Living alone in particular, he encountered a myriad of mysterious
phenomena far too numerous to mention. The citta in its natural
state of knowing is like that: knowledge and understanding arise
continuously, both during meditation and in engagement with
normal daily activities. It’s strange, and truly wondrous, consid-
ering that the citta had previously been blind and ignorant, never
imagining it possessed the ability to perceive the phenomena that
arise each moment. It was as if such phenomena just came into
being, even though they have actually existed since time imme-
morial.
Only when the citta enters into a state of total calm do these
functions cease. All manner of phenomena are excluded from the
samãdhi state, so nothing arises to affect the citta in any way. As
the citta rests with Dhamma, Dhamma and the citta merge. The
citta is Dhamma, Dhamma is the citta. This is a state of complete
unity where the citta and Dhamma are one and the same, without
any trace of duality. Conceptual reality does not exist: all concepts
of time and space are transcended. There is no awareness of the
body, or the mind, and concepts of pain and pleasure do not arise.
As long as the citta remains there and doesn’t withdraw from that
state – whether it’s for a period of days, months, years, or eons –
then conventional realities such as anicca, dukkha, and anattã will
not disturb it, for it is a state in which all duality ceases – entirely.
If, for instance, the mundane physical body were to break up and
disintegrate while the citta remained quiescent in nirodhadhamma
- meaning the cessation of conventional reality – the citta in that
state would be completely unaware of what was happening.^5
In truth, the state of nirodha is one in which the cessation
of conceptual reality is only temporary – not lasting for years, as
