[Footnote 688:  E.g. Maj.  Nik. 77; Ang.  Nik. 1.  XX. 63.]

[Footnote 689:  Hardy, Eastern Monachism, pp. 252 ff.]

[Footnote 690:  But also without shape, colour or outward appearance, so this statement must not be taken too literally.]

[Footnote 691:  Such procedure has not received much countenance in Christian mysticism but the contemplation of a burnished pewter dish and of running water induced ecstasy in Jacob Boehme and Ignatius Loyola respectively.  See Underhill, Mysticism, p. 69.]

[Footnote 692:  Maj.  Nik. 62 end.]

[Footnote 693:  The analysis means to analyze all things as consisting alike of the four elements.  The one perception is the perception that all nourishment is impure.]

[Footnote 694:  See Dig.  Nik. 13 and Rhys Davids’ introduction to it.  In spite of their name, they seem to be purely Buddhist and have not been found in Brahmanic literature.  The four states are characterized respectively by love, sympathy with sorrow, sympathy with joy, and equanimity.]

[Footnote 695:  Dig.  Nik.  XIII. 76.]

[Footnote 696:  Dig.  Nik.  XVII. 2-4.]

[Footnote 697:  Christian mystics also, such as St Angela and St Theresa, had “formless visions.”  See Underhill, Myst. pp. 338 ff.]

[Footnote 698:  Attha vimokkha.  See Mahaparinib. sut. in Rhys Davids’ Dialogues of the Buddha, II. 119.]

[Footnote 699:  Akincannayatanam.]

[Footnote 700:  Nevasannanasannayatanam.]

[Footnote 701:  Sannavedayita nirodhasamapatti.  The Buddha when dying (Dig.  XVI.  V. 8, 9) passes through this state, but does not go from it to Parinibbana.  This perhaps means that it was regarded as a purification of the mind, but not on the direct road to the final goal.]

[Footnote 702:  See Maj.  Nik. 43.  But the point of the discussion seems to be not so much special commendation of this form of trance as an explanation of its origin, namely that it, like other mental states, is bound to ensue when certain preliminary conditions both moral and intellectual have been realized.  See also Sam.  Nik.  XXXVI. ii. 5.  See for examples of this cataleptic form of Samadhi Max Mueller’s Life of Ramakrishna, pp. 49,59, etc.  Christian mystics (e.g. St Catharine of Siena and St Theresa) were also subject to deathlike trances lasting for hours and St Theresa is said once to have been in this condition for some days.]

[Footnote 703:  Maj.  Nik. 86.]

[Footnote 704:  This is known to European mystics, particularly Suso.  St Francis of Assisi, St Catharine of Siena and Richard Rolle are also cited.  See Underhill. Mysticism, p. 332.]

[Footnote 705:  Christian visions of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise are another instance of the divine eye, which thinks it can see the whole scheme of things.]

[Footnote 706:  Tales about such powers, are still very common in the East, for instance the Chinese story (in the Liao Chai) of the man who learnt from a Taoist how to walk through a wall but failed ignominiously when he tried to give an exhibition to his family.  Educated Chinese seem to think there is something in the story and say that he failed because his motives were bad.]