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before he sat 
for meditation for his 
enlightenment, he received 
milk-rice from SujAtA and a seat 
of perfumed grass 
under the Maha Bodhi Tree. The 
Buddha sat for 
meditation under the Bodhi Tree 
and made the 
vow, 
"For however long it take for me 
to attain enlightenment 
as a fully enlightened Buddha, 
even if my 
body should shrivel and die 
leaving only skin, 
sinew and bone, I will not leave 
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this meditation 
seat." 
Physical Body: Of course, everybody 
reading this book has a physical body 
(although 
after reading Blessing Twelve you 
now appreciate how difficult this has 
been to achieve!), 
but the inner experience that is 
central to the existence of the human 
body is a sphere of 
light at the centre of the mind that is 
bright and clear like a shining star —
and which in the 
DhammakAya tradition is called the 
`initial path' [paEhama magga]. This 
is equivalent to 
the first form-absorption in its 
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precursory form. If you want to 
check the qualities of your 
experience with those in the 
TipiEaka you will find that indeed 
you have the qualities of 
initial application of mind [vitakka], 
continued application of mind 
[vicAra], joy [piti], happiness 
[sukha] and one-pointedness 
[ekaggatA]. The defilements 
associated with the physical 
human body comprise covetousness 
[abhijjhA], vengefulness [byApAda] 
and False View 
[micchA diEEhi]. When the mind is 
sufficiently pure to be released from 
these three defilements, 
the mind will attain the Angelic 
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Body. 
Angelic Body: This form is an inner 
body similar to the subtle human 
body but more 
refined and beautiful. This level is 
equivalent to the second 
form-absorption. The defilements 
associated with the Angelic Body are 
greed [lobha], hatred [dosa] and 
delusion [moha]. 
When the mind is sufficiently pure to 
be released from these three 
defilements, the mind 
will attain the Form-Brahma Body. 
Form Brahma Body: This form is an 
inner body similar to the angelic 
body but more refined 
and beautiful. This is equivalent to 
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the Third Absorption.The 
defilements associated 
with the BrahmA Body are grasping 
[rAga], hatred [dosa] and delusion 
[moha]. When the 
mind is sufficiently pure to be 
released from these three 
defilements, the mind will attain 
the Formless Brahma Body. 
Formless Brahma Body: This form 
is an inner body similar to the 
Brahma form but more 
refined and beautiful. This is 
equivalent to the fourth 
absorption.The defilements 
associated 
with the Formless Brahma Body are 
subtle desire [kAmarAga Anusaya], 
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annoyance 
[pAEighA Anusaya] and subtle 
ignorance [avijjA Anusaya]. When 
the mind is sufficiently 
pure to be released from these three 
defilements, the mind will attain the 
first Dhamma 
Body [DhammakAya GotrabhE]. 
Initial Body of Enlightenment: This 
is an inner body of the form of a 
crystal clear initial 
body of enlightenment inside oneself. 
The first Body of Enlightenment 
stands at the threshold 
between the mundane [lokiya] and 
the transcendental [lokuttara] worlds 
and is called 
`DhammalcAya GotrabhE'. There are 
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still some subtle defilements left in 
the mind called 
`fetters' [saOyojana] — but these 
will be dealt with by cultivating the 
four remaining 
bodies of enlightenment —
stream-enterer [sotApanal, 
once-returner [sakidagAmi], 
nonreturner 
[anagami] and arahant (detail is 
given in Blessing Thirty-Three). 
L 
0 
K 
I 
Y 
A 
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B 
H 
U 
M 
I 
sensual 
L 
OK 
UTT 
AR 
A 
form 
formless 
TABLE 32.1 
Correlation of inner experience to 
sphere of mental experience 
sphere of mind subjective 
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experience 
Blessing Thirty-Two: Practising 
the Brahma-Faring 357 
A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 The place of Blessing 
Thirty-Two in the 
order of things 
As far back as Blessing Six (0.) 
we learned about 
levels of aim in life 
indeed, 
earlier blessings were 
adequate for exclusively material 
aim in life but 
moving into the material/spiritual 
or exclusively 
spiritual ways of life, we need to 
depthen our understanding 
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of spiritual practice to serve our 
higher 
aim in life. At the time of studying 
Blessing Six several 
complex facets of Buddhist 
cosmology and attainment 
were left unexplained — and now, 
as we 
near the end of the Manual of 
Peace with striving 
towards liberation, it is necessary 
to explain some 
of these concepts before going 
further — concepts 
which include the Buddhist world 
system, mental 
attainments and the transcendental. 
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In Blessing Thirty-One we studied 
about austerities 
as a way of burning up defilements 
in the mind. 
However, once you have burned 
up your defilements 
that is not the end of the story. It is 
like farmers 
in the rainy season who have 
pulled out and 
burned-up the weeds in the field. 
As soon as the 
weeds are gone and all that is left 
is the fertile soil, 
you have to be quick to plough. As 
soon as the rain 
falls, you have to be quick to sow 
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your crops. If 
you are slow to sow your crops 
you will find that 
the weeds will grow up again 
worse than before. 
You will have wasted your time 
completely. 
With the removal of defilements 
from the mind, 
it is the same principle. Once you 
have practiced 
the austerities, as soon as you find 
that your mind 
starts to become detached from 
sensual indulgence 
and laziness, you must be quick to 
upgrade your 
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mind towards the transcendental 
attainments. If 
you are slow or too lazy, your old 
bad habits will 
come back worse than before. 
Moreover, if our level 
of attainment were accidentally to 
reach transcendental 
attainment, if our way of life were 
not sufficiently 
pure, it would not be able to 
support it. 
A.2 Definition: the 
Brahma faring 
The Pali word used to refer to this 
blessing is 
`brahmacariya'. This word is 
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sometimes translated 
as `brahma-faring'or `holy-life' —
or sometimes, 
more mundanely as, `celibacy' or 
`chastity'. In fact 
this word has a broader a spectrum 
of meaning (as 
we shall see in §E. below). In the 
sense of practice, it 
means `conducting yourself like a 
god (Brahma).' 
And how does a god conduct 
himself? A god conducts 
himself strictly in accordance with 
the practices 
of Buddhism to elevate the state of 
mind until 
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there are no further defilements 
remaining there. 
Thus the rationale of this Blessing 
is for us to elevate 
our state of mind and behaviour to 
the level 
of the Brahma faring for our 
ultimate liberation. 
B. LEVELS OF MIND vs. 
REALMS OF 
EXISTENCE 
B.1 Levels of mind 
Quality of mind is dependent on 
the degree to 
which the mind is unified, purified 
or made free of 
thought. If the meditator can 
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overcome the Five 
Blessing Thirty-Two: 
Practising the 
Brahma-Faring 
358 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
Hindrances, (see Blessing Nineteen 
§D.2.2.) the mind 
can become unified at the level of 
the first formabsorption 
[rEpa-jhAna] a mental state which 
iS 
qualitatively different from 
anything it has previously 
known. Cultivation of the mind 
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further will 
lead to the second, third and fourth 
form-absorptions. 
The next stage of progress of the 
mind is to 
make a qualitative leap to the 
formless-absorptions 
[arEpajhAna]. According to 
Buddhism, all of the 
states of mind mentioned so far are 
considered no 
better than `mundane'. However, 
anyone who cultivates 
their mind beyond the formless 
absorptions 
can elevate the mind to a condition 
so pure that it 
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is `transcendental'. As for the 
meaning of `form', 
`formless', `mundane' and 
`transcendental' — and 
their relationship to liberation, 
what follows is an 
examination of each in more detail. 
B.1.1 The Three Planes of Mind 
[bhEmi] 
The quality of our mind can be 
summarized down 
to four different levels: 
I. the sensual plane of mind 
[IcAmavacarabhEmi]: 
this is the plane to which most 
people's minds 
are still attached to the temptation 
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of sensual 
pleasures. Such people are still 
affected by the 
Five Hindrances. 
2. the form' plane of mind 
[rEpavacarabhEmi]: 
this is the plane of those whose 
minds are still 
attached to absorptions at the form 
plane [rEpajhAna]. 
With their eyes open or closed they 
will 
perceive a bright sphere at the 
centre of their 
body the whole of the time as 
clearly as seen with 
the eye. If you are really at this 
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plane, the mind 
will be in this state of brightness 
the whole of 
the time and the mind will have no 
remaining 
interest in the sensual pleasures of 
a married life. 
You will see such things as no 
more entertaining 
than child's play; 
3. The formless plane of the mind 
[arEpavacarabhEmi]: 
this is the plane of the mind where 
the 
mind is still attached to the 
absorptions at the.. 
formless level [arEpa-jhAna]. You 
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