The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 7Then when he is able to discern all of these characteristicsthroughout the whole body then he meditates simply observing thefirst six, hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, andlightness, as the Earth element, the next two, flowing and cohesion,as the Water element, the next two, heat and cold, as the Fire element,and the last two, supporting and pushing, as the Air Element.In this way he develops his discernment of the four elements so thatin whatever posture he is in he observes his body to be simply theFour elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.As he continues to meditate and develop deeper concentrationbased on the four elements he finds that his body begins to emit lightat first this light maybe grey like smoke or bluish white, but as hecontinues to discern the four elements in that light he finds his wholebody appears to be white. Then as he continues to discern the fourelements in the white form of the body his whole body becomesclear like a block of ice. At this point he has developed what iscalled access concentration (upacŒra samŒdhi).At this point the meditator could go on to develop insight meditationif he so wishes, but he might also want to develop his concentrationfurther. He can do this by discerning the 32 parts of the body inthe clear form of his body. Then by using one of those parts such asthe bones he can use the perception of bones to develop the firstjhŒna based on repulsiveness, or he can use the white colour of thebones as a kasiöa object and develop the white kasiöa to the fourthjhŒna.A meditator who can attain the fourth jhŒna using the whitekasiöa can then easily use that concentration and the light associatedwith it as a basis for the development of the "Four Protections"(caturakkha)So whether a meditator begins by developing Mindfulness ofBreathing or Meditation on the Four Elements he can develop other