達至「心清淨」：帕奧禪師的「入出息念」教禪文本之引導解析=A Guideline for Achieving “Purification of Consciousness”： the Interpretation of Master Pa-Auk’s Teaching Text of Mindfulness-of-Breathing
The sixteen steps of Mindfulness-of-Breathing encompass Samatha and Vipassanā meditation. The goal of the first four steps is to develop four jhānas. By following these four steps, practitioners can gradually achieve Purification of Consciousness, the second one of “ Seven Sorts of Purification of Consciousness”. Since a high proportion of meditators at Pa-Auk Monastery have attained Samādhi through Mindfulness-of-Breathing, the meditative method has become the hallmark of the monastery. The effectiveness of the collective meditation in the meditation group suggests that Master Pa-Auk’s teaching text can serve as a guideline for meditators to attain the realization of four jhānas. This paper undertakes to the teaching and learning state for meditation practice through Field Study. First, based on the Burmese-to-Chinese new translation, this paper demonstrates how Master Pa-Auk instructs the practitioners to work in their mind to achieve the result of Purification of Consciousness. Next, this paper turns the transformation of breathing, nimitta, and concentration of meditation, and intensity of concentration into a linear diagram of “ the Progression of Mindfulness-of-Breathing”. Finally, based on the four-layer causality of interprets Master Pa-Auk’s contention that the fourth jhāna of Mindfulnessof-Breathing is the foundation of Vipassanā meditation, affirming that Purification of Consciousness is the starting point for discerning “Mind Door” and “Mentality and Materiality”.
