As regards the clause: ³(XII) I shall breathe in... breathe out liberating
the (manner of) consciousness², the Visuddhimagga explains that this also
must be understood as pertaining to jhåna as well as to insight. In the
first jhåna one is liberated from the ³hindrances², although they are not
eradicated, and in each subsequent stage of jhåna one is liberated from the
jhåna-factors, specific cetasikas which are developed in order to eliminate
the hindrances. The jhåna-factors are subsequently abandoned when one is no
longer dependent on them and one is able to attain a higher and more subtle
stage of jhåna. After emerging from jhåna the jhånacitta is comprehended
with insight.
We read (Visuddhimagga VIII, 233):
... at the actual time of insight he delivers, liberates the mind from the
perception of permanence by means of the contemplation of impermanence, from
the perception of pleasure by means of the contemplation of dukkha
(suffering), from the perception of self by means of the contemplation of
not self, from delight by means of the contemplation of dispassion, from
greed by means of the contemplation of fading away, from arousing by means
of the contemplation of cessation, from grasping by means of the
contemplation of relinquishment...²
N: As to the words, <by means of the contemplation of cessation>, we read in
a footnote (Vis. VIII, 234, note 64): <by means of the successive seeing of
formations¹ cessation. Or contemplation of cessation is contemplation such
that formations cease only and do not arise with future renewal. For this is
Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance grown strong...>
Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance is one of the higher stages of insight
knowledge (the sixth maha-vipassana ~naa.na), when panna has become more and
more detached from conditioned realities, sees their danger and
disadvantage.
At the end of this tetrad, the Vis. states that this tetrad deals with
contemplation of citta.
****
Nina