Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3) by Charles Eliot

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All mental states to which such names as ecstasy, trance, and vision can
be applied involve a dangerous element which, if not actually
pathological, can easily become so. But the account of meditation put in
the Buddha's own mouth does not suggest either morbid dejection or
hysterical excitement[682] and it is stated expressly that the exercise
should be begun after the midday meal so that any visions which may come
cannot be laid to the charge of an empty stomach. Jhana is not the same
as Samadhi or concentration, though the Jhanas may be an instance of
Samadhi. This latter is capable of marvellous extension and development,
but essentially it is a mental quality like Sammasati or right
mindfulness, whereas Jhana is a mental exercise or progressive rapture
passing through defined stages.

Any system which analyzes and tabulates stages of contemplation and
ecstasy may be suspected of being late and of having lost something of
the glow and impetus which its cold formulae try to explain. But the
impulse to catalogue is old in Buddhism[683] and one important
distinction in the various mental states lumped together under the name
of meditation deserves attention, namely that according to the oldest
documents some of them are indispensable preliminaries to nirvana and
some are not. Buddhaghosa reviewing the whole matter in scholastic
fashion in his Way of Purity divides the higher life into three
sections, firstly conduct or morality as necessary foundation, secondly
_adhicitta_, higher consciousness or concentration which leads to
_samatho_ or peace and thirdly _adhipanna_ or the higher wisdom which
leads to _vipassana_ or insight. Of these _adhipanna_ and _vipassana_
are superior inasmuch as nirvana cannot be obtained without them but the
methods of _adhicitta_, though admirable and followed by the Buddha
himself, are not equally indispensable: they lead to peace and happiness
but not necessarily to nirvana. It is probably unwise (at any rate for
Europeans) to make too precise statements, for we do not really know the
nature of the psychical states discussed. _Adhipanna_ assuredly includes
the eightfold path ending with _samadhi_ which is defined by the Buddha
himself in this connection in terms of the four _Jhanas_[684]. On the
other hand the doctrine that nirvana is attainable merely by practising
the _Jhanas_ is expressly reprobated as a heresy[685]. The teaching of
the Pitakas seems to be that nirvana is attainable by living the higher
life in which meditation and insight both have a place. In normal saints
both sides are developed: raptures and trances are their delight and
luxury. But in some cases nirvana may be attained by insight only: in
others meditation may lead to ecstasy and more than human powers of mind
but yet stop short of nirvana. The distinction is not without importance
for it means that knowledge and insight are indispensable for nirvana:
it cannot be obtained by hypnotic trances or magical powers.

The Buddha is represented as saying that in his boyhood when sitting
under a tree he once fell into a state of contemplation which he calls
the first Jhana. It is akin to a sensation which comes to Europeans most
frequently in childhood, but sometimes persists in mature life, when the
mind, usually under the influence of pleasant summer scenery, seems to
identify itself with nature, and on returning to its normal state asks
with surprise, can it be that what seems a small distant personality is
really I? The usual form of Jhana comprises four stages[686]. The first
is a state of joy and ease born of detachment, which means physical calm
as well as the absence of worldly desires and irrelevant thoughts. It is
distinguished from the subsequent stages by the existence of reasoning
and investigation, and while it lasts the mind is compared to water
agitated by waves. In the second Jhana reasoning and investigation
cease: the water becomes still and the mind set free rises slowly above
the thoughts which had encumbered it and grows calm and sure, dwelling
on high[687]. In this Jhana the sense of joy and ease remains, but in
the third stage joy disappears, though ease remains. This ease (sukham)
is the opposite of dukkham, the discomfort which characterizes all
ordinary states of existence. It is in part a physical feeling, for the
text says that he who meditates has this sense of ease in his body. But
this feeling passes away in the fourth Jhana, in which there is only a
sense of equanimity. This word, though perhaps the best rendering which
can be found for the Pali upekkha, is inadequate for it suggests merely
the absence of inclination, whereas upekkha represents a state of mind
which, though rising above hedonistic views, is yet positive and not
merely the negation of interest and desire.

In the passage quoted the Buddha speaks as if only an effort of will
were needed to enter into the first Jhana, but tradition, supported by
the Pitakas[688], sanctions the use of expedients to facilitate the
process. Some are topics on which attention should be concentrated,
others are external objects known as Kasina. This word (equivalent to
the Sanskrit kritsna) means entire or total, and hence something which
engrosses the attention. Thus in the procedure known as the earth
Kasina[689] the Bhikkhu who wishes to enter into the Jhana makes a small
circle of reddish clay, and then gazes at it fixedly. After a time he
can see it as plainly when his eyes are closed as when they are
open[690]. This is followed by entry into Jhana and he should not
continue looking at the circle. There are ten kinds of Kasina differing
from that described merely in substituting for the earthen circle some
other object, such as water, light, gold or silver. The whole procedure
is clearly a means of inducing a hypnotic trance[691].

The practice of tranquillizing the mind by regulating the breathing is
recommended repeatedly in Suttas which seem ancient and authentic; for
instance, in the instruction given by the Buddha to his son Rahula[692].
On the other hand, his account of his fruitless self-mortification shows
that the exercise even in its extreme forms is not sufficient to secure
enlightenment. It appears to be a method of collecting and concentrating
the mind, not necessarily hypnotic. All Indian precepts and directions
for mental training attach far more importance to concentration of
thought and the power of applying the mind at will to one subject
exclusively than is usual in Europe.

Buddhaghosa at the beginning of his discussion of _adhicitta_ enumerates
forty subjects of meditation namely, "the ten Kasinas, ten impurities,
ten reflections, four sublime states (Brahma-vihara), the four formless
states, one perception and one analysis[693]." The Kasinas have been
already described. The ten impurities are a similar means of inducing
meditation. The monk fixes his attention on a corpse in some horrible
stage of decay and thus concentrates his mind on the impermanence of all
things. The ten recollections are a less gloomy exercise but similar in
principle, as the attention is fixed on some religious subject such as
the Buddha, his law, his order, etc.

The Brahma-viharas[694] are states of emotional meditation which lead to
rebirth in the heavens of Brahma. They are attained by letting love or
some other good emotion dominate the mind, and by "pervading the whole
world" with it. This language about pervading the world with kindly
emotion is common in Buddhist books though alien to European idiom. The
mind must harbour no uncharitable thought and then its benevolence
becomes a psychic force which spreads in all directions, just as the
sound of a trumpet can be heard in all four quarters.

These Brahma-viharas are sometimes represented as coming after the four
Jhanas[695], sometimes as replacing them[696]. But the object of the two
exercises is not the same, for the Brahma-viharas aim at rebirth in a
better world. They are based on the theory common to Buddhism and
Hinduism that the predominant thoughts of a man's life, and especially
his thoughts when near death, determine the character of his next
existence.

The trances known as the four formless states are analogous to the
Brahma-viharas, their object being to ensure rebirth not in the heaven
of Brahma but in one of the heavens known as Formless Worlds where the
inhabitants have no material form[697]. They are sometimes combined with
other states into a series of eight, known as the eight
deliverances[698]. The more advanced of these stages seem to be hypnotic
and even cataleptic. In the first formless state the monk who is
meditating rises above all idea of form and multiplicity and reaches the
sphere in which the infinity of space is the only idea present to his
mind. He then passes to the sphere where the infinity of thought only is
present and thence to the sphere in which he thinks "nothing at all
exists[699]," though it would seem that the consciousness of his own
mental processes is undiminished. The teaching of Alara Kalama, the
Buddha's first teacher, made the attainment of this state its goal. It
is succeeded by the state in which neither any idea nor the absence of
any idea is specially present to the mind[700]. This was the goal of
Uddaka Ramaputta, his second teacher, and is illustrated by the simile
of a bowl which has been smeared with oil inside. That is to say,
consciousness is reduced to a minimum. Beyond these four stages is yet
another[701], in which a complete cessation of perception and feeling is
attained[702]. This state differs from death only in the fact that heat
and physical life are not extinct and while it lasts there is no
consciousness. It is stated that it could continue during seven days but
not longer. Such hypnotic trances have always inspired respect in India
but the Buddha rejected as unsatisfying the teaching of his masters
which made them the final goal.

But let us return to his account of Jhana and its results. The first of
these is a correct knowledge of the body and of the connection of
consciousness with the body. Next comes the power to call up out of the
body a mental image which is apparently the earliest form of what has
become known in later times as the astral body. In the account of the
conversion of Angulimala the brigand[703] it is related that the Buddha
caused to appear an image of himself which Angulimala could not overtake
although he ran with all his might and the Buddha was walking quietly.

The five states or faculties which follow in the enumeration are often
called (though not in the earliest texts) abhinna, or transcendental
knowledge. They are _iddhi_, or the wondrous gift: the heavenly ear
which hears heavenly music[704]: the knowledge of others' thoughts: the
power of remembering one's own previous births: the divine eye, which
sees the previous births of others[705]. It would appear that the order
of these states is not important and that they do not depend on one
another. Iddhi, like the power of evoking a mental image, seems to be
connected with hypnotic phenomena. It means literally power, but is used
in the special sense of magical or supernatural gifts such as ability to
walk on water, fly in the air, or pass through a wall[706]. Some of
these sensations are familiar in dreams and are probably easily
attainable as subjective results in trances. I am inclined to attribute
accounts implying their objective reality to the practice of hypnotism
and to suppose that a disciple in a hypnotic state would on the
assurance of his teacher believe that he saw the teacher himself, or
some person pointed out by the teacher, actually performing such feats.
Of iddhi we are told that a monk can practise it, just as a potter can
make anything he likes out of prepared clay, which is a way of saying
that he who has his mind perfectly controlled can treat himself to any
mental pleasure he chooses. Although the Buddha and others are
represented as performing such feats as floating in the air whenever it
suits them, yet the instruction given as to how the powers may be
acquired starts by bidding the neophyte pass through the four stages of
Jhana or meditation in which ordinary external perception ceases. Then
he will be able to have the experiences described. And it is probable
that the description gives a correct account of the sensations which
arise in the course of a trance, particularly if the trance has been
entered upon with the object of experiencing them. In other words they
are hypnotic states and often the result of suggestion, since he who
meditates knows what the result of his meditation should be. Sometimes,
as mentioned, Jhana is induced by methods familiar to mesmerists, such
as gazing at a circle or some bright object but such expedients are not
essential and with this European authorities agree. Thus Bernheim states
that even when a subject is hypnotized for the first time, no gestures
or passes are necessary, provided he is calm. It suffices to bid him
look at the operator and go to sleep. He adds that those who are most
susceptible to the hypnotic influence are not nervous and hysterical
subjects but docile and receptive natures who can concentrate their
attention[707]. Now it is hardly possible to imagine better hypnotic
subjects than the pupils of an Indian religious teacher. They are taught
to regard him with deep respect and complete confidence: they are
continually in a state of expectant receptivity, assimilating not only
the texts and doctrines which he imparts, but his way of life: their
training leads them to believe in the reality of mental and physical
powers exceeding those of ordinary mankind and indeed to think that if
they do not have such experiences it is through some fault of their own.
The teachers, though ignorant of hypnotism as such, would not hesitate
to use any procedure which seemed to favour progress in meditation and
the acquisition of supernatural powers. Now a large number of Indian
marvels fall under two heads. In the first case Buddha, Krishna, or any
personage raised above the ordinary human level points out to his
disciples that wonders are occurring or will occur: he causes people to
appear or disappear: he appears himself in an amazing form which he
explains. In the other case the possessor of marvellous powers has
experience which he subsequently relates: he goes up to heaven or flies
to the uttermost parts of the earth and returns. Both of these cases are
covered by the phenomena of hypnotism. I do not mean to say that any
given Indian legend can be explained by analyzing it as if it were a
report of a hypnotic operation, but merely that the general character of
these legends is largely due to the prevalence of hypnotic experiences
among their composers and hearers[708]. Two obscure branches of
hypnotism are probably of great importance in the religious history of
the human race, namely self-hypnotization without external suggestion
and the hypnotization of crowds. India affords plentiful materials for
the study of both.

There is no reason to doubt that the Buddha believed in the existence of
these powers and countenanced the practices supposed to lead to them.
Thus Moggallana, second only to Sariputta among his disciples, was
called the master of iddhi[709], and it is mentioned as a creditable and
enjoyable accomplishment[710]. But it is made equally plain that such
magical or hypnotic practices are not essential to the attainment of the
Buddha's ideal. When lists of attainments are given, iddhi does not
receive the first place and it may be possessed by bad men: Devadatta
for instance was proficient in it. It is even denounced in the story of
Pindola Bharadvaja[711] and in the Kevaddha sutta[712]. In this curious
dialogue the Buddha is asked to authorize the performance of miracles as
an advertisement of the true faith. He refuses categorically, saying
there are three sorts of wonders namely iddhi, that is flying through
the air, etc. the wonder of manifestation which is thought-reading: and
the wonder of education. Of the first two he says "I see danger in their
practice and therefore I loathe, abhor and am ashamed of them." Then by
one of those characteristic turns of language by which he uses old words
in new senses he adds that the true miracle is the education of the
heart.

Neither are the other transcendental powers necessary for emancipation.
Sariputta had not the heavenly eye, yet he was the chief disciple and an
eminent arhat. This heavenly eye (dib-ba-cakkhu) is not the same as the
eye of truth (dhamma-cakkhu). It means perfect knowledge of the
operation of Karma and hence a panoramic view of the universe, whereas
the eye of truth is a technical phrase for the opening of the eyes, the
mental revolution which accompanies conversion. But though
transcendental knowledge is not indispensable for attaining nirvana, it
is an attribute of the Buddha and in most of its forms amounts to an
exceptional insight into human nature and the laws of the universe,
which, though after the Indian manner exaggerated and pedantically
defined, does not differ essentially from what we call genius.

The power of recollecting one's previous births, often mentioned in the
Pitakas, has been described in detail by Buddhist writers and
Buddhaghosa[713] distinguishes between the powers possessed by various
persons. The lowest form of recollection merely passes from one mental
state to a previous mental state and so on backwards through successive
lives, not however understanding each life as a whole. But even ordinary
disciples can not only recollect previous mental states but can also
travel backwards along the sequence of births and deaths and bring up
before their minds the succession of existences. A Buddha's intelligence
dispenses with the necessity of moving backwards from birth to birth but
can select any point of time and see at once the whole series of births
extending from it in both directions, backwards and forwards.
Buddhaghosa then goes on to prescribe the method to be followed by a
monk who tries for the first time to recollect previous births. After
taking his midday meal he should choose a quiet place and sitting down
pass through the four Jhanas in succession. On rising from the fourth
trance he should consider the event which last took place, namely his
sitting down; and then in retrograde order all that he did the day and
night before and so backwards month after month and year after year. A
clever monk (so says Buddhaghosa) is able at the first trial to pass
beyond the moment of his conception in the present existence and to take
as the object of his thought his individuality at the moment of his last
death. But since the individuality of the previous existence ceased and
another one came into being, therefore that point of time is like thick
darkness. Buddhaghosa goes on to explain, if I apprehend his meaning
rightly, that the proper recollection of previous births involves the
element of form and the mind sharpened by the practice of the four
trances does not merely reproduce feelings and impressions but knows the
name and events of the previous existence, whereas ordinary persons are
apt to reproduce feelings and impressions without having any clear idea
of the past existence as a whole. This, I believe, corresponds with the
experience of modern Buddhists. It is beyond doubt that those who
attempt to carry their memory back in the way described are convinced
that they remember existences before the present life. As a rule it
takes from a fortnight to a month to obtain such a remembrance clearly,
and every day the aspirant to a knowledge of previous births must carry
his memory further and further back, dwelling less and less on the
details of recent events. When he reaches the time of his birth, he
feels as if there were a curtain of black darkness before him, but if
the attention is concentrated, this curtain is rent and the end of the
previous life is recovered behind it. The process is painful for it
involves the recollection of death and the even greater pains of birth
and many have not courage to go beyond this point. It is not uncommon in
Ceylon, Burma, Siam and probably in all parts of the Far East, to find
people who are persuaded they can remember previous births in this way,
but I have never met anyone who professed to recall more than two or
three. There is no room in these modest modern visions for the long
vistas of previous lives seen by the earlier Buddhists.

Meditation also plays a considerable part in the Buddhism of the Far
East under the name of Ch'an or Zen of which we shall have something to
say when we treat of China and Japan.

As already indicated the methods and results of meditation as practised
by Brahmanic Hindus and by Buddhists show considerable resemblance to
the experiences of Christian mystics. The coincidences do not concern
mere matters of detail, although theology has done its best to make the
content and explanation of the experiences as divergent as possible. But
the essential similarity of form remains and there is clearly no
question of borrowing or direct influence. It is certain that what is
sometimes called the Mystic Way is not only true as a succession of
psychic states but is, for those who can walk in it, the road to a
happiness which in reality and power to satisfy exceeds all pleasures of
the senses and intellect, so that when once known it makes all other
joys and pains seem negligible. Yet despite the intense reality of this
happy state, despite the illumination which floods the soul and the wide
visions of a universal plan, there is no agreement as to the cause of
the experience nor, strange to say, as to its meaning as opposed to its
form. For many both in the east and west the one essential and
indubitable fact throughout the experience is God, yet Buddhists are
equally decided in holding that the experience has nothing to do with
any deity. This is not a mere question of interpretation. It means that
views as to theism and pantheism are indifferent for the attainment of
this happy state.

The mystics of India are sometimes contrasted with their fellows in
Europe as being more passive and more self-centred: they are supposed to
desire self-annihilation and to have no thought for others. But I doubt
if the contrast is just. If Indian mysticism sometimes appears at a
disadvantage, I think it is because it is popular and in danger of being
stereotyped and sometimes vulgarized. Nowadays in Europe we have
students of mysticism rather than mystics, and the mystics of the
Christian Church were independent and distinguished spirits who, instead
of following the signposts of the beaten track, found out a path for
themselves. But in India mysticism was and is as common as prayer and as
popular as science. It was taught in manuals and parodied by charlatans.
When mysticism is the staple crop of a religion and not a rare wild
flower, the percentage of imperfect specimens is bound to be high. The
Buddha, Sankara and a host of less well-known teachers were as strenuous
and influential as Francis of Assisi or Ignatius Loyola. Neither in
Europe nor in Asia has mysticism contributed much directly to political
and social reform. That is not its sphere, but within the religious
sphere, in preaching, teaching and organization, the mystic is intensely
practical and the number of successes (as of failures) is greater in
Asia than in Europe. Even in theory Indian mysticism does not repudiate
energy. No one enjoyed more than the Buddha himself what Ruysbroeck
calls "the mysterious peace dwelling in activity," for before he began
his mission he had attained nirvana and such of his disciples as were
arhats were in the same case. Later Buddhism recognizes a special form
of nirvana called apratishthita: those who attain it see that there is
no real difference between mundane existence and nirvana and therefore
devote themselves to a life of beneficent activity.

The period of transition and trial known to European mystics as the Dark
Night of the Soul, is not mentioned in Indian manuals as an episode of
the spiritual life, for such an interruption would hardly harmonize with
their curriculum of regular progress towards enlightenment. But mystic
poetry testifies that in Asia as in Europe this feeling of desertion and
loneliness is a frequent experience in the struggles and adventures of
the soul. It is apparently not necessary, just as the incidental joys
and triumphs of the soul--strains of heavenly music, aerial flights, and
visions of the universal scheme--are also not essential. The essential
features of the mystic way, as well as its usual incidents, are common
to Asia and Europe, and in both continents are expressed in two forms.
One view contrasts the surface life and a deeper life: when the
intellect ceases to plague and puzzle, something else arises from the
depth and makes its unity with some greater Force to be felt as a
reality. This idea finds ample expression in the many Brahmanic systems
which regarded the centre and core of the human being as an _atman_ or
_purusha_, happy when in the undisturbed peace of its own nature but
distracted by the senses and intellect. The other view of mystic
experiences regards them as a remaking of character, the evolution of a
new personality and in fact a new birth. This of course need not be a
denial of the other view: the emergence of the latent self may effect a
transformation of the whole being. But Buddhism, at any rate early
Buddhism, formulates its theory in a polemical form. There is no
ready-made latent self, awaiting manifestation when its fetters and
veils are removed: man's inner life is capable of superhuman extension
but the extension is the result of enlargement and training, not of
self-revelation.