Reading guide
Two true answers to one question
Citta does not pick a side between “these differ” and “these are the same”; he shows both are correct answers to the same question, depending on which angle it is asked from — a genuinely dialectical move rather than a simple either/or.
Four practices, four precise definitions
The four immeasurables (spreading love, compassion, joy, and equanimity in all directions) define the limitless release; the third formless attainment defines the release through nothingness; reflecting “this is empty of self” defines the release through emptiness; and not focusing on any signs at all defines the signless release — four distinct practices, each with its own named result.
One convergence, reached three separate times
For each of the three narrower liberations (limitless, through nothingness, signless), Citta shows the same “unshakable” liberation is its own best, most complete form, and that this unshakable liberation is always empty of the same three roots — the convergence is demonstrated three times over, not asserted once and left unproven.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time Venerable Godatta was staying near Macchikāsaṇḍa in the Wild Mango Grove. Then Citta the householder went up to Venerable Godatta, bowed, and sat down to one side. Godatta said to him: “Householder, the limitless release of the heart, and the release of the heart through nothingness, and the release of the heart through emptiness, and the signless release of the heart: do these things differ in both meaning and phrasing? Or do they mean the same thing, and differ only in the phrasing?” “Sir, there is a way in which these things differ in both meaning and phrasing. But there’s also a way in which they mean the same thing, and differ only in the phrasing. And what’s the way in which these things differ in both meaning and phrasing? It’s when a mendicant meditates spreading a heart full of love to one direction, and to the second, and to the third, and to the fourth. In the same way above, below, across, everywhere, all around, they spread a heart full of love to the whole world—abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will. They meditate spreading a heart full of compassion … They meditate spreading a heart full of rejoicing … They meditate spreading a heart full of equanimity to one direction, and to the second, and to the third, and to the fourth. In the same way above, below, across, everywhere, all around, they spread a heart full of equanimity to the whole world—abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will. This is called the limitless release of the heart. And what is the release of the heart through nothingness? It’s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of infinite consciousness, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, enters and remains in the dimension of nothingness. This is called the release of the heart through nothingness. And what is the release of the heart through emptiness? It’s when a mendicant has gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, and reflects like this: ‘This is empty of a self or what belongs to a self.’ This is called the release of the heart through emptiness. And what is the signless heart’s release? It’s when a mendicant, not focusing on any signs, enters and remains in the signless immersion of the heart. This is called the signless release of the heart. This is the way in which these things differ in both meaning and phrasing. And what’s the way in which they mean the same thing, and differ only in the phrasing? Greed, hate, and delusion are makers of limits. A mendicant who has ended the defilements has given these up, cut them off at the root, made them like a palm stump, and obliterated them, so they are unable to arise in the future. The unshakable release of the heart is said to be the best kind of limitless release of the heart. That unshakable release of the heart is empty of greed, hate, and delusion. Greed is something, hate is something, and delusion is something. A mendicant who has ended the defilements has given these up, cut them off at the root, made them like a palm stump, and obliterated them, so they are unable to arise in the future. The unshakable release of the heart is said to be the best kind of release of the heart through nothingness. That unshakable release of the heart is empty of greed, hate, and delusion. Greed, hate, and delusion are makers of signs. A mendicant who has ended the defilements has given these up, cut them off at the root, made them like a palm stump, and obliterated them, so they are unable to arise in the future. The unshakable release of the heart is said to be the best kind of signless release of the heart. That unshakable release of the heart is empty of greed, hate, and delusion. This is the way in which they mean the same thing, and differ only in the phrasing.” “You’re fortunate, householder, so very fortunate, to traverse the Buddha’s deep teachings with the eye of wisdom.”
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