Folks, I finished 4th path this weekend. For those interested, there’s a description of the path moment
here.
There are about a hundred things I'd like to say about 4th path, ranging from what the aftermath is like to what I think this experience Really Is to what I think the best way to get there is. But since that would put me in the position of writing an extremely long treatise that most people aren't going to take the time to read in a public forum anyway, I thought it would be good to take it from the same point of view as the stream entry thread from a month or so back.
1) What was your meditative experience before and leading up to 4th Path?
I’ve been meditating regularly since November 2011. I took an 8-week MBSR course, transitioned that into a hardcore vipassana practice, got stream-entry in April 2012, second path in June of that year, and third path in October.
2) How would you describe your meditative style/technique which ultimately led to 4th Path [Goenka scanning, noting, choiceless awareness, etc., a combination of techniques, etc.]?
The week before getting 4th path, I switched from anapanasati back to straight-ahead Mahasi noting. I’d start out noting out loud, but once I got cooking, it was just pure observation of the three characteristics with the intention to develop total dispassion with existence, both physical and mental.
Before that? Tons of stuff. Open awareness, anapanasati, “jhana”, witness, self-inquiry. I’m not sure how that previous stuff influenced the final outcome.
3) How many hours were you practicing a day when you finally achieved 4th Path?
I usually practice anywhere from 30-45 mins/day, but the day I got 4th path, I did a 2 hour session.
4) Did you maintain continuity of practice throughout the day when you finally achieved 1st Path; meaning, did you maintain mindfulness throughout the day, how and when, etc.?
Not really.
5) What was your samatha vs vipassana balance when you finally achieved 4th Path [for example, did you do straight-up vipassana, did you do a combination of samatha and vipassana practices, did you achieve hard jhanas before starting vipassana, etc.]?
Dry vipassana. Pure, unadulterated, relentless – I want to stress relentless – insight, 360 degrees, all the way up, all the way down, all the way out, all the way in.
6) What was your retreat experience before and leading up to 4th Path?
I did one 9-day retreat last summer, and I’ve done a couple one-day retreats since.
7) What was your biggest stumbling block along the way to 4th Path? How did you ultimately overcome this?
If we’re talking only about the area between third path and fourth path, there were very few stumbling blocks. Once I decided I wanted to finish the thing up, there was almost nothing standing in my way. I just went at it like a machine until it was done.
If you consider the whole thing, from Joe Blow to 4th path, there were plenty of stumbling blocks, not all of which I’m sure were necessary. I had a very hard time with “jhanas” and with the middle paths. I have severe skepticism about the middle paths at this point. (more below) But since I went through those experiences before getting to where I am now, I can’t know for sure whether those experiences were unnecessary.
8) Besides Daniel's book MCToB, what texts, resources, etc., were truly useful for your practice and were instrumental in finally achieving 4th Path? Did you work with any meditation teachers?
I’ve worked with teachers since I started. This is because I am competent and precise, and I prefer to do things The Right Way.
Two documents made a huge difference for me. The first was the
Anatta-lakkhana Sutta, which I read over and over again in the days leading up to 4th path, specifically this passage:
Gotama Buddha:
"And is it fitting to regard what is inconstant, stressful, subject to change as: 'This is mine. This is my self. This is what I am'?"
"No, lord."
"Thus, monks, any form whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every form is to be seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.'
"Any feeling whatsoever...
"Any perception whatsoever...
"Any fabrications whatsoever...
"Any consciousness whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every consciousness is to be seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.'
"Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"
Every time I read that, I’m blown away by how simple, how grounded, how straightforward, how clear the exposition and directions are. How people can get so twisted up on the meaning of “emptiness”, so tripped up on whether “there is really a self”, when there’s an elegant, comprehensive, hard-hitting formulation like this astonishes me.
If you perceive everything as impermanent, then it is not yours, it is not I, it is not self. Nothing can be controlled, so nothing can relieve your distress for long. Seeing this, one becomes disillusioned with existence, both within and without. Once one has become fully disillusioned, one then becomes dispassionate toward existence, both within and without. Once one is dispassionate toward existence, one becomes liberated. Once liberated, one knows they are liberated.
The second passage that really clicked for me was in Mahasi’s
Progress of Insight:
Mahasi:
Seeing thus the misery in conditioned things (formations), his mind finds no delight in those miserable things but is entirely disgusted with them. At times, his mind becomes, as it were, discontented and listless. Even so he does not give up the practice of insight, but spends his time continuously engaging in it. He therefore should know that this state of mind is not dissatisfaction with meditation, but is precisely the "knowledge of disgust" that has the aspect of being disgusted with the formations. Even if he directs his thought to the happiest sort of life and existence, or to the most pleasant and desirable objects, his mind will not take delight in them, will find no satisfaction in them. On the contrary, his mind will incline and lean and tend only towards Nibbana. Therefore the following thought will arise in him between moments of noticing: "The ceasing of all formations that are dissolving from moment to moment — that alone is happiness."
People who say, “Oh, Mahasi is so gloomy, dark night is bullshit, quit listening to Kenneth Folk and The Cure, wipe off the black nail polish, cheer up emo kid” ought to take stock of the simple fact that what Mahasi is saying here is consonant with what the Buddha says in the above-quoted sutta. Insight, done right, shows you that nothing fabricated is an appropriate foundation upon which to stake one’s happiness. This necessarily causes disillusionment. It’s not something Mahasi or Daniel Ingram or Kenneth Folk made up. This goes for both physical and mental fabrications. Once I could perceive this clearly, totally, comprehensively, then the mind only wanted Nibbana, and Nibbana is what it got.
9) What do you most wish you'd known when you were working to achieve 4th Path that you know now?
Happiness can only come from within. But all the contents of the mind are also impermanent, stressful, and therefore best not viewed as self. But there is something “in” there that is not fabricated. It’s not a thing or a mental state or a mental action or desire. It reveals itself only once you are fully estranged from all existence. You have to let go of the idea that any
thing or any
deed can make you happy. Only then does the ultimate reveal itself. And when it does, the mind knows just what to do. But up until that moment, there’s actually a lot of work and effort involved.
Also, this is going to sound beside-the-point, but I’ve never seen anyone in the hardcore community say it, so I’m going to put it out there:
There are as many jhanas as there are teachers of jhana. They all describe them differently. They all give different directions for entering them. Therefore, the idea of pegging progress or any of the so-called “paths” to jhana is in my opinion absurd.
10) What is your best piece of advice to pre-4th Path practitioners?
Take the dhamma very seriously. Take it all the way. Really cultivate the perception that nothing in the world – be it money, true love, recognition, positive feelings, positive thoughts, winning arguments, losing 20 lbs, gaining 20 lbs, etc – can relieve your frustration for long.
Look hard – very hard – at the reasons you’re practicing. What do you think enlightenment will bring you? Make a list of them. Now look hard at the inconstancy in each of those things. They will not bring you happiness. They will not quench your thirst. If you’re doing meditation to get those things, you’ve got the situation perfectly upside-down and need to straighten it out before you can wake up.
Think of all your greatest “wins” and how fleeting the feeling of success was. See everything and anything whatsoever as impermanent and hence as an insufficient foundation upon which to stake a good life. Turn away from the arising and passing, turn within, and do not rest content until you have found the ultimate source, until you have hit rock bottom, until you have found the deathless, quite beyond the three characteristics. You will know it as soon as you encounter it.