'thought-conception
and discursive thinking', (or 'applied and sustained thought') are verbal
functions (vac’-sankhcra:
s. sankhcra) of the mind, the so-called 'inner speech ('parole interieure').
They are constituents of the 1st absorption (s. jhcna), but absent
in the higher absorptions.
(1) "Thought-conception
(vitakka) is the laying hold of a thought, giving it attention. Its characteristic
consists
in fixing the
consciousness to the object.
(2) "Discursive thinking (viccra) is the roaming
about and moving to and fro of the mind.... It manifests itself as continued
activity of mind" (Vis.M. IV).
(1) is
compared with the striking against a bell, (2) with its resounding; (1) with
the seizing of a pot, (2) with wiping it. (Cf. Vis . IV.).
Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines,
by NYANATILOKA
Every
language has terms that often mean much the same thing, however terms also
often have a range of meaning depending
upon their
usage. Translators of Pali into English have suffered from a na•ve
assumption that there can be a single word translation for every term. This
is not true in any language that I know of. Typically these different
terms with similar meanings reveal different shades of meaning that are pertinent
under differing conditions. I believe it is reasonable to consider
that Pali, like many language, had terms with similar meanings (synonyms)
just as English and many living languages have today, and that their terms
meant different things under differing conditions.
Vitakka
and viccra, for example, may indeed mean "applied
and sustained thought" under common conditions. But, considering
that 'vitakka' and 'viccra' were used in the Discourse of the Buddha as
a means of arriving at absorption (jhana), I do not believe the historic
Buddha was intending that one arrived at meditative absorption through an
intellectual activity, such as 'applied and sustained thought,' but instead
through the cultivation of tranquility, and not therefore as a process of
thinking and reasoning.
I
believe it must be, therefore be an erroneous translation of the Pali words "vitakka-viccra" to say that through an intellectual
process, such as "applied and sustained thought" the Buddha said one can
arrive at absorption (jhana). On the Jhana Support Group, we have found
no evidence to support a belief that "intellectual investigation," or "applied
and sustained thought," or "thought-conception and discursive thinking" will
ever lead anywhere other than ignorance, delusion and doubt (dukkha).
I
believe vitakka and viccra, if they lead to absorption (jhana), must have
been used in the sense of directing and
redirecting the
attention toward one's meditation object. I believe this process of
directing and redirecting the attention toward a meditation object would
be better translated as 'concentration' in the way that it this term is used
in common English. The term "concentration" is most often used by native
speakers of the English language in the sense of one "turning and returning" one's
mind or attention to an object or task. Or, we could say one "applies and
reapplies" one's attention to an object or task. Therefore perhaps
vitakka and viccra should be translated as "applied and sustained concentration." It
is however possible that the Pali language might be inadequate to make the
distinction between the cognitive processes of concentration and discursive
thinking.
I
am not debating however that the first jhana may be accompanied by a small
amount of discursive thinking and other
cognitive
processing, however, certainly the discursive thinking would not be either
applied, nor sustained thought, or otherwise jhana would not arise. I
know this because jhana is a regular feature of my contemplative practice,
and I have numerous students who have given rise to jhana, and they do not
experience either, applied, nor, sustained, thought during absorption (jhana).
In fact I have found jhana typically does not rise until after the mind has
become calm or still. Therefore if a calm mind is a necessary precondition
to even enter the first stage of absorption, then where is there an opportunity
of either applied or sustained thought?
Since
in the canon there is a definite indication that vitakka and viccra is
spoken of as an access factor or
condition of
absorption (jhana), and not as a hindrance to the first absorption, but a
property of it. And, since I have found that applied and sustained
concentration leads to the first jhana, and I also recognize that very few
Theravadans, teachers, Bhikkhus or layman experience jhana, because most
of them are 'dry' practitioners, then I assume the reason for the difficulty
in their dry practice is in not realizing that vitakka and viccra are
access factors, and that the access factor for the first jhana is not applied
and sustained thought, but applied and sustained concentration.
In
the Visuddhimagga the idea of touching upon or striking the meditation
objects is often used by the translator. I think the
use of the verb to strike is too aggressive a word for a contemplative practice,
so I have been using the verb, to touch upon. I think that is what
the sense of concentration is. It is not to strike, or to grip an object,
but simply to bring the mind back over and over again, time and again, to
its object of meditation, thus the idea of vitakka and viccra, to return
over and over again to the meditation subject.
It
is certainly widely accepted that thought and cognition are obstacles to
absorption therefore I believe translators
should really
reevaluate the translation of vitakka and viccra, as access factors
to jhana, as not as applied or sustained "thought," but "applied and sustained" concentration,
which is to touch upon or to simply bring the mind back over and over again,
time and again, to its object of meditation,
It
is also crucial to understand that concentration, or the practice of directing
the mind to its object must be relinquished
to
arrive at deeper jhana, which is not widely understood. And, if one
looks at the factors for the second jhana, then one sees that vitakka and
viccra are relinquished at this time. Therefore in conclusion
vitakka and viccra must mean "applied and sustained concentration" not
thought.
May
you become enlightened in this very lifetime,
Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)
This article may be retrieved at this URL
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/vitakkavicara.htm
