..續本文上一頁 the Dhamma through the act of thinking, but for thought to be truly nourishing and energizing, we must go on to develop discernment through meditation so as to be complete in our practice.

　　C. Bhavanamaya-pañña: Discernment acquired through meditation.

　　Coming to know ourselves: We should study and investigate ourselves so as to gain knowledge exclusively within by centering the heart in concentration. To study ourselves by ourselves means to study by means of our own inner alphabet — the various parts put together out of the four properties (dhatu) within the body; the five khandhas, and the six sense media (ayatana). To study on this level means to study with and within the mind, investigating the inner alphabet:

　　A = Kesa, the hair on the head.

　　B = Loma, the hair on the body.

　　C = Nakha, the nails that grow from the ends of the fingers and toes.

　　D = Danta, the teeth that grow in the mouth along the upper and lower jaws.

　　E = Taco, the skin that enwraps the various parts of the body.

　　All five are things that a contemplative should study. Usually, before we become ordained, we don”t even know our own inner ABC”s, much less how to spell. So our preceptors, out of concern for us as their sons in the monkhood, teach us these five things even before we become monks and novices. But if we neglect them after our ordination, it shows that we have no respect for education and no reverence for the teachings of the Lord Buddha. This is the cause for degeneracy in the Department of Education. To be able to read all 32 of the parts in one”s body, and to teach others to do the same, is to qualify as a member of the Sangha, or as a true disciple of the Lord Buddha.

　　We should study all four or all six of the properties within us — earth, water, wind, and fire — as a basis for tranquillity meditation, giving rise to jhana by thinking about and evaluating the parts of the body until we gain an understanding of earth, water, wind, and fire, together with space and cognizance, the overseer of the house. Study the five khandhas — body, feelings, labels, mental constructs, and cognizance. Keep careful restraint over the six sense media — eye and visual objects, ear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes, body and tactile sensations, intellect and thoughts. The mind will then enter the first level of jhana, composed of thinking, evaluating, rapture, ease, and singleness of preoccupation. Such a person thus goes on to a higher level of education, comparable to high school or secondary education. When the heart becomes quiet, a cool and refreshing sense of pleasure called "rasa," the flavor and nourishment of the Dhamma, will appear in it. Attha: We will realize the aims of the Dhamma and our own aspirations as well.

　　Studying on this level will give rise to a higher level of knowledge termed liberating insight (Vipassana-ñana) — clear comprehension in terms of the four Noble Truths — enabling us to go beyond suffering and stress. This is termed the awareness of release. We will gain a special knowledge that is apart from all of the mundane things we may have learned: This is transcendent knowledge that, beginning with liberating insight, enables us to escape one after another the fortress walls of the citadel of Death.

　　The citadel of Death has ten walls —

　　1. Self-identification (sakkaya-ditthi): assuming the truth of our views; assuming that the body is our self or belongs to us.

　　2. Doubt (vicikiccha): uncertainty about the paths and fruitions leading to nibbana.

　　3. Attachment to precepts and practices (silabbata-paramasa): groping about, i.e., undependability in our behavior, which leads us to clutch at various beliefs, searching for absolute standards of good outside of the acts of our own heart and mind.

　　4. Sensua…

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