The Obstructions and Aids to Concentration
A meditator intent on developing serenity concentration must first make an effort to sever the impediments to meditation. For meditative monks, the Visuddhimagga enumerates ten impediments palibodha A dwelling, family and gain, A class, and building too, as fifth And travel, kin, affliction, books, And supernormal powers ten.3 1. A dwelling can be an impediment to one who has many belongings stored there or whose mind is caught up by some business connected with it. 2. A family consisting of...
The Cognitive Series in Jhna and the Path
The cognitive series cittavlthi is an explanatory tool introduced in the Abhidhamma and the commentaries to account for the organization of acts of mind into purposive sequences. In the philosophy of mind underlying the Abhi-dhamma, the mental process falls into two general categories. One is passive consciousness, the other active consciousness. Passive consciousness consists of a succession of momentary mental states of a uniform nature, called the life-continuum bhavanga . This type of...
The Insight Knowledges
A Guide to the Progressive Stages of Buddhist Meditation The Venerable Mahathera Matara Sri Nanarama Buddhist Publication Society Kandy Sri Lanka Overview Translator's Preface List of Abbreviations Introduction The Relay of Chariots Purification of Virtue Silavisuddhi 18 Purification of Mind Cittavisuddhi 23 Aids to Concentration 2. The Stages of Concentration Purification of View Ditthivisuddhi 43 Kankhavitaranavisuddhi Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What is Path and Not-Path...