'nuf said

 

 [Dittha-Dhamma Loka-Dhamma]

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2018

What's New?

 

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Oblog: [O.12.29.18] Saturday, December 29, 2018 10:13 AM

 

[DN.21 - rhyt]Introduction to the Sakka-Pañha Suttānta, by T.W. Rhys Davids.
Added to the existing translation file. Included primarily because it is cited in footnotes, but it is also a good over-view of Sakka, the king of the Gods, and the relationship between the identities of Indra and Sakka.

 

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Oblog: [O.12.24.18] Monday, December 24, 2018 8:24 AM

 

First Things First, by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. A collection of essays. The essays included are: Honest to Goodness, Did the Buddha Teach Free Will?, In the Eyes of the Wise, First Things First, The Karma of Now, The Streams of Emotions, Worlds & Their Cessation, Wisdom over Justice, All Winners, No Losers, How Pointy is One-pointedness?, The Limits of Description, and The Names for Nirvana.

Special attention is brought to the essay: The Karma of Now, as it appears for the first time in this work.

It is necessary to point out that the very idea of paying attention to the present moment is wrongly conceived of by the thousands of 'Meditation Masters' making their living telling people this is the goal of their practice not simply because it is not the goal taught by the Buddha; but because it is itself impossible.

What these teachers are doing is postulating a solid thing there which is 'you' perceiving a solid thing there which is 'your world.' This is simply the view of one conditioned by the subject, verb, object construction of the English language. Think: 'Youing (or I'ming) perceiving thating' for a language construction more closely aligned with the reality.

The individual's world is based on an 'existing' world which is in constant flux right down and passed the atomic level both internally and externally. When that so called 'real' world is perceived through the senses that gives rise to the sense-consciousnesses of the individual senses which are in turn the basis for the mind's construction of an imaginary world now identified-with by the individual.

In other words, the 'present' world has already happened by the time the individual is conscious of it.

Again, the basis of one's perception of the world constantly changing, the world as perceived is also constantly changing and that not as a single unit, but various parts change at various rates. Which is the present moment there?

In all events, there is no instruction to pay attention to the present moment, there is no instruction to pay attention to 'the here and now'. The whole idea comes from people already schooled to believe that 'be here now' is the goal.

What there is is the occasional statement that something should be noted, may be experienced, etc. 'in this visible thing' (diṭṭh'eva Dhamma), e.g., some, practicing according to Dhamma, will come to realize Nibbāna 'in this visible thing.'

Paying attention to the breaths is only one practice among many others whose function is to see things as they are, not to be seeing things that are not there. You pay money for your Dhamma, you get what you pay for.

Aside from that the usual exception to the definition of samādhi as 'concentration'; the unbased asertion that jhāna means 'absorption' (PED: The state of mind left after the experience of the four jhānas is described as follows at D 1.76: "with his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured, void of evil, supple, ready to act, firm and imperturbable." It will be seen that there is no suggestion of trance, but rather of an enhanced vitality. And there is nothing in the etymology of the word that has anything to do with absorption. Bhante then immediately defines jhāyati — to do jhāna — as meaning "to burn with a steady flame." Jhāna is 'knowing' and knowing at the level of the jhānas puts one at a point where control of one's world-making or own-making is possible; i.e., experiencing the bliss of being on top of things, or being serene); the definition of saṇkhāra as 'fabrication' which leaves us in the twist discussed at Is Nibbāna Conditioned. etc. But altogether not a bad read, especially as it is a short essay.

 

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Oblog: [O.12.23.18] Sunday, December 23, 2018 8:27 AM

 

How to Become a Buddhist Lay Disciple

When one has found refuge in the Buddha,
found refuge in the Dhamma,
found refuge in the Order,
then one is a Buddhist Lay Disciple.
—AN 8.26

There are hurricane-like winds in the upper atmosphere, beggars, which can rip some small bird that wanders there limb from limb, so that here is a wing, here a foot, here the head, there the pelvis ...

Hurricane-like winds: What happens to the reasoning of one who trains in line with one's own preconceived notions.

 

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The Question of Bhikkhunī Ordination, by Bhikkhu Thanissaro.
A complete collection of Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu's writings since 2009 on the validity of recent attempts to reinstitute bhikkhunī ordination.
From the Introduction: "This booklet is a collection of pieces I have written over the past several years concerning the recent efforts to revive the Bhikkhunī Saṇgha in the Theravāda tradition."

It is well that Bhk. Thanissaro qualifies the discussion limiting it to the legitimacy under Theravāda tradition. [Edit: Without that it could be said that the Theravādins are saying that the Theravāda school is the only school in Buddhism which can claim a legitimate descent from the original Saṇgha. ... which is, of course, what they think.] In so far as that discussion goes we should yield to Bhk. Thanissaro as being probably the most knowledgable English-speaking Theravada Vinaya scholar. As to the question of Bhikkhunī ordination, the position here is that individuals' opinions do not constitute a schism in the order, that a schism requires not only the dispute between nine individuals, but also a clear dispute between one set and the Buddha and the Dhamma. A dispute over the meaning of a commonly agreed-upon wording of a rule, for example, would not in itself be a matter of schism. In other words any Buddhist Saṇgha out there that can demonstrate a clear line back to pre-"school" Buddhism where there has been no refutation of the Buddha or the Dhamma is just a matter of disagrement between individuals and is legitimately within the lineage of the original Saṇgha and that if such a Saṇgha is a Bhikkhunī Saṇgha it is legitimate. As to whether there is or is not such a Saṇgha in existence today ... we leave that to the concerned parties.

Further than that I could not agree more with this, also extracted from the Introduction [bold/italics mine]:

"... in a recent interview with two bhikkhunīs in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (Winter, 2014). One of the questions was, 'What have been the effects upon your practice, either beneficial or detrimental, of no longer belonging to the lineage of a contemporary master?' One of the bhikkhunīs answered, 'The strongest connection I've had to lineage is through the Buddha, and certainly we haven't lost that connection.... Now I really feel a tangible connection to the bhikkhuni Saṇgha wherever it is around the world... and going all the way back to the founder of the order, Mahapajapati, the Buddha's adoptive mother and aunt. On our main shrine we have an image of the Buddha and one of Mahapajapati. Those are my lineage holders." Then, later in the interview, the bhikkhunīs address the issue of how to judge reports of what the Buddha taught: "Its important to remember that the teachings were written down several hundreds of years after the Buddha's passing by Brahmans [priests] [Ed.: this is an incorrect statement!] who were aligned with the misogynistic worldview of their time. So of course that worldview flew into the records." "The one thing I always come back to is that compassion and wisdom are at the heart of the Buddha's teaching. If you cannot find either wisdom or compassion in something, then I don't feel it can be the Buddha's teaching."

This attitude doesn't inspire confidence. Anyone with any experience in a good monastic Community knows that your own ideas of wisdom and compassion can be very mistaken and self-serving, and that it takes more than just an image on a shrine or a felt connection to a person dead for millennia to make you accept that fact. The true Dhamma is hard enough to learn simply from the texts. If one regards the texts as corrupt, and has no authoritative living guide to make one question one's ideas of Dhamma and Vinaya, then one is simply training in line with one's own preconceived notions. That is not training; and it would be irresponsible and uncompassionate to recommend to any woman that she place herself in such a situation.

Further than this it is very strange that those who are deeply passionate about this issue have turned on Bhk. Thanissaro for his stance and now view him a mysoginist and politically incorrect when in fact he is largely responsible for the idiotic 'he/she' and many other instances of a clear position as a stout advocate for the equality of women ... an advocacy that boarders on pandering! That he has become the bad guy is astounding!

Of Related Interest:

AN 8.51
Vin. ii, 253 (S.B.E. xx, 320)

Edit: Wednesday, January 16, 2019 5:08 AM: In his translation of AN 8.70 n.5 Hare notes the interesting fact that in DN 16 as well as AN 8.70 the Buddha is reported to have made statements that would indicate that he knew early-on that there would be women in the order. Please do not jump in and point to this as an example of how the editors must have messed with the suttas or that it shows that one or another or both are not EBT or are inauthentic, or about how this shows that the Buddha did not have psychic powers, etc. It is entirely consistant with many other cases that in spite of knowing that the probability for a certain event approaches 100%, one must still allow for the possibility of change in one's behavior and so act as if one were without certain knowledge.

 

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Oblog: [O.12.22.18] Saturday, December 22, 2018 9:23 AM

 

[AN 8.24] Hatthaka-Āḷavaka's Tactics for Gathering a Company, the M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation, and the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
The lay follower Hatthaka of Alavi describes how he has managed to gather together a great following using the Buddha's four methods for creating alliances; the Buddha then praises Hatthaka as having eight wonders associated with him.

 

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Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
III: Gahapati-Vagga

Hatthaka-Āḷavaka Sangaha-Vatthu Suttaɱ

Hatthaka-Āḷavaka's Tactics
for
Gathering a Company

Translated from the Pāḷi

 

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[1][pts][than][bodh] Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Āḷavi-town, Aggālave shrine revisiting.

There then Hatthaka Āḷavaka surrounded by Upāsakas,
some five-hundred by count,
approached the Lucky Man.

Having approached and given salutation,
they took seats to one side.

When they were seated to one side then
The Lucky Man said this to Hatthaka Āḷavaka:

2. "Great, indeed, Hatthaka, is your company!

How, Hatthaka, did you gather together
this great company of yours?"

 

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It is, bhante, by way of
these four gathering-tactics
taught by the Lucky Man
that I have gathered this company:

I, bhante, knowing:
"This, gifts (dāna) will gather in,"
— he by gifts I gather in.

■

Knowing such:
"This, kind words (peyya-vācā) will gather in,"
— he by kind words I gather in.

■

Knowing such:
"This, helpfulness (attha-caraka) will gather in,"
— he by my being helpful I gather in.

■

Knowing such:
"This, impartiality (samān'attatā) will gather in,"
— he by impartiality I gather in.

■

Then again, bhante,
there is immense wealth found in my family
no one thinks to listen to one impoverished.

■

3. Well-said, well-said, Hatthaka!

This is the very way to begin, Hatthaka,
the gathering of a great company.

 

§

 

Whomsoever, Hatthaka, during the past,
gathered a company
all such did so with these same four gathering-tactics
for gathereing a great company.

■

Whomsoever, Hatthaka, during the future,
will gather a company
all such will do so with these same four gathering-tactics
for gathereing a great company.

■

Whomsoever, Hatthaka, presently,
gathers a company
all such do so with these same four gathering-tactics
for gathereing a great company.

 

§

 

There then Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
instructed, made enthusiastic, aroused, convinced
by Dhamma-talk from the Lucky Man,
rose from his seat,
saluted,
and keeping the Lucky Man to his right,
departed.

 

§

 

 

There then the Lucky man
not long after the departure of Hatthaka Āḷavaka
addressed the beggars:

"Bear in mind, beggars, these eight wonderful and marvelous things
possessed by Hatthaka Āḷavaka.

What eight?

6. Convinced (saddha), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
virtuous (sīla), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
possessed of a sense of shame (hiri), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
possessed of fear of blame (ottapa), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
well-read (bahu-s-suta), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
generous (cāga), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
wise (pañña), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka,
modest (appiccha), beggars, is Hatthaka Āḷavaka.

"These are, beggars, the eight wonderful and marvelous things
possessed by Hatthaka Āḷavaka
which should be born in mind."

 

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Oblog: [O.12.21.18] Friday, December 21, 2018 6:27 AM

 

Sacred Books of the East, Volume 21: Lotus of the True Law.
A Mahayana Sutta. Included here because occasionally referenced in footnotes. See especially AN 8.24 - [than Translator's note] and [hare n.2]
Note that in this sutta are found doctrines that are diametrically opposed to those found in the Pāḷi, e.g., that Kasappa, Mahā Moggallana, and others are Bodhisattas and will eventually return as Buddhas.

The Travels of FA-hsien, (399-414 A.D.), or Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms, H.A. Giles, M.A., re-translation.
From the Introduction: From this little book of travel the unbiassed reader may perhaps obtain a furtive glimpse of the gradeur of the Buddhist religion in the early years of the 5th century A.D. See also: Chwang, Travels in India (629-645 A.D.)

 

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Oblog: [O.12.16.18.2] Sunday, December 16, 2018 12:40 PM

 

 

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Oblog: [O.12.16.18] Sunday, December 16, 2018 7:30 AM

[AN 6.60] On Citta, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Citta Hatthisariputta keeps interrupting the discourse of higher Dhamma by two elders and when told not to do so is defended by his friends who call him a wise bhikkhu capable of such a discussion. Mahā Kotthita gently explains to them that although this bhikkhu has attained certain very high states of samādhi, he is nevertheless still world-bound and will soon leave the order. This happens and the bhikkhus are impressed and tell the Buddha who then tells them that Citta will soon tire of the worldly life and again join the order. And this too happens and Citta becomes an arahant.
Here we have an example of the psychic power of 'mind-reading', but another interesting thing about this sutta is the way Mahā Kotthita approaches explaining the situation, that is in a highly indirect way. There is no mention of Citta, but only of 'some person' who may attain such and such a high state of mind, but because he is proud of this as a personal achievement and uses it to enhance his worldly situation this will result in the corruption of this achievement and his fall from the saṇgha. The fact that Citta does not recognize himself in the description and therefore takes no measures to correct himself tells the other bhikkhus why it is that he is not up to the discussion of higher Dhamma.

 

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Oblog: [O.7.16.18] Friday, December 7, 2018 5:32 AM

[THAG 212] Mahānāga, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translaion.
[THAG 214] Māluṇkyaputta, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translaion.
[THAG 232] Bhūta, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translaion.
[THIG 52] Khemā, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translaion.
[THIG 57] Vijayā, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translaion.
[SN 4.36.29] Not of the Flesh, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation, and the Nyanaponika Thera translation.
A sutta describing the carnal, the carnal-free, and the carnal-free beyond the carnal-free forms of enthusiasm, pleasure and detachment.

[DN 15] The Great Discourse on Causation, The Bhikkhu Sujato translation.
A detailed exposition of the Paṭicca Smuppāda, the Buddha's formula for the workings of kamma in the creation of the existing being. One of the most important Suttas in the entire collection of Pāḷi suttas.
[DN 22] The Longer Discourse on Mindfulness Meditation, The Bhikkhu Sujato translation.
The long version of the famous sutta in which the Buddha describes the setting up of the mind by way of understanding the origin, sustainance and ending of body, sense experience, mental states and the Dhamma. Possibly the most famous, certainly one of the most important of all the Buddhas Suttas. It is this sutta which is the basis for the wide-spread 'mindfulness' business which makes use of but the first of its instructions.
[DN 33] Reciting in Concert, The Bhikkhu Sujato translation.
An extensive categorization of all the main ideas in the Buddha's system grouped by the number of concepts covered.

With these three suttas plus the Comparative Translation Vocabulary (below) plus the e-book/pdf versions of his entire collection (also below), a good and fair representative sampling of Bhikkhu Sujato's translation work is, I believe, now available on this site for those who are curious.

 

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Oblog: [O.12.6.18] Thursday, December 06, 2018 9:55 AM
This article will be permanently located as an addition to the discussion: Essential Dhamma.
Comparative Translation Vocabulary This file contains the comparative translation tables without the commentary.

Comparative Translation Vocabulary

A Study of Some Translatons
of the Terms of the Core Dhammas
with Recommendations and Their Explanations

 

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The Core Dhammas

The Four Settings-up of Mind

The Four Consummate Efforts

The Four Paths to Supernormal Powers

The Five Forces

The Five Powers

The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening

The Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional High Way

The Jhānas

Miscellaneous Terms

 

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The Four Settings-up of Mind

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Sati	Mind, Memory	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness
Satipaṭṭhāna	Setting up Mind	Setting Up, Uprisings, Stations, Foundations of Mindfulness	Foundations of Mindfulness	Frames of Reference	Mindfulness
Ekāyano ayaɱ Maggo	One Sure Way	One Way, The One and Only Path	The Direct Path	The Direct Path	The Path to Convergence
Kāya	Body	Body	Body	Body	Body
Kāye kāy'ānupassī viharati (Vedana, Citta, Dhamma).	Living in the Body (etc) Overseeing Body (etc.)	Contemplating the body in the body	Contemplating the body as a body	Focusing on the body in and of itself	Observing an Aspect of the (Body, Feelings, Mind, Principles
Vedanā	Experience	Feeling	Feeling	Feeling	Feeling
Citte	Heart, Mental State	Consciousness, thought,	Mind	Mind	Mind
Dhamma	The Dhamma	Mind-States, Mental Objects, Ideas	Mind Objects	Mental Qualities	Principles

Sati. Most translations conflate 'Sati' with 'Satipaṭṭhāna'. It is "Mind" and "Setting up the Mind". 'Satipaṭṭhāna' deals with the practices necessary to build up, organize and maintain the memory. Sati is the end-product, a mind above it all, seeing how body, experiences, mental states and The Dhamma come to be and burn out, watchful and careful, recollected, reviewing and calming down, overcoming any thirsts, ambitions and disappointments that may appear, able to recall in minute detail things said and done long ago.

Ekāyano ayaɱ Maggo. The recommended solution, 'One Sure Way' is a reasonable read of the Pāḷi, but mostly serves to eliminate the idea of 'one and only one way' which today offends some sensibilities. 'The One and Only Way' is problematic only to outsiders; those with insight into the holographic nature of the Dhamma will see that 'This One Way' encompasses the many other ways described in the Dhamma, and those other ways encompass this way.

But what in Bhk. Sujato's translation, does 'convergence' mean here? Convergence with what? Convergence into Nibbāna? That would be a gloss and a bad one at that in that it requires foreknowledge of Dhamma and the Goal by the reader. As it is it doesn't make sense.

Kāya. (Vedana, Citta, Dhamma) Kāyānupassi. Bhk. Bodhi's 'body as a body' is not helpful as an instruction as to how to organize one's memories over the entire category 'body'. The idea is to so observe that mode in which you live so as to have all that occurs in it organized; easily retrievable. That includes such things as seeing that the thing comes to be, is transient, brings pain, etc., as well as being just the thing it is. Bhk. Thanissaro's 'focusing on the body, etc., in and of itself' just passes, but misses the idea of these four things being modes of living. It could be 'observing an aspect' per Bhk. Sujato. It is also 'observing the whole', and observing how things that are not the body proper affect the body, etc., or point to the destiny of bodies, etc.. But the Pāḷi does not point to either an aspect or the whole. The way it is phrased it covers all angles. All ignore the 'viharati' where the idea is 'living in a body, one oversees (synonym for sati; minds) the body'. "Living in" means that this is the primary focus of one's daily habits. One lives primarily concerned with the body and its activities; another primarily with experiences; another primarily with one's mental states; another lives with everything referenced to the Dhamma.

Vedanā. This word serves three functions in the Dhamma: Experience, Sense-experience and sensation. Experience when it is experience in general and when it is the extra-sensory experience of the Arahant; sense-experience when it is experience of an existing being; sensation when it is what is felt upon experience. Feeling covers only one of these uses.

Citta. Translated 'mind' it removes vital information as to the nature of this mind. The broad idea is heart; not in the sense of the physical organ, but in the sense of 'at the heart of the matter' the central focus. And in other uses it conveys the idea of having the will to act.

Dhamma. There are two forms in which this word appears: with capital "D" and with lower case "d". In the Pāḷi there is no such distinction. Determination of which is which must be made from context and sometimes that can be confusing. The former distinguishes the teachings of the Buddha and is a synonym of "Pāḷi". The latter means 'thing'. 'Principles' describes rules for behavior or judgment derived from some source. The Dhamma, specifically The Four Truths, is the source, not the principle. One could make aspects of the Dhamma into one's principles, one cannot turn the whole of the Dhamma into a set of principles.

 

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The Four Consummate Efforts

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Cattāro Samma-p-padhānā	Four Consummate Efforts	Right, Supreme, Great Efforts, Strivings,	Right Strivings, Kinds of Striving	Right Effort	Four Right Efforts

Putting forth energy and making an effort
to eliminate bad conditions that are present;
to prevent the arising of bad conditions not yet present;
to acquire good conditions that are not yet present; and
to retain good conditions that are present.

 

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The Four Paths to Supernormal Powers

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Cattāri Iddhipādā	The Four Power Paths	Basis of, Roads to Psycic Power, Effective Power, Mystic Potencies, Stages to Efficiency	Bases for Spiritual Power	Bases of Power	Four bases of psychic power
Chanda	Wanting, Wishing	Desire-to-do, Intention, Desire	Desire, zeal	Desire	Enthusiasm
Viriya	Energy	Energy	Energy	Persistence	Energy
Citte	Heart, Having the Heart for it	Consciousness, thought,	Mind	Mind	Mental development
Vīmaɱsa	Rememberance, Investigation	Investigation	Investigation	Discrimination	Inquiry
Chanda- [Citta, Viriya, Vīmaɱsa] samādhi-padhāna-saṇkhāra-samannāgataɱ iddhi-pādaɱ bhāveti	begets the Powerpath Consisting of Effort-upon-Effort at Own-Making Serene Wishes [etc.]	develops the stage which is characterized by the mental co-efficient of an effort of purposive concentration [intellectual concentration, energized concentration, investigating concentration];	develops the basis for spiritual power that possesses concentration due to desire and volitional formations of striving [etc.]	develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on desire & the fabrications of exertion, [etc.]	develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm [etc.], and active effort

Chanda. This term must indicate some sort of will to act; Bhk Sujato's 'enthusiasm' in-and-of-itself has no component related to intent to act. Someone with enthusiasm could well have an intent to act, but that is a separate thing.

The paths spelled out. So far I have not seen a translation of the paths that makes sense or really satisfies. Bhk. Sujato's construction makes sense, but where in it is 'saṇkhāra' (his 'choices'? Oh! Here it is: 'active' [effort: padhāna]. So is 'Saṇkhāra' for him 'choices' or 'active'? And if both, how? Where is the equivalence?

 

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The Five Forces

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Indriyāni	Forces	Faculties	Faculties	Faculties	Five Faculties
Saddhā	Faith	Faith	Faith	Conviction	Faith
Viriya	Energy	Energy	Energy	Persistence	Energy
Sati	Mind, Memory	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness
Samādhi	Serenity, Getting High	Concentration	Concentration	Concentration	Immersion
Paññā	Wisdom	Insight, Intelligence,	Wisdom	Discernment	Wisdom

See below next.

 

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The Five Powers

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato [AN.5.15]
Balani	Powers	Powers	Powers	Strengths	Powers
Saddhā	Faith	Faith	Faith	Conviction	Faith
Viriya	Energy	Energy	Energy	Persistence	Energy
Sati	Mind, Memory	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness
Samādhi	Serenity, Getting High	Concentration	Concentration	Concentration	Immersion
Paññā	Wisdom	Insight, Intelligence,	Wisdom	Discernment	Wisdom

The Balani and the Indriya are essentially the same phenomena, but seen from two different perspectives. One is the natural or impersonal energetic force; the other is the power held by one who has that force. 'Faculties' for 'Indriyana' is the consensus but messes up badly when all the various 'indriyani' are listed. See the Glossology - linked from the topic title above.

 

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The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Satta Sambojjhangā	Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening	Parts, Links, Factors in Awakening, Enlightonment, Wisdom	Enlightenment Factors	The Seven Factors for Awakening	Seven awakening factors
Sati	Mind, Memory	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness
Dhamma-Vicaya	Investigation of Dhamma or Things	Dhamma Testing, Investigation,	Investigation, discrimination of states	Analysis of Qualities	Investigation of principles
Viriya	Energy	Energy	Energy	Persistence	Energy
Pīti	Enthusiasm	Zest, Rapture (Horner), Joy	Rapture	Rapture	Rapture
Passaddhi	Impassivity, Equanimity, Poise	Calming Down, Serenity, Satisfaction, Tranquillity,	Tranquillity	Serenity	tranquillity
Samādhi	Serenity, Getting High	Concentration	Concentration	Concentration	Immersion
Upekkha	Detachment	Equanimity, poise	Equanimity	Equanimity	Equanimity

Sambojjhangā. Where is the 'sam' in the translations? These are the things that one needs in order to awaken one's self.

Dhamma-Vicaya. How can one effectively investigate one's 'principles' (Bhk. Sujato) if one has not investigated the basis for forming principles? The term would most usefully indicate the fact that it is at this point that one investigates 'things' and 'the Dhamma'.

Pīti. I believe it was Bhk. Thanissaro and his personal experience of what his teacher called 'rapture' (which sounds like it was in fact rapture of a sort) that has imposed that term on us for the translation of Pīti. But Pīti is in fact a term that covers an emotional liking that spans appreciation, mild liking, enthusiasm, excitement, friendly feelings, affection, love and higher order emotions such as rapture. A word is needed that encompasses the lot.

Samādhi. Samādhi is not 'concentration'. Concentration is way too narrow a concept to cover the scope of 'samādhi'. Samādhi has concentration, uses concentration, but is itself a state with flexible attention and is certainly open to interference by insights. As 'immersion' (Bhk. Sujato) this is precisely what 'samādhi' is not. The word either means 'over and above' or 'even higher'. Samādhi is a state of full alertness while being in full control. And if the term is to align with the goals of the Dhamma, it needs to indicate not 'immersion in', but 'detachment from'. And this does not deal with the various other descriptions of Samādhi as encompassing the whole of the practice; as being also the states of signlessness, aimlessness and pointlessness, and consisting of three other sorts (see PED): with thinking and pondering; with pondering only; without thnking or pondering.

Upekkha. Everyone loves equanimity. But 'equanimity' is a state of balance between two conditions. Upekkha is used two ways in the suttas: as a state balanced between two conditions; and as the state of being detached from all conditions. Not between any two things. Technically it is the difference between being freed from things of Time (the world, existence); and being freed from things not of Time (recognizing in the freedom from things of Time that this recognition is one step removed from freedom from things of Time and is an ultimate freedom which because it is not based on anything own-made (things of Time) it is not subject to change or pain.

Passaddhi, Samādhi, Upekkha. These three need to form a progression. First you calm down and stop reacting: impassivity; then you become serene/above it all; then you detach.

The Satta Sambojjhangā is a complete path to Nibbāna. Ask yourself if a path that ends in equanimity is one that does that. Disturbance is implicit in equanimity.

 

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The Aristocratic Eight- Ten-Dimensional High Way

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Dhamma	Dhamma, The Teaching	Mental Objects,		Mental Qualities, Event, Action, Nibbana	Principles
Sammā	Consummate, High	Right, Perfect,	Right, Correct, Perfectly	Right	Right
Micchā	Misguided, Contrary	Wrong	Wrong	Wrong	Wrong
Diṭṭhi	Working Hypothesis, View	View	View	View	View
Saɱkappa	Principles	Purpose, Aim, Intention; Horner: Thought	Intention	Resolve	Thought
Vācā	Talk, Speech	Speech	Speech	Speech	Speech
Kammanta	Works	Action, Doing	Action	Action	Action
Ājīva	Lifestyle	Livelihood, living	Livelihood	Livelihood	Livelihood
Vāyāma	Self-control	Effort	Effort	Effort	Effort
Sati	Mind, Memory	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness
Samādhi	Serenity, Getting High	Concentration	Concentration	Concentration	Immersion
Cattāri Jhānāni	The Four Knowings, Gnosis	Musing, Jhāna	Jhāna	Mental Absorption	The Four Absorption
Avijjā	Blindness	Ignorance	Ignorance	Ignorance	Ignorance
Ñāṇa	Knowledge	Knowledge	Knowledge	Knowledge	NA
Vimutti	Freedom	Freedom	Liberation	Release	Freedom
Diṭṭhā	Seeing, The Seen	The Seen	The Seen	The Seen	Seen
Upekha	Detachment	Equanimity, Poise, Indifference	Equanimity	Equanimity	Equanimity

Eight/Ten. The 'Ten' is generally more satisfying in that it can be set up: Sammā Diṭṭhi as working hypothesis > Sammā Diṭṭhā actual experience of seeing. The Eight still works but you need to work out how the story ends either through experience of Fourth Jhāna or from other suttas.

Sammā and Micchā The idea of 'Sammā' is not that a 'sammā thing' is the right thing and all other things are wrong. The idea is that these things are the best choice among other choices which may be best for other purposes. Consummate, best, or highest. The opposite condition is not 'wrong'. It means 'contrary' or 'misguided', or 'opposing'. Why should such an established set of terms be altered? Because hanging on to things being 'right' or 'wrong' is taking sides and holding points of view and that is involvement with the world and the fact that the individual is blind to that fact precludes their escape from such views.

Diṭṭhi. 'View' works if one remembers that 'views' are opinions and opinions are not necessarily true and that what is required to put this step of the path into action is to use Sammā Diṭṭhi as a working hypothesis; to be proved by trial and error following the rest of the path. Using the ten-fold path one is almost compelled to use 'working hypothesis' to avoid an incomprehensible redundancy.

Saɱkappa. This is 'principles'. First one sets up one's working hypothesis, then one determines the principles that follow from that working hypothesis. If it is all pain, what is one's first principle? Dumping it.

Kammanta. To say this term stands for 'action' is to ignore the common context of 'commerse' and to force it into being an exact synonym of kamma which it is not. The word is really a manta, a composite term that means: Work, mantras, commerse. 'Works' covers all this.

Ājīva. The word means 'to live'. What one does to live. So 'livelihood' and 'living' would work if the term did not so completely ignore the idea of making a living or earning one's keep. Sammā ājīva is the practice of analyzing one's situation and determining those aspects of it that are causing good states to vanish or diminish and bad states to appear or increase and getting rid of them. It is a style or manner of living to be applied to every aspect of one's life, not just a way of earning a living.

Vāyāma. A synonym for 'padhānā'. The effort being made is to establish self-control.

Avijjā. Not-vision. Not 'ignorance'. Not seeing. The simile is of two men standing at the foot of a mountain. One climbs to the top and describes the 360° angle of view; the other denies that such a view is possible. The first comes down and brings the second up to the top where he sees what he could not see before. At the foot of the mountain #2 could know in theory about (have knowledge of) what can be seen from a height but could not see it. The term needs to indicate a lack of actual experience of seeing: blindness.

Ñāṇa. Knowlege. Book knowledge. The Streamwinner has 'Ñāṇa and Dassana': knowing and seeing (of the fact that whatsoever has come to be will allso pass away). The Arahant has first Vijjā (he sees the Four Truths as they are) then Upekkhā (Detachment) ... but it is also said of the Arahant (Arahants are also Streamwinners) that he has knowledge and vision.

Vimutti. Freedom is correct. Release is 'Vimokkha'. Release implies a possibly temporary state, freedom points to the absolute state. We want the absolute state and the progression in the suttas is from Vimokkha to vimutti.

 

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The Jhānas

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
Cattāri Jhānāni	The Four Knowings, Gnosis	Musing, Jhāna	Jhāna	Mental Absorption	The Four Absorption
Paṭhama Jhāna: Vivicc'eva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ paṭhamajjhānaṃ upasampajja viharati	Separated from sensuality, separated from unskillful things, with thinking, with pondering solitude-born pleasurable enthusiasm, there arises and he makes a habit of the First Knowing	Aloof from pleasures of the senses, aloof from unskilled states of mind, [he enters] into the first meditation which is accompanied by initial thought and discursive thought, is born of aloofness, and is rapturous and joyful	Quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, [he enters] upon and [abides in] in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion.	Quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities -- [a monk] enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation	A mendicant, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected.
Vitakka vicārānaṃ vūpasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ dutiyajjhānaṃ upasampajja viharati	With the resolution of thinking and pondering, attaining impassivity, becoming whole-heartedly single-minded, without thinking and pondering, with the pleasurable enthusiasm born of Serenity, there arises and he makes a habit of the Second Knowing	By allaying initial and discursive thought, with the mind subjectively tranquillised and fixed on one point, I entered into and abided in the second meditation which is devoid of initial and discursive thought, is born of concentration, and is rapturous and joyful.	With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, I entered upon and abided in the second jhāna, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind without applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration.	Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance.	As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, they enter and remain in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and confidence, and unified mind, without placing the mind and keeping it connected
Pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampajāno sukhaṃ ca kāyena paṭisaṃvedeti, yan taṃ ariyā ācikkhanti 'upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī'ti taṃ tatiyajjhānaṃ upasampajja viharati	Dispassionate and detached from enthusiasm, living self-conscious and aware of bodilysense-reactions such as those described by the Aristocrats when they say: "Detached, minding, he lives pleasantly", there arises and he makes a habit of the Third Knowing	By the fading out of rapture, I dwelt with equanimity, attentive, and clearly conscious; and I experienced in my person that joy of which the ariyans say: 'Joyful lives he who has equanimity and is mindful,' and I entered into and abided in the third meditation.	With the fading away as well of rapture, I abided in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, I entered upon and abided in the third jhāna, on account of which noble ones announce: 'He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.'	And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful and alert, and physically sensitive to pleasure. He enters and remains in the third jhāna, of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.'	And with the fading away of rapture, they enter and remain in the third absorption, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, personally experiencing the bliss of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.'
Sukhassa ca pahāṇā dukkhassa ca pahāṇā pubb'eva somanassa-domanassānaṃ atthaṇgamā adukkha-m-asukhaṃ upekkhā-sati-pārisuddhiṃ catutthajjhānaṃ upasampajja viharati	Letting go of his former experiences of pleasure and pain, allowing his experience of mental ease and discomfort to subside on their own, without pleasure or pain, with utterly pure detachment of mind, there arises and he makes a habit of the Fourth Knowing	By getting rid of joy, by getting rid of anguish, by the going down of my former pleasures and sorrows, I entered into and abided in the fourth meditation which has neither anguish nor joy, and which is entirely purified by equanimity and mindfulness.	With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, I entered upon and abided in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.	And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain.	Giving up pleasure and pain, and ending former happiness and sadness, they enter and remain in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness

The position here relative to the whole of the Pāḷi, but most particularly to the jhānas is that there is no-one living today that it is reasonable to trust as to personal claims at experience of such that would inform anything other than a translation that held tightly to the etymological, literal and contextual Pāḷi (all three!). This makes Bhk. Sujato odd man out when it comes to his translation of the formulas for the jhānas (and some other terms).

The way he has constructed the jhānas one begins by sitting down and focusing mindfulness right there (parimukhaɱ satim) (without saying what 'right there' means), and, without instruction as to abandoning thinking and pondering (vitakka and vicara outside jhāna where he accepts this meaning in so many words) one abandons thinking and pondering (vitakka and vicara) classing it as 'unskillful' (though there are clearly skillful thoughts or how would one ever think to study the Dhamma?); then in addition to focusing mindfulness right there (parimukhaɱ satim), one places the mind and keeps it connected (vitakka and vicara inside jhāna — though there is no distinction made anywhere in the suttas as to an inside and outside jhāna vitakka and vicara) (connected to what is not specified) and somehow by solitude alone, rapture (the highest defined meaning of pīti) and bliss arise.

That is quite an accomplishment for the first stage of a progression of steps leading away from involvement with such things of the world as sensuality and unskillful things.

The position here is that the first jhāna is the first step up off active involvement with the world. You are still thinking as you were before jhāna, but now the thoughts and pondering are constructive towards achieving the goal: thinkinig and pondering over problems interfering with living the Dhamma and understanding the Dhamma, ending in the transition from the first to the second jhāna when one has reached the point where thinking and pondering are not needed, at least for the time being. Thus the first jhāna is relatively easy to get to in its simplest form, but it evolves in depth as one's practice evolves.

[Editorial insert: Invision the first jhāna in something like the way one experiences the first view of the Pacific Ocean. The first sight of the Pacific, as one reaches the top of the last hill of the Coast Range, is that the Ocean is above one. Then, when standing next to the last advance of a wave on the beach, looking out, one might ask: "Is this the Pacific Ocean?" and the correct answer would be: "Yes, but the full scope of the Pacific is immeasurably larger than what you can see from this vantage point."

What is necessary for the first jhāna is solitude and an appreciation of that solitude. This way there is nothing hidden from view: the factors of the jhānas are stated and then removed a bit at a time as indicated in the formulas. Going beyond what is there is hubris.

Then, for the second jhāna, after all our work of sitting down and focusing mindfulness right there (parimukhaɱ satim), without instruction as to how it happens, placing the mind and keeping it connected (vitakka and vicara inside jhāna) are stilled.

Where is this headed? I have a theory. Bhikkhu Sujato's view of the jhānas is one which cannot be practiced. Trying to do it per Bhk. Sujato's formula results in getting twisted up like a pretzel. Looking to the outcome as the intent we recollect the early statements of commentators that the jhānas are no longer possible to attain. This is great cover for one who has no ability to achieve jhāna as described in the suttas using plain speaking Pāḷi. This in turn strengthens reliance on the commentaries which strengthens the rapidly self-destructing pre-eminance of the Theravada tradition. How Bhk. Sujato, who at one time spoke of his 'almost being ashamed of being a Theravadan Bhikkhu' and who also has published works criticizing the commentaries ended up on the side of the commentators with this position is a mystery. Or not. The position serves well as a cover for those who can't, whether ancient or modern.

Bhk. Sujato's formulas for jhānas three and four are more or less standard.

Here is the thing: However translated the formulas for the jhānas must go from involvement to less involvement with the world. The Four are a progression ending in utter detachment. Generally, following the recommended formulas or those of the others except Bhk. Sujato's one does go from involvement to detachment. Using Bhk. Sujato's formula you go spinning around and around never getting even to the first jhāna.

 

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Miscellaneous Terms

Pāḷi	Recommended	PTS	Bhk. Bodhi	Bhk. Thanissaro	Bhk. Sujato
AppamādaAN 10.15	Non-carelessness	Earnestness, diligence	Diligence	Heedfulness	Diligence
AbhiññāAN 5.28	Higher Knowledge/Powers	super knowledge, knowledge	direct knowledge	supernormal	realizing anything that can be realized by insight to which they extend the mind
Āhāra	Food	Food, supports	Nutriments	Nutriments	Food
Viññāṇa	Consciousness (Re-knowing-knowing-knowledge)	Consciousness, Cognition	Consciousness	Consciousness	Consciousness
Āsavā	Influences, Corrupting Influences	Cankers, Corruptions, Intoxicants, Poisons	Taints	Effluents, Fermentations	Defilements
Sankhārā	Own-making	Activities, Volitional Activities, Complexes, dispositions, synergies, mental property, mental adjuncts	causal activities, conditioned activities, formations, exertion	Fabrications	Choice
Parimukhaɱ Satim	Mind around mouth	set his mindfulness alert	established mindfulness in front	setting mindfulness to the fore [lit: the front of the chest]	focuses their mindfulness right there

Sankhārā. For a thorough discussion of this term and how it is being mis-translated all around see the discussion: Is Nibbāna Conditioned? Bhk. Sujato's 'choices' is a matter of taking one factor of a process and calling it the whole process. What we are doing here is making trouble for ourselves by continuously re-creating existence in a personal world. That is own-making and 'own-making' serves well for the phenomena described wherever saṇkhāra is found. To chose among alternative plans, schemes, intentions, actions in order to to get experience of living is the meaning of 'upadana'.

 

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Source Texts:

Almost all the terms found here can be found in DN 33, DN 22, DN 15, MN 10

 

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Oblog: [O.11.8.18] Thursday, November 08, 2018 5:10 AM

[MILN] The Questions of King Milinda, T.W. Rhys Davids' translation, Volumes 35 and 36 of The Sacred Books of the East, edited by F. Max Müller, 1890, 1894.
A dialogue between the Greek king Menander and the Buddhist Bhikkhu Nāgasena c. 130 BC. Nāgasena attempts to resolve the various doubts of the king.
There is a newer translation by Ms. Horner, but it has not been released for free distribution.
Link is to the title page; each file has a link to the next. Indexes are not included, but the listing in the Sutta Index is relatively detailed.
This is another work which is included here because it is frequently referenced but is otherwise not recommended. Nāgasena makes a number of errors in his explanations of Dhamma and introduces scientific errors that were not made by the Buddha and reflect badly on the rationality of the Buddha and it would be advisable to put this book to the side until one has a good handle on what is and what is not Dhamma. Many of the questions found in the first volume sound genuine, the remainder, and the second volume look like someone just making questions up to fill out space.

 

Menander I Soter (Ancient Greek: Μένανδρος Αʹ ὁ Σωτήρ, Ménandros Aʹ ho Sōtḗr, "Menander I the Saviour"; known in Indian Pāḷi sources as Milinda) was an Indo-Greek King of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (165/155–130 BC) who administered a large empire in the Northwestern regions of the Indian Subcontinent from his capital at Sagala. Menander is noted for having become a patron of Buddhism.

Menander was initially a king of Bactria. After conquering the Punjab he established an empire in the Indian Subcontinent stretching from the Kabul River valley in the west to the Ravi River in the east, and from the Swat River valley in the north to Arachosia (the Helmand Province). Ancient Indian writers indicate that he launched expeditions southward into Rajasthan and as far east down the Ganges River Valley as Pataliputra (Patna), and the Greek geographer Strabo wrote that he "conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great."

- image and text from Wikipedia

 

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Oblog: [O.11.8.19] Thursday, November 08, 2018 5:10 AM

 

Greetings my friends. Please stop for a second and rouse your attention to the following argument for the translation of 'Jhāna' as 'knowing'.

If "Jhāna" is "knowing", as in the ordinary sense of knowing, what distinguishes ordinary knowing from the knowing of the First Jhāna?

What does one know in the First Jhāna?

One knows that this knowing is separated from wishing for sensual pleasures,
separated from unskillful things.

One knows an appreciation of the pleasures of solitude.

One knows that there is in this knowing thinking and pondering.

One knows that this state is higher, more refined and altogether superior to the ordinary state of mind and that this is a clear indication that one is going in the right direction when going from the ordinary state of knowing to this state of knowing.

And one knows that:

Separated from wishing for sensual pleasures,
separated from unskillful things,
with thinking,
with pondering
by integrating
solitude-born pleasureable-enthusiasm
one habituates the First Knowing.

 

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Oblog: Thursday, November 08, 2018 5:10 AM

 

[AN 7.48] A Dhamma Curriculum for Self-Yoking and Self-Unyoking, the M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation, the Sister Upalavanna translation, and the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Describes how attraction to and pondering the pleasures of contact with the opposite sex leads to the bondage of women to men and men to women and both to their respective sexes.
A sutta for anyone trying to deal with celebacy but also a sutta which reveals the real dyanamic of bondage to sexuality. It should also be of special interest to all those concerned with women's liberation as it clearly points out the error of blaming the other sex for one's bondage to it. In essence it is saying that sexual bondage is a reflection of self-love and that to free one's self from the bondage, one must free one's self from the self-love.
I can also see this sutta applying to the case of homosexuality, where the obsession with persons of the same sex is coming from an obsession with the marks of the opposite sex within one's self.
Another angle to this sutta is revealed in a story concerning the origin of femininity.

Look at the line reading:

Itthatte bhikkhave, abhiratā sattā purisesu saɱyogaɱ gatā.

Indulging in their feminity, beggars,
beings yoke themselves to masculinity.

The reverse is also stated.

First you need to know that at the Brahma-loka level and above there is no femininity; all beings there and above are classed as males.

Femininity, according to this story, began with one brahma-god gazing fondly on the beauty of another brahma-god. The gazed-upon, delighting in the attention exagerates those aspects of himself which are attractive to the other and the story begins. According to this view life originates as masculine and devolves into the feminine.

I think there is another book that says something like this.

The corollary is that the evolution of the individual, as opposed to the evolution of the species, (see: Buddhism and the Idea of Evolution) can go both ways ... so to speak.

There is a great deal of sputtering by women with no understanding concerning the fact that Buddhism holds that these higher realms are occupied by males exclusively, that Māras and Buddhas and Wheel-turning Emporors are always males; that women bhikkhus should always act deferentially towards male bhikkhus, etc. That griping is misplaced and reflects a lack of vision and a disbelief in rebirth. With the belief in rebirth there is a relaxed perspective concerning such things. A woman, truely desiring to becme a Māra or Buddha is going to face millions of years of training both as male and female and as a multiplicity of different species; there will be plenty of time to become a male. Women desiring to become a Wheel-turning-Emporor will also require extensive training in a variety of rebirths in which there will be plenty of opportunity to becme a male. Women desiring to enter the Brahmā loka or who become non-returners in brahma lokas will be reborn there as males.

I am not the one saying this. This is the way it is in the suttas. (see: AN 1.280 ff.; AN 51) What I can see is the logic of the situation. Māras and Buddhas need to command respect. A woman simply does not command the respect of a male in this world, right or wrong. The need for the respect of these stations overrides the need for 'fairness' or 'equal opportunity' between the sexes.

Again, as to the ever-bubbling-up carping at the statement that allowing women to enter the order reduced the lifespan of the Dhamma, the logic is also clear: If men alone had been allowed to enter the order, women who desired to enter the order could become men in the next birth and do so then, thus stretching out the pool of candidates for positions in the Saṇgha and lengthining its life. But women, demonstrating in the clearest possible way that it is their excessive indulgence in the emotional that results in their being disrespected, went on to mess with the story in a tragic way.

Do I need to say this? None of this, in any way justifies practices in this world which discriminate against women. In fact, I'd put a nickel on the likelihood that discriminative behavior towards women was a key factor in rebirth as a woman. See how you like it. On the other hand to say that the way women dress and make themselves up here today [USA Thursday, November 08, 2018 5:55 PM] is not provocation to sexual advances (there is a lesson there in flowers and the means they use to attract pollinators, that I am sure you can see) is absolute blindness or calculated deception. And for women to say that men should learn better self control when provoked is also to be blind to the reality of the weaknesses of the majority of men. Life is a game, you either play it or you don't; if you do, you lose. If you don't like the way the game ends up always hurting you, stop playing. Stop playing with fire and you will be burned less often. What you shouldn't waste your time doing is trying to stop the game. There's too much money in it. Let it go.

ON ANOTHER NOTE

The careful reader will note that I have translated 'Saɱyoga' as 'self-yoking' where 'self' = 'saɱ'. As in the case of my translation of 'saṇkhāra' as 'own-' I am attempting to come to grips with the fact that this most-used prefix is very seldom an aspect of the translated term, e.g.: Hare, Bhk. Thanissaro: 'bondage'; Bhk. Bodhi: 'union'; Sister Upalavanna: 'association'. All of those could be translations of the 'yoga' part without reference to the 'coɱ'.

Why would this be?

I have a theory. I speculate that the original term (in all forms: sa san saṇ saɱ) as coined by the originators of language itself had a meaning intended to convey the idea of ownership, personalization, self or something relating to the self and that while the sheer number of words using this prefix made it impossible for later generations, more democratic (or less self-centered) in inclinations, to change the spelling, what they did in stead was to change the meaning of the prefix; convert the idea of 'self' or 'own' to 'with', as in 'by-way-of' or 'together with' which happily eliminates the idea that the individual has any function in the creation of his world. Goal accomplished. In other words I am saying that in the Buddhist vocabulary, the prefix is meaningful and should be being con-sidered alongsid er more con-ventional renderings. Right here, for example, with the two terms 'saṇkhāra' and 'saɱyoga' we have, in stead of, say 'fabrication' and 'bondage', the much more informative 'own-making' and 'self-yoking': for is it not the entire dynamic involved in the process of being reborn the poking one's head into the yoke, the yoking of one's identity, to an existing thing in the world and calling the result 'my own'?

Now, as to the translations 'fabrication', and 'construction' for saṇkhāra I say these amount to saying that 'kamma' and 'saṇkhāra' are exact synonyms. I say, however that there is and needs to be a distinction between the two because the context clearly indicates that they represent two different sorts of action with two different sorts of outcomes. A person may act to create a personal identity; that is 'saṇkhāra'. Or a person may act in response to an external stimulus with the intent to bring some kamma to conclusion. That is kamma that carries no consequences. The one (kamma) speaks to the objective view of the relationship of intent to action and outcome; the other (saṇkhāra) speaks to the subjective aspects of the intent to personally experience existence.

j-jis think'n-n-ponder'n zall

 

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Oblog: [O.5.18.18] Monday, November 05, 2018 4:44 AM

 

The translations of the Four Nikāyas by Bhk. Sujato and his computer.

This is, I believe, the first attempt at translation of the Four Nikāyas by way of what I think is now being called 'machine-assisted translation.'

At an earlier point I was all for such an approach to a unified translation: no more. The result here is far from 'unified' and is subject to the ignorance and resulting translation quirks of the human part of the mechanics. Examples: 'Vitakka and Vicara' has, among several others, the translation "placing the mind and keeping it there", which is indefensible (as can be seen by the non-response of Bhk. Sujato to a barrage of essays by frankk on Bhk. Sujato's discussion board); 'Saṇkhāra' has (also among others) the translation 'choices' which is to describe one aspect of a spectrum of activities and their consequences and call it the entire process. Add to this list my usual gripes: 'Right' for Sammā; etc.

Needless to say if you have any concern for your salvation and if you have any trust in the way the system is being described here, put this translation at the bottom of your list of reads. I include it here because good or bad it is an historical milestone. And, as with all the translations out there today and with all those likely to appear in the future, we have the wonderful fact that 90% of what is being taught in the Dhamma does not require great sophistication — the practices of giving, ethical culture and self-discipline are what most people need to hear about and the precise language used to encourage such behavior is not particularly critical.

Still: Reader Beware! This bhikkhu is deeply involved in worldly activism: i.e., he is going in precisely the opposite direction of what is being described here as the aim of the Dhamma. His translations reflect his views. The result is that he has become a dynamic force in neo-Buddhism, a movement which essentially aligns a view of the Buddhist goal with that of Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism. Like it or not activist Buddhism is probably the future of Buddhism.

As a side-issue it is very strangely incongruous that this work is being promoted as the first translation choice on Sutta Central which has as its stated purpose the attempt to determine the most original and authentic of the early Buddhist suttas. So the implied suggestion is 'Find the most authentic version of a sutta and read the most inauthentic translation ever produced.

The e-pub version will give you the SaveAs option; the PDF will open in your default PDF browser. Permanent location of these download links will be on the 'Files and Download Links' page.

 

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Oblog: Friday, November 02, 2018 7:34 AM

 

[AN 7.37] Intuitive Apprehension The M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Seven things which cultivated lead to gaining the four intuitive apprehensions (aka: The Four Analytical Knowledges).

 

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Oblog: Wednesday, October 31, 2018 9:29 AM

 

He gives things hard to give, does what is hard,
Hard words to bear he bears, his secret tells,
But others' secrets keeps, in times of want
Forsakes you not, when ruined ne'er contemns:
In whom are found these ways, that is the friend
To cultivate if any need a friend.

—Hare, AN 7.35

 

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Oblog: Monday, October 29, 2018 6:11 AM

 

 

 

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Oblog: Saturday, October 27, 2018 8:12 AM

SBE 49: Meditation on Buddha Amitayus Included here for your edification and delight because referenced in AN 7.20 note 2. From Wikipedia: The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra (Sanskrit; traditional Chinese: 佛說觀無量壽佛經) is a Mahayana sutra in Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It is one of the three principle Pure Land sutras along with the Infinite Life Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. Amitāyus is another name for the Buddha Amitābha, the preeminent figure in Pure Land Buddhism, and this sutra focuses mainly on meditations involving complex visualization. This is reflected in the name of the sutra, which translates to the "Amitāyus Meditation Sūtra."
It is generally considered by modern scholarship to be apocryphal, a composition originally written in Chinese. No Sanskrit original has been discovered and the Sanskrit name and Sanskrit versions would thus be reverse translations. According to Paul Williams, a more accurate Sanskrit title for this text would be Amitāyurbuddhānusmṛti Sūtra, meaning "Amitāyus Buddha-mindfulness Sūtra."

 

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Oblog: Friday, October 26, 2018 8:56 AM

Sārandada Suttaɱ [An Adaptation]^[1]

Discourse on the Longevity of the State

Once upon a time, The Lucky Man, Vesāli-land revisiting.

There the Buddha gave the Vajjians a discourse on the factors contributing to the longevity of a country:

1. So long as the leading citizens^[2] of the country often meet together
in discussion of the affairs of state,
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

2. So long as the leading citizens of the country sit down in agreement,
rise up in agreement,^[3]
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

3. As long as the officials of the country
adhere to the ideals established
in the country's original constitution,
and formulate no new ideals,^[4]
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

4. As long as the powerful
shall not sexually molest and abuse
the women and girls of the country,^[5]
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

5. As long as the officials of the country
honor, respect, venerate and revere
the sacred places of the people of the country,^[6]
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

6. As long as the country provides protection, refuge and shelter
for the worthy^[7]
— both within and outside the boarders, —
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

7. As long as the people honor, respect, venerate, and revere
the Elder statesmen,^[8]
growth in that country may be expected,
not decline.

 

§

 

The Duties of Government

Adapted from DN 26: Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Suttanta

1. To be a good example to the people: guided by good form, paying respect to good form, honoring good form, holding good form sacred, revering good form, being of good form, being one whose motto is good form, being one who points out good form, being one instructed by good form.

2. To provide protection for the people, for the army, for the managers, for the workers, for the scholar and the layman, for town and country dwellers, for the religious, for animals and birds throughout the country.

3. To provide justice. Letting no wrongdoing prevail.

4. To provide economic security for the poor; seeds for the farmer, money for the impoverished, food for the hungry.

5. To listen to the experienced and wise and act on their advice while encouraging them to desist from wrong conduct.

 

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As cattle when the lead bull swerves,
All of a mind to follow, swerve as well,
So with men, if he who is the leader be corrupt,
so much the more will those who follow be.
 
Th'unrighteous king to all the realm brings pain.

 

As cattle when the lead bull's course is straight
All of a mind to follow, go straight as well,
So with men, if he who is the leader be upright,
so much the more will those who follow be.
 
The righteous king to all the realm brings peace.

 

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^[1] As well as bringing the terminology into alignment with our modern situation, the order of the rules has been changed to point to the fact that when the leaders of a nation act with nobility, the people will respect them.

^[2] Leading citizens. This is both those in government service and private citizens with leadership qualifications. Influential people.

^[3] This may seem impossible in this world as it is today, but the idea is sound: keep out of the discussion those topics which are a source of conflict. Arrive at consensus. Deal with devisive issues privately until agreement can be reached.

^[4] With 40,000 + new laws being created every year in this country, the logic of this rule is obvious. What is needed is a basic set of rules such as is found in the original Constitution of the United States, and a system of judges that will wisely interpret those rules as they apply to individual cases. In other words in stead of laws, there should be presidents. The proliferation of laws has made virtually everyone in the world a criminal in one way or another. Such a state of things does not contribute to the respect for the rule of law.

^[5] The idea is that with abusive behavior comes resentment and division of the people from within.

^[6] Sacred places of all faiths! This was adapted to conform to the fact that there are multiple faiths practiced today in most nation-states.

^[7] The original term used was 'Arahant'. This term means 'one who is worthy'. The definition of 'worthy' changes, but here means 'noble': Holy men and truth-seekers, the innocent, the generous, hard-working, enterprising, ethical, self-disciplined, and wise.

^[8] A natural consequence of following the previous six rules.

 

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Oblog: Saturday, October 20, 2018 5:37 AM

Usually you will see the 'Fetters' [saṇyojana] listed as 10. As with all such lists, it is wise to keep flexible concerning precise details. Here is a set with seven factors from AN 7.8:

Anunaya-saṇyojanaɱ,||
paṭigha-saṇyojanaɱ,||
diṭṭhi-saṇyojanaɱ,||
vicikicchā-saṇyojanaɱ,||
māna-saṇyojanaɱ,||
bhavarāga-saṇyojanaɱ,||
avijjā-saṇyojanaɱ.|| ||

Colaberation
resistance
views
doubt and wavering,
pride,
lust for life,
blindness.

AN 7.10 substitutes macchariya-saṇyojanaɱ [stinginess, miserliness, meanness] for avijjā-saṇyojanaɱ [blindness]. Which seems to me to be substituting a very weak factor for a very strong one. This being the 10th sutta in the chapter, it might just have been made up to fill a missing spot.

 

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Oblog: Saturday, October 20, 2018 5:37 AM

[AN 6.112] Self-Indulgence, The M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, and the Hare translation.
Three disadvantageous points of view and the three methods to counteract them.
I did this short sutta to give us another translation in order to show the difference between understanding 'saññā' as [Hare] 'thought' versus 'perception'. The former is mistaking 'thinking about' with 'seeing a thing directly.'

 

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Oblog: Thursday, October 18, 2018 7:13 AM

[AN 6.97] Boons, The M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation, and the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Six advantages gained by the Streamwinner.
The difficult phrase to understand here is pariyantakatassa dukkhaɱ na hoti 'restricted-doing pain not had'. Hare: "none of the ill of the restricted" [is had]; Bhk. Thanissaro: "There is no suffering over what has had a limit placed on it" speculating that this may mean that there is no suffering in such an individual over the fact that the number of his future rebirths is limited, or that it might mean that the pain that is suffered is limited to the life and body that remain (7 more at most); Bhk. Bodhi: "one's suffering is delimited" I have "There is no pain resulting from doing's restrictions." I am speculating that the meaning is that at the point of Stream-entry one has seen the point of restricted activity — one no longer sees training in abstention as having to follow burdensome 'rules' — but that in a world in which ending is inevitable, abstention from doings relates absolutely to freedom from kammic consequences and their endings and renewals and the pain accompanying such and no longer suffers at such restrictions.

[AN 6.99] Pain, The M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, and the Hare translation.
The Buddha points out how viewing everything own-made as pain leads to patience and that that results in the behavior and mental attitudes that produce Streamwinning, Once-returning, Non-Returning and Arahantship.

 

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Oblog: Wednesday, October 17, 2018 6:33 AM

Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
That dost this habitation, where thou keep'st,
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death's fool;
For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun,
And yet runn'st toward him still. Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear'st
Are nursed by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear'st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;
For what thou has not, still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast, forget'st. Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
After the moon. If thou art rich, thou'rt poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,
The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheun,
For ending thee no sooner. Thou has nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou has neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life
Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.

Measure for Measure, The Complete Works of William Shakespear, The Cambridge Edition Text, as edited by William Aldis Wright, Illustrated by Rockwell Kent, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1936, page 915.

 

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Oblog: Saturday, October 13, 2018 6:24 AM

[AN 6.65] The Fruit of Non-Returning, The M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Six things which must be givin up in order to experience the fruit of non-returning.

[AN 6.66] Making for the Experience of Arahantship, The M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Six things which must be givin up in order to experience Arahantship

 

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Oblog: Friday, October 12, 2018 6:12 AM

Recommended read: Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw, Chapter 18: My Aim Is True, pages 233=252. Ecco an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2011. The whole book is a good read, but this chapter in particular is a really vivid picture of an ordinary person who has mastered samādhi. This is not 'Sammā' Samadhi' or the highest form of samādhi, but it has all the components and has the advantage of being completely divorced from any notion of samādhi as a religious accomplishment ... in other words, it is free from bias from that perspective. It is a perfect example of what I have referred to as the experience of musicians and artists and sometimes writers called 'being on top of it.' Here you have intention, thinking and planning, organization, preparation, setting, concentration and execution all working together so smoothly that it so shines out that all who see this man at work are filled with admiration.

 

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Oblog: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 7:33 AM

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629-645 A.D., by Thomas Watters, M.R.A.S., Edited, after his death by T.W. Rhys Davids, F.B.A., and S.W. Bushell, M.D.,; D.M.G., London, Royal Asiatic Society, 1904.
Translation of the travel notes of Yuan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang/Xuanzang) referenced here and there in the notes of the PTS translations. This is possibly not the volume referenced, but the references do seem relevant to the notes. I have an inquiry in to the PTS for clarification. Meanwhile it is an interesting book in its own right.

 

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Oblog: Thursday, October 04, 2018 5:00 AM

[AN 5.170] To Bhaddaji, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Ānanda elevates Bhikkhu Bhaddaji's understanding of what constitutes the best of sights, sounds, joys, conscious states and lives.

 

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Oblog: Tuesday, October 02, 2018 7:37 AM

[AN 6.50] Restraint of the Forces, the M. Olds, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
A paṭicca-samuppāda-like sutta showing how lack of restraint of the forces destroys the possibility of knowing and seeing freedom while restraint of the forces results in knowing and seeing freedom.

 

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Oblog: Tuesday, October 02, 2018 7:37 AM

[AN 6.46] Mahā Cunda, The M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation and the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Mahā Cunda urges the Sutta Memorizers and the Meditation Practitioners to respect each other as both sorts of men are rarely found in the world.

How come?

Because

A snapping-fine thing, friends,
and not easy to gain in this world
is the sight of such men
as those who live in bodily contact with the deathless.

A snapping-fine thing, friends,
and not easy to gain in this world
is the sight of such men
as they who pierce with vision
and see in detail
the deep wisdom of the path to the goal.

 

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Oblog: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 9:49 AM

[AN 6.38] The Self-Doer, the K. Nizamis, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation and the Olds translation. See also the Discussion.
The Buddha refutes the idea that there is no self and no other.

 

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Oblog: Saturday, September 22, 2018 4:43 AM

 

Bhante Madawela Punnaji Mahā Thera

November 26, 1929 - July 27, 2018

 

"Nibbāna is not something you get
it is what is left when you get rid of everything else."

"That is the important thing."

"Eh?"

"You see?"

"Heh heh."

 

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Oblog: Friday, September 14, 2018 11:25 AM

The Primary and most beautiful of Nature's qualities is motion,
which agitates her at all times,
but this motion is simply the perpetual consequence of crimes,
it is conserved by means of crimes alone.

— From D.A.F. de Sade, no title given; as found in Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet, Clea.

I think we need to hear 'crimes' very figuratively, but if it is a crime to subject one's self to pain then the statement holds.

 

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Oblog: Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:18 AM

Definitions

 

Saṇkhāra: Saṇ = ideas of co or 'with' 'together with' + khāra = to lay, pile up, heap up, build. saṇ: PED (edited entry): [prefix; Idg. *sem one; one and the same, cp. Greek ὁμαλός even, ἄμα at one, ὁμός together; Sanskrit sama even, the same; samā in the same way; Avesta hama same = Gothic sama, samap together; Latin simul ( = simultaneous), similis "re-sembling." Also Sanskrit sa ( = sa²) together = Greek ἁ- ἁ- (e.g. ἅκοιτις; Avesta ha-; and samyak towards one point = Pāli sammā. - Analogously to Latin semel "once," simul, we find sa- as numeral base for "one" in Vedic sakṛt "once" = Pāli sakid (and sakad), sahasra 1000 = Pāli sahassa, and in adverb sadā "always," lit. "in one"] prefix, implying conjunction and completeness. saṇ- is after vi- (19%) the most frequent (16%) of all Pāli prefixes. Its primary meaning is "together" (cp. Latin con-); hence arises that of a closer connection or a more accentuated action than that expressed by the simple verb (intensifying = thoroughly, quite), or noun. In meaning of "near by, together"....

Identification with the intent to create sense-experience for the self through acts of thought, word and deed and the resulting construction.

Construction: Con < com < co. = ideas of co or 'with' 'together with' + struêre = to lay, pile up, heap up, build.

Paccaya: (PED, edited entry): lit. resting on, falling back on, foundation; cause, motive etc. 1. (lit.) support, requisite, means, stay. 2. (applied) reason, cause, ground, motive, means, condition M I.259 (yaɱ yad eva paccayaṇ paṭicca by whatever cause or by whichever means); S 2.65. The fourfold cause (catubbidho paccayo) of rūpa (material form) consists of kamma, citta, utu, āhāra.

Condition: (Referencing OED) I. Something that must exist or be present if something else is to be or to take place. That on which anything else is contingent, a pre-requisite. Used as 'cause' or condition that each of the concurring anticedent circumstances viewed as contributary cause of a phenomena. The whole affecting circumstances (or circumstance) under which a being exists. II. Mode of being, state, position, nature, character, uality, characteristic. Verb: to impose a condition; to limit with conditions.

 

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Oblog: Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:18 AM

Footnotes
from AN 6.27 - Olds

Bhikkhu. From the √bhu to beg. The lowest of occupations. See: Using "Beggar" for "Bhikkhu" Using 'Beggar' for 'Bhikkhu' ... again

Bhaggava.

Kāma-rāga. Sense-pleasure-lust. A Nīvaraṇā, an obstruction to clear view as in something that obscures the view of one's face in a bowl of water. Simile: A pot of water mixed with lac, tumeric, blue or yellow dye. Results from: incautious attention to the pleasant feature of a thing. Cure: diverting the mind to attention to the unpleasant, insight into the ultimately painful nature of the pleasant.

Vyāpāda. Deviance from the Path: esp. anger and actions proceeding from anger. A Nīvaraṇā. Simile: A pot of water heated on the fire, boiling up and bubbling over. Results from: incautious attention to the unpleasant feature of a thing. Cure: diverting the mind with thoughts of friendliness, well-wishing.

Thina-middha Thick-fat-sluggishness, sloth, torpor, laziness, inertia. A Nīvaraṇā. Simile: A pot of water covered over with slimy moss and water-plants. Cure: putting forth energy; not over-eating; good posture, attention to perception of light.

Uddhacca-kukkucca. Remorse, fear, anxiety resulting from bad behavior. A Nīvaraṇā. Simile: A pot of water shaken with the wind, so that the water trembles, eddies and ripples. Cure: deliberatly stilling, calming, tranquillizing and pacifying the body and mind; attention to one's effort to improve one's ethical behavior; letting go and entering the jhānas.

Vicikicchā Second-thought, uncertainty, doubt, hesitation. A Nīvaraṇā. Simile: A pot of water stirred up, turbid, made muddy, set in a darkened room. Cure: Investigating Dhamma. Tracing things to their point of origin.

Yan nimittaɱ āgamma yaɱ nimittaɱ manasikaroto anantarā āsavānaɱ khayo hoti, taɱ nimittaɱ na jānāti, na passati. not knowing, not seeing that mark, proceeding from which mark, when that mark is studied in mind concludes in the destruction of the corrupting influences — āsavas: the corrupting influence of sense-pleasures; the corrupting influence of existence; the corrupting influence of blindness; and the corrupting influence of points of view. The corrupting influences are likened to a running sore. The sense pleasures are likened to a meatless bone, carrion attacked by vultures, a blazing torch carried against the wind, falling into a pit of glowing charcoal, a loan, having climbed a tree to enjoy the fruit while another man is chopping it down [see MN 54]; its mark is the pleasure, excitement, enjoyment, and delight in experience through the senses. Existence is likened to a man wandering in a waterless desert overcome with thirst and fatigue. It occurs with the conjunction of consciousness with named-forms and is the single condition which, if eliminated, eliminates old age, sickness, suffering and death, grief and lamentation, pain and misery, and despair; its marks are perception through the senses, and the presence of the thought "I am", "This is me" "This is myself", "This is mine." Blindness is likened to the man standing at the foot of a mountain disputing the view of his friend standing at the peak; a hidden thing; a man lost in the woods; beings exising in the dark unable to see visible shapes. It is the not seeing that 'this' is pain, that the origin of this pain is thirst, that the end of this pain is the end of that thirst, and that the way is the way to walk the walk that ends thirst; its mark is having an opinion about things; wanting to 'do' to create experience for the self. Clinging to Point of view is likened to a man pierced by a poison arrow who insists on knowing the maker of the arrow and other details about the arrow before he submits to treament for the poison. Point of view is forming an opinion from experience beyond direct observation. It generally involves the necessity to know all things at all times. To say: 'This is not myself,' is the statement of a direct observation about a thing under observation; it involves the need only to recognize the characteristic of change in that single thing; to say: 'There is no self' is the statement of an opinion formed about all things drawn from such a direct observation and is a point of view. One can state that there is no thing that is the self based on the direct observation that by the nature of existence as a phenomena occuring in and dependent on time, any thing that has come into existence is subject to time and consequently comes to an end, and that therefore all things that exist are out of one's control, and cannot because of that rightfully be called one's own, or that which belongs to the self. That is still not saying 'There is no Self' and is a statement of an observable fact, not a point of view. All behavior within existence is founded on a point of view. To extract the mind from existence by abandoning points of view, one adopts an intermediate point of view based on what is not a point of view, which aims at eliminating blindness, and which is not attached to issues of existence and non-existence but on observable phenomena which will lead to the abandoning of existence, that is, it directs the attention to pain and its elimination, that is, the Four Truths: 'This is Pain'; 'The origin of pain is Thirst' the ending of pain is the ending of that Thirst; and the Way is the way to do it. The mark of point of view is the presence of the thought "It is ... was, will be; It is not ... was not, will not be; This is the truth and all other beliefs are foolish."

 

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Oblog: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 10:14 AM

Updated PED text file. Most, but not all, abbreviations of gramatical terms have been expanded. Most [?] Sanskrit letters with diacriticals are now properly displayed. Both changes make for a much easier read. See here for more information.

 

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Oblog: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 5:14 AM

[SN 1.1.25] An Arahant, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation and the Rhys Davids translation.
The Buddha explains to a deva the distinction between a conventional use of the term "I" versus one which implies holding views about its existence or non-existence.
[DN 102] Five & Three (Excerpt), the Bhk. Thanissaro, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Sister Upalavanna translation, the Horner translation, and the Lord Chalmers translation.
In this sutta the Buddha outlines various views about the nature of the real, essential self and the world, past, future and present and points out that these views are all speculative and that for true satisfaction and liberation one must let go of all that which has been constructed, including speculative opinions.
See this sutta for its relevance to the discussion of Viññāṇa Anidassana below.
and the Discussion in the forum.

 

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Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Previous upload was Thursday, August 23, 2018

 

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[AN 5.223] Over-Staying (First), the M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
The problems associated with living in the same place for a long time versus the advantages of spending equal amounts of time in various places.
[AN 5.224] Over-Staying (Second), the M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
The problems associated with living in the same place for a long time versus the advantages of spending equal amounts of time in various places.

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Names for Nibbāna, essay by Bhikkhu Thanissaro.
Although Nibbāna is indescribable, the Buddha had many names for it to suggest why its a desirable goal. This short article discusses five aspects of nibbāna suggested by these names.
This very short essay appears to be an effort to clarify Bhk. Thanissaro's stand on Viññāṇa Anidassana. I will take this as an excuse to attempt to clarify the difference between Bhk. Thanissaro's take and the one presented here.

Here is the relevant paragraph in Bhk. Thanissaro's essay:

"The first [of five different facets of Nibbāna] is that its not a blank of nothingness. Instead, its a type of consciousness. But unlike ordinary consciousness, its not known through the six senses, and it doesn't engage in fabricating any experience at all — unlike, for example, the non-dual consciousness found in formless levels of concentration. The Buddha described this consciousness as "without surface" and "unestablished." His image for it is a beam of light that lands nowhere. Although bright in and of itself, it doesn't engage in anything, and so can't be detected by anyone else."

Where We Agree

We both agree that Viññāṇa Anidassana is a name for Nibbāna;
we both agree that this is of the nature of what we call consciousness;
we both agree that this consciousness is not of or by way of or known through the six senses. I would add that this means it is not a feature of an existing being.

Mixed Bag

When Bhk. Thanissaro speaks of a non-dual consciousness found in formless levels of concentration as being an example of doing fabricating [saṇkhāra] of experience [vedana] he is narrowing the case too much; at all levels of existence [bhava] consciousness results [paccaya] in named/forms [nāma/rūpa], named/forms result in consciousness: i.e., existence through sense-experience. [MN 15] And PS: the Buddha does not speak about consciousness as having two forms, one that is dual and one that is non-dual; he does speak of 'sorts of consciousnesses'. All sense-consciousness (the consciousness of living existing beings including those residing in the formless realms) is dual (there is the individuality identifying with the consciousness and there is the consciousness itself); Viññāṇa Anidassana which is outside of existence, is non-dual, it has no individuality associated with it, identifying with it. We agree that Viññāṇa Anidassana does not act/is not to be characterized as an aspect of the formation of an individuality experiencing existence, that is, in this case, consciousness is not a factor of the paṭicca samuppāda except as an inference drawn from the conclusion/purpose of that formula.

Where we part company

I do not translate Viññāṇa Anidassana as 'consciousness without surface', or 'unestablished'. Neither 'surface' nor 'establishment' is found in the term itself and it is not required by the context. Bhk. Thanissaro's translation appears to be a gloss resulting from his understanding of the simile. 'A ni-dassana' = 'Not-down-seen.' We might say: "Not to be seen down here." So I prefer: 'Not to be pinned down', or 'invisible'. But this is not important.

We disagree about whether or not Viññāṇa Anidassana is conditioned. The Buddha does not say that Nibbāna is not conditioned [a-paccaya]; he says it is not own-made [a-saṇkhāra]. Bhk. Thanissaro seems to contradict himself in this when he later states speaking of 'cause' [? hetu]: "Even though this dimension is uncaused, a path of practice leads to it - in the same way that a road to a mountain doesn't cause the mountain ... ."
I would say in return: To say that a path of practice results in Viññāṇa Anidassana is by definition to say that that path of practice was a 'condition' [paccaya] of its arising if not its cause.

Viññāṇa Anidassana is conditioned [paccaya]; it is the result of something, that is, following the Magga. What it is not is own-made [saṇkhāra'd, made by way of the intentions and acts of an individual seeking to create the experience of existence for himself. See: Is Nibbāna Conditioned? in the discussion forum.]

The Significance of the Differences

When Viññāṇa Anidassana, when saṇkhāra is mis-translated as 'condition,' is stated to be a thing that is unconditioned, and when one recollects the statement made by the Buddha that all consciousness (high, low, in-between) is conditined [paccaya], the mis-translation results in Viññāṇa Anidassana/Nibbāna being impossible to attain.

But when Viññāṇa Anidassana is held to be 'conditioned' [paccaya'd] by following the Magga, but is not 'own-made' [saṇkhāra'd], then it is possible to attain.

Mechanism of Action

Following the Magga is a practice which involves the special kamma that carries no kammic result.

The Magga is a path constructed of instructions as to what to intentionally abstain from doing.

When one follows Sammā Diṭṭhi, one abandons points of view concerning existence and non-existence. When one follows Sammā Vaca, one abstains from lies, etc. The result of not-doing is not an existing something, not an own-made thing/experience, not a saṇkhāra'd thing, it is a consequential result of the not-doing. What has resulted is the possibility of a perception based on freedom from what would have resulted had one 'done'. (Such perception is not guaranteed! It is required that at such a time as the mind has attained the freedom from results that follows not-doing, that freedom must be recognized as Nibbāna.)

What one did was abstain from own-making, (one intentionally did not 'do'). That was as far as the individual was involved in the action and that is as far as own-making goes: saṇkhāra is not an exact synynym for kamma. We might say that there are two results from this not-doing: the non-experiencing of what might have been the result of doing (that is the own-made result), and the consciousness that results from knowing the freedom from that result (that is a result that has appeared because of conditions, but is not a result of own-making).

Again: the result [paccaya; condition] was not something done by the individual and was not something that 'became'. It is a state of consciousness not grounded on what exists but on freedom from things of existence.

The difference therefore between what is described here and what Bhk. Thanissaro is describing is not in the end result but in the terms needed to be employed in order to see the way to that result. Bhk. Thanissaro leaves us with an unnecessary mystery, and the result for him has been a huge outcry in the Buddhist Community that he is promoting a sort of Bodhi mind. He is not. But in not carefully noting the earlier mis-translation of saṇkhāra as 'condition', he leaves the practitiner who follows his ideas with no way to attain the goal and with the goal itself in doubt: is it conditioned?, and if not, how is it to be arrived at since every action taken to arrive at it would condition it?

Again, the underlying stumbling block to understanding this whole thing is not understanding the Buddhist definition of 'existence' as being limited to that which is formed by consciousness in conjunction with named/forms: a definition which allows for things like consciousness which is not associated with the named/form 'identified-with sense experience'.

My say.

Edit: I translate saṇkhāra as 'own-making'; 'construction' or even 'fabricating' work just as well in my argument as long as it is remembered that what this means is 'construction by an individual identifying with the intent to create personal experience for himself by way of acts of thought, speech and body. Avijja paccaya saṇkhāra. Not seeing that the construction of a personal world is the construction of personal pain, one constructs the personal world.

 

Of Related Interest:

MN 102

 

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Thursday, August 23, 2018
Previous upload was Friday, August 10, 2018

 

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[AN 5.151] The Orderliness of the True Dhamma, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation and the Olds translation.
The Buddha describes five factors which assure good results from hearing Dhamma. Bhk. Thanissaro's translation contains a lengthy discussion of the term ek'agga-citto. His conclusion: this term should not be being translated 'one-pointed' when found as an aspect of jhāna descriptions. He translates: 'a mind gathered into one'. I would prefer to see the term translated 'focus' which would be supported by all the arguments made in this footnote and is a bit clearer as to the meaning. I have also used 'whole heartedly single-minded' which is actually translating the term twice, but fits the phenomena as experienced. Here I have used just 'whole-heartedly'.

 

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[AN 5.158] Overcome by the Fearful, The M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.
Five conditions giving rise to fear and five giving rise to confidence.

■

"Possessed by five things, beggars, a beggar is fearless.

What five?

In this case beggars, a beggar has faith,
has ethical standards
is learned,
is of aroused energy,
is wise.

■

 

 

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Friday, August 10, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, August 6, 2018

 

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Suggested possible, radically different, meaning of the term: Vicāra: Emotion. Of-motion. Cāra = walk around. So we have with us in the first jhāna Re-thinking and Emotions. [Edit: forget this too far out]

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[AN 5.122] The Set-up Mind, the M. Olds translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation,
Five things which result in either arahantship here or non-returning for the one who fully develops them.

 

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Monday, August 6, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, July 16, 2018

 

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[AN 4.243] Sikkhā-Nisaɱsa Suttaɱ, Training, the Bhikkhu Ṭhānissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
The Buddha explains that this holy life is lived for the sake of the advantages of the training, for higher wisdom, for the highest freedom, and for mastery of mind, and he describes how each of these things is arrived at.

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Monday, July 16, 2018
Previous upload was Sunday, July 8, 2018

 

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[THIG] Therī-Gāthā, the Pāḷi text.
Linked to the Mrs. Rhys Davids translation which is complete, and to the translated verses of Bhikkhu Thanissaro. All on one file. Individual verses can be located by appending '#v0' to the url.

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Sunday, July 8, 2018
Previous upload was Sunday, July 1. 2018

 

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[AN 5.51] Diversions, the M. Olds translation.
[AN 5.52] A Constillation of Ineptitudes, the M. Olds translation.
Some things should be kept in mind when thinking over and pondering the meaning of these two suttas while in the first jhāna: The Nivaraṇas are not 'obstructions', they are 'diversions'. The simile [in AN 5.51] is of something that is diverting, not obstructing, the forward momentum of a stream. Then think about the fact that that which obstructs does not involve the will of the individual or necessarily reduce his strength or wisdom, whereas diversions are by their nature participated in by the individual and weaken (by dividing his attention) his will power and diminish his wisdom (by removing it from its base at the center). The point is the need to take responsibility. Don Juan would call these 'self-indulgences'. Thinking this way of the nivaraṇa one has allowed the possibility of their removal by putting them under the control of the individual. Obstructions come from the outside and their appearance cannot be controlled, diversions are self-created and can be abstained from. No action required. Just not-doing. The trick is to be fast enough to see where one is, one's self, allowing the mind to become diverted from the goal.

 

Sunday, July 1, 2018
Previous upload was Wednesday, June 20, 2018

 

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[AN 5.24] Of Poverty in Ethics, the M. Olds translation.
The Buddha outlines the progressive interdependence of ethical behavior, serenity, knowing and seeing, disenchantment and dispassion, and knowing and seeing freedom.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, May 28, 2018

 

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[SN 5.47.16] To Uttiya, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
The Buddha gives Uttiya a teaching which leads to his becoming an Arahant.
[AN 3.32] To Ven. Ānanda, Bhk. Thanissaro, trans.
[AN 3.33a] To Ven. Sāriputta, Bhk. Thanissaro, trans.
Ānanda asks the Buddha whether or not there is a state of samadhi in which there is no I-making or My-Making and yet there is liberation of the heart by wisdom. The Buddha replies that this state is attained thinking: 'This is sanity, this is the pinnacle, that is, the calming of all own-making, the forsaking of upkeep, the destruction of thirst, dispassion, ending, Nibbāna.

 

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Monday, May 28, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, April 30, 2018

 

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The Undermining,
Confusion,
and Vanishing Away
of The Good Word

Saddhamma
sad'dhamma
Trust-worthy Dhamma

 

In the first case, beggars,
is the case where beggars
commit to memory a sutta
in the wrong way,
with the words and their implications
stated incorrectly.

Now beggars,
if the words and their implications
are stated incorrectly,
the intended meaning
will subsequently be understood incorrectly.

This is the first case
which conduces to the undermining,
confusion,
and vanishing away
of the good word.

— AN 4.160 Olds.

 

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[AN 4.131] Man's Self-Yokings, the M. Olds translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, and the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
The Buddha describes four sorts of persons in relationship to the sorts of self-yokings to rebirth (saṇyojanāni) they have or have not yet got rid of. This sutta is especially relevant to the debate concerning whether or not there is for some a sort of continued existence between the time of death and the next rebirth.
The key phrase to understand here is: Antarā-parinibbāyissa. Antarā from antara: in the interstice, "in between". Presumably after death and before final Nibbāna; but could it also mean after having abandoned the self-yokes that would otherwise have lead him at death to some sort of rebirth have been let go, and before final Nibbāna? This latter would allow the argument that there was no continuation of consciousness between births, but it would duplicate or cover the territory of other types of non-returner and such a one would be an arahant prior to or upon death so the category would be useless.
The designation Antarā-parinibbāyissa is here defined as a person who has let go of the self-yokes which would have bound him to the lower sorts of rebirth (defined elsewhere as those realms from the Tusita world down); he has let go those sorts of self-yokings which would have bound him to any sort of rebirth; but has not yet let go of those sorts of self-yokes that would result in personal experience of existence (bhava). Think incorporal observation, or perhaps an identified-with eye otherwise without a body, seeing objects. Having eliminated 'rebirth' from the options available, we have only one reasonable possibility as to the meaning: That subsequent to this individual's death here, but prior to his rebirth anywhere else, he continues to experience, (or there continues to be the experience of) the results of his earlier own-makings (saṇkhāra).
Why do I find this completely reasonable while it drives so many people nutz? Because of the explanation of the definition of existence as given in DN 15, where it is said that it is only in-so-far-as there is the conjunction of consciousness with named forms that it can be said that there is existence for a thing. Such a one's prior saṇkhāraɱing was the joining together of consciousness with named-forms; the result is identified-with consciousness of named forms. The results of earlier saṇkhāraɱing are kamma which must be experienced (worked out). When the rest of the individuality has 'served its time', the body goes. When the individuality breaks up at death, if the mind isn't ready yet, consciousness of existing named-forms continues on. At a later point, 'all this' becomes cool, and such a one has attained Arahantship. It is because our 'science' cannot conceive of anything outside existence (e.g., pre-existence, post-existence, extra-sensory existence, potential existence, coming into being, etc.) that there is so much resistance to this idea.
Finally, the idea that this sutta does not spell out a clear progression of ideas describing the advantages of letting go of the self-yokes: The streamwinner who comes back but once; the streamwinner who goes in a steady line from here to the end; the streamwinner who is almost an arahant, but has some own-makings lagging behind, and the arahant in this visible world ... is hard to believe.

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[AN 7.51] Undeclared, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare (pts) translation, and the Olds translation.
A bhikkhu asks the Buddha how to overcome doubt concerning questions of existence and non-existence. He explains that it is by throughly understanding views and their formations that such doubt is overcome.
[SN 4.35.116] Cosmos, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, and the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
The Buddha states that the end of the world is not to be reached by finding the end of the world but also that the end of pain cannot be reached without finding the end of the world. The bhikkhus question Ānanda about this teaching in brief and Ānanda explains that the meaning is that in the Buddha's system the world is to be understood as experiencing through the senses. The Buddha confirms Ānanda's explanation.
[AN 8.13] Unruly, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro, translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Hare translation, and the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
The Buddha gives eight ways in which a thoroughbred horse and a worthy bhikkhu share similar traits.

 

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[Dhamma-Pada Pāḷi] Dhamma-Pada Pāḷi, the Pāḷi text. Chapters are linked to the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Probably the best known book on Pāḷi Buddhism and the best known work of the Pāḷi cannon.

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[MN 6] If One Would Wish, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Warren translation, the Rhys Davids translation, the Horner translation, the Chalmers translation, the Ñaṇamoli/Bodhi translation and the Sister Upalavanna translation.
Gotama emphasizes again and again the importance of perfecting ethical behavior, internal tranquillity of heart, not dispising jhāna practice, penetrating insight, and the making much of empty places for the gaining of every stage in his system from the very most elementary to the most advanced.
[SN 3.22.88] To Assaji, Bhk. Thanissaro trans.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, and the Bhk. Bodhi translationVenerable Assaji is suffering an illness which prevents him from attaining jhāna and he is worried about falling away. The Buddha explains to him that the essence of his teaching is not the attaining of jhāna, and he instructs him in such a way as to bring about Assaji's arahantship.
[SN 5 46.54] Goodwill, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, and the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
The Buddha develops the four Brahmā Viharas by way of the Seven Dimensions of Self-awakening showing the scope and maximum accomplishment successively of the thorough practice of projecting friendliness, compassion, empathy and detachment while developing memory, Dhamma-investigation, energy building, enthusiasm, impassivity, serenity, and detachment.
[SN 5.54.8] The Lamp, The Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation, the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation, and the Olds translation.
The Buddha lists many advantages of minding the respirations from lack of fatigue through the jhānas to the ending of perception and sense-experience. He then describes the mental state of such a one.

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Monday, April 30, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, April 16, 2018

 

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The Thousand-Fold Galaxy. Image Courtesy of the European Space Agency's Gaia Project

 

Announcement

This site has now been converted to display Unicode character entities for Pāḷi diacriticals.

Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome all work with this encoding right out of the box. I.E. Users must change I.E.'s encoding to properly display Unicode characters:
View > Encoding > [scroll down] click (Unicode utf-8).

Most users will not notice any difference. Where this change is important (vital) is where users need to copy, edit, proof, use the source files. These, with this change, will now be readable with diacriticals properly desplayed as opposed to a sea of numbers or unintelligible characters.

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The Pāli Text Society's Pāli-English Dictionary by T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede. This is a .TXT file. It is intended for use as follows:

There are two versions:
1. ped.utf8.zip For programs that recognize unix line endings; (works in Wordpad) and
2. Ped.utf8.pcln.zip for Notepad and if all you see using #1 is a mass of run-in lines.

1. Download the zip file, expand and place the .txt file in some convenient location.

2. Create a shortcut on your desktop. You can copy this image and use it for your icon:

3. Opening this file will bring up your default Text Editor. If you are going to do extensive work on Pāḷi documents, I suggest you get a copy of TextPad, (not a paid recommendation! I have been using this editor since the late 1990s; all the pages on this site have been hand coded using it) as it has numerous features (including a unicode character entry tool) which make Pāḷi-Text-Editing life relatively simple.

4. You will then be able to copy and paste words selected from unicode encoded files on this site (all files here are now unicode encoded) and using the search or find tool in the editor, you can quickly look up Pāḷi terms. In Textpad, but not in Notepad and Wordpad, lookup (find/search) can be set to "use regular expression" and by placing a '^' befor the word, it will bring you directly to the entry for that word; otherwise it will bring you to successive instances of the word ... you will eventually get to the entry! Random searches are useful for finding variations in the use of the term relative to other terms. Alternatively capitalization will usually result in you being pointed to the entry.

This document is the basis of a future dictionary which will not likely come into existence in my lifetime. Meanwhile if you can manage miscellaneous stupid errors, I am continuously correcting this file (it began life as a mangled OCR conversion) and as it stands is the easiest way I have found to quickly look up terms. The Dictionary is also a really good way to find suttas you are looking for. This tool, in any case, beats hands down the tool at the U. of Chicago.

This will not work with numerical character entities found on some source files (e.g.: ATI), but will work copying the html output from such.

Preview in Browser. You can use this tool from the Firefox browser by clicking the 'Open Menu' > Find in this Page. If you click 'Match Case' you will 'most likely' be brought to the entry for the word. A similar but less sophisticated process is available in Chrome. A similar and sligltly better process is available in I.E (note settings change required; see above).

Finally, use this tool in conjunction with the Genovation Macro Keypad discussed here and 'SNAP FINGERS!' you're a Pāḷi scholar.

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[AN 6.43] Nāga Suttaɱ, On the Nāga, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.
The Buddha explains that whereas in the world any great bulky thing is called a Naga, the great Naga is one who commits no unskillful deed of body, speech or mind.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Hare translation.

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Monday, April 16, 2018
Previous upload was Tuesday, March 27, 2018

 

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[ITI Index] Itivutakaɱ, The Pāḷi text.
Formatted for reading and comprehension. This edition is based on the ATI version of the BJT text, proofed by people at The Journal of Buddhist Ethics and given a lite proofing as it was formatted, but there are still likely a good number of errors.
Linked to the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Previous upload was Monday, January 28, 2018

 

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The Apadāna Legends of the Buddhist Saints, translated by Johathan S. Walters
Legends of the Buddhist Saints (Apadana) is a collection of about six hundred autobiographical poems ascribed to the accomplished Buddhas and Arahants of the early Buddhist community. The author has asked that I make sure readers are aware that this is a work still in beta and that they should check from time to time for an updated work. [Contact info is on the copright page.

 

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Path of Purification, Bhk. Ñāṇamoli, translation.
The classic manual of Buddhist Doctrine and Meditation. Not recommended because it describes a very different Buddhism than that found in the four Nikāyas. Others hold that this is the real Buddhism. Included here on this site so that readers can make up their own minds.

 

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[SN 2.12.23] Transcendental Dependent Arising Translation & Exposition of the Upanisa Sutta, Bhk. Bodhi.
The Buddha teaches a variation of the paṭicca samuppāda which works back from the elimination of the corrupting influences (asavas) and he states that there is no destroying the corrupting influences without knowing and seeing this progression.
The key word to understand here, aside from the terms for the links themselves, is 'Upanisa' = up-sitting ('Set ya'sef down!') that which gives rise to the setting up of something. Bhk. Thanissaro: 'prerequisites'; Bhk. Bodhi: 'Supporting Conditions' A very important sutta! Sometimes called the positive version of the paṭicca samuppāda .

 

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[AN 1.140-141] For the Benefit of Many People Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Olds translation and the Woodward translation.
The advantages to the individual, to gods and men, and to the preservation of the Dhamma of explaining Dhamma as Dhamma and Not-Dhamma as Not-Dhamma; and the disadvantages to the individual, to gods and men, and to the preservation of the Dhamma of explaining as Dhamma what is Not-Dhamma and Not-Dhamma as Dhamma.
[AN 1.329] Foul-Smelling, Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi, the Woodward translation and the Olds translation.
As brief as this sutta is, the meaning is profoundly important: The Buddha does not recommend existence even for so short a time as it takes to snap the fingers.
[AN 2.36] To Ārāmadaṇṭa, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
It is because of attachment to sensuality and points of view that people dispute with each other.
[SN 4.42.7] Teaching, the Bhk. Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
The Buddha explains his priorities when it comes to whom to teach first, second and last.
[THIG 10] Kīsā Gotamī, the Bhk. Thanissaro translation.
Linked to the Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema translation and the Mrs. Rhys Davids translation.
[AN 4.131] Fetters the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
Once-returners, two types of non-returners, and arahants, analyzed in terms of the fetters they have and haven't abandoned.
[DN 1] The Brahmā Net the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi the Rhys Davids translation, the Walshe translation, the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation, and the Olds translation.
A sutta which serves well as an introduction to the Buddhist Dhamma for the serious beginner. It goes into minute detail concerning ethical practices and what is considered by the Buddha as 'other points of view' held by the world called 'the net of views' from which his Dhamma provides an escape.
[AN 2.35] Minds in Tune the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
What it means to be fettered interiorly or exteriorly
[AN 4.194] At Sāpuga, the Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
Ānanda instructs the men of the Tiger's Path Clan in four ways to exert energy to bring about perfection in ethical conduct, heart, point of view and freedom
[MN 10] The Great Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse, a newly revised version, Bhikkhu Thanissaro translation.

 

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Monday, January 28, 2018
Previous upload was Sunday, December 31, 2017

 

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The scents of flowers and saps and roots
go only on the wind,
but the scent of the good man
goes in all directions
with and against the wind.

— AN 3.79

 

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Not from all things turn away the mind,
if mind be well restrained —
But where whatever evil be,
at that repelled is mind well-trained.

— SN 1.1.24, olds, trans.

 

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[AN 3.103] Lamentation, the Olds translation,
Linked to the Pāḷi and the Woodward translation.
The Buddha says that singing is just lamentation, dancing is just madness, and laughter is just childishness. Destroy the bridge, he says, to singing and dancing; It is enough, if something is really worthy of rejoicing, to simply smile.

 

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With this upload the process of migrating the editorial content of the What's New? pages has been completed. The contents of the 'What's New?' pages for 2017 — 2010 have been integrated into the site at large with most materials being placed in the following pages/sections (Some editing has been done, more pages need to be edited for better organization, elimination of redundant expositions, consolidation of closely related topics.):

The short (and sometimes somewhat longer) descriptive paragraphs for individual suttas have been incorporated into the Sutta Index listings. Noted in detail below.

Longer discussions relating to the analysis of specific suttas are now located under the Dhammatalk Forum Heading: Dhammatalk, Sutta Vibangha: Sutta Analysis

Essays on various subjects have been added to their relevant subject categories on the Forum. Some have had new pages created, some were added to existing threads.

Short quotes from the suttas have been placed in the ever-popular 'One-Liners' section.

Inspiring quotes from outside the Dhamma have been placed under a new topic-head in the Dhammatalk Forum: Inspirational and (hopefully) Thought Provoking Quotations and Short Essays from Outside the Strictly Buddhist Literature.

 

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BACK ISSUES
of
The Oblog

A Dhamma Curriculum. The Oblog, What's New? listings reformatted as a Dhamma study guide.

What's New? 2023 ■ What's New? 2021 ■ 2022 was mostly a write-off; what little that was done is listed under 2021, repeat for 2023 ■ What's New? 2020 ■ What's New? 2019 ■ What's New? 2018 ■ What's New? 2017 ■ What's New? 2016
What's New? 2015 ■ What's New? 2014 ■ What's New? 2010-2013

 

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