..续本文上一页n”t know how I could characterize it. It cannot be expressed in the same way that conventional things in general can be, simply because it is not a conventional phenomenon. It is the sole province of those who have transcended all aspects of conventional reality, and thus realize within themselves that non-conventional nature. For this reason, words cannot describe it.

　　WHY DO WE SPEAK OF A “CONVENTIONAL” CITTA and an “absolutely pure” citta

　　 Are they actually two different cittas

　　 Not at all. It remains the same citta. When it is controlled by conventional realities, such as kilesas and ãsavas, that is one condition of the citta. But when the faculty of wisdom has scrubbed it clean until this condition has totally disintegrated, the true citta, the true Dhamma, the one that can stand the test, will not disintegrate and disappear along with it. Only the conditions of anicca, dukkha and anattã, which infiltrate the citta, actually disappear.

　　No matter how subtle the kilesas may be, they are still con­ditioned by anicca, dukkha, and anattã, and therefore, must be conventional phenomena. Once these things have completely disintegrated, the true citta, the one that has transcended con­ventional reality, becomes fully apparent. This is called the citta”s Absolute Freedom, or the citta”s Absolute Purity. All connections continuing from the citta”s previous condition have been severed forever. Now utterly pure, the citta”s essential knowing nature remains alone on its own.

　　We cannot say where in the body this essential knowing nature is centered. Previously, with the conventional citta, it formed a prominent point that we could clearly see and know. For example, in samãdhi we knew that it was centered in the middle of the chest because the knowing quality of our awareness stood out promi­nently there. The calm, the brightness, and the radiance appeared to emanate conspicuously from that point. We could see this for ourselves. All meditators whose level of calm has reached the very base of samãdhi realize that the center of “what knows” stands out prominently in the region of the heart. They will not argue that it is centered in the brain, as those who have no experience in the practice of samãdhi are always claiming.

　　But when the same citta has been cleansed until it is pure, that center then disappears. One can no longer say that the citta is located above or below, or that it is situated at any specific point in the body. It is now pure awareness, a knowing quality that is so subtle and refined that it transcends all conventional designa­tions whatsoever. Still, in saying that it is “exceedingly refined”, we are obliged to use a conventional figure of speech that cannot possibly express the truth; for, of course, the notion of extreme refinement is itself a convention. Since this refined awareness does not have a point or a center, it is impossible to specifically locate its position. There is only that essential knowing, with absolutely nothing infiltrating it. Although it still exists amid the same khandhas with which it used to intermix, it no longer shares any common characteristics with them. It is a world apart. Only then do we know clearly that the body, the khandhas, and the citta are all distinct and separate realities.

　　GLOSSARY

　　Ãcariya: Teacher, mentor; also used as a term of respect when referring to a senior monk. When capitalized, Ãcariya is the respectful title given to a teacher by his disciples, as in Ãcariya Mun and Ãcariya Mahã Boowa.

　　akãliko: Timeless, not conditioned by time or season; existing beyond time and space. Akãliko is a traditional epithet for Dhamma.

　　Anãgãmï: Non-r…

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