It commences with kalyāṇamitta — the virtuous friend and noble companion — as the external supporting condition.
Yoniso manasikāra — wise and thorough attention — is the kalyāṇamitta of the interior.
Even should one be blessed with a kalyāṇamitta in the outer world, without yoniso manasikāra one cannot proceed further upon the path.
Yoniso manasikāra is therefore of the most profound and indispensable importance.
When the Venerable Ānanda put forth the proposition that the virtuous friend constitutes the whole of the holy life, was he then declaring yoniso manasikāra to be of no importance? By no means. For it is precisely the kalyāṇamitta who illuminates the dangers of unwholesome conduct and awakens within one the capacity for yoniso manasikāra. It is for this very reason that the virtuous friend is indeed the whole of the holy life.
There are, to be sure, kalyāṇamitta of the first, the second, and the third order — yet the supreme and ultimate kalyāṇamitta, beyond all others, is none other than the Perfectly Enlightened One — the Lord Buddha himself.
January 3rd, 2019
