importance of morality, then it handles the meditation on impurities as the first contemplation, because sensual desires, which it counters, are said to be the main obstacle of deep meditation. This meditation is of two kinds, with repulsive feelings, that is meditation on dead bodies in different stages of decay (avijñānaka, 无识身), and meditation on the thirty-six bodily parts (savijñāna, 有识身), and without repulsive feelings (非恶严). The second is meditation on bare bones (白骨), particularly on a spot between the eyebrows, which leads to higher absorptions in subtle forms (rūpa dhyānas, 色界禅). The meditation on dead bodies is divided into six groups in accordance with six kinds of desires, which it counters. It is said, together with the contemplation of the thirty-six bodily parts, to lead to disgust not only with sensual desires, but also with the whole sphere of perceptions dominated by them (Kāmadhātu, 欲界). In this connection verses attributed to Maudgalyāna, one of the foremost disciples of Buddha, are quoted. He is said to have uttered them to a beautiful woman trying to seduce him. They make an interesting comparison with the verses we find in Theragāthā. After describing the practice of understanding and leaving the five obstacles to meditation (nīvaranas, 五蓋), the treatise leads us from the first to the fourthdhyānawith some interesting discussions on the difference between the five factors of absorption (dhyānāṅga, 禅支). It lays a particular emphasis on the mastery of the fourth dhyāna as the base for the attainment of all important dharmas of meditation, naming the Four Divine Abodes, four foundations of mindfulness, four formless meditations, four truths, and the six supernatural knowledges. The second set of themes, discussed as most suitable objects for the attainment of appeasement, are the Four Divine Abodes (brahmavihāras), where only the description of meditation on loving kindness (maitrī) is more detailed. The treatise proclaims that a yogi practices the maitrī meditation until he can actually see all beings happy due to the power of his loving kindness determination. There a question arises, if so, can it be considered a perverted view (viparyāsa)? The answer is no, because a Bodhisattva has to practice two kinds of samādhi, namely that of seeing of the true characteristic of all things, i.e. their Emptiness (śūnyatā), and that, which sees things in accordance with their use in benefiting oneself and others (观法利用). This is an interesting variant of two kinds of attention often discussed in Sarvāstivāda and Mahāyāna literature (see Abhidharmakośa, Tattvasiddhi Śāstra, Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, etc.), namely attention in accordance with facts (tattvamanasikāra, 真理作意), and attention according to one’s determination (adhimokṣikīmanasikāra, 胜解作意). The treatise emphasizes that a Bodhisattva should practice loving kindness to make happy even the beings in evil states of existence, and to avoid being harmed by others. Then he practices compassion, identifying himself with the suffering of all beings and actually seeing them suffering, but this is to lead him to the realization that all dharmas have no fixed nature, they change according to the conditioning of the mind. Spirituality Studies 1 (2) Fall 2015 49 (5)
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