What B.Analayo says about V&V in MN 19, 78, 125

What B.Analayo says about V&V in MN 19, 78, 125

2009 Bhikkhu Anālayo's (V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra enclopedia entry:

In fact, according to the (MN 78) Samanamandikii Sutta, the
complete cessation of unwholesome thoughts and intentions can be achieved by attaining the first jhana.
This points to the contribution that the development
of samatha has to offer in relation to overcoming
unwholesome thoughts. A meditation practice
explicitly recommended forgoing beyond thought is
mindfulness of breathing (Ud. 37).

Vitakka and Jhana

The Dvedhavitakka Sutta (MN 19) indicates that even
though thoughts related to renunciation, non ill-will
and harmlessness are entirely wholesome, yet,
excessive thinking will tire the mind and not lead to
concentration. Hence at some point even wholesome thoughts need to be left behind in order to steady the mind and lead it to deeper concentration (MN 19) (M I. 116).
However, though deeper stages of concentration will
lead beyond thoughts, this does not mean that vitakka
has no place at all in the context of early Buddhist
meditation. In fact, reflective types of meditation are
described in the discourses and in later literature.
involving various recollections, anussati. These can
take the Buddha, his teachings or the community as
their object, or else one's own virtue or generosity, or
heavenly beings ( A. III,312).

---

When I first read this section, I was stunned. He ignores MN 125 in this section, and perhaps the entire encyclopedia entry.
But even just looking at MN 19 and MN 78, there’s enough information there that’s impossible to miss, impossible to ignore.
He cites MN 78, so we know he knows about it, and he’s even translated the MN 78 Chinese parallel in his MA studies.
The crucial part of MN 78 states the 3 skillful thoughts (sankappa/vitakka) don’t cease until second jhana.
That crucial part is incontrovertible evidence that shows V&V does not change in nature before, and during first jhana.
And that is just two sentences away from the part he cited about unwholesome thoughts ceasing in first jhana.
Impossible to miss that. Unless he was grossly negligent.
I was shocked, stunned, and depressed when I read this because the horror dawned on me that a highly regarded academic scholar and meditation monk, vowed to a life of integrity and honesty, was intentionally being deceptive and intellectually dishonest. It’s only because of the technical nature of the topic that most people will not see and understand the deception.
It’s as close as you can come to an outright lie without technically being a lie.
He was either being negligent, incompetent, or intellectually dishonest.
We can rule out the first two, because if it was an honest mistake, you would expect he’d have published an amendment and fixed it.
Perhaps his omission of MN 125 was an honest oversight in this encyclopedia entry, but with his publication of EBMS dated 2017,
With his comparative MN and MA studies, and his attempt to dismiss the validity of those suttas by his dubious theory of possible transmission error, we can safely conclude this is intellectual dishonesty to the highest degree.

---

2017 B. Analayo’s EBMS Absorption (p. 125)

In sum, to take these two discourses (MN 19 & MN 125 & their Chinese parallels) as canonical support for
assuming that the first absorption is comparable to ordinary
thinking activity is doubtful, as the apparent progression from
such an ordinary state of mind directly to the second absorption,
without ever having experienced the first absorption, could just
be the result of a transmission error

---

We’re going to come back to his 2017 treatment in just a short while.
First, let’s see what he said about these 3 suttas (and their 3 parallels) between 2009 and 2017.

---

MN 78 compstudy vol.1 2011

(MN 78: in 2011 B.Analayo knows where 'wholesome thoughts' cease)
MN II 27 With their examination of conduct completed, the two versions turn to thoughts or intentions, whose arising they attribute to perception. According to both versions, unwholesome thoughts or intentions cease with the first jhāna. In relation to the cessation
of wholesome thoughts or intentions, the Majjhima-nikāya account attributes such cessation to the second jhāna, whereas its Madhyama-āgama parallel speaks of the fourth
jhāna instead. (180)
_{(180) MN 78 at MN II 28,22 and MĀ 179 at T I 721b17. In relation to this difference, it is noteworthy that the standard description of the jhānas in the Pāli and Chinese discourses presents the removal of initial and sustained mental application as the decisive precondition for entering the second jhāna. Thus, although wholesome thoughts and intentions will certainly have ceased with the fourth jhāna, the same already takes place as soon as the second jhāna has been attained, so that the presentation in MN 78 appears to be more to the point.}
...
In fact, a closer inspection of the (MN 78) Sama+ama+:ikā-sutta suggests the commentarial
explanation to be unconvincing. According to the exposition given in the discourse itself, the cessation of unwholesome intentions takes place with the first jhāna, and the
cessation of wholesome intentions with the second jhāna.

MN 125 compstudy vol.2 2011

The two versions continue with the attainment of the four jhānas. While the Majjhima-nikāya discourse directly approaches the second jhāna, without mentioning the first
jhāna,(172) the Madhyama-āgama version takes the first jhāna into account (see above
table 13.4). (173)
In relation to this difference, it strikes an unfamiliar note when the Dantabhūmi-sutta
presents a progression of practice that leads from satipa""hāna meditation directly to
the second jhāna, without prior attainment of the first jhāna. Although satipa""hāna can
serve as a foundation for the development of the jhānas, (174) in itself it does not constitute a form of jhāna practice. Perhaps the occurrence of the word vitakka in the passage
on satipa""hāna without thought has led to a lapse on the part of the reciter(s) of the
discourse, who continued straight away with the calming of vitakka (vitakka-vicārā-
na vūpasamā), mentioned at the outset of the second jhāna formula, thereby unintentionally dropping the first jhāna in between.175
_{172 MN 125 at MN III 136,26. Notably, Ee also does not mention the fourth jhāna, although the same is found in Be-MN III 175,25, Ce-MN III 316,20, and Se-MN III 269,20. 173 MĀ 198 at T I 758b25. 174 The foundational role of satipa""hāna for deeper levels of concentration can be seen, e.g., in DN 18 at DN II 216,12, SN 52:6 at SN V 299,19, and SN 52:11-24 at SN V 303-305. 175 For a similar case cf. above p. 140; cf. also Anālayo 2012d.}

MN 19 compstudy vol.1 2011

Becoming concentrated in this way leads in both versions to the attainment of the four
jhānas. While in the Dvedhāvitakka-sutta the attainment of the jhānas is still part of the
future Buddha’s own pre-awakening development,198 in its Madhyama-āgama parallel
the subject of the sentence changes from the Buddha to a monk in general, who by overcoming wholesome thoughts will be able to attain the jhānas.199 Another difference in
relation to the same statement is that the Chinese version proceeds directly from leaving
behind wholesome thoughts to the attainment of the second jhāna, while the Pāli
version includes the first jhāna in its account.200 The Dvedhāvitakka-sutta continues after the four jhānas with the attainment of the three higher knowledges. The Madhyama-
āgama parallel, however, mentions only the third of these, the destruction of the influxes.201
_{199 MĀ 102 at T I 589c7: 若比丘 ... 得第二禪成就遊 ... 得第四禪成就遊. 200 A similar absence of the first jhāna can be found in MN 125 at MN III 136,27, which proceeds directly from overcoming thoughts to the second jhāna. In this case, however, the parallel MĀ 198 at T I 758b26 does refer to the first jhāna. Notably, in the case of MN 125 and MĀ 198 as well as in the present case of MN 19 and MĀ 102, the jhāna treatments are preceded by a reference to leaving behind thinking. This suggests that the omission of the first jhāna in MN 125 and in MĀ 102 may be a transmission error that happened during oral recitation, where the circumstance that a leaving behind of “thought” (vitakka) has just been mentioned may have misled the reciter(s) to continue with the standard formulation of the second jhāna, which mentions such leaving behind of vitakka, thereby unintentionally omitting to recite the first jhāna; cf. also Anālayo 2012d}

---

MN 19, 78, 125 final score: 🔪 Occam's razor six, Bhikkhu Anālayo zero

There is no way Bhikkhu Anālayo could have forgotten about MN 78 between 2009 and his EBMS book in 2017.
There is also the fact that he translated, from Chinese, the MN 78 parallel,
as well as two different chinese EBT lineage versions for the parallel to MN 10 satipaṭṭhāna.
The (V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra, directed-thought & evaluation controversy is a big deal, and the key suttas are well understood by all sides. Even if he didn't personally make the logical deduction initially that "wholesome thoughts ceasing in second jhāna" means that wholesome thoughts are still operational in first jhāna, someone would have told him.
What he's trying to do here, in his analaysis of MN 19, 78, 125, is reframe the narrative.
First, pretend to forget about MN 78 and its parallel, both of which provide incontrovertible evidence against his position, to make odds appear more favorable.
With the field reduced down to 4 suttas (MN 19, MN 125, and their parallels), he tries to sell us on his narrative fallacy of "perhaps MN 19 and MN 125 omitted first jhāna (V&V💭) because of faulty oral transmission." Most people would probably think it's kind of a 50/50 proposition, a fifty percent chance there was faulty oral transmission.
Recall the conjunction fallacy. Even if we were to play by his dishonest rules reframing the game, and assume there's kind of a 50% chance there was oral transmission error in either EBT lineage, the chance that both of them made a transmission error, by Bayes theorem in conditional probability, is 0.5 multiplied by 0.5, or one out of four chance, 25% chance for his preferred scenario of both sides having a transmission error.
In other words, even in Bhikkhu Anālayo's crooked dice game, there's still a 75% chance one of the lineage was not a transmission error, and the final vote count would favor the EBT position, not Bhikkhu Anālayo's (V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra, directed-thought & evaluation redefinition.
These probabilities here are not to give realistic probabilities, but just to give a very rough idea of how unrealistic and ridiculous his far fetched hypothesis fallacy proposal really is. The moral of the story is that with good story telling skills, the right amount of intellectual dishonesty, a biased agenda, a good narrative fallacy and conjunction fallacy, you can spin a tale that seems plausible. It's how high powered attorneys make the big bucks, how politicians cheat their constiutuents and how organized religion can easily manipulate their followers.
Now if we bring MN 78 and its parallel back into the picture, and even if we indulge in Bhikkhu Anālayo's fantasy of oral transmission error, it's a landslide victory for EBT and a loss for Bhikkhu Anālayo.
In fact even if we play his crooked game and leave out MN 78 and assume transmission error in both lineages, evidence is still in favor of EBT. The EBT interpretation of (V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra, directed-thought & evaluation works whether first jhāna formula is there or not. But the absence of first jhāna makes it an airtight case AGAINST Bhikkhu Anālayo and VRJ (Vism. Re-definition of Jhāna), because they need the first jhāna there for that little bit of wiggle room to try to posit the existence of a different type of (V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra that exists only in first jhāna.

MN 19 but wait, there’s more fallacies

Even if we play his crooked game, and grant his assumptions, there are still many fallacies in his argument. I don’t have time and interest to address them all, but this is an important one.
From his MN 19 and parallel 2011 comments and footnotes, he says one overcomes wholesome thinking and “Chinese version proceeds directly from leaving behind wholesome thoughts to the attainment of the second jhāna,”. That is hideously wrong. Here’s what MN 19 actually says. If you think too intensely or indulge in too much wholesome thinking, it will make your body tired, thereby blocking kāya-passadhi-sambojjhanga (bodily pacification awakening factor), and blocking the samadhi sambojjhanga and first jhana from happening. Between the passage I quote below, and the appearance of first jhana formula, nothing else is said about vitakka. It doesn’t get abandoned, it becomes more calm and gentle.

---

Rattin-divaṃ cepi naṃ, bhikkhave,	even for a day & night,
anu-vitakkeyyaṃ anu-vicāreyyaṃ,	(if I should) excessively-think (and) excessively-ponder,
neva tatonidānaṃ bhayaṃ samanupassāmi.	I do not envision any danger that would come from it,
api ca kho me aticiraṃ anu-vitakkayato anu-vicārayato	except that thinking & pondering a long time
kāyo kilameyya.	would tire the body.
kāye kilante VAR cittaṃ ūhaññeyya.	When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed;
ūhate citte ārā cittaṃ samādhimhāti.	(and a) disturbed mind (is) far (from a) mind (in) undistractable-lucidity.’

(code phrase for “attempt 4 jhānas”)

so kho ahaṃ, bhikkhave,	So I,
ajjhattameva cittaṃ	internally (my) mind
saṇṭhapemi sannisādemi	steadied (and) settled,
ekodiṃ karomi VAR	unified (I) made (it),
samādahāmi.	(I made it) undistractable-&-lucid.
taṃ kissa hetu?	Why is that?
‘mā me cittaṃ ūhaññī’ti VAR.	So that my mind would not be disturbed.

---

MN 125 is also very explicit, not leaving any wiggle room about what the nature of vitakka is in first jhana. 5Niv (hindrances) already abandoned with S&S in previous stage, first jhana formula omitted, and what appears in the place that first jhana would have occupied is more S&S, with Dhamma vitakka, thoughts connected to dhamma and S&S.

kāmūpasaṃhitaṃ vitakkaṃ vitakkesī’	but don’t think thoughts connected with sensual pleasures

---

It’s astounding that when the Buddha makes such clear, explicit, concise explanations of the exact nature of V&V in first jhana like this, intellectually dishonest people with a biased agenda will still try to use sophistry and fallacy to read in absurd interpretations.

☸ MN 19, 78, 125 final score: 🔪 Occam's razor six, Bhikkhu Anālayo zero

AN 9.34 V&V why foolish cow is doomed

AN 9.34 V&V why foolish cow is doomed
if you don't have a proper understanding of V&V

excerpt from
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/foolish-cow-is-doomed-v-v-vitakka-vicara-in-abhidhamma-vibhanga-and-kn-petako-to-vism/5939/3

...
In Vimt. (will pull up quotes later) and EBT, first jhana foolish cow (AN 9.34) and skillful cook (SN 47.8) works on purifying wrong thoughts, replacing them with right thoughts (renunciation, non-lust, good will, etc, dukkha), understanding why wrong thoughts happen, finding strategies to remove them, purifing right view and right thought to get into first jhana.

vism. is reduced to samatha kung fu. This is not to denigrate samatha kung fu, that is important and has its place, but for first jhana, the salient and main feature the EBT passages is going after is replacing unskillful wrong thoughts/intentions with right ones connected to the Dhamma, and then attenuating those right thoughts until the volume is turned down enough to satisfy kaya and citta passaddhi and slide you into first jhana. Very different approach.

I spent many years in a VIsm. Jhana training system monastery in asia, so this is a firsthand account, not a theory or hearsay. I’ve seen people spend years just trying to get into first jhana using the Vism. approach of samatha kung fu and protecting their breath nimitta as Vism. recommends for the activity of V&V.  (AN 9.34) The foolish cow is not only foolish under the Vism. model, it’s doomed.

....

You can compare how Vism.'s use of V&V in first jhāna is quite different than Vimt. They’re both working on earth kasina, and the method is the same, but Vimt. still takes care to mention “separation from lust and hindrances”, the most prominent part of samma sankappo that is active as V&V (vitakka and vicara) in first jhana.

Vism. on the other hand, they segregate the normal “thinking” aspects of V&V to the access concentration portion, and under first jhāna, V&V only takes on the narrow “fixity”.

So this is how this affects the foolish cow. The EBT and vimt. pasture for first jhāna is completely different than the pasture for Vism.!

On the Vism. pasture, they’re trying to anxiously protect a mentally generated visual image of an earth kasina, a photographic memory of a brown/red disk. V&V is striking, threshing, at the disk, trying to “dive into it” to get the redefined Vism. Jhāna.

On the Vimt. pasture, they’re using the same meditation technique, but they still acknowledge that hindrances, thoughts of sensuality, ill will , etc, are part of the job of V&V in first jhana. (applied and sustained thought is translator’s choice of words).

In Vism., V&V becomes reduced to just a pure samatha kung fu training exercise. This is why they had to create “access concentration” , a term not in the EBT. To restore the important functionality of V&V and S&S (sati and sampajano) that they pulled out of EBT jhāna.

book: Bhikkhu Anālayo's mistranslation of V&V

This is why it matters

(V&V💭) vitakka & vicāra = directed-thought & evaluation
(S&S🐘💭) sati & sam-pajāno = remembering & lucid-discerning
VRJ = (Vism. Re-definition of Jhāna)

If one insists on politeness and gentle speech at all times, then it often comes at the cost of clarity.

In the case of V&V, this issue is of vital importance and grave errors need to be clearly expressed.
That includes the degree of severity.
If one is too worried about being polite in how that is expressed,
then it obfuscates the severity of the problem and the nature of the problem.

The Buddha Dhamma comes down to just seeing Dukkha clearly, and abandoning it.
You can only see Dukkha clearly to the degree that samādhi is powerful enough.

If you can’t see it clearly, you won’t abandon it, won’t want to abandon it, don’t realize you would be better off abandoning it.

That’s why samādhi is so important.

The Buddha promised a gradual training, including samādhi.

When you teach V&V (vitakka & vicara) of first jhāna monumentally wrong, you’ve killed the gradual training.

Without first jhāna, people think they “don’t have enough merit and/or wisdom” and need to wait lifetime(s) before they can practice seriously.

This is not conjecture, this is what happened when the VRJ (vism. redefinition of jhāna) became the dominant/popular understanding in Theravada.

Bhante Sujato and B. Analayo  translate V&V following the VRJ model of redefined jhāna (and V&V). There is no support for that anywhere in the EBT.

They need to be held accountable for that.

Until they fix their error, I will keep pointing it out, as politely as I can, but not at the cost of being clear and honest.



I've built a one stop V&V shop containing Bhikkhu Anālayo, Bhikkhu Sujato's views on V&V here:
https://archive.org/details/Lucid24VitakkaAndVicara
The one stop V&V shop, where errant views meet the chopping block. 

eighth installment

• Bhikkhu Anālayo tries to prove one can not hear sounds in jhana...
• V&V💭 and the relativity of wrong (parable of horse from bodagosia)

• B. Analayo claims you can not do jhāna while in satipatthāna

seventh installment, 3/3/2019

• (all clickable hyperlinks to blog entries)
• MN 111, and the other suttas where vipassana is do...
• V&V, Analayo's misunderstanding of noble silence
• SN 36.11 speaking in first jhāna, acccording to B....
• 
  

supplementary material:

• not EBT, but useful: lessons of the instructive de...
• critical thinking and reasoning
• what's B. Analayo's agenda in mistranslating vitak...

sixth installment
sunday feb. 24
MN 19, MN 78, MN 125 when Bhikkhu Anālayo met  Occam's razor
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... layo.html

thur. feb 28,
the exciting but bloody conclusion to their meeting:

☸ MN 19, 78, 125 final score: 🔪 Occam's razor six, Bhikkhu Anālayo zero

https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-banalayo-says-about-v-in-mn-19-78.html



fifth installment:
Sunday, February 17, 2019
So why are references to MN 117 missing in Bhikkhu Anālayo's EBMS?https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... sing.html
(sums up and connects the other posts related to MN 117)

There are several blog posts on MN 117 (in the blog subject titles) between today (2/17) and (2/14). 
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2019/02/

frank k wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:47 pm

fourth installment:
MN 117 and its implications
It's not easy to explain, so first I need to explain a few concepts.
If you don't understand survivorship bias, bandwagon effect, and cognitive dissonance, it won't be easy to follow the audit.
So first, a parable that explains the big problem that I'm going to expose with Ven. Analayo's lack of mention of MN 117 in EBMS.

https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... farm.html
excerpt:
A long time ago, in paradise valley, Sid and his family, with the surname of Gotonirvana, had a farm collective, growing a rich variety of fruits. They tasted extraordinary, and the fruit was completely wholesome and nutritious. Their fruit was available far and wide, famous everywhere.

their advertisement read:
Sid and Gotonirvana family farms,
quenching thirst with the tastiest fruit
with an entirely complete and pure variety of fruits.

frank k wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 13, 2019 4:45 pm

third installment:
Case study on intellectual dishonesty, agendas, biases: Frankk and his views on jhāna, vitakka, vicara
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... esty.html

second installment: 
MN 111 Bhikkhu Analayo, circular reasoning and red herrings
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... ular.html

First installment: 
covers MN 128, SN 40.1, narrative fallacy
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... ayos.html

halo effect, and "Sujato's article on vitakka and vicara is still undefeated!"

The user Buddha Vacana has a nice critique of Ven. Sujato's
mistranslation of vitakka here:

http://blog.buddha-vacana.org/why-vitakka-might-mean-thinking-in-jhana/

And a few interesting excerpts from his discussion thread
https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28489

halo effect

Re: A. Sujato's Why Vitakka Doesn't Mean 'Thinking' in Jhana
Post  by Buddha Vacana » Sun Dec 25, 2016 6:53 pm

I just stumbled upon this article that seems relevant to this thread:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-to-co ... ?r=US&IR=T
It turns out that if you want to convince someone that your explanation for something is the best way to explain it, you might want to tack on some useless (though accurate) information from a tangentially related scientific field.

It turns out that when you tack on additional information from a respected field of study, people think that makes an explanation more credible.

....

And while this is a new finding, it's just one of several cognitive biases we have in favor of certain types of explanations. We think longer explanations are better than short ones and we prefer explanations that point to a goal or a reason for things happening, even if these things don't actually help us understand a phenomenon.

Not just pamojja is a mental trigger. Pīti,

Posts: 192
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 4:55 pm
Re: A. Sujato's Why Vitakka Doesn't Mean 'Thinking' in Jhana
Post  by frank k » Sat Jul 29, 2017 6:20 pm

Buddha Vacana wrote:
I have updated a part of the article:
...

What is possible, on the other hand, is that the mind would be still, the hindrances would be largely reduced, but the first jhana would still not kick in, because one is not skilled in inducing pāmojja (serene joy), which is an essential trigger for the first jhana, as described in many suttas.

frank replied:
Not just pamojja is a mental trigger. Pīti, which appears in the first two jhanas and prior to first jhana in the 7 awakening factors as the piti-sambjjhanga, has the same function as pamojja. I.e. being a mental trigger, something we develop to help cause first jhana to happen. See SN 46.2 and SN 46.3 for very explicit and obvious use of vitakka and vicara in the verbal type of thinking sense in a causal chain leading to jhana.

SN 47.10 then shows, by differentiating between "directed" and "undirected" development how the mental trigger of piti+pamojja happens with V&V (vitakka & vicara) and without V&V.

The main problem with Ajahn Brahm's camp on their understanding of V&V is they're not looking at the relevant EBT sutta passages relating to V&V objectively to see what the possible range of meaning is. They're already starting off with an assumption of Jhāna being of the Visuddhimagga type, and then cherry picking EBT passages to support that understanding, and ignoring the many passages where it's very clear V&V in fist jhāna is a verbal type of thinking. Their defense and counter argument against the verbal thinking of EBT first jhāna is also based on that unproven assumption. They don't offer any evidence, textual or experiential, to show why very profound states of samādhi experienced and taught by Ajahn Lee, Bhante Gunaratana, Thanissaro, Arahant Upatissa (Vimuttimagga) are not genuine EBT jhāna.

Bhante G, Ven. T (thanissaro) on the other hand, have written very clearly and show EBT textual evidence why their interpretation is correct, and clearly show the evidence why the Vism. interpretation of V&V in first jhāna is a redefinition of the term jhāna, vitakka, and vicara.

Sujato's article on vitakka and vicara is still undefeated!

Posts: 192
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 4:55 pm
Re: A. Sujato's Why Vitakka Doesn't Mean 'Thinking' in Jhana
Post  by frank k » Sat Jul 29, 2017 6:33 pm

Someone on the thread posted a few times, hilariously, that "Sujato's article on vitakka and vicara is still undefeated!"

This reminds me of what Michael Jordan said about himself. Jordan is considered by many basketball experts/historians to be the greatest basketball player of all time, because he had no weakness in his complete game. I'm paraphrasing from memory, but this is what Jordan said on why he thinks he's the greatest: "Because I can score on my guy any time I want, he can't stop me from scoring. And I can shut him down and keep him from scoring."

Similarly, if you're going to be the MIchael Jordan of the V&V argument, you need to show EBT passage evidence of why your interpretation is correct, and you need to show EBT evidence on why the other guy's interpretation is incorrect. If you just cherry pick and score a few empty points, but can't stop the onslaught of points from the opponent, you won't be "undefeated" for long.

MN 19, 78, 125 conjunction fallacy

You'll need to understand this fallacy to see some of the problems with what B. Analayo proposes,
when we have the exciting conclusion to the chapter on:

MN 19, MN 78, MN 125 ❤️ When Bhikkhu Anālayo met 🔪 Occam's razor

And besides, there's the added mental health benefit.
Learning about a fallacy each day keeps the 🐂💩 away.



excerpt from
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/72/Conjunction-Fallacy

Conjunction Fallacy

(also known as: conjunction effect)

Description: The assumption that more specific conditions are more probable than general ones.  This fallacy usually stems from thinking the choices are alternatives, rather than members of the same set.  The fallacy is further exacerbated by priming the audience with information leading them to choose the subset as the more probable option.

Logical Form:

X is a subset of Y.

Therefore, X is more probable than Y.

Example #1:

While jogging around the neighborhood, you are more likely to get bitten by someone’s pet dog, than by any member of the canine species.

Explanation: Actually, that is not the case.  “Someone’s pet dog”, assuming a real dog and not some robot dog, would also be a member of the canine species.  Therefore, the canine species includes wolves,  coyotes, as well as your neighbor’s Shih Tzu, who is likely to bite you just because he’s pissed for being so small.

Example #2: Mr. Pipp, is a sharp dresser, too good-looking, works as an interior decorator and loves everything Barbra Streisand.  Is Mr. Pipp more likely to be a man or a gay man?

Explanation: It would be fallacious to say that Mr. Pipp is more likely to be a gay man—even if we found out that Mr. Pipp worked nights as a dancer at a drag queen show.  There is a 100% chance Mr. Pipp is a man, and a smaller chance that he is a gay man because the group “man” includes all the members of the group “gay man”.

Exception: When contradicting conditions are implied, but incorrectly stated.

In the example above, the way the question reads, we now know that there is a 100% chance Mr. Pipp is a man and a smaller chance that he is a gay man.  However, if the questioner meant to imply, “straight man” or “gay man” as the choices, then it could be more of a poorly phrased question than a fallacy.

References:

Kahneman, D. (2013). Thinking, Fast and Slow (1st edition). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Happy belated Valentine's day!

I can't let that day go by without making a reference to one of my favorite topics, asubha.

Pictures are safe for viewing for everyone of all ages.
but read the Readme.txt file first.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CbQ7F7qSv_PY_OqZUVL-vVsVVKGllXzC

The readme.txt file in that directory says:

If you are observing the abstention of vādita-visūkadassanā (listening to music – watching-shows), it's safe to view the 12 images, but do not watch the video in the subdirectory.

This 2010 pin-up calendar is the weird brain child of a German advertising agency called Butter. The idea was to promote Eizo's high-precision displays for medical imaging so they used X-rays to shoot the pin-up models.

The Butter Agency declares that "pin-ups are more often found in auto garages rather than in medical offices." I'll say. "Eizo breaks this taboo," Butter boasts. "This pinup calendar shows absolutely every detail."

response to comments 

Eko Care wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:01 am

I don't think it is good to focus on bad postures intentionally to practice asubha, unless otherwise in an unavoidable situation.
What is your opinion ?

I assume what you mean, is that even a corpse or skeleton in an erotic posture is unsuitable for asubha contemplation because it can still be too sexually stimulating.

Sure I can see your point, but it's going to vary with individuals. Which is why commentaries give advice for men (heterosexual) to contemplate corpses of male bodies, not female. 

What I find helpful in my practice, is to just see the skeleton in everyone, human and animals, at all times, in any activity.
The whole point of male/female distinction is to satisfy the biological imperative to reproduce.
If we train all the time to see that's all it is, it's nature's way to trick us, and develop a strong desire to end dukkha and rebirth, then skeletons are just skeleton with no meaningful distinction of male/female. 

Another contemplation I like to do, all the time, not just in sitting, is just visualize living beings as bundles of white light (with no gender, race, etc). All beings are brothers and sisters of suffering, just wishing to be happy and find an end to suffering.