THE DHYANAS AND THE FORMLESS with such attention, they are called by the names Infinite Consciousness and so forth because o f the training However, any o f them can focus on other dharmas (b) Explaining the names of the last 4cd Since it is feeble, no conception, But it s not nonconception, either Since it, the m otion o f conception, is feeble, there is no clear conception, but it is no t total nonconception, either Alternatively, during the training one views both coarse conception and nonconception as faulty and generates the absorption through the attention that thinks, “This which is neither concep tion nor nonconception is peace.” This is the highest level o f samsara, so it is also called the Peak o f Existence Summary of both 5ab Thus actual absorption is Eight substances Thus actual absorption is eight substances: four dhyanas and four Formless B Understanding them in common This has six topics: Examining their essence, Identifying the branches of dhyana, The m anner in which ab sorptions are attained, W hat support manifests them, W hat sphere they focus on, and Identifying what discards afflictions Examining their essence This has two topics: a Classifying in terms of their essence, and b The meaning o f each classification a Classifying in terms of their essence This has two points i Classifications of the seven lower absorptions b -d Seven are threefold: Concurrent with enjoyment, pure, And undefiled The seven absorptions other than the Peak o f Existence are threefold Absorp tions o f those with the lowest faculties where there is great craving, view, pride, 549 YOUTHFUL PLAY * AREA VIII and doubt are concurrent w ith enjoym ent, the absorptions o f those with m edium faculties are pure, and the absorptions o f those with the highest fac ulties are undefiled ii Classifications of the Peak of Existence 5d The eighth is twofold T he eighth, the Peak of Existence, is twofold: it can be concurrent with en joyment or pure There is no undefiled Peak of Existence b The m eaning of each classification The one concurrent with enjoyment Has craving Virtue o f the worldly Is pure, which is what that enjoys The undefiled transcends the world T he one called concurrent w ith enjoym ent has concurrence with craving It is also concurrent with other afflictions, of course, but the reason that only craving is taught here is because craving is realized to be the greatest hindrance to emancipating oneself onto higher levels The virtue o f the worldly absorp tions is called pure because it is concurrent with nongreed and other positive dharmas W hat does the concurrent with enjoyment enjoy? you ask Pure absorption passes, immediately after which is what, the experience, th at concurrent with enjoyment enjoys It is regression from that which it experiences T he undefiled absorption transcends the w orld and takes the truths as aspects Identifying the branches of dhyana This has three topics: a Correlating the branches to each absorption, b Teaching three branches in particular, and c Teaching the distinctions among the absorptions a Correlating the branches to each absorption This has two points: i Clas sifying in terms of name, and ii Summarizing in terms o f substance 550 THE DH YANAS AND THE FORMLESS i Classifying in terms of name The first has five: considering, Examining, joy, pleasure, and samadhi There are four branches on the second: Serenity, joy, and so forth Five on the third: there’s equanimity, And mindfulness, awareness, pleasure, rest The last has four: mindful, equanimous, N ot pain nor pleasure, and samadhi T he first dhyana has five branches: through abandoning such impediments as desire o f the Desire realm, malice, hostility, and so on, there are the two antidotal branches o f considering and examining Having discarded the im pediments through considering and examining, there is joy and pleasure born o f withdrawal, which are the branches o f benefit These former are accom plished through the power o f one pointedness, so there is the supporting branch o f samadhi Samadhi is both a branch and also dhyana T he others are only branches, it is heard T he M aster explains that, “T he dhyana of five branches is just like an army with four branches.” There are four branches on the second dhyana: the antidotal branch that abandons the impediments o f consideration and examining, true inner seren ity; and the branches o f benefit and support, joy, and so forth, pleasure and one-pointedness itself There are five branches on the third dhyana: the three antidotal branches that discard the impediment of the lower levels’ joy: the formation equanimity, which by not striving for joy has the characteristic of spontaneity in relation to the focus; and m indfulness, which does not forget the continuum o f sequanimity; and awareness, which does not forget mindfulness The branches of benefit and support are respectively pleasure and the samadhi of a m ind that rests T he last, fourth dhyana, has four branches: completely pure mindfulness, the formation equanim ity that is free o f the eight faults o f lower levels, and neutral feeling that is n o t pain nor pleasure, and completely pure samadhi In terms of names, the branches of dhyana are eighteen, because the first and third have five branches each, and the second and fourth each have four ii Summarizing in terms of substance 9a In substance, they are eleven 55i YOUTHFUL PLAY ?f A R E A VIII In substance, they axe eleven The first dhyana has five substances The sec ond s true inner serenity, and the third’s equanimity, mindfulness, awareness, and pleasure make ten The fourths neutral feeling makes eleven For that rea son, there are four alternatives o f branches that are on the first dhyana but not on the second, etc b Teaching three branches in particular This has three points i Explaining distinctions in pleasure 9ab Pleasure O n the first two is pliancy W hy is the pleasure o f the third dhyana said to be a different substance than the pleasure o f the first two dhyanas? you ask W hat is called the branch of pleasure on the first two dhyanas is pliancy; it is not a feeling Because the pleasure o f the third is the feeling of pleasure, it is logical to say that it is a dif ferent substance than the pleasure o f the first two levels The pleasure o f those two levels is not the feeling o f pleasure because the dhyanas o f absorption block the sense consciousnesses, so it is not bodily pleas ure Joy is taught as a branch, and that is mental pleasure, which cannot arise simultaneously with cognitive pleasure, the Great Exposition proposes The Darstantikas not assert pleasure born o f cognition and so present only bodily pleasure as a branch The branch is not pliancy called by the name o f pleasure Otherwise it would follow that the pliancy of the fourth dhyana would be pleasure If one needs a pliancy that is compatible with the feeling pleasure, it follows that the pliancy o f the third would also be that It also says in a sutra: At the time that noble listeners have manifested through their bodies the pleasure born from complete with drawal and perfected it, dwelling within it, at that time the five dharmas o f this are discarded The meditation of the five dharmas, great serenity, joy, pliancy, pleasure, and samadhi, is completely perfected Here pliancy and pleasure are said to be separate, and that would be contra dicted, they say 552 THE DHYANAS AND THE FORMLESS ii Explaining complete serenity in particular 9c Serenity is faith, True inner serenity is confident faith that having attained the second dhyana, one is emancipated from the first dhyana iii Explaining the distinctions of mental pleasure 9cd and two Scriptures say joy is mental pleasure Some other schools say that joy is a different mental factor and mental pleasure is taught as the branch o f pleasure of all three dhyanas This is not correct, be cause if it were, it would contradict the two scriptures In the Viparitasutray328 after saying, “The third dhyana,” the Bhagavan said: O n this, the arising of all faculties of mental pleasure w ithout exception cease Also: O n the fourth dhyana, all faculties of pleasure without exception cease From the Sutra which Teaches the Branches o f D hyana:^ And pleasure is also discarded Previously suffering has also been discarded, and mental pleasure and mental suffering have also previously disappeared Because it would not be proven that mental pleasure had previously been dis carded, on the third dhyana there can be no faculty of mental pleasure There fore, the joy of the first two dhyanas is only m ental pleasure and is not pleasure c Teaching the distinctions among the absorptions This has three topics: i Distinctions between the afflicted and unafflicted, ii Features of the fourth dhyana, and iii Distinctions in feeling between causal and resultant absorptions 553 ... itself There are five branches on the third dhyana: the three antidotal branches that discard the impediment of the lower levels’ joy: the formation equanimity, which by not striving for joy has the. .. on the third dhyana there can be no faculty of mental pleasure There fore, the joy of the first two dhyanas is only m ental pleasure and is not pleasure c Teaching the distinctions among the. .. Pleasure O n the first two is pliancy W hy is the pleasure o f the third dhyana said to be a different substance than the pleasure o f the first two dhyanas? you ask W hat is called the branch