Reading guide
Lax, tense, constricted, scattered: defined at last
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse's own technical definitions are precise: lax enthusiasm is “coupled with laziness”; tense enthusiasm is “coupled with restlessness”; internally constricted is “coupled with dullness and drowsiness”; externally scattered is “frequently scattered and diffused... on account of the five kinds of sensual stimulation.”
A surprising discovery: the body-parts contemplation, hiding in plain sight
Confirmed directly by the text, not assumed in advance: “as below, so above” turns out to mean examining one's own body “from the soles of the feet... down from the tips of the hairs, wrapped in skin and full of many kinds of filth” — the same thirty-one-part list (head hair, nails, teeth, flesh, bones, organs, fluids) this project has already met in the foundations of mindfulness, here embedded inside the four bases' own formula without announcement.
Before-and-behind, day-and-night, and radiance, defined
Confirmed by direct reading, the remaining three elements are defined more briefly: the “before-and-behind” perception is simply this same perception “properly grasped, focused on, borne in mind, and penetrated with wisdom”; “day-and-night” means maintaining “the same features, attributes, and signs” regardless of the hour; and the radiant, unenveloped mind comes from “properly grasped” perceptions of light and of day.
A pattern of compression this project has met before
This project's own cross-reference: the discourse gives enthusiasm's own four technical definitions in full, elides energy's and mental development's own identical definitions with ellipsis, then gives inquiry's own definitions in full a second time — the same first-full, middle-elided, last-full pattern this project has already tracked across this saṃyutta's own repeated four-part formulas.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, when the four bases of psychic power are developed and cultivated they’re very fruitful and beneficial.
§2How so? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort. They think: ‘My enthusiasm won’t be too lax or too tense. And it’ll be neither constricted internally nor scattered externally.’ And they meditate perceiving before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before; as below, so above; as above, so below; as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. And so, with an open and unenveloped heart, they develop a mind that’s full of radiance. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to energy … mental development … inquiry, and active effort. They think: ‘My inquiry won’t be too lax or too tense. And it’ll be neither constricted internally nor scattered externally.’ And they meditate perceiving before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before; as below, so above; as above, so below; as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. And so, with an open and unenveloped heart, they develop a mind that’s full of radiance.
§3And what is enthusiasm that’s too lax? It’s when enthusiasm is coupled with laziness. This is called lax enthusiasm.
§4And what is enthusiasm that’s too tense? It’s when enthusiasm is coupled with restlessness. This is called tense enthusiasm.
§5And what is enthusiasm that’s constricted internally? It’s when enthusiasm is coupled with dullness and drowsiness. This is called enthusiasm constricted internally.
§6And what is enthusiasm that’s scattered externally? It’s when enthusiasm is frequently scattered and diffused externally on account of the five kinds of sensual stimulation. This is called enthusiasm scattered externally.
§7And how does a mendicant meditate perceiving before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before? It’s when the perception of before and behind is properly grasped, focused on, borne in mind, and penetrated with wisdom by a mendicant. That’s how a mendicant meditates perceiving before and behind: as before, so behind; as behind, so before.
§8And how does a mendicant meditate as below, so above; as above, so below? It’s when a mendicant examines their own body up from the soles of the feet and down from the tips of the hairs, wrapped in skin and full of many kinds of filth. ‘In this body there is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, undigested food, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, synovial fluid, urine.’ That’s how a mendicant meditates as below, so above; as above, so below.
§9And how does a mendicant meditate as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort, with the same features, attributes, and signs by day as by night. And they develop it with the same features, attributes, and signs by night as by day. That’s how a mendicant meditates as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day.
§10And how, with an open and unenveloped heart, does a mendicant develop a mind that’s full of radiance? It’s when a mendicant has properly grasped the perception of light, and has properly grasped the perception of day. That’s how, with an open and unenveloped heart, a mendicant develops a mind that’s full of radiance.
§11And what is energy that’s too lax? …
§12And what is mental development that’s too lax? …
§13And what is inquiry that’s too lax? It’s when inquiry is coupled with laziness. This is called lax inquiry.
§14And what is inquiry that’s too tense? It’s when inquiry is coupled with restlessness. This is called tense inquiry.
§15And what is inquiry that’s constricted internally? It’s when inquiry is coupled with dullness and drowsiness. This is called inquiry constricted internally.
§16And what is inquiry that’s scattered externally? It’s when inquiry is frequently scattered and diffused externally on account of the five kinds of sensual stimulation. This is called inquiry scattered externally. … That’s how, with an open and unenveloped heart, a mendicant develops a mind that’s full of radiance. When the four bases of psychic power have been developed and cultivated in this way they’re very fruitful and beneficial.
§17When the four bases of psychic power have been developed and cultivated in this way, a mendicant wields the many kinds of psychic power: multiplying themselves and becoming one again … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity. … When the four bases of psychic power have been developed and cultivated in this way, they realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.”
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