Path of Freedom [Vimuttimagga]

360 Appendixsaid that the teaching of the discourses on the foundations of mindfulness,the Satipatthana Suttas, is a combination of serenity and insight and that itlays stress on insight. But the practice of serenity in these suttas on mindfulnessis not something that can be ignored. The Satipatthana Suttas donot permit of restriction only to the development of insight. In short thepractice of serenity (samatha) in these suttas is not optional. It is necessaryfor the cultivator of mindfulness to bring into being both serenity and insight,because the first leads to the second, and the practice of the first, that is, serenityis unavoidable for the beginner in the practice of the Foundations of Mindfulness,according to the pattern of the standard suttas on the subject. Theinsight taught in these suttas can be developed only by those who have thepurity of virtue (silavisuddhi) and the purity of mind (cittavisuddhi), whichis always taught in the books as the product of serenity, mental purity, whichmust be in existence before one begins to purify one's views. 1 So the Buddhabegins his instruction in the two standard Satipatthana Suttas by setting forththe way of producing serenity through mindfulness on breathing (dndpdnasati),for purification of mind through the meditation, jhana, by which he himselfattained full enlightenment, sambodhi, and of which he said, 'This truly isthe way to enlightenment (eso va maggo bodhaya).-The placing of the first tetrad of the Andpdnasati Sutta at the very beginningof the two main Satipatthana Suttas is clear indication of the necessity ofat least the First jhana, the first meditaion of the plane of form, for gettingrid of the hindrances and coming to the proper ground for the developmentof insight, the ground that is aloof from sense-desires and other evil states.It is certain that, from the structure of the Satipatthana Suttas, the testimonyof other suttas, and the whole architecture of the Noble Eightfold Path seenfrom different angles, there is no getting away from the fact that thedevelopment of insight is impossible to one who has not brought into beingthe antecedent part of the Path, at least, the First jhana. This is because it isadmitted on all hands that the lowest jhana needed in the Supramundane Pathis the First jhana.Maggdrf atthangiko settho saccanam caturo paddvirago settho dhammdnam dipaddnah ca cakkhumd.Eso va maggo rtattWanno dassanassa visuddhiyaetasmim twnhe patipajjatha Mdrass'etam pamohanametasmim tumhe patipannd dukkhass'antam karissatha" tisuttam dharitva thapesi.1. Vis. Mag. (a) 436: Sile patitthaya naro sapanno cittam panfian ca bhavayan ti ettha cittasisenaniddittho samddhi sabbdkarena bhavito hoti, tad anantard pana pahhdbhavetabbd.(b) 443: Ettha pana yasmd imdya pahndya khandK-dyatana-dhatu-indriya-saccapaticcasamuppadddibhedddhammd bhumi. Silavisuddhi ceva cittavisuddhica ti imd dve visuddhiyo mulam. Ditthivisuddhi kankhdvitaranavisuddhimaggdmaggahdnadassanavisuddhi patipaddndnadassanavisuddhi hdnadassanavisuddhiti imd pahca visuddhiyo sariram. Tasmd tesu bhilmisu tesumaggesu uggahaparipucchdvasena ndnaparicayam katva mulabhutd dvevisuddhiyo sampadetva sarirabhutd pancavisuddhiyo sampadentena bhavetabbd.(c) 587: Iddni yd imesu bhumi-bhutesu dhammesu uggahaparipucchdvasenandnaparicayam katvd: silavisuddhi c*eva cittavisuddhi cd ti dve mulabhutd