What we should know is that the object of samatha meditation can be
either paññatti or paramattha. Paññatti means concept, paramattha
means absolute or ultimate reality. The object of samatha
meditation may be concept or ultimate reality. When we take a
kasina as the object of samatha meditation, the object is just
concept, not absolute reality. How?
To use a red kasina as the object of meditation, you have to draw a
red circle about the size of a plate on a wall or tree, about two
feet from the floor so that your eyes can look at it easily. That
red must be pure without mixing any other colour. When you focus on
the red circle, you have to focus on the whole red circle, not half
or quarter of the circle. So it is called kasina. Why? Because you
want to concentrate on the form of the circle. You need not know
the red, the colour. You need not know the texture. What you should
do is concentrate on the form of the circle very well, very deeply.
You have to look at the whole circle and focus your mind on it.
Then when your concentration is good enough, though you close your
eyes, you can see that red circle in your mind, that is the form of
the circle. You concentrate on the red circle you see in your mind.
The circle that you see in your mind is called the ‘Patibhāga
Nimitta’. It means the nimitta that is similar to the circle on the
wall. Some scholars translate it as ‘counterpart sign’. This is
samatha meditation so you need not realise any physical or material
processes of the circle.
What you need to do is to concentrate your mind on the whole circle
and absorb the mind in it. That is why you see the red circle in
your mind when your concentration is good enough. The red circle is
a form, it is just a concept. The form is just concept, not
ultimate reality. The circle you see in your mind is not absolute
reality. it is just something which is created by your mind; so it
is just a concept. In this case the object of samatha meditation is
just concept, not ultimate reality.
When you practise Buddhānussati, it is recollection of the chief
attributes of the Buddha such as Araham, Sammāsambuddho,
Vijjācarana sampanno, Sugato, Lokavidū, Anuttaro purisadamma
sārathi, Sattha devamanussānam, Buddho, Bhavagā. Here the object is
reality, paramattha. Say you reflect on the attribute, ‘Araham’. It
means the Buddha is worthy of honour because he has totally
destroyed all mental defilements. So to destroy these mental
defilements he has the fourth stage of enlightenment, Arahatta
Magga and Sabbaññutā, that is Omniscience. Then you have to
concentrate on those qualities of the Buddha which destroy all
mental defilements. These qualities are enlightenment and
omniscience; so they are absolute realities, not concepts. If you
repeatedly concentrate on these attributes, whenever the mind goes
out you bring it back and reflect on these attributes. Then
gradually you get concentrated. In this case, absolute reality,
paramattha, is the object of samatha meditation.
However in vipassanā meditation every object of meditation must be
absolute reality, ultimate reality, paramattha. In vipassanā
meditation no concept can be the object of meditation. Concept
cannot be the object of vipassanā meditation because vipassanā
meditators need to realise the specific characteristics and general
characteristics of mental and physical phenomena, which are
absolute realities. So the object must be either mental or physical
processes which are ultimate realities. If concept is the object of
vipassanā meditation, vipassanā meditators cannot realise any
characteristics of mental and physical processes because you cannot
find any real characteristics in concepts. Concepts are created by
the mind.
Say your name is Paññānanda. Even though you might have died, if I
memorise your name as Paññānanda, the name is there in my mind
(though the actual Paññānanda has gone). Why? Because my mind
memorises it, and makes it exist. This shows that a name is just a
concept because it is created, memorised or made to exist by the
mind. So concepts are not realities. They are things made up by the
mind, so they do not have any characteristics to
realise.
If the red circle is the object of meditation, we see the form of
the circle in our mind and concentrate on it. Gradually our mind
becomes more and more concentrated on the red circle that we see in
our mind. When the mind is totally absorbed in that circle, then we
say we have attained jhāna. However, that red circle is not
reality, because the mind makes the object; so it is just a
concept. It hasn’t any characteristics to realise. Even though you
concentrate your mind on it for a hundred years continuously, you
cannot realise any characteristics; because it is not an absolute
reality, it is a mind-made thing — just a concept.
Then as to respiration meditation (ānāpānasati), in the
Visuddhimagga it is mentioned as samatha meditation,
concentration meditation. In the Mahāsatipatthāna Sutta it is
mentioned as vipassanā meditation. Then how can we
distinguish it between the vipassanā aspect of respiration
and the samatha aspect of respiration? If we are mindful
of the absolute reality of respiration, that will be vipassanā
meditation. If we are mindful of the concept regarding respiration,
then it will be samatha meditation.
So the Visuddhimagga mentions the method of concentrating on the
touching sensation whenever you breathe in and breathe out. When
you concentrate your mind on the coming in and going out of the
breath, then it is samatha meditation because you have to
concentrate on the coming in and going out, not on the wind or air.
When it is coming in you note ‘in’; when it is going out you note,
‘out’. ‘In, out, in, out’. Your mind is not on the breathing air
but on the ‘coming-in’ and the ‘going-out’. ‘Coming-in’ and
‘going-out’ are not ultimate realities.
Say you come into the room through the door and go out of the room
through the door. We may ask, “What is this coming in and going
out?” it is neither you, nor a person. It is just ‘coming-in’ and
‘going-out.’ It is just concept. In the same way, when you
concentrate on the coming in and going out of the breath, it is
just a concept. Since concept is the object of meditation, it
is samatha meditation. You cannot realise any specific
characteristics or general characteristics of ‘coming-in’ and
‘going-out’ because they are not realities, just concepts, so
that’s samatha meditation.
However, if you focus your mind on the point where the breath
touches whenever it comes in or goes out, it touches the nostrils.
When you observe this touching sensation and are mindful of it,
then it is (ultimate) reality. That touching point is composed of
the four primary material elements: pathavī dhātu, hard or
soft; āpo dhātu, liquidity or cohesion; tejo
dhātu, hot or cold; vāyo dhātu, movement or
vibration. These four elements are there whenever you focus your
mind on the touching sensation. So the object is absolute reality.
What can we call it — samatha or vipassanā meditation? It is
vipassanā.
That is what the Venerable Mahāsi Sayādaw wrote about the
distinction between the samatha and vipassanā aspects of
respiration meditation. I appreciate it very much. So then we can
say respiration meditation is vipassanā meditation in accordance
with the Mahāsatipatthāna Sutta. We can also say that respiration
meditation is samatha in accordance with the Visuddhimagga. It is
very subtle and profound to differentiate between these two aspects
of respiration meditation, but I think those who have practised
meditation very well can differentiate between these two
aspects