddha as a means to enlightenment is a vast subject and cannot be discussed
here.
2
There is, to this day, a great variety of approach between different methods.
In many texts, however, considerable flexibility and movement between samatha
and vipassana are evident when they are taught in practice. I can find no grounds
to suggest that the Buddha intended either to be underplayed or negated: each in
its own time.
3
The practice of mindfulness is constantly enjoined for both, as is
that of sila. The Rathavinita Sutta, often taken as one of the principle texts on
insight, describes seven stages of purification, which are compared to chariots in
a relay race, with only one left behind as the next one is employed. The eightfold
path constitutes the basis of the list: the first is the purification of virtue
(silavisuddhi), the second the purification of mind (cittavisuddhi).
4
A sense of careful applicability is communicated by the Buddha’s teaching
methods. He addressed what he was saying to his audience, a tendency reflected
in the various genres and methods he employs. In teaching querents as varied as
Mahanama, Visakha, Kulla, Kappa, Vijitasena and Meghiya he employs a variety
of imagery and method directed specifically to that person’s occupation,
temperament and level of attainment. The fact that meditation objects are occa-
sionally taught with an unusual slant that appears only once in the texts reinforces
this impression: the Maharahulovada-Sutta contains a number of such particu-
larities.
5
Varied groups or clusters of meditation objects are given on different
occasions. Some texts are directed to a larger audience, already experienced in
meditation. The comprehensiveness of the teaching the 
Ånapanasati-Sutta
and, according to the commentaries, the Satipatthana-Sutta, is a reflection of
assemblies that have practised diligently beforehand. It is not, however, only
experienced meditators who are the recipients of the major discourses. The
teaching given in the Samaññaphala-Sutta, the most significant account of the
benefits of meditation, is prompted by a question asked by a layman.
Within this discussion the Abhidhamma is a special case. As a teaching vehicle,
it seems to have been intended to loosen rigidity of view and develop insight into
not-self.
6
A sense of fluidity and manifold possibility in the application of the
eightfold path, however, may also be seen in the Dhammasakgaji, extracts from
which have been included in this anthology. Its method of describing conscious-
ness as it develops through stages of skilfulness in daily life, to jhana, to path
does not distance the goal from everyday consciousness. On the contrary, the first
spontaneous skilful consciousness accompanied by knowledge and joy, the basis
of much human rebirth and a possibility for anyone, includes path factors such as
right view and right resolve at the outset, which are deepened for the attainment
of jhana.
The first moment of path, stream-entry, always lokuttara jhana, is described as
an enrichment, perfection and coming together of factors that may arise in any
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moment of kusala consciousness accompanied by wisdom. With the first
penetration of the four noble truths, all path factors, which usually appear only
single or several in daily life and meditation, come to fruition, with the fulfilment
of sila, samadhi and pañña. One extra cetasika, peculiar to the first moment of
path, is added: ‘I shall come to know the unknown’ (anaññataññassamitindriyam:
DhS 277, 296). At the second path, the first two hindrances, sense desire and
ill will, are diminished and another cetasika added: ‘the knowledge that is made
perfect’ (aññindriyaÅ); at the third path, the first two hindrances are abandoned.
At the fourth path, the moment of enlightenment, all passion for form and the
formless, and all conceit, restlessness and ignorance are abandoned: the mind is
liberated.
This is a technical way of describing the process of awakening, but highly
effective. Skilful citta, with its innate predisposition to the path and the factors
associated with it, is perceived as in itself a glimpse of the way through the jungle
thicket, to pursue the analogy for the eightfold path that the Buddha gives to
Tissa. It describes the human mind, working at its best, as in itself healthy and
‘good’ but needing training and skill to realize its full potential. Awakening
occurs when all path factors, with the two extra to form a tenfold path, work
together: in meditation or daily life skilful consciousness gives glimpses of path,
but there may still be foliage or branches that prevent a complete view of the
‘delightful stretch of ground’, nibbana. This only becomes clear at stream-entry,
a moment of jhana, where sila, samadhi and pañña at last operate in unison. The
texts suggest many possible combinations of sila, samadhi and pañña to reach
this point. My conclusion, based on texts used here, is that the practice of virtue
keeps meditation and insight true, that calmness allows virtue and wisdom to rest
sometimes in happiness and that wisdom ensures that sila and samadhi recognize
things ‘as they really are’.
An anthology can only give samples of kinds of texts. It is noteworthy,
however, that some describe people learning from and becoming enlightened
from teachings given by those taught by the Buddha. The