THE GREAT PRESENT-DAY DILEMMA
The question is, how many who read this can really understand the subtlety of this first meditation under the Rose-apple tree? It is not as easy as you might imagine, for logic and lateral thinking alone is not enough.
We must remember that we are speaking of Jhana meditation and a change of direction by Buddha which led to the capacity to modify Vitakka and Vicara so as to generate both Supra-mundane meditation and Vipassana meditation (a deliberative absorption). Both are quite dfferent than any anterior meditations.
It also allowed the foray into the advanced meditations of the Tibetans and Chinese and to the Dao and Chan meditations which we present.
However, when he achieved this breakthrough -which diverged from the previous Jhana meditations of the Brahmins inasmuch as the cognitive barrier was unknown in Vicara in a manner that allowed him to experience Cognitive Experiences DIRECTLY without the slightest inpediment- this did not advance his meditation into the more subtle experiences completely beyond PURE COGNITVE EXPERIENCES, nor beyond the LAST CONCEPTUALIZATION. This was to occur later.
The second part of his success lay not in the meditation itself, but in his state of mind before any meditation actually began.
It is this state which is essential for any serious Buddha Dharma follower. It matters not a damn how well you understand, if you are not free from these attachments.
What was the state of Gautama's mind?
DISGUST WITH THE WORLD AND ITS PLEASURES
He was a well-educated man with an intelligent mind and physical prowess. His temperament was aversive with a disposition towards sensitivity. Without doubt within his sheltered and privileged life he had developed his ideal view of the world, which was shattered by his experiences with illness, old age and death.
We can say then that his view of his own life, of all around him and outside the Palace, was of great disgust and he rejected even seeing within himself such grasping and clinging to phenomena.
One of the things that was certain is that the first trance was free from all prior and later doctrines and as a consequence in the meditation he did not develop any doctrinal tenets. The experience of suffering, and the presence of joy and rapture, gave him no clear message at the time regarding the Four Noble Truths, but this was the base for his later discoveries.
A FREE-THINKING MIND
The atmosphere in the Shakya territory was quite liberal and many wandering ascetics passed by, setting up interesting discourses on many occasions. The result was that Gautama developed a free-thinking mind, which he brought to his own meditations. He did not resort to the usual Brahminic devices nor did he offer the usual devotional prayer-beads or incantations and did not use the traditional ritual.
He also did not contemplate any metaphysical entity nor did he have in his mind a mass of philosophical abstractions. He was distracted in his thoughts from worldly pleasures, which allowed him to organize his trance more efficiently. Many people consider that he used the task of observing breathing but this was a much later addition to his Dharma system.
Some texts suggest that his theme was the origin (prabhava) and destruction (apyaya) of the world, but this is a mistaken conjecture. It is true, however, that as a result of his experiences, especially that of seeing the ascetic, there arose the question, "What is the supreme good?"
His doubts with regard to the efficiency of the Brahminic systems were also probably shaken before he sat in that Rose-apple tree meditation, and this was an important factor, for Buddha later referred to this meditation as "mind-meditation," in which the topic is simply entered into Vitakka, sustained by Vicara, and allowed to go where it will when both are let go, so that it is the mind itself that embraces the topic without any pre-disposed mental interference.
Buddha, explaining this first trance, said, "I remember when I was seated beneath the shady rose-apple tree in the farming field of my father Shakya, that I had, quite separate from sensual desire and separate from evil thoughts, organized and dwelled in the first jhana with Vitakka, Vicara, overflooding with joy and pleasure born of seclusion, 'This is perhaps the way to Bodhi awakening'." Much later, when he had finished his austerities, at that moment an inner voice said "This is the way to Bodhi".
PERPLEXITY: FREEDOM FROM KNOWING
In a nutshell we could say his question was, "What the hell is going on here?," in which he deliberated over reconciling concomitant pleasure with fundamental human suffering.
From a Chan point of view we can posit that he sat with the apparent cognitive knowledge of suffering and injustice, transporting to the Vitakka setting up a great Chan "What?", without the slightest answer being evident. We are not suggesting that this was the origin of the Chan "What?", but rather that the state of his mind was of a total perplexity, in which he could not even really define the question, knowing that there was probably no reasonable answer.
FREEDOM FROM BEING AND THE WISH TO BE
So, putting ourselves in his position, what could we say that would condense into a brief statement his state of mind? It was a state of mind in which there was absolutely no conscious or subliminal thought about who he was, what he was or what he could be.
He wanted to simply know what the mind could tell him when free from all conscious restraints. He discovered at least that the mind was brilliant, pure and flexible and he delighted in the joy and equanimity with only one future idea in mind, which was to stabilize his meditation.
There were also other basic qualities he possessed in part due to his temperament: saddha, virya, and sati.
Saddha is a well-rounded tendency to move with a passion towards something considered worth the effort.
Virya is a strong vigor, which is a resistance to personal folly against his own reason.
Sati is a well-formed memory.
Later after the Rose-apple tree meditation, before leaving the Palace he developed Samadhi and through Brahminic meditations Panna, which we consider as valid discernment.
NO ESSENTIAL DOUBT OR REPENTANCE
Gotama, although perplexed, had no doubt whatsoever with regard to the efficiency of trances when conducted correctly with no "me or mine" present. He had also no requirement to be respected, so his search reflected that no Identity condition and no repentance.
A BALANCED IDEA OF THE BODY AND MIND
His basic idea was that the body/mind functioned only for remembrance and therefore cast out body and mental torpor and lassitude both before and after the meditation. Note however that during the first trance there was a background awareness of body, mind and discrimination.
THE PRESENT DILEMMA
The present dilemma which must then be faced is that there are two erroneous ways which Buddha Dharma followers may take with regard to the truth of this new gateway.
The majority will dismiss it as well-known but of little value and the minority, clinging to the words here presented without a greater penetration, will believe that they truly understand and are actually performing their meditations using Buddha's system.
Be very careful in your self-evaluation.