Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Visuddhimagga · Chapter 5

The Remaining Kasinas

Sesakasiṇaniddesa — Part II: Samādhi (Concentration)

Setting
No narrative setting; the chapter continues directly from Chapter 4's detailed treatment of the earth kasina
Speaker
Buddhaghosa, applying Chapter 4's method to nine further devices in a much more compressed form
Form
Nine short entries, one per remaining kasina, each noting only what differs from the earth kasina rather than restating the full method
Length
considerably shorter than Chapter 4, since the underlying account of signs, hindrances, and jhāna factors is assumed rather than repeated
Northern parallel
Other traditions likewise use varied physical objects (colored disks, light, bounded space) as concentration supports; this guide does not assert a specific matching passage
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — mostly a practical survey, easy to follow once Chapter 4's method is in hand

Why this chapter

Chapter 4 gave the full method through a single device, the earth kasina. Chapter 5 completes the set of ten by working through the remaining nine — water, fire, air, four colors, light, and a bounded area of space — but treats each briefly, noting only how its physical preparation and characteristic quality differ from the earth kasina already covered. The chapter's underlying claim is that all ten reach the same destination by the same method; what changes from one kasina to the next is only the object placed in front of that method.

Reading guide

Nine variations on one method

Rather than repeating Chapter 4's full account of the three signs, the five hindrances, and the five jhāna factors, this chapter assumes that account as known and describes, for each of the remaining nine kasinas, only what is specific to preparing and attending to that particular device.

The kasina list completed

Together with the earth kasina from Chapter 4, this chapter brings the traditional list of ten kasinas to completion: earth, water, fire, and air; four colors (blue, yellow, red, and white); light; and a bounded area of space.

Water, fire, and air

The water kasina is prepared by viewing clear water held in a vessel. The fire kasina is traditionally attended to through a small opening in a screen rather than by looking at an open flame directly. The air kasina is approached indirectly as well, since moving air has no visible form of its own — attention rests instead on something stirred by it, such as the swaying tips of grass or the movement of a banner.

The four color kasinas

Blue, yellow, red, and white are each prepared much as the earth kasina was: as an evenly colored disk, or by using a naturally suited colored object such as a flower or cloth of the right hue, then worked through the same sequence of signs described in Chapter 4.

Light and bounded space

The light kasina takes a patch of steady light — such as light falling through a small gap — as its object. The space kasina is unusual among the ten in taking an absence rather than a colored surface as its object: a gap or opening of a fixed, defined size, attended to as a bounded area rather than as a visible thing.

All ten, one destination

The chapter's recurring point across all nine entries is that none of them requires a different method from the one Chapter 4 already gave in full: any of the ten kasinas, worked through its own three signs, can be brought to the same depth of absorption. What differs between them is preparation and characteristic feel, not the underlying process.

Which kasina to begin with

The earth kasina is generally treated as the easiest starting point, given the stability and universal familiarity of its object, though the chapter also connects the choice back to the six temperaments introduced in Chapter 3, since some of the ten may suit a particular temperament better than others.

What follows

Chapter 6 leaves the kasinas behind entirely and turns to an altogether different class of object: foulness, meaning sustained contemplation of a corpse in its stages of decay, the next of the forty meditation subjects.

Key terms

āpokasiṇa — the water kasina — prepared by viewing clear water held in a vessel.
tejokasiṇa — the fire kasina — traditionally viewed through a small opening in a screen rather than looking at an open flame directly.
vāyokasiṇa — the air (wind) kasina — attended to indirectly, through something moved by the wind, since air itself has no visible form.
nīla, pīta, lohita, odāta kasiṇa — the four color kasinas — blue, yellow, red, and white — each prepared as an evenly colored disk or a suitably colored object.
āloka, ākāsa kasiṇa — the light kasina and the (bounded) space kasina — the final two of the ten, taking a patch of light and a fixed-size gap respectively as their objects.

Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10
How many kasinas does the traditional list total, once this chapter's nine are added to Chapter 4's earth kasina?
Correct: C. Earth, water, fire, air, four colors, light, and bounded space.
Question 2 of 10
Does this chapter repeat Chapter 4's full account of the three signs, the hindrances, and the jhāna factors for each new kasina?
Correct: C. Chapter 5 is deliberately compressed compared to Chapter 4's full template treatment.
Question 3 of 10
How is the water kasina prepared?
Correct: D. A visual object, like the other kasinas, not an auditory or tactile one.
Question 4 of 10
Why is the air (wind) kasina attended to indirectly, through something like swaying grass or a banner?
Correct: C. Attention rests on something moved by the wind rather than the wind itself.
Question 5 of 10
Which four colors make up the color kasinas this chapter covers?
Correct: C. Each prepared much as the earth kasina was, as an evenly colored disk or suited object.
Question 6 of 10
What is unusual about the space kasina's object compared to the other nine?
Correct: D. Attended to as a bounded area rather than as a visible thing.
Question 7 of 10
What does the chapter say all ten kasinas share, despite their different objects?
Correct: D. What differs between them is preparation and characteristic feel, not the underlying process.
Question 8 of 10
Which kasina is generally treated as the easiest starting point, and why?
Correct: A. The chapter also connects the choice back to the six temperaments from Chapter 3.
Question 9 of 10
What does Chapter 6 turn to next?
Correct: C. An entirely different class of meditation subject from the ten kasinas.
Question 10 of 10
Where can a reader go for Chapter 5's full translated text?
Correct: C. As with every page in this series, since none reproduces the translation itself.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousThe Earth Kasina