The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction

THE BUDDHA AS TEACHER 39

This goal is realized by developing the Path, which we have already dis-

cussed in detail. Thus the tasks proper to each of the Four Noble Truths-

comprehending suffering, abandoning its cause, realizing its cessation, and

developing the Path to its cessation-are actually four aspects of a single

process that, as it reaches completion, destroys any trace of ignorance con-

cerning the Four Noble Truths at the same time that it abandons craving, the

second truth. In this way, the process cuts the chain of dependent co-arising

simultaneously at its two most crucial factors.

2.3.2 Practice and Attainment

How the tasks appropriate to the Four Noble Truths were to be mastered in

practice can be shown by an analysis of the meditation practice most frequently

recommended in the canon: mindfulness of in-and-out breathing (M.118).

The meditator was to find a solitary spot, sit cross-legged, and begin focusing

on the breath by noticing whether it was long or short. He/she was then to

develop a whole-bodyawareness while focusing on the breath, and then to let

the breath grow calm. At this point, if the focus was steadily maintained, feel-

ings of rapture and ease would begin to arise. These the meditator would allow
to permeate and suffuse the entire body, leading to the states of dhyana that
constitute right concentration. When the rapture and ease subsided with the
attainment of the fourth stage of dhyana, the meditator would be left with a
bright awareness filling the body in a state of pure mindfulness and equanimity.
At this point, the attention would tend to focus on the sense of bright
awareness together with the breath, rather than just on the breath itself. The
meditator would begin to notice the ways in which the mind was steadied,
uplifted, and released a:s it went through the various stages of absorption. This
would lead to a mastery of the processes of concentration, which in turn
would provide a solid basis of internally based pleasure and equanimity that
the meditator could use to pry away any attachment to sensual pleasures. This
process of detachment would culminate in the attainment of the stage of
Awakening called nonreturning, in which sensual passion is utterly abandoned
and concentration completely mastered.
The meditator would then turn inward to reflect on the processes of
dhyana itself. One text (A. V.28) describes an intermediate reflective stage of
absorption, in which a meditator could analyze the various mental states in
each stage of dhyana without destroying the integrity of the stage, and some
of the texts (M.111; A.IX.36) indicate that talented meditators could do this
in great detail. Further contemplation would bring about a realization of the
impermanence, stress, and lack of self not only in the subtle pleasures of men-
tal absorption but also in the insights arising from reflection, all of which count
as subtle forms of the five skandhas. This realization would lead the mind to
perceive these phenomena in light of the categories of the Four Noble Truths,
inducing a sense of dispassion; cessation, and letting go, all of which were to
be observed simply as passing events. Ultimately, even right view and the other
factors of the Path were to be abandoned as the last step in gaining total