THE ANUD¢PAN¢
When equanimity is maintained, contemplating happiness and suffering of beings,
tatramajjhattatÈ
does not arise alone but all associated consciousness and mental
concomitants appear with it. Though the object of
tatramajjhattatÈ
and the object of its
associates are one and the same, equanimity, with regard to happiness and suffering of
beings, is its main function. Therefore, this
tatramajjhattatÈ
is designated
UpekkhÈ
PÈramÊ
.
Its associated consciousness and mental concomitants also come to be included in
UpekkhÈ
PÈramÊ
;
tatramajjhattatÈ
plays the leading role and this is the only difference between it
and its associates.
Ten Kinds of UpekkhÈ
There are other kinds of
upekkhÈ
that cannot be included in UpekkhÈ PÈramÊ
though each
of them is an ultimate reality. The Visuddhimagga and the Atthasalini enumerate ten such
upekkhÈ
:
1. Chalang'upekkhÈ,
6. Vedan'upekkhÈ,
2. BrahmavihÈr'upekkhÈ,
7. Vipassan'upekkhÈ,
3. Bojjha~g'upekkhÈ,
8. Tatramajjhatt'upekkhÈ,
4. Viriy'upekkhÈ,
9. JhÈn'upekkhÈ, and
5. Sa~khÈr'upekkhÈ,
10. Parisuddh'upekkhÈ.
1. There are six sense objects, good and bad, that appear at the six sense-doors. Arahats
are not delighted when the sense objects are desirable and not dejected when these
are undesirable. Always being endowed with mindfulness and comprehension they
take them in with equanimity, maintaining their natural purity of their mind. This
kind of mental equipoise is called Chalang'upekkhÈ. (That is,
upekkhÈ
with six
factors, namely, six sense-doors and six-objects.)
2. Equanimity, which views that happiness and suffering of beings occur according to
their kamma, is BrahmavihÈr'upekkhÈ. (Equanimity with sublime living. UpekkhÈ
PÈramÊ is this kind of
upekkhÈ
.)
3. When efforts are made to attain the Path and the Fruition, if some factors are weak
and other strong, the weaker ones are to be strengthened and the stronger are to be
suppressed; but when these factors of the Path reached the status of
Bojjha~gas
(Constituents of Enlightenment), their associated factors are of equal strength.
UpekkhÈ
observed equally on these elements is called Bojjha~g'upekkhÈ.
4. In making efforts to attain the Path and the Fruition, energy extended for just the
required amount, neither more nor less, is Viriy'upekkhÈ.
5. In making efforts for the attainment of concentration, Path and Fruition states,
remaining detached from
sa~khÈra
-
dhammas
(conditioned things), such as
nivaraÓas
(hindrances), etc., that are to be eradicated by means of the first
jhÈna
, etc. is called
Sa~khÈr'upekkhÈ. (This
Sa~khÈr'upekkhÈ
arises when the VipassanÈ wisdom matures.
Before its maturity, one needs making efforts to eradicate
sa~khÈra-dhammas
. But
once the maturity is acquired, it is no longer necessary to make special efforts to
eradicate them. Only an attitude of indifference is needed for the purpose.)
6. Feeling experienced neutrally without delight or dejection when in taking in a sense
object is Vedan'upekkhÈ.
7. Maintaining a mental equilibrium in developing insight into the nature of
impermanence and other characteristics of the aggregates is called Vipassan'upekkha.
(A brief meaning of ‘
VipassanÈ’
may be given here in this connection. ‘Vi’ means
‘special’ and ‘passana’, ‘seeing’. Hence ‘
VipassanÈ
’ is ‘Insight’. Perceiving that there
are concrete things, such as men, women and so on, is an ordinary knowledge,
common to all. It is an understanding based on perception but not a special
understanding based on profound wisdom. VipassanÈ Insight is: ‚In reality there are
no such things as ‘I’ or ‘he’. What is termed ‘I’ or ‘he’ is just an aggregate of matter
and mind that is subject to destruction and dissolution. These aggregates are