..续本文上一页ases are the exception rather than the rule. Generally, in order for the emotional tone of the spiritual life to be lifted to that pitch of intensity suggested by the term "rapture" (piti) a further commitment to the training is necessary. This commitment takes the form of deliberate application to the practice of meditation. Methods of meditation contributing to the attainment of liberation are classified into two systems -- serenity meditation (samatha bhávaná) and insight meditation (vipassana bhávaná). Serenity meditation aims at the creation of a state of calm concentration by unifying the mind in focus on a single object. Insight meditation aims at insight into the nature of phenomena by directly contemplating the bodily and mental processes as they occur on the successive moments of experience. Though there is a system, which employs mindfulness as a direct means to the awakening of insight, in the usual pattern serenity is cultivated first as a preliminary measure, since the unification and purification of consciousness effected by concentration facilitate correct penetration of the nature of things through contemplative insight. This is the sequence utilized by the present Sutta, the stages from "rapture" through "concentration" covering the systematic development of serenity, the two following stages the development of insight.

　　Serenity meditation is cultivated on the basis of a single object selected from a standard set of objects reserved exclusively for the development of concentration. These objects, traditionally numbered at forty, include the colored and elemental circles called kasinas, the cemetery contemplations, the recollections of the three refuge objects, meditation on the sublime abodes of love and compassion, mindfulness of breathing, etc. After taking up one of these objects as his field of work, the yogin strives to unify his mind by fixing his attention on his object to the exclusion of all sense data, concepts, thoughts, memories, projections, fantasies, and associative thinking. His aim is to make his mind one-pointed, and this forbids at once its dispersal among a multiplicity of concerns. Success in the practice depends on the harmonization of the mental faculties in the work of concentration. Through mindfulness (sati) the yogin bears the object in his field of awareness and prevents it from slipping away; through discernment (sampajañña) he maintains a cautious watch upon the mind, noting its tendencies to stray and swiftly correcting them; and through energy (viriya) he strives to dispel the impediments to mental unification, and to maintain his awareness at a pitch which is simultaneously taut but relaxed.

　　The impediments to meditation are classified into a group of five factors called the "five hindrances" (pañcanivarana). These are sensual desire, ill will, stiffness and torpor, restlessness and regret, and doubt. The Buddha calls these five hindrances "corruptions of the mind" and "weakeners of wisdom." He says they are conducive to pain, blindness, and ignorance, and compares them respectively to a debt, a disease, imprisonment, slavery, and the dangers of a desert journey. Their removal by unremitting exertion is the first task facing the meditator. As he proceeds in his practice, striving with patience and diligence, there come suddenly momentary breaks in the course of his efforts when the hindrances fall away, the flow of inner verbalization stops, and the mind abides one-pointedly on the object. The achievement of this momentary concentration, brief as it is, gives immense satisfaction. It is a powerful experience unleashing spurts of mental energy, which flood up to the surface of consciousness and inundate the mind with waves of joyous refreshment. It brings an …

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