EYE

Page One Sixty begins an analysis of each sense organ and their transparent elements:

Despite a heavy repetition of words here, I think Sayadaw is saying, for example with the eye-transparent element awareness, just to look at an object and notice the way that color or features impinge on the eye.  However, to make it more complicated, he says to notice first the four elements in the eye itself, and discern their transparent element.  Then look at a color some distance from the eye and note its contact.

Likewise with body, ear, nose and tongue.

159

On Page One Fifty nine,  Sayadaw concludes the study of Rupa-kalapas with the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, color, odor, flavor, nutritive essence, life faculty, and sex-materiality (male/female characteristics).  Also they have been seen in transparent and opaque forms.

Here is another interesting note on 'transparent' by Sayadaw from here:

As you continue to develop concentration based upon the

four elements, and begin to approach access concentration

(upacàra-samàdhi),

you will see different kinds of light. For

some meditators the light begins as a smoke-like grey. If you

continue to discern the four elements in this grey light, it will

become whiter like cotton wool, and then bright white, like

clouds. At this point, your whole body will appear as a white

form. You should continue to concentrate on discerning the four

elements in the white form, and you will find it becomes trans

-

parent like a block of ice or glass.

This transparent materiality is the five sensitivities

(pasàda)

and these we call ‘transparent-elements’. Of these five transparent-

elements, the body transparent-element

(kàya-pasàda)

is found

throughout the body. When at this stage the body transparent-

element, eye transparent-element, ear transparentelement, nose

transparent-element, and tongue transparent-element are seen

as a transparent lump or block. This is because you have not yet

removed the three kinds of compactness

(ghana).

If you continue to discern the four elements in that transparent

 lump or block, you will find that it sparkles and emits light.

When you can concentrate on this light continuously at least

half an hour, you have reached access concentration. With that

light try to discern the space-element in that transparent form,

by looking for small spaces in it. You will find that the trans

-

parent form breaks down into small particles which are called

råpa kalàpas. Having reached this stage, which is purification of

mind

(citta-visuddhi),

you can proceed to develop purification

of view

(diññhi-visuddhi),

by analysing these råpa kalàpas

And so looking up Pasada, I find translations as transparency and confident faith (probably two different usages).

Life Day

On Page One Fifty eight, Sayadaw discusses how to see the Life-faculty and Sex-element.  Here, he suggests using the eye alone to find the life faculty within its other features (fire, wind, etc.).  While looking up a definition for the life force (Jivitindrya), I came upon this fascinating site: 

We know that we are alive so something is experienced by our consciousness that we can call the Life Force. It is not a magic elixir or spiritual essence. It is a drive to survive. Yes, that is precisely what it is and nothing more. But that force for survival is more elegant than you might suppose. All living creatures possess it, from the simplest plant form to the most complex organism.

In Abhidhamma texts, it is called JIVITINDRIYA, which stems from the pali words “jivita” which is life and “indriya” which is a controlling faculty or principle. It is this Jivitindriya that infuses life into all volition (cetana).
It is twofold, for it includes material life (Rupa-Jivitindriya) and the mental or psychological concomitants (Nama-Jivitindriya). Clearly they are not independent but work together for, as the Abhidamma declares, “Just as a boatman depends upon the boat, even so Jivitindriya depends upon the mind and matter, and that mind and matter depend upon Jivitindriya. 

Sayadaw goes on to suggest wiggling one's finger and noting the consciousness that wants to wiggle the finger. I got a little lost on this page, it seems very short for noticing the life force, not sure about the instructions, but then, I'm in mostly a theoretical mode. 

How It Grows

One Fifty-seven discusses the eighth element, 'nutritive essence'.  It is produced by karma, consciousness, temperature, and nutriment itself.  One can look at any rupa-kalapa and see how it multiplies forth again and again.

From a commentary on the Abhidharma: 

. The “Atthasalini” (II, Book II, Ch III, 330) explains that there is foodstuff, the substance which is swallowed (kabalinkaro aharo, literally, morsel-made food), and the “nutritive essence” (oja). The foodstuff which is swallowed fills the stomach so that one does not grow hungry. The nutritive essence which is in food preserves beings, keeps them alive. The nutritive essence in gross foodstuff is weak, and in subtle foodstuff it is strong. After eating coarse grain one becomes hungry after a brief interval. But when one has taken ghee (butter) one does not want to eat for a long time (Atthasalini, 331). The “Atthasalini” (332) gives the following definition of nutriment (See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 70.):

As to its characteristic, etc., solid food has the characteristic of nutritive essence, the function of fetching matter (to the eater), of sustaining matter as its manifestation, of substance to be swallowed as proximate cause.

Flav

How to see flavor is discussed on page One Fifty Six, and like smell, is tied to the sense organ.  One uses the tongue, even the saliva on the tongue, to begin to notice the instances of the object of taste.

See N Smell

On Page One Fifty Five,  Sayadaw explains that having seen the first four elements in these tiny particles, one can also then see the second four, and on this page, we have color (the object of sight that is found in all rupa-kalapas) and odor (which it is noted is highly dependent on the nose sense and the nose is necessary to discern the properties, even though the mind-door is happening at the same time).

Made Of

On Page One Fifty Four, Sayadaw suggests to concentrate on single elements one by one in rupa-kalapas if it is hard to discern them all at once.  They are in order of earth, water, fire, and wind. The other rupa-kalapas to discern after that are color, odor, flavor and nutritive essence.

The Bits Go By

On Page One Fifty Three, Sayadaw points out that eye, ear, nose, tongue and body rupa-kalapas can be transparent and all others are opaque.

First, rupa-kalapas will look like lumps, which arise and pass away (but that is not their ultimate reality, it is only three types of illusory compactness), and one should see all of the elements in them.

A Fortress

On Page One Fifty Two, Sayadaw takes a sidebar to point out that jhana can be a helpful place to rest, like a fortress.  He identifies 'pure Vipassana yogis' who have only access concentration and not jhana, who can also do this.

Sparkles

On Page One Fifty One, we have 'How to See Rupa Kalapas'  (the teeny tiniest things).  Basically, the block of ice you are as previously mentioned, will break down into sparkles.  These are them. And once again, not to bum you out if you are just still sitting restlessly and noting restless, but this is the 'beginning of Vipassana meditation.' 

Ice Ice Baby

On Page One Fifty, Sayadaw moves back to seeing 'Ultimate Materiality', beginning with 'seeing the body-transparent element as one block.'  To do so, notice the different kinds of light you see as you meditate on the four elements. This seeing the body as a block of ice or glass is due to not yet seeing through the three kinds of compactness.

Becoming Cool

On Page One Forty Nine, Sayadaw takes 'Ten Ways to Develop Your Concentration" from the Visuddhimagga. They are:

1. Study the elements in sequence; Earth, water, fire then wind. 
2. Don't go too fast, you'll miss something. 
3. Don't go too slow, you'll not reach the end. 
4. Ward off distractions.
5. Go beyond concepts; I love this about meditation, for me it actually makes it easier, to get 'below' or 'let go' of concepts and just be with the object. 
6. Discard what is unclear.
7. Discern the characteristics clearly (and that takes time and effort)
8. Develop your concentration in line with the Higher Mind Sutra
9. Develop your concentration in line with the Becoming Cool Sutra
10. Develop your concentration in line with the Enlightenment Factors Sutra.

The last three are about balancing the five faculties and the seven factors of enlightenment (previously discussed). 

All the Elements

On Page One Forty Eight, Sayadaw suggests some concentration on the opposites of the elements if in this meditation they become unbalanced, the opposites are hardness and softness, roughness and smoothness, heaviness and lightness, flowing and cohesion, heat and cold, support and pushing.

Balancing the elements helps with a major goal beyond seeing and knowing the elements, which is to attain better concentration.
Following their being quite balanced, the yogi should see the elements in the body by 'group at a glance', and finally as a whole, possibly from the vantage point of looking down on the whole body at once.

But the Last Two

On Page One Forty seven, Sayadaw notes that the first ten elements can be discerned directly through the sense of touch, but flowing and cohesion can only be inferred from them.

For cohesion, note how the body is held together by the skin, flesh and sinews.  For flowing, be aware of saliva, blood, air or heat.

Body Stuff

and on Page One Forty six,

Supporting, relax your body, bend it forward and straighten it.  What keeps the body straight is the supporting force.  Add noticing it with hardness to make it more obvious.

Softness, press your tongue against your lip. Then relax your body and practice throughout.

Smoothness, wet your lips and run your tongue along them (man you can do a lot with your mouth).

Lightness, wag a finger up and down and feel the lightness.   Look for heaviness in the body and contrast, if this is hard to do.

Heat, look for warmth throughout the body.

Coldness, note coldness as air enters the nostrils.

Hard, Rough, Heavy

On Page One Forty five, we have the second characteristic, hardness, beginning with noticing the teeth by biting them together, and then slowly throughout the body, and alternating between pushing and hardness.

Then looking for roughness, running the tongue over the teeth, brush the hand over the skin, also noticing the above two 'with the others' .

Finally on this page, noticing heaviness, placing one hand on top of the other, or leaning the head forward.

Air

On Page One forty four, we have pushing.

To note pushing, be aware of pushing in the center of your head when you breathe in and out.  Keep doing it and you will then note it throughout your body.

The Characteristics

On Page One Forty four, Sayadaw lays out a few more characteristics of the four elements (12 total):

Earth: hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, lightness.
Water: flowing and cohesion
Fire: heat and coldness
Wind: supporting and pushing.

Also he says they are taught in this order (of easiest to most difficult to discern):

pushing, hardness, roughness, heaviness, supporting, softness, smoothness, lightness, coldness, cohesion, flowing; each discerned in one place in the body and then throughout.

Elements I

Sayadaw begins now on page One Forty two to discuss the four elements proper. He refers to the Satipattana Sutra by noting that the Buddha said; A bhikku reviews this very body, however it be positioned or placed, as consisting of just elements, thus there are in this body just
1) the earth element,
2) the water element,
3) the fire element,
4) the wind element.

And from the Visudhimagga, specific characteristics of each element;

1) Hardness or roughness of earth,
2) Flowing or cohesion of water,
3) Maturing or heat of fire,
4) Pushing or supporting of wind.

Lets do this!  (I'm gonna guess that an inspirational thought has fire in it)

Square One

No surprise, Sayadaw 'goes back' on page One Forty two to 'The beginning of Vipassana'...... meaning that four-elements meditation is so essential to understanding reality that along with concentration on an object, it is primary and indispensable. 

Nutriment II

Continuing nutriment on the next page, Sayadaw notes that there is also 'divine nutriment' which can last for months.  In addition, there is fire element throughout the body which digests, such as when a healing oil is applied to the skin it moves throughout the body.

Throughout the exposition of the origins of materiality in the last few pages, he uses the term 'nothing more' to emphasize the importance of deconstructing samsara.

Nutriment I

On Page One Forty, 'Nutriment-Produced Materiality' is introduced.   For example, the food we consume is nutriment to us.   This nutriment meets with the fire-element of our digestive system, and produces 'many generations' of nutritive-essence kalapas, and depending on the quality of the food, can keep producing for like a week.

Fire on the Mountain

On page one thirty-nine, Sayadaw moves on to 'Temperature-Produced Materiality'.  inanimate kalapas which are produced by fire, such as plants, which have a fire-element in the seed, are given heat by the sun, and of course, water.   Interestingly, rocks and minerals have more fire-element, as evidenced by their ability to stay around for a long time.

Great Skin

On Page One Thirty eight, its consciousness-produced materiality, for example, anger produces a fire-element.  Another example is that when walking, legs go up and down due to intention, and that is done via the wind element.

and OMG this is cool; he says that WHY WE FEEL GOOD in samatha is because in meditation, we produce very soft and subtle earth, wind and fire elements with no heaviness (earth element).  Also, you can get good skin because of the nice color radiance element produced.

How Long is it

More on Karma materiality on Page One Thirty seven;

that each consciousness moment has three stages, arising, standing and passing away. At each stage, new karma-produced Rk's are formed.  During one thought process, 51 (17 X 3) Rk's are made.  That's 17 for each of the three stages.   I think here he is referring to the Abhidhamma, which states that an Rk is 17 times longer than a given consciousness moment.  Here is a cool study link:


The Life-time of Rupa
"The life-time of rupa or corporeality is 17 times longer than that of citta. So we can say that the life-time of rupa is equal to 17 cittakkhanas or 17 conscious moments or 17 x 3 = 51 short instants as there are 3 short instants and there are 3 short instants in a moment of consciousness.
"Thus rupa also arises and dissolves at a tremendous rate of more than 58 billion times per second. The difference between citta and rupa is that citta arises one after another whereas rupa arises by thousands of units at a small instant and it goes on arising incessantly at every small instant. Therefore rupa may be piled up to large masses which are visible to the naked eye whereas the fleeting stream of consciousness is invisible to the naked eye.
Anuruddha (2002) in the Summary of the Topics of Abhidhamma and Exposition of the Topics of Abhidhamma explains that:
"In the summary of process, six sets of six should be understood: six bases, six doors, six objects, six consciousnesses, six processes, six kinds of presentation of objects.
The six consciousnesses are eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness.
The six kinds of presentation of object should be understood as the very great, the great, the slight, and the very slight at the five doors, and the clear and unclear at the mind-door.
With regard to very great and so on, [the presentation of an object] that comes into range after one consciousness-moment has passed and lasts for sixteen consciousness-moments is called very great; that which does so after two or three consciousness-moments have passed and lasts for fifteen or fourteen consciousness-moments is called great; that which does so after from four to nine consciousness-moments have passed and lasts from thirteen to eight consciousness-moments is called slight; that which does so after from ten to fifteen consciousness-moments have passed and lasts from seven to two consciousness-moments is called very slight.

Sweet Again

AND SO
on Page One Hundred Thirty six, Sayadaw explores the first origin, Karma produced materiality.  He explains that they are those which have the life-faculty and demonstrate the second noble truth of the origin of suffering; the rebirth of anything which attached to the pleasurable.

Origins

On Page One Thirty five, 'Materiality's Four Origins' are delineated:

1) Produced by Karma
2) Produced by Consciousness
3) Produced by Temperature
4) Produced by Nutriment
5) Produced by Rick Rubin

Typing

On page One Thirty four, in review, there are three types of teenie tinies (Rupa-kalapas)

1)  Those made of 8 elements
2)  Those made of 8 elements plus the life force
3)  Those made of #2 plus a tenth

On this page, Sayadaw breaks down a few types of 'Rk's of type #3:

a: Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body ones with the tenth being body-transparent element,
b: Heart ones, with the tenth being an opaque element, also the sense base;  like so: an object strikes upon a sense door and the mind door at the same time, as in a color object is known by mind consciousness, then eye consciousness, then further mind consciousness.   Also there are some objects that strike the mind only (all other objects in the world apart from the five types of color, sound, smell, taste, touch dhammas; which are: the sense doors, subtle materiality, consciousness, mental factors, nirvana and 'the infinite number of concepts')
c: Male/female Rk's..... the male one found only in males, the female only in females.


Here is an interesting book; has a lot of those Thai 'ball of light' things;
http://www.dhammacenter.org/resource/media/E-Books/5_techniques/five_med_techniques.pdf

With Life and Heart

On Page One Thirty three:

The elements (of the 8,9,and 10 element rupa-kalapas) are:

Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Color, Odor, Flavor and Nutritive Essence:  This type is found throughout the body and are opaque and without life.

With the above and the life essence is the second type (9), and are thus animate

The third type (10), has the above plus the heart element.

teenie tiny

On page One Thirty two, Sayadaw further explains materiality meditation.   He says:

1. The mind-base is located in the blood in the heart (!)
2. To know materiality, one must penetrate to the rupa-kalapas (sub-atomic particles), yet
3. Ultimate reality is the materiality within the rupa-kalapas, which are:        
       A) Octad-kalapas (with eight elements)
       B) Nonad-kalapas (with nine)
       C) Decad-kalapas (guess how many)

More info to follow

The Light

On Page One Thirty one, Sayadaw reintroduces materiality.  It is the first of five aggregates of clinging and the other four constitute mentality. Mentality depends on materiality, you gotta have a body, an eye etc.

I almost get it, but its not all mental.  It's an outrage to consider that one can experience an awareness of this connection, deeply, and therefore its insubstantiality.   Thus seen, there is room for the light of reality, bright and awake.

Blank

Page One Hundred and Thirty is blank.

Supraman

On Page One Hundred and Twenty nine, the question is  What is the difference between the mundane and supramundane jhanas?   C'mon, I know that, why its the supraness.  Or lack of it...

Anyhow, Sayadaw says that the supra part is when you discern the mental formations as impermanence, suffering and nonself.

Running on Empty

On Page One Hundred and Twenty seven, question #1 is  Before we attain the fourth jhana, many unwholesome thoughts still arise such as greed and hatred.  Should we try to remove them or concentrate on our meditation subject?

Answer: Ignorance and unwise attention are the (latent and proximate) causes.  It is best to use the wise attention of Vipassana.


Question #2 is  How does the bhavanga function in various realms?

Answer: There is bhavanga in most realms to maintain the life-function because the karma has not yet been exhausted.  He notes that bhavanga in higher realms is only of that or the preceding realm, for instance in boundless space, the object of boundless space; in the base of nothingness, the base of boundless space consciousness and its absence.

But in the supramundane realms, there is no place, and no bhavanga, there is no mentality for any bhavanga to maintain.

Fire Pills

The next question is When one is sick, can one practice four elements meditation to cure the sickness (to put them back in balance...)?

Sayadaw says (and I love his answer), in short, some yes, some no.. If there are some unbalanced elements that are the cause, then yes, some elements can be balanced and the sickness will go away. As for those sicknesses that arise because of the fire-element (cancer, malaria, etc), they can only be cured by taking medicine.

It's Rough

On Page One Hundred Twenty five,  the question is:   Is it necessary when discerning the 12 characteristics in four-element meditation to start with hardness, roughness and heaviness in that sequence?   Sayadaw replies to start with any characteristic easy to discern.  When we can discern them well, then do the sequence of earth first, then water, then fire, then wind.  Later we will discern them simultaneously in a billionth of a second.

Liberation Mutual

On Page  One Hundred and Twenty four (and part of page 123),  Sayadaw tackles the question, If when a person is dying they have strong mindfulness, can they prevent a nimitta of previous unwholesome or wholesome karma from arising?  

It seems like a tedious and only somewhat relevant, and so relevance is what I'm looking for in the answer.

One thing he says is that the yogi could have a stable jahna which can prevent unwholesome signs, and also could have insight-knowledge, the Knowledge of Equanimity Toward Formations, which and produce rebirth as a deva.  As such, all formations will appear clearly in their mind.

He tells the story of three men who were musicians/dancers, and reborn in the deva realm, meeting there a person they danced for when they were in the human realm, who was especially holy.

Sayadaw says that thus, there is no need for life insurance.

Interesting stuff, but hard to prove.  Inspiring but only for a while unless investigated further.

More Nimitta-type info

On Page One Hundred and Twenty three (and part of 122), the questions are:

When a person dies, a nimitta may arise because of past wholesome or unwholesome karma; and the answer is that it is somewhat similar and that's it, and

While meditating, images of events from years back may appear, and the answer is that this is due to lack of attention.

Respect

Most of Page One Hundred Twenty two is composed of this question:

Under what conditions does a yogi drop from absorption to access and vice versa?

Answer: If a yogi does not respect the nimitta, many hindrances will arise.  Also, the yogi should say 'This is mentality, this is materiality, this is cause, this is effect, this is impermanence,' etc. rather than 'This is a man, this is a woman, this is money,' etc.

Jhana Distinctions

Two questions on page One Hundred and Twenty, first,

Under what conditions can we say that a meditative experience is access concentration or absorption concentration? 
Answer: When a yogi has bhavangas as evidenced by being distracted from the nimitta.

and second,

Is there access concentration as well as absorption concentration in each of the four jhanas?
Answer(s): There are four levels of each.  In the first three of access there are the five factors.  But in the fourth access jhana there is no bliss.  In the first of absorption there are five factors, in the second of absorption there are three, in the third, only bliss and one-pointedness, and in the fourth, only equanimity and one-pointedness.

Carry On

On Page One Hundred and Nineteen, Sayadaw reminds us that to avoid falling into negative thought formations, one must have the help of the five controlling faculties, and the meditator knows 'nothing but the pat nimitta.'

You've Got a Little Something There

The second question in this section is What is the difference between access concentration and absorption concentration?  Sayadaw explains that although access concentration is deep, the bhavangas can be there (thought formations, see previous note)

Also, in access concentration, one may believe to have reached nirvana when one has reached, well, nothing.

In the deepest knowing, Sayadaw points out, there is actually the thought formation of knowing that Nirvana has been reached. 

Radiant

On Page One Hundred Seventeen, the third stage, or 'counterpart sign', is discussed.  Here the nimitta becomes clear, bright and radiant.

Nose

On Page One Hundred Sixteen, Sayadaw gets into the first two types of nimitta, concentration and meditation.  First,

Preparatory sign:   The natural breath is a nimitta, also the touch point of nostril and upper lip are nimitta. He says when the concentration begins to get strong, a smoky grey appears around the nostrils.  BUT as we remember, it could also be an umbrella.

Taken up sign: The grey becomes like cotton wool, and then whiter, and it may change shape or object depending on perception.