The Mystery of the Breath Nimitta
or
the Case of the Missing Simile
(An essay on aspects of the practice of breath meditation)
By Bhikkhu Sona
INTRODUCTION
As the title suggests, there is a significant puzzle to be solved by any meditator or scholar who tries to clearly understand the qualities of experience, which accompany the transition from mere attention to respiration to full immersion in jhanic consciousness. I will attempt to show that there are good grounds for confusion on this matter as one traces the historical progression of the commentarial accounts from the Patisambhidamagga through the Vimuttimagga to the (later) Visuddhimagga.
Since the Visuddhimagga is so influential and so widely quoted by modern teachers, it would seem critical that it is reliable and, if in certain aspects it is not, then, with supporting evidence, to show clearly why it is not.
The body of this essay will show that a description of the mind of the jhanic meditator found in the Canon itself and quoted in the Patisambhidamagga as a simile involving a comparison of mind with a full clear moon, degenerates to a mistaken literalization of these images as internally produced visual data. Since the contents of mind are not easy to point to, the Buddha frequently used similes comparing visual and other sense objects with mental contents in order for meditators to clearly understand what they should be seeking and experiencing. In religious traditions of all kinds we often find a naive tendency to take literally what is meant as a simile. It seems this process has occurred somewhere along the line and has become enshrined in the Visuddhimagga”s description of the patibhaganimitta or “counter-part sign.” It is important that new generations of western meditators not be misled by this probable historical error.
The terms “nimitta” or “sign” and patibhaganimitta or “counter-part sign” are frequently referred to in this essay, and it is best to clarify their meaning at the outset. The “sign” means a characteristic mark or phenomenon, which accompanies and helps identify an experience. For example, the flu is often accompanied by weakness and nausea; here nausea would be a sign of the flu. Extreme joy may be accompanied by a feeling of lightness of body and tears; these would be signs of joy. A doctor looks for certain signs which characteristically accompany certain illnesses. In the same way, certain signs are characteristic of entering deep states of right concentration and are intrinsic to the jhanic state. According to the definitions (taken from Commentarial sources) found in Nyanatiloka”s Buddhist Dictionary, there are three types of nimitta. The first type is the parikamma-nimitta, which refers to the perception of the object at the very beginning of concentration -it is also known as the “preparatory image or sign.” When the mind reaches a weak degree of concentration, a still unsteady and unclear image or sign called the “acquired sign” (uggaha-nimitta) arises. This percept precedes the appearance of an entirely clear and static image called the “counter-image” or “counter-sign” (the patibhaga-nimitta). The appearance of this third type of nimitta signals the appearance of neighbourhood (or access) concentration, the state that precedes full jhanic absorption. Both of these states share the same sign but differ only in the intensity of the component (state) factors. As mentioned in this definition, the counter-part sign is understood as a more refined and clarified version of the sign and is the natural result of heightened awareness and concentration. By knowing these signs, both the student and teacher are helped to assess the success or failure of the corresponding concentration attainments.
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DISCUSSION
Mindfulness of …
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