LUSB 704 – SIX GATES TO THE SUBLIME

DESCRIPTION

The Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime 六妙法門 is a medieval Chinese Buddhist meditation manual written by Tientai Master Zhiyi (智顗 538-597 CE), one of his four major works on the traditional joint meditative practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā or ‘calming’ and ‘insight.’

According to Zhiyi, there are six aspects to the practice of mindful breathing (ānāpānasati) that led to the Buddha’s enlightenment:

1. 數 Counting / gaṇanā
2. 隨 Following / anugamaḥ
3. 止 Stabilization / sthānam
4. 觀 Contemplation / upalakṣaṇā
5. 還 Turning / vivartanā
6. 淨 Purification / pariśuddhiḥ

READING

• The Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime 六妙法門 by Zhiyi. Translated from the Chinese by Dharmamitra (Kalavinka Press, 2009)
Six Gates_Bilingual.pdf2426.3KB
• The Six Gates according to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (See below)*

SYLLABUS

* From Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (circa 5th century AD):

Mindfulness of breathing is perfect when it is endowed with six operations: Counting, following, fixing, observing, modifying, and purifying.

Counting - One fixes the mind on in-breathing and out-breathing, without effort or contention; one lets the body and mind be as they are; and one counts from one to ten only in the mind. One does not count to less than ten, nor to more than ten, for fear of contention and of mental distraction. There are three faults to avoid: 1) Counting too few, by taking two for one 2) Counting too high, by taking one for two, 3) Counting in a confused manner, by taking in-breathing for out-breathing, and vice versa. The counting that avoids these faults is correct. If, in the course of this cultivation the mind becomes distracted, then one should count anew from the beginning until absorption (samadhi) is attained.

Following - Without contention, follow the progress of the air which enters and leaves until it goes into two senses: does the air breathed in occupy all of the body or does it go into only one part of the body? The ascetic follows the air breathed in into the throat, the heart, the navel, the kidneys, the thigh, and so on to the two feet; the ascetic follows the air breathed out to a distance of a hand and a cubit. According to other masters, he follows the air breathed out to the "circle of air" (vayumandala) which holds up the universe and to the Vairambha Winds. This opinion is not admissible, for mindfulness of breathing is an attention to things as they really are (tattvamanasikdra).

Fixing - Fix the attention on the tip of the nose, or between the eyebrows, or in another area all the way down to the toes; fix the mind; see the breath held in the body like the thread of a pearl necklace; state that it is cold or hot, unfavorable or favorable.

Observing - Observe that "These breaths are not only air, but the four primary elements, and again physical matter derived from these four; and the mind with its mental dharmas rests on them": in this way the ascetic discovers the five skandhas through analysis.

Modifying - The ascetic modifies the mind that had the air as its object and now directs his mind to better and better dharmas [for example, to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the uṣmagata, etc.] up to and including the transworldly dharmas.

Purifying - The ascetic enters the Path of Seeing and the Path of Meditation. According to some other masters, modification is progressive elevation from the foundations of mindfulness up to Vajropamasamadhi. Purifying is the Knowledge of Extinction (ksaya-jñāna), the Knowledge of Non-Arising (anutpāda-jñāna) and the Right Views of the Arhat.