I’ve been reflecting on the iddhipadas (the “four bases of power” that can motivate our practice; also referred to as the “four bases for success” in Thai culture as mentioned by Bhante Joe here The Four Bases of Spiritual Power: Desire, Effort, Concentration & Investigation | Bhante Joe).
I was hoping you could help me with two items related to this topic: 1) Do you have any suggested resources/books/videos? Bhante Suddhaso has a helpful talk here (Iddhipada: The four bases of power with Bhante Suddhaso) and this post by Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw was also very useful ( Four Iddhipadda ); in that post, he discusses the commentarial explanation of the iddhipadas. 2) This post has a description of the four iddhipadas that mentions metaphors for three of them, and I’m interested in your thoughts about these metaphors; I’d also like to respectfully suggest a metaphor for the fourth iddhipada. I find these metaphors help me to distinguish each one and the role it plays in supporting our practice.
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Chanda: Can be translated as “enthusiasm”, “interest” or “willingness” to take on a task. Without interest, we wouldn’t even start the journey. It is described by Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw as the desire for a king (or queen) to initiate leaving their palace and becoming an ascetic. In this context, a metaphor could be that of the “yearning king”. The king metaphor fits here because the king also has power to make change and act on their interest.
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Viriya: energy or effort. It is often called heroic effort because it is a degree of effort that is willing to withstand hardships in pursuit of the goal, as mentioned by Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw, this encompases belief that "the aim can be attained by energy and effort. He is not discouraged even though it is said to him that he must undergo great hardships…Those who are weak in viriya recoil from their task when confronted with work requiring great energy and effort. The archetype of the “heroic warrior” fits here because it embodies the element of effort and striving. Correspondingly, a way to measure how much of this iddhipada we have is to ask how much effort we are making over time.
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Citta: Translated by Bhante Sujato as “mental development” in SN54.1. I have struggled a bit with this, but my best guess is that it relates to thinking deeply about the experience and thereby deepening both your knowledge and skills as you pursue the goal. Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw wrote: “one’s mind is always turned towards the iddhi…It is like the absorption of the alchemist engaged in the transmutation of the baser metals into gold or silver. Such an alchemist has no interest in anything else but his alchemy…Citta is great absorption or attachment of this nature.” While this is helpful, I think it is omitting an emphasis on “development” that Bhante Sujato incorporates when he translates this as “mental development”. Perhaps a way to build on the concept of “alchemist” that is mentioned in the commentaries and to modify it slightly to "chemistry student" because that connotes the idea of “developing” skills and knowledge towards a singular goal (perhaps understanding a specific chemical reaction). Correspondingly, a way to monitor our development of this iddhipada is to examine how much additional knowledge or skill we have developed over time.
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Vimamsa: I see there was a past D&D post on this (What do EBTs say about vīmaṃsā, iddhipāda? - Discussion - Discuss & Discover). I think it could be viewed as motivating knowledge; Bhante Sujato translates it as “inquiry and active effort” (SN51.4). Bhante Suddhaso adds that it requires the ability to determine cause and effect so you can tease out what’s working (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wVRMs-vVTg). Specifically, by asking questions like: Why did I get this good result? What should I keep doing to further enhance it? What should I change? In this way, vimamsa is different from citta because with citta, one is primarily deepening understanding with a singular focus, but with vimamsa, one is doing self-inquiry, adjusting, pivoting and exploring. Citta is more memorization and vimamsa is more inquiry. Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw, however, wrote that the commentaris describe it as “knowledge or wisdom that can clearly perceive the greatness of the sufferings of hell, and of the sufferings attendant on the round of rebirths. It is knowledge that can clearly perceive the advantages and benefits of the iddhi.” This seems to have less emphasis on inquiry/exploring. As I tried to synthesize this, it seems like the best metaphor may be that of an "ancient navigator" who is constantly asking exploring/adjusting course, and relying on their deep knowledge, as they move towards a specific goal. This also aligns with Bhante Sujato’s choice of “inquirer” in the title of MN47 SuttaCentral Correspondingly, a way to monitor our development of this iddhipada is to ask if we are consistently reflecting on what works/doesn’t work, and if we are making revisions/adaptations.
It may be possible to also combine all four elements into one image, such as that of the mountain climber. They have chanda in that they have a desire to climb the mountain (initiate); viriya in the heroic effort it takes to climb a daunting mountain; citta as represented by the improved view/understanding they gain as they climb higher; and vimamsa in that they are constantly evaluating the right path and making modifications to their approach as needed.
I feel that these metaphors help me distinguish these four elements and can thus assist me in teasing them apart as I try to understand my own level of motivation and seek to improve it.
Edit: on 8/31 I changed the metaphor for citta from “chemist” to “chemistry student” and for vimamsa from “researcher on the cusp of discovery” to “ancient navigator” after further reflection and research, such as listening to Bhante Joe’s talk.
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