characteristic  of the fourth jhana in the description

　　   of the first arupya meditation  cannot be construed as

　　   an evidence against the tradition  that the first a ?

　　   rupya  meditation  immediately   follows  the  fourth

　　   jhana.Moreover this

　　   ──────────────

　　   (5) See page 463 of the present article.

　　  （6) Also see   vasubandhu   on  manopavicara,

　　　　  dharmopavicara  （Abhidharma-kosabhasya,

　　　　  ED.P.Pradhan, Patna, 1967, pp.146 ～ 49)

　　　　  in their  relation to the Arupyadhatu;

　　　　  H.Guna-ratana, The Path of Serenity and Insight

　　　　  (Motilal  Banarsidass, New  Delhi, 1985)  p. 119.

　　　　　　　　　　　　 459 页

　　   tradition is confirmed by the statement that the first

　　   arupya  meditation  is  attained  by transcending  the

　　   sphere  of  rupa.(  注 7)The  system  of  four  jhanas

　　   practised   by  the  Buddhists   as  well  as  by  two

　　   influential  groups  of pre-Buddhist  sramanas  may be

　　   regarded as one of the important contributions made by

　　   the s'ramanas to the religious culture of India.

　　　　   As  already   noted   the   Parama-ditthadhamma-

　　   nibbanavadins  appears  to be the earliest  religious

　　   group  to practise  the four  jhanas, and  thus  they

　　   should be credited  with the original formulation  of

　　   the four jhanic states.It is, therefore, obvious that

　　   to understand  the transformation  the system of four

　　   rupa meditations  underwent at the hand of Gotama the

　　   Bodhisattva  we must first  be clear  about the exact

　　   implication  of  these  jhanic  fourmulas  and  other

　　   aspects　　 of   the   Parama-ditthadhamma-nibbanavada

　　   philosophy.

　　　　  Our study of the Parama-ditthadhamma-nibbanavada

　　   philosophy, however, is bound to suffer greatly  from

　　   the scarcity  of materials, as no literature  of this

　　   group has come down to us.  Our only source  consists

　　   of the  fragments  of informations  preserved  in the

　　   Buddhist  scripture  about  this group.The  available

　　   translations of such materials are generally based on

　　   later  Buddhist  commentaries   by  Buddhaghosa   and

　　   others,   whereas   the   Parama-dittha-nibbanavadins

　　   flourished long before the Buddha.Thus there is a gap

　　   of more than 1000 years  between  the later  Buddhist

　　   commentaries  and  the  original  formulation  of the