Vipassana Meditation : Lectures On Insight Meditation by Venerable

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ealize how intention is related to the pushing movement of the foot. When weobserve the intention before the dropping of the foot, we will also come torealize how the intention is related to the dropping movement of the foot andso on. When we come to realize this relationship of cause and effect, we havealmost completely realized the Law of Cause and Effect. By this realization weovercome doubt as to whether there is any personality or entity, which iseverlasting in us. Then what really exists is just the process of cause and effect.Purification of Knowledge and Vision of Path and Non-PathThe fifth visuddhi is Purification of Knowledge and Vision of Path and NonPath visuddhi). In this stage of insight, you get very good experiences;lightness, happiness, tranquility, serenity etc. Sometimes you may feel yourbody has become light, as if it has been lifted, or as if you were flying in thesky. Your mindfulness is very keen. Your effort is steady; neither slack norvigorous, nor rigid. Your effort is moderate, steady and firm. Yourconcentration is deep, so you experience peace, calmness, serenity, tranquility,happiness, rapture and so on. This is a very good stage that meditators must gothrough. This stage may be experienced in about two weeks if meditatorspractice strenuously, but some meditators go through this stage within a week.With such good experiences, meditators may think 'This must be nibbána- thisis great, I have never experienced it before, it is better than having a milliondollars - now I have attained nibbána Thus, he does not go further because heis clinging to it. He thinks that if he goes further, he will go beyond nibbána. Ifa meditator holds that this stage is nibbána, this is the wrong path. Therefore,he must continue to meditate and practice strenuously. This is only a veryminor and trivial experience and he should not be content with it, but must goahead with his practice.Purification of Knowledge and Vision of the CourseThe sixth Visuddhi is Patipada-nanadassana-visuddhi. 'Patipada'means thecourse of practice, 'nana' means knowledge, 'dassana' means vision. 'Nina' and'dassana' are here referred to in the same sense. In order to lay emphasis onpenetration, the text used the two words in the same sense-knowledge andvision. So Patipada-nanadassana-visuddhi means Purification of Knowledgeand Vision of the Course of Practice. It means that when we have passedMaggamaggananadassana-visuddhi, we are on the right path, which leads toArahantship or the cessation of suffering.If we were on the wrong path, we would stop at Maggamaggananadassana-visuddhi.Because we are on the right path, we have to gothrough the nine stages of insight and are approaching the goal, so we canjudge that our course of practice is right. Then we do not have any doubtabout the course of practice. That doubt has been destroyed by knowledge andvision of the course of practice. Then there is purification of knowledge and35
vision of the right course of practice - patipada-nanadassana-visuddhi. Whenyou reach that stage, you have attained Anuloma-nana (knowledge ofadaptation) because your experience is in conformity with the lower stages ofinsight knowledge and with the higher stages of insight.Knowledge of MaturityIf we continue with our practice, we will come to the borderline in a shorttime. In two or three thought moments we have reached the line and stand onit. The border here means the border between an ordinary person (puthujjana)and a Noble One (ariya). When you are on the boundary, do you want to goahead or go back? If you want to go back, your attentions towards the past,but if you want to go ahead your attention is ahead. Ahead is the cessation ofcompounded things, i.e. the cessation of all kinds of mentality (nama) andphysicality (rupa). If you want to proceed, standing on the boundary orborder, you look ahead as well as behind. Then you will know, "If I go ahead,all kinds of suffering will cease to exist. So should I go ahead?" You will thinkabout it. The answer is yes, because you have been suffering for many aeons(kappas). The word 'kappa' means countless numbers of existences. When youare at the boundary, you will reflect on your past experiences, "I have beensuffering for countless existences in this cycle of dukkha. I've had enough ofthis I must put an end to this suffering."Your attention is then towards the cessation of suffering. That borderlineknowledge is known as Gotrabhu-nana. 'Gotra' means Puthujjana ordescendants. On this border, descendants of a Puthujjana are cut off totally.Then there is no more Puthujjana. Once you pass that borderline, you becomea Noble One (Ariya) because you have cut off the Puthujjana lineage.Venerable Nyanaponika Thera translates it as maturity knowledge orknowledge of maturity because the meditator's knowledge is mature enough toattain the path. Actually, we can translate it literally as the knowledge, whichhas cut off the Puthujjana lineage. When the Puthujjana lineage has been cutoff, the meditator has attained Sotapatti-magga nana - he becomes a NobleOne, an Ariya.Immediately after the borderline knowledge of maturity, there is PathKnowledge (Magga-nana), which realizes the Four Noble Truths thoroughly:1. Dukkha-sacca The Truth of Suffering2. Samudaya-sacca The Truth of the Cause of Suffering3. Nirodha-sacca The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering4. Magga-saccaThe Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering36
Page 1 and 2: Vipassana MeditationLectures On Ins
Page 3 and 4: PrefaceSudassam vajjamannesamAttano
Page 5 and 6: will not arise any suffering. Then
Page 7 and 8: 2. Mindfulness of feeling or sensat
Page 9 and 10: A Samatha meditator has to make som
Page 11 and 12: it is concentrated on it for a mome
Page 13 and 14: meditative practice. When moral con
Page 15 and 16: thinks about your work, your family
Page 17 and 18: nothing else to do except to be min
Page 19 and 20: parittas as taught by the Buddha, w
Page 21 and 22: can observe the five precepts perfe
Page 23 and 24: That means, he can attain Arahantsh
Page 25 and 26: When the root of all kinds of defil
Page 27 and 28: Chapter FourThe Four Foundations Of
Page 29 and 30: Chain of Cause and EffectWhen attac
Page 32 and 33: contemplation of mind objects, i.e.
Page 34 and 35: the Law of Cause and Effect (action
Page 38 and 39: Purification of Knowledge and Visio
Page 40 and 41: confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma an
Page 42 and 43: According to the Visuddhimagga, the
Page 44 and 45: To summarize, these are the nine wa
Page 46 and 47: passing away. but he must strive wi
Page 48 and 49: impermanent nature. Only if you hav
Page 50 and 51: Note mindfullyNote attentively and
Page 52 and 53: Walking MeditationTake the walking
Page 54 and 55: Pain is observed not to make it go
Page 56 and 57: 4. Samadhindriya: deep concentratio

Vipassana Meditation : Lectures On Insight Meditation by Venerable

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