Divine Eye / Buddhism
When considering Buddha’s disciples, names like Ananda, Sariputta and Moggallana come to mind. There were others of importance like for instance Anuruddha. One of his peculiarities was the development and positive use of the divine eye, not just after he became a monk but even prior.
I was questioned about the divine eye. Here from the book, Great Disciples of the Buddha (Thera/Hecker), pages 188-194, there is some information about the definition and use of it in the Buddhist meditation.
THE STRUGGLE FOR ARAHANTSHIP
The divine eye is the ability to see beyond the range of the physical eye, extending in Anuruddha’s case to a thousandfold world system. This faculty, which we will discuss more fully below, is of a mundane (lokiya) character, one whose acquisition does not necessarily entail that its possessor has gained realization of the Dhamma. Anuruddha attained the divine eye before he became an arahant, and to reach the heights he still had to overcome many inner obstacles. Three reports in the canon tell of his struggles.
Once, when the Venerable Anuruddha was living in the Eastern Bamboo Park with two friends, his cousin Nandiya and the Sakyan noble Kimbila, the Buddha visited them and inquired about their progress. Anuruddha then told him about a difficulty he had experienced in a very sublime meditation he had been practicing. He had perceived an inner light and radiance and had a vision of sublime forms. But that light and vision of forms disappeared very soon, and he could not understand the reason.
The Buddha declared that when he was still striving for enlightenment he too had met the same difficulty but had discovered how to master it. He explained that to experience these subtle states in full and obtain a steady perception of them one should free oneself from eleven imperfections (upakkilesa). The first is uncertainty about the reality of these phenomena and the significance of the inner light, which might easily be taken for a sensory illusion. The second is inattention: one no longer directs one’s full attention to the inner light but disregards it, evaluating it as unremarkable or inessential. The third imperfection is lethargy and drowsiness; the fourth, anxiety and fright, which occurs when threatening images or thoughts arise from the subconscious. When these imperfections have been mastered, elation may arise, which excites body and mind. Such exultation is often a habitual reaction to any kind of success. When that elation has exhausted itself, one may feel emotionally drained and fall into inertia, a heavy passivity of mind. To overcome it, one makes a very strong effort, which may result in an excess of energy. On becoming aware of this excess, one relaxes and falls again into sluggish energy. In such a condition, when mindfulness is weak, strong longing may arise for desirable objects of the celestial or the human world, according to the focusing of the inner light which had been widened in its range. This longing will reach out to a great variety of objects and thus lead to another imperfection, a large diversity of perceptions, be it on the celestial or human plane. Having become dissatisfied with this great diversity of forms, one chooses to contemplate one of them, be it of a desirable or undesirable nature. Concentrating intensely on the chosen object will lead to the eleventh imperfection, the excessive meditating on these forms.
Addressing Anuruddha and his two companions the Buddha thus described vividly, from his own experience, the eleven imperfections that may arise in the meditative perception of pure forms, and he explained how to overcome them.
When Anuruddha had perfected himself more and more in the jhānas and in those refined meditative perceptions, he one day went to see the Venerable Sāriputta and said: “Friend Sāriputta, with the divine eye that is purified, transcending human sight, I can see the thousandfold world system. Firm is my energy, unremitting; my mindfulness is alert and unconfused; the body is tranquil and unperturbed; my mind is concentrated and one-pointed. And yet my mind is not freed from the cankers, not freed from clinging.”
Thereupon Sāriputta replied: “Friend Anuruddha, that you think thus of your divine eye: this is conceit in you. That you think thus of your firm energy, your alert mindfulness, your unperturbed body, and your concentrated mind: this is restlessness in you. That you think of your mind not being freed from the cankers: this is worrying in you. It would be good, indeed, if you would abandon these three states of mind and, paying no attention to them, direct your mind to the deathless element, Nibbāna.”
Having heard Sāriputta’s advice, Anuruddha again resorted to solitude and earnestly applied himself to the removal of those three obstructions within his mind.
Sometime later Anuruddha was living in the country of the Cetiya people, in the Eastern Bamboo Grove. There, in his contemplations, it occurred to him that there were seven thoughts that should be cherished by a truly great man (mahāpurisavitakka):
This Dhamma is for one with few wishes, not for one with many wishes; this Dhamma is for one who is content, not for one who is discontent; this Dhamma is for one bent on seclusion, not for one who is gregarious; this Dhamma is for one who is energetic, not for one who is lazy; this Dhamma is for one who is mindful, not for one who is confused; this Dhamma is for one who is concentrated, not for one who is unconcentrated; this Dhamma is for one who is wise, not for one who is dull-witted.
When the Buddha perceived in his own mind the thoughts that had arisen in Anuruddha’s mind, he appeared before him in a mind-made body (manomaya-kāya) and applauded him: “Good, Anuruddha, good! You have well considered seven thoughts of a great man. You may now also consider this eighth thought of a great man: ‘This Dhamma is for one who inclines to the non-diffuse, who delights in the non-diffuse; not for one who inclines to worldly diffuseness and delights in it.’”
The Buddha then said that when Anuruddha contemplates these eight thoughts, he will be able to attain at will the four meditative absorptions. He would then no longer be affected by worldly conditions but would regard the four simple requisites of a monk’s life—robes, alms-food, shelter, and medicines—in the same way as a layperson would enjoy luxuries. Such simple living would make his mind joyous and unperturbed and thus be helpful to his attainment of Nibbāna.
In parting, the Buddha advised Anuruddha to stay on at the Eastern Bamboo Grove. Anuruddha did so, and during that same rainy season he attained the consummation of his striving: arahantship, the undefiled liberation of the mind . At the hour of his attainment the Venerable Anuruddha uttered the following verses, in which he expresses his gratitude to the Master for helping him bring his spiritual work to completion:
Having understood my mind’s intention,
The unsurpassed Teacher in the world
Came to me by psychic power
In the vehicle of a mind-made body.
When the intention arose in me,
Then he gave me a further teaching.
The Buddha who delights in the non-diffuse
Gave me instructions on the non-diffuse.
Having understood his Dhamma,
I dwelt delighting in his Teaching.
The three knowledges have been attained,
The Buddha’s Teaching has been done.
ANURUDDHA’S SPIRITUAL PATH
The Venerable Anuruddha’s spiritual path is marked by two prominent features: first, his mastery of the divine eye and other supernormal faculties; and second, his cultivation of the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna). We will discuss each of these in turn. The divine eye (dibbacakkhu) is so called because it is similar to the vision of the devas, which is capable of seeing objects at remote distances, behind barriers, and in different dimensions of existence.
The divine eye is developed by meditative power. It is not a distinct sense organ but a type of knowledge, yet a knowledge that exercises an ocular function. This faculty is aroused on the basis of the fourth jhāna, and specifically through one of the meditative supports called the light kasiṇa or the fire kasiṇa, a visualized circle of light or fire. After mastering the four jhānas through either of these kasiṇas, the meditator descends to a lower level of concentration called “access concentration” (upacāra-samādhi) and extends light to the immediately surrounding area, thereby bringing into view forms that are ordinarily imperceptible. As the meditator becomes progressively more adept in this ability to radiate light, he can then suffuse increasingly larger areas with light and project the radiance outwardly to distant world systems and to planes of existence above and below the human plane. This will reveal many dimensions of being that are inaccessible to the ordinary fleshly eye.
The characteristic function of the divine eye, according to the texts, is the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings (cutūpapāta-ñāṇa). This knowledge was achieved by the Buddha on the night of his own Enlightenment and was always included by him in the complete step-by-step gradual training, where it appears as the second of the three true knowledges and the fourth of the six superknowledges. By means of this faculty the meditator is able to see beings as they pass away from one form of existence and take rebirth elsewhere. But it is not only the actual passage from life to life that the divine eye reveals. With the appropriate determination it can also be used to discover the particular kamma that brought about rebirth into the new form of existence. In this application it is called the knowledge of faring on in accordance with one’s kamma (kammūpaga-ñāṇa). At its maximum efficiency the divine eye can illuminate the entire panorama of sentient existence—spread out over thousands of world systems and extending from the highest heavens to the lowest hells—revealing too the kammic laws that govern the process of rebirth. While only a supreme Buddha will have absolute mastery over this knowledge, disciples who have perfected the divine eye can perceive regions of the sentient universe that elude our most powerful telescopes.
The Venerable Anuruddha was designated by the Buddha as the foremost bhikkhu disciple endowed with the divine eye (etadaggaṃ dibbacakkhukānaṃ. Once, when a number of eminent monks living together in the Gosiṅga sāla-tree forest exchanged views on the kind of monk that could beautify that forest, Anuruddha characteristically replied that it was one who, with the divine eye, could survey a thousand world systems, just as a man standing on a high tower could see a thousand farmsteads). Anuruddha also helped his own pupils to acquire the divine eye and in his verses celebrates his skill in this faculty:
Absorbed in five-factored concentration,
Peaceful, with a unified mind,
I had gained tranquillity
And my divine eye was purified.
Standing on the five-factored jhana
I know the passing and rebirth of beings;
I know their coming and their going,
Their life in this world and beyond.
The other major facet of Anuruddha’s spiritual path was the arduous practice of satipaṭṭhāna, the four foundations of mindfulness: “Here a bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body in the body … feelings in feelings … mind in mind … mental phenomena in mental phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful, having removed covetousness and grief in regard to the world.” The practice of satipaṭṭhāna is sometimes taken to be a quick, “dry” path to enlightenment which bypasses the jhānas and superknowledges, but from Anuruddha’s words it is clear that for him, as well as for those trained under him, this method of meditation could be used as a vehicle for the acquisition of psychic powers and superknowledges along with the final fruit of liberation. Whenever the Venerable Anuruddha was asked how he had gained proficiency in the “great superknowledges” (mahābhiññatā), which include the five mundane superknowledges and arahantship as the sixth, he always replied that it was through the development and cultivation of the four foundations of mindfulness. It was through this practice, he says, that he could recollect a thousand past aeons, exercise the supernormal powers, and directly perceive a thousandfold world system
Anuruddha also said that satipaṭṭhāna enabled him to gain that perfect control of emotive reactions called the “power of the noble ones” (ariya-iddhi), by which one can regard the repulsive as nonrepulsive, the nonrepulsive as repulsive, and view both with equanimity. He further stresses the importance of this practice by saying that whoever neglects the four foundations of mindfulness has neglected the noble path leading to the extinction of suffering while whoever undertakes it has undertaken the noble path leading to the extinction of suffering; he also declares that this fourfold mindfulness leads to the destruction of craving just as the river Ganges would not deviate from its course to the ocean, in the same way a monk who practices the four foundations of mindfulness could not be deflected from the life of renunciation and made to return to the worldly life.
Once, when Anuruddha was ill, he surprised the monks by his equanimity in bearing pain. They asked him how he was able to bear up as he did, and he replied that his composure was due to his practice of the fourfold mindfulness. Another time Sāriputta came to see Anuruddha in the evening and asked him what he now regularly practiced so that his face always radiated happiness and serenity. Anuruddha again said that he spent the time in the regular practice of the four foundations of mindfulness, and that this was the way in which arahants live and practice. Sāriputta thereupon expressed his joy at Anuruddha’s words. Once, when questioned by Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna about the difference between those who are still “in training” (sekha)10 and an arahant who is “beyond training” (asekha), he said that they differ in the practice of the fourfold mindfulness: while the former accomplishes it only partly, the latter does so completely and perfectly.
Anuruddha also claimed to possess, through his practice of right mindfulness, ten lofty qualities elsewhere called “the ten powers of a Tathāgata” (dasatathāgatabala). These are: the knowledge of what is possible and impossible; the knowledge of the result of the acquisition of kamma by way of stage and cause; the knowledge of the paths leading to the different destinations of rebirth; the knowledge of the world with its many diverse elements; the knowledge of the different dispositions of beings; the knowledge of the degree of maturity in the faculties of other beings; the knowledge of the jhānas and other advanced meditative states; and finally the three true knowledges. The commentary says that Anuruddha possessed these knowledges only in part, as in their completeness they are unique to a Fully Enlightened One.
