Jewels from the treasury vasubandhus ( (113)

T hen one enters the absorptions going up in ascending order as far as unde­ filed Nothingness, and then coming back down in descending order to the undefiled first dhyana.. T hen by ski

(c) W h a t arises after which of the four

18ab Tendencies to regress, et cetera,

Are followed by two, three, three, one

W hat arises right after each o f the four? you ask T he four tendencies toward regression, et cetera, may be followed immediately by the first two right after the first, and the first three right after the second Right after the third, the last three arise, and right after the last, only the last one itself arises

c The manner in which skipping absorption arises This has two topics:

i Training, and ii Actual practice

i Training This has two points

(1) Distant training

18cd Going through eight levels up and down,

Both types in sequence,

How does one produce skipping absorption? you ask O ne goes through the eight levels, going up in ascending order and dow n in descending order O ne enters each o f the four dhyanas and four Formless, both defiled and undefiled types in sequence In order, one enters the absorption o f the defiled first samadhi T hen one enters the absorptions going up in ascending order as far

as the Peak o f Existence, and then coming back down in descending order to the first dhyana T hen one enters the absorption of the undefiled first samadhi

T hen one enters the absorptions going up in ascending order as far as unde­ filed Nothingness, and then coming back down in descending order to the undefiled first dhyana This is the initial training for skipping absorption

(2) Near training

T hen one enters the defiled absorption o f the first dhyana, skips one level, and enters the absorption o f the third dhyana T hen by skipping every other level one goes up as far as the Peak in ascending order, and then skipping every other level one comes back down as far as the defiled first dhyana in descend­ ing order T hen one enters the undefiled absorption o f the first dhyana and skipping one level enters the undefiled absorption o f the third T hen skipping every other level, one enters the undefiled absorption o f Nothingness and then

comes down to the undefiled first dhyana skipping every other level This is the advanced training for skipping absorption

ii Actual practice

19ab Then going to the third o f the

Different type is skipping absorption

Following that, one then enters the defiled absorption of the first samadhi and then skips one and goes to the third dhyana o f the different, undefiled type Discarding the fourth, one enters defiled Infinite Space, and discarding an­ other, enter undefiled Nothingness T hen one discards every other level down

to the first dhyana In this way, skipping every other level and alternating be­ tween the incompatible defiled and undefiled dhyanas and Formless is the ac­ tual practice o f skipping absorption

The explanation here that one cannot skip more than one level is in terms

o f listeners with dull faculties T he explanation in the Ornament o f Clear Re- alizationm that it is possible to skip eight is in terms of bodhisattvas with sharp

faculties

O nly nonoccasional, totally liberated arhats on the support o f the three continents can produce this, because they have no afflictions and have mastery over samadhi

4 W h a t support manifests them This has two points,

a General

19cd The dhyans and Formless, on their own

O r lower support No use for lower

T he dhyanas and the Peak and the other Formless absorptions are manifested

on the support o f their own level or lower levels down to Desire W hen one

is born in a higher level, the absorption of the lower level is not manifested, because there is absolutely no use for the substance of the lower absorption Producing the samadhi o f the lower has the function o f producing the full ripening o f the lower, but the higher level has transcended the full ripening of the lower, because the samadhi o f the lower level is inferior

b An exception on the Peak of Existence

20ab O n Peak, they manifest Nothingness

O f nobles, then extinguish defilements

T h at was in general, but there is an exception: when born on the Peak, they, nobles, m anifest the undefiled sense base o f N othingness o f nobles, and then they extinguish defilements o f the Peak o f Existence, because there is no u n ­ defiled path on the Peak and the undefiled sense base o f Nothingness is close

to the Peak

5 W h at sphere they focus on This has three points

a W h at afflicted dhyana focuses on

20c Enjoyment focuses on own existence

Absorptions with craving that are concurrent with enjoym ent focus on their own level’s existence, defiled things They do not focus on the lower because they are detached from it They do not focus on the higher, because they are completely separated from the higher by craving They do not focus on the undefiled, either, because then it would follow that they were virtuous

b W h at pure and undefiled dhyanas focus on

20d All that exists is virtuous dhyan’s sphere

All th at is composite and noncom posite and exists is the pure and undefiled virtuous dhyanas sphere or object

c W h at the actual Formless focuses on

2 lab Defiled o f lower is not the sphere

O f virtuous actual o f Formless

T he defiled o f lower levels is n o t the sphere o f the virtuous actual prac­ tices o f Formless T heir sphere is either the defiled or undefiled o f their own and higher levels, and also the lower level’s undefiled paths o f subsequent knowing

6 Identifying what discards afflictions This has two topics: a W hat discards what, and b Distinctions in the discarding antidotes

a W h at discards what This has two points.

i W h at the undefiled actual practice discards

21c The undefiled discard afflictions,

O f the dhyanas and Formless that are pure, undefiled, and concurrent with enjoyment, the undefiled discard the afflictions o f their own and higher levels

T heres no need to m ention the concurrent with enjoyment— even the pure does not discard Because the preparations have detached one, the pure does not discard the afflictions o f lower levels Because it is not their antidote, it does not discard afflictions o f its own level Because they are greatly superior,

it does not discard the higher level’s afflictions

ii W h a t the preparations discard

2 Id As do pure preparations, too

As do the undefiled, the pure preparations for higher levels o f dhyana and form discard the afflictions o f the level below them, too The word “too” means that N ot Unable is included within the undefiled It has already been explained that it can discard the afflictions o f every level.334

Therefore, the defiled actual practices do not discard any afflictions at all because the lower level’s have already been discarded and they cannot discard the afflictions o f their own or higher levels

b Distinctions in the discarding antidotes This has two topics: i Distinc­ tions o f the preparations, and ii Identifying special dhyana

i Distinctions of the preparations This has two topics: ( 1) Classifications, and (2) T heir essences and the feelings they are concurrent with

(1) Classifications

22a For those, there are eight preparations

For entering those eight actual practices, there are also eight preparations

As far as the m anner o f entering absorption, each o f the preparations has seven aspects through which one can enter the absorption: attention on thorough knowledge o f the characteristics, attention produced by interest, attention on complete withdrawal, attention on taking delight, attention on

examination, attention on the end o f training, and attention on the result of the end o f training The first six o f these are preparations, and the last is the actual practice.335

(2) Their essences and the feelings they are concurrent with This has four points

(a) General essence

O n the first two dhyanas, there is the feeling joy O n the third, pleasure, and

on the fourth, neutral Do their preparations have similar feelings? you ask They do not They, the preparations, are pure in essence T hey are not con­ current with enjoyment because they are not free o f revulsion for the lower level and because they are a path that brings detachment

(b) Which feelings they are concurrent with

They, the feelings on the preparations, are n o t pleasure and are n o t pain or suffering, so they are only neutral This is because the preparations m ust be induced by exertion, so they arise out o f effort T he pervasion holds because the paths that arise w ithout effort are concurrent with joy and pleasure

(c) Particulars of the essence

22 c The first is also noble

T he first o f the preparations, N ot Unable, is not solely pure; it can also be noble or undefiled

(d) Others' assertions

Some say N o t Unable can be all three, including concurrent with enjoyment The reason is because it is clear, or according to Master Sanghabhadra, because

it pursues and competes with the actual practice

ii Identifying special dhyana T h i s h a s f o u r p o i n t s