AN 6.70 samādhi: JST do it. (Jhāna sandwich theorem)

AN 6.70 samādhi: JST do it. (Jhāna sandwich theorem)
Translations

https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/an-6-70-samadhi-jst-do-it-jhana-sandwich-theorem/7582

frankk
Dec '17

AN 6.70 Samādhi
(same idea restated as complementary opposite)
Synopsis
Without a quality of samādhi that is peaceful, sublime, undistractable, lucid, properly pacified, unified, the 6 higher knowledges, with arahantship attainment being the 6th, is not possible.
From other suttas, we know this must mean the samādhi must be 4th jhāna quality or higher. Unification (ekodhi-bhava) is a primary characteristic of second jhāna, and santa&panita (peaceful and sublime) may be an epithet for something better than 4th jhāna.
AN 6.70 Samādhi
samādhi-suttaṃ n (AN 6.70)
AN 6.70 undistractable-lucidity
♦ 70. “‘so vata, bhikkhave, bhikkhu
“Monks, (for a) monk
na santena samādhinā na paṇītena
(of) not peaceful undistractable-lucidty, not exquisite,
na paṭip-passaddhi-laddhena
not properly-pacified-(and not having)-obtained (that),
na ekodi-bhāv-ādhigatena
not unified-****-(and)-attained (to that),
[it is not possible that he could do the STED 6ab (abhiñña, #6 is arahantship) ]
anekavihitaṃ iddhividhaṃ paccanubhavissati — ekopi hutvā bahudhā bhavissati, bahudhāpi hutvā eko bhavissati ... pe ... yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṃ vattessatī’ti netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. ‘dibbāya sotadhātuyā visuddhāya atikkantamānusikāya ubho sadde suṇissati — dibbe ca mānuse ca ye dūre santike cā’ti netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. ‘parasattānaṃ parapuggalānaṃ cetasā ceto paricca pajānissati — sarāgaṃ vā cittaṃ sarāgaṃ cittanti pajānissati ... pe ... vimuttaṃ vā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ cittanti pajānissatī’ti netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. ‘anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarissati, seyyathidaṃ — ekampi jātiṃ, dvepi jātiyo ... pe ... iti sākāraṃ sauddesaṃ anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarissatī’ti netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. ‘dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena satte passissati ... pe ... yathākammūpage satte pajānissatī’ti netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. ‘āsavānaṃ khayā ... pe ... sacchikatvā upasampajja viharissatī’ti
could wield the various kinds of psychic potency: having been one, he could become many … [all abridged passages here as in 6:2] … he could exercise mastery with the body as far as the brahmā world. (2) It is impossible that with the divine ear element, which is purified and surpasses the human, he could hear both kinds of sounds, the divine and human, those that are far as well as near. (3) It is impossible that he could understand the minds of other beings and persons, having encompassed them with his own mind; that he could understand a mind with lust as a mind with lust … an unliberated mind as unliberated. (4) It is impossible that he could recollect his manifold past abodes … [426] with their aspects and details. (5) It is impossible that with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he could see beings passing away and being reborn … and could understand how beings fare in accordance with their kamma. (6) It is impossible that with the destruction of the taints, he could realize for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, could dwell in it.
n-etaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati.
No-[way]-this condition (can) exist.
(same idea restated as complementary opposite)
♦ “‘so vata, bhikkhave, bhikkhu
[but] “Monks, (for a) monk
santena samādhinā paṇītena
(with) peaceful, undistractable-lucidty, exquisite,
paṭip-passaddhi-laddhena
properly-pacified-(and)-obtained,
ekodi-bhāv-ādhigatena
unified-****-(and)-attained (to that),
[it IS possible that he could do the STED 6ab (abhiñña, #6 is arahantship)]
anekavihitaṃ iddhividhaṃ paccanubhavissati ... pe ... yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṃ vattessatī’ti ṭhānametaṃ vijjati. ‘dibbāya sotadhātuyā visuddhāya atikkantamānusikāya ubho sadde suṇissati — dibbe ca mānuse ca ye dūre santike cā’ti ṭhānametaṃ vijjati. ‘parasattānaṃ parapuggalānaṃ cetasā ceto paricca pajānissati — sarāgaṃ vā cittaṃ sarāgaṃ cittanti pajānissati ... pe ... vimuttaṃ vā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ cittanti pajānissatī’ti ṭhānametaṃ vijjati. ‘anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarissati, seyyathidaṃ — ekampi jātiṃ, dvepi jātiyo ... pe ... iti sākāraṃ sauddesaṃ anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarissatī’ti ṭhānametaṃ vijjati. ‘dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena satte passissati cavamāne upapajjamāne hīne paṇīte suvaṇṇe dubbaṇṇe, sugate duggate yathākammūpage satte pajānissatī’ti ṭhānametaṃ vijjati. ‘āsavānaṃ khayā anāsavaṃ cetovimuttiṃ ... pe ... sacchikatvā upasampajja viharissatī’ti
could wield the various kinds of psychic potency … (2) could hear both kinds of sounds, the divine and human, those that are far as well as near … (3) could understand the minds of other beings and persons, having encompassed them with his own mind … (4) could recollect his manifold past abodes with their aspects and details … (5) could, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, see beings passing away and being reborn … and could understand how beings fare in accordance with their kamma … (6) with the destruction of the taints, could realize for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, could dwell in it.”
ṭhānametaṃ vijjatī”ti.
{this}-condition (can) exist.
chaṭṭhaṃ.
(end of sutta)
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frankk
Dec '17
JST (jhana sandwich theorem)

Arahantship and non-return requires 4th jhāna quality of samādhi or better.
The various psychic powers in the 6ab (abhiñña) require 4th jhāna or higher.
The jhana sandwich is this. The slice of bread on the bottom is virtue + other foundational qualities, the top slice is arahantship (or a momentary direct, experiential nirvana). The filling is lettuce, tomatoes, and many slices of samādhi.

The theorem states those slices of samadhi must be 4th jhana or higher.

This is implied by the vast majority of suttas in the EBT that mention nirvana/arahantship with gradual training instructions. But are there any suttas that explicitly state 4th jhana or better is required?

AN 6.70 is the closest I’ve seen, but it doesn’t actually say 4th jhana. The samadhi described, is the same one as in AN 3.101, minus the gold simile, and AN 3.101 also doesn’t explicitly name any of the 4j.




Gabriel
Dec '17
But are there any suttas that explicitly state 4th jhana or better is required?

Could you say again, ‘required for what?’, for arahantship?




frankk
Dec '17
But are there any suttas that explicitly state 4th jhana or better is required?

Could you say again, ‘required for what?’, for arahantship?

Yes, arahantship, or all 6 abhinna, or just 3 higher abhinna, anything that’s definitive and not just implying. The jhana sandwich theorem says, even if you can see lettuce and other veggies, and you can’t see the veggie protein pattie in the middle, by JST, 4th jhana must be a pattie in there somewhere, even if the text doesn’t explicitly say 4j.

The susima sutta for example, doesn’t mention 4j, but attains arahantship following anatta lakkhana type insight. In this excerpt, the questioner is astounded that an arahant doesn’t have formless samadhi, or any of the 6 abhiñña excluding destruction of asavas. By JST, the arahant must have had 4j quality samadhi to attain arhanatship. I view anatta lakhana sutta with 5 bhikkhus attaining arahantship, and fire sermon with 1000 attaining arahantship the same way. By JST, they had 4th jhana quality samadhi. The THOX (theravda orthodox) position seems to be, they were either dry insight arahants, or “people in those days were just better quality”. I trust in the JST, at least it’s the safest assumption to make. I wouldn’t want to shoot for only first jhana and hope that’s enough for arahantship.

SN 12.70 liberated by wisdom
some monks declare arahantship, susima asks them if they have 5 abhinna, arupa samadhi, they say no.
♦ “api pana tumhe āyasmanto evaṃ jānantā evaṃ passantā ye te santā vimokkhā atikkamma rūpe āruppā, te kāyena phusitvā viharathā”ti?
“Then knowing and seeing thus, do you venerable ones dwell in those peaceful deliverances that transcend forms, the formless attainments, having touched them with the body?”208
“no hetaṃ, āvuso”.
“No, friend.”
♦ “ettha dāni āyasmanto idañca veyyākaraṇaṃ imesañca dhammānaṃ asamāpatti; idaṃ no, āvuso, kathan”ti?
21“Here now, venerable ones: this answer and the nonattainment of those states, how could this be, friends?”209 ""
“paññāvimuttā kho mayaṃ, āvuso susimā”ti.
22“We are liberated by wisdom, friend Susı̄ma.”210
2 Replies

another thread

frankk
Dec '17
With respect to AN 1.53-5 do the terms “pursues”, “develops” and “attends to” have any technical definition?

develop and pursue (bhavita, bahuli-kata) , that pair of words gets used together for all the major meditation practices. 4ip (iddhi pada), 16APS, mindfulness of death, probably every meditation you can think of there are many suttas that uses that expression to say, “do that, develop that pursue that”.

manasi (mental/mind) karoti (doing), usually translated as paying attention, is probably one of the most common phrases in the EBT. It’s used probably most frequently in the context of the Buddha starting off a talk and telling teh monks to pay attention.

In the vinaya definition commentary for ekagga citta, manasi karoti is closely associated with “paying attention”. As well as samadhi. This is why V&V (vitakka & vicara) is thinking and evaluation, and why V&V in first jhana has a really important role. It’s an oral tradition, so it requires “much developed, much pursued paying attention” to a particular dhamma teaching to hear (you can hear and listen to a dhamma talk in first jhana), memorize (an important part of samma sati people don’t usually think about), and then frequently recall important teachings to mind, paying attention and reflecting on that teaching (V&V and pari-vitakka).

In other words manasi karoti is a code phrase for the samadhi and unification of mind of listening, paying attention like it’s really important.

Here’s a prime example of this, the standard formula for perception of light, for knowledge and vision.

AN 5.28:
aloka sanna manasi karoti… luminosity perception (he) pays attention to. The formula does not explicitly use the words samadhi, ekagga, but this practice is always used in the context of a high 4th jhana quality of mind being used to attain 6 abhinna, so by the JST (jhana sandwich theorem we know 4th jhana is involved).

manasi karoti is a stealthy code phrase for samadhi and ekagga.