The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library
The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library
The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library
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strength <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p himself from giving up the development of tranquillity.So a person who is developing concentration with a meditationsubject like mindfulness of breathing needs strong faith. He shoulddevelop mindfulness of breathing without any doubts, thinking,ÒJhŒna can be achieved if I follow systematically the instructions ofthe Fully Enlightened BuddhaÓ.If, however, a person lets his faith be excessive concerning theobjects that he should have faith in, and here we are concerned withthe meditation subject of mindfulness of breathing, then because ofthe function of faith <strong>to</strong> decide about an object being in excess, thefaculty of wisdom will not be clear and the other faculties of effort,mindfulness, and concentration will also be weakened. <strong>The</strong>n at thattime the faculty of effort will not be able <strong>to</strong> perform its function ofraising the other concomitant fac<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> the object of the paÊibhŒganimitta and not letting them fall away. Also mindfulness will not beable <strong>to</strong> perform its function of establishing knowledge of thepaÊibhŒga nimitta. <strong>The</strong> faculty of concentration will not be able <strong>to</strong>perform its function of s<strong>to</strong>pping the mind from going <strong>to</strong> anotherobject other than the paÊibhŒga nimitta. <strong>The</strong> faculty of wisdom willnot be able <strong>to</strong> perform its function of seeing penetratively thepaÊibhŒga nimitta. This <strong>leads</strong> <strong>to</strong> a decrease in the faculty of faithbecause of wisdom's inability <strong>to</strong> understand the paÊibhŒga nimittaand <strong>to</strong> support the maintenance of the faculty of faith.If the faculty of effort is <strong>to</strong>o strong then the other faculties of faith,mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom will also not be able <strong>to</strong>perform their respective functions of decision, establishing, absenceof distraction, and seeing penetratively. Thus excessive effort causesthe mind not <strong>to</strong> stay calmly concentrated on the object of thepaÊibhŒga nimitta and causes the enlightenment fac<strong>to</strong>rs of calm, concentration,and equanimity <strong>to</strong> arise insufficiently.w 55