Index of the Suttas of the
Saṃyutta Nikāya
Saḷāyatana Vagga
Moggallāna Saṃyutta
PTS: Saṃyutta Nikāya Volume 4, Saḷāyatana-Vagga ed. by M. Léon Feer, London: Pāḷi Text Society 1894. The html formatted Pāḷi Text Society edition of the Pāḷi text.
BJT: Saṃyutta Nikāya Volume 4, Saḷāyatana-Vagga The Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series Pāḷi text.
The Pāḷi text for individual suttas listed below is adapted from the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series [BJT], not from the PTS version.
Each translation is linked to its Pāḷi version and to the PTS, Olds and where available to the ATI Bhk. Thanissaro translation, and each of these is in turn linked back to each of the others. Many, but not all have been checked against the Pāḷi Text Society edition, and many have been reformatted to include the original Pāḷi (and/or organizational) phrase and sentence breaks.
PTS: The Kindred Sayings on the Sixfold Sphere of Sense and Other Subjects, translated by F.L. Woodward,
WP: The Book of the Six Sense Bases, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
ATI: The translations of Bhikkhu Thanissaro and others originally located on Access to Insight.
BD: The translations of M. Olds
VI. Moggallāna Saṃyutta, III.202
PTS: The Kindred Sayings about Moggallāna, IV.179
WP: Connected Discourses with Moggallāna, II.1302
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the First Jhāna.
PTS: Together with Thought Directed, IV.179
BD: With Thinking
WP: The First Jhana, II.1302
Discussion
2. A-vitakka Suttaṃ, IV.263
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the Second Jhāna.
Most of the remarks regarding the previous sutta apply also to this one. With regard specifically to the second jhāna is my objection to translating the word 'samādhi' as concentration. Samādhi is not just concentration, it is the serene state of one who has developed the whole spectrum of attainments from giving to ethical conduct to self-control to development of mind and the factors as described within the jhānas, and characterized by the individual having no ambitions, having no sign of lust, hate or ignorance, and being empty of lust, hate and ignorance. In the first and second jhāna samādhi is only just beginning its higher development.
PTS: Without Directed Thought, IV.180
BD: Without Thinking
WP: The Second Jhāna, II.1303
3. Sukhena Suttaṃ, IV.264
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the Third Jhāna.
PTS: By Happiness, IV.
BD: The Pleasant Abiding
WP: The Third Jhāna, II.1303
4. Upekkhako Suttaṃ, IV.265
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the Fourth Jhāna.
Woodward has for Upekkhā-sati-pārisuddhiṃ "a state of perfect purity of balance and equanimity," which either ignores 'sati' or (unlikely) translates it as 'balance.' I argue that 'upekkhā', usually translated 'equanimity' should be translated 'detachment'. PED: "looking on", hedonic neutrality or indifference, zero point between joy and sorrow ... disinterestedness, neutral feeling, equanimity. Sometimes equivalent to a-dukkha-m-a-sukha-vedanā "feeling which is neither pain nor pleasure". (Which is the 'vedanā' of the Arahant, or the equivalent of Nibbāna. — 'Upekkhā' is also the equivalent of 'vimutti', 'freedom,' which is also the equivalent of Nibbāna.) I except "equanimity". Equanimity is a state of impassivity which is a precursor to detachment (see the Sixth Sambojjhanga) and is a state which is still involved with the world. The goal is a state that is at least temporarily not involved with the world.
PTS: Balanced, IV.181
BD: Detached
WP: The Fourth Jhāna, II.1304
5. Ākāsānañcāyatana Suttaṃ, IV.266
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the Realm of Space.
PTS: Space, IV.182
BD: The Realm of Endless Space
WP: The Base of the Infinity of Space, II.1305
6. Viññānañcāyatana Suttaṃ, IV.266
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called the Realm of Consciousness.
PTS: Consciousness, IV.183
BD: The Realm of Endless Consciousness
WP: The Base of the Infinity of Consciousness, II.1306
7. Ākiñcaññāyatana Suttaṃ, IV.267
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called The Realm of Naught Whose-Whatever.
My translation of this is just a stab in the dark. The current translation based on the idea of nothingness seems to miss the point: the idea is not that there is nothing, but that there is nothing there that can be had, or owned; or alternatively that there is nothing there that causes the obstructions lust, hate and delusion or that there is nothing there of the obstructions lust, hate and delusion. The one thing that is reasonably certain is that the meaning is not 'nothingness'. Lately I have considered the idea that this is a realm based on the perception that there is nothing real there.
PTS: Nothingness, IV.183
BD: The Realm of Naught Whose-Whatever
WP: The Base of Nothingness, II.1306
8. N'eva-saññā-nā-saññāyatana Suttaṃ, IV.268
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called The Realm of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
PTS: Neither-perceiving-nor-non-perceiving, IV.184
BD: The Realm of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception
WP: The Base of Neither-Perception-Nor-Nonperception, II.1307
9. A-nimitta Suttaṃ, IV.268
Moggallāna The Great, one of the two most powerful of the Buddha's followers, and the one whose strong point was magic power, describes his first attempts to master the level of meditation practice called Signless Serenity of Heart.
Still another term translated 'conditioned'. So when you see this word you need to look up the Pāḷi. If it is 'Nidāna' it means 'tied to' 'bound up with'; if it is 'paṭicca' it means 'depending on' or 'result', if it is 'saṇkhāra' it means 'own-made or constructed' if it is 'nimitta' it means 'signs, signatures, marks'. 'The Unconditioned' is also the mistranslation used to describe Nibbāna, and the Signless is not yet Nibbāna. Bhk. Bodhi: 'signless concentration of mind'. What signs does one not dwell on? Pleasant or unpleasant features of things. The idea is not non-perception of objects, it is the state arrived at when not dwelling on the pleasant or unpleasant features of objects to the extent that lust, hate, or delusion arises. Lust, Hate and Delusion leave signs so the state arrived at is one in which no signs of these things are left. And that doesn't mean one covers one's tracks well, it means one leaves no track because those things do not exist in one there!
PTS: The Unconditioned, IV.185
BD: The Realm of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception
WP: The Signless, II.1308
10. Sakka Suttaṃ, IV.269
Moggallāna visits the Tavatimsa Realm and delivers an hypnotic spell in praise of the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṇgha to Sakka and five hundred other devas. Sakka replies repeating the spell back to Moggallāna. Sakka then returns four more times with increasing numbers of devas. The same events are repeated with a variation on the spell.
PTS: Sakka, IV.185
WP: Sakka, II.1308
11. Candano Suttaṃ, IV.280
Moggallāna visits the Tavatiṃsa Realm and delivers an hypnotic spell in praise of the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṇgha to Candano, Suyāmo, Santusito, Sunimmito, and Vasavatti.
This should probably be five different Suttas, each identical to SN 4.40.10 with only the name of the deva changed. This is represented in the Pāḷi only by the names of the devas and an indication that the previous sutta should be repeated with changes. As this is a separate file, I have reconstructed the first set with the changed name. With only my patchwork knowledge of Pāḷi I may not have got the proper endings for the names in all cases in the Pāḷi.
PTS: Candana, IV.189
WP: Candana, II.1313
This should probably be five separate suttas:
Candano,
Suyāmo,
Santusito,
Sunimmito,
Vasavatti.
