Proper translation and interpretation of 'sampajano' in S&S (sato ca sampajano) of 3rd jhana and satipatthana

On lucid24.org, I translate sampajano as 'lucid-discerning'.

Because that word is related to pañña (discernment/wisdom), pajānati (he discerns), so it only seemed fitting to use the same word as much as possible. I got that idea from B. Thanissaro (he translates pajanati = he discerns, and pañña = discernment). But strangely, he translates sampajano as 'alertness' most of the time. 

B. Bodhi translates sampajano as 'clear comprehension' most of the time. 

B. Sujato translates sampajano as 'situational awareness' most of the time, and sometimes 'awareness' (AN 4.41 four jhanas context). 

I see no reason to translate and interpret sampajano in different contexts when 'lucid-discerning' works properly and comprehensively everywhere, and has the great added benefit that the english reader reading my translations will always know 'lucid-discerning' = sampajano in pali, they don't have to play guessing games and go easter hunting as they do with other English translators.

Now an interesting question arises, is B. Sujato's translation of sampajano as 'situational awareness' wrong? I haven't reached a verdict yet, but it definitely is a problematic translation. For one thing, is there even a single definition of 'situational awareness' that is a universal standard? It's not in oxford or cambridge dictionary. I don't think we should be using English words that don't even have an established unambiguous meaning. 

wikipedia.org › wiki › Situation_awareness

Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status.

Friend criticizing B. Sujato's translation of sampajano as "situational awareness"

  [...in addition to mistranslating and misunderstanding] vitakka and vicara, he also has sampajanno as "situational awareness."

In reality, sampajanno and dhammavicaya and panna all have a component of ethical/teleological/qualitative connotation to them. Therefore, the goal of having sampajanno with regards to one's body or bodily movement is not an end in itself, but as a way to help pacify bodily excitation, prevent physical arousal, preserve bodily ease, conducing to comportment that is dignified and comfortable. In an anecdotal example, one of the best ways to transmute one's sexual energy is to ensure that the rise of that energy doesn't create conflict and constriction in the body, but is instead immediately redirected to the purpose of invigorating one's whole-body nervous system. To do this deftly you need some measure of physical sensitivity/awareness; but awareness itself is not the goal.

"Situational awareness" suggests that sampajanno is merely a neutral awareness of the present moment, whereas the word as is used in the suttas actively involves an assessment of quality and skills to conduce to a goal.

AN 4.41 and MN 111 How B. Sujato, B. Analayo, and Ajahn Brahm understand vitakka and vicara in those suttas.

I first started a public dialogue with B. Sujato on his understanding of jhana, vitakka, vicara on his discussion forum, around 2015. On important suttas such as MN 78, MN 125, AN 4.41, AN 8.30, and many others, he deliberately declined to give an explanation on why his interpretation and translation of jhana terms contradict EBT suttas, causing fatal incoherence in the Dhamma.  In many cases he ends up contradicting himself (example below). 

Both B. Sujato and B. Analayo, when I publicly and privately asked them to comment on how their interpretation of jhana being a frozen state where thinking is not possible, did not agree with AN 4.41 gloss of 3rd jhana's sati and sampajano (as well as MN 111), used some combination of equivocation, sophistry, and mostly just burying their head in the sand and pretending the mountain of evidence doesn't exist. 

this article shows how vipassana is done with sati and sampajno in 3rd jhana, essentially samadhi bhavana for sati and sampajano is the Buddha's commentary and gloss of the same term in 3rd jhana.

AN 4.41: what's the difference between S&S and samadhi bhavana for asava destruction?

This thread from B. Sujato's forum, where he actively participates but declines to respond when I bring up the many suttas that contradict his position on jhana. (the header is a link to his forum thread, where you'll see he didn't respond).

One can only conclude after 5 years of silence in response to challenge, the ostrich burying their heads strategy they favor amounts to a tacit admission that they know their thesis is incoherent and fatally flawed. 

MN 111 and AN 4.41, B. Sujato contradicts himself on V&V

Oct '18

MN 111 (sariputta performing AN 4.41 “sato and sampajano” function during first jhana)

And he distinguished the phenomena in the first absorption one by one: placing and keeping and rapture and bliss and unification of mind; contact, feeling, perception, intention, mind, enthusiasm, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention.
Ye ca paṭhame jhāne dhammā vitakko ca vicāro ca pīti ca sukhañca cittekaggatā ca, phasso vedanā saññā cetanā cittaṃ chando adhimokkho vīriyaṃ sati upekkhā manasikāro—tyāssa dhammā anupadavavatthitā honti.

He knew those phenomena as they arose, as they remained, and as they went away. Tyāssa dhammā viditā uppajjanti, viditā upaṭṭhahanti, viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti. He understood: So evaṃ pajānāti: ‘So it seems that these phenomena, not having been, come to be; and having come to be, they flit away.’ ‘evaṃ kirame dhammā ahutvā sambhonti, hutvā paṭiventī’ti. And he meditated without attraction or repulsion for those phenomena; independent, untied, liberated, detached, his mind free of limits. So tesu dhammesu anupāyo anapāyo anissito appaṭibaddho vippamutto visaṃyutto vimariyādīkatena cetasā viharati. He understood: ‘There is an escape beyond.’ So ‘atthi uttari nissaraṇan’ti pajānāti. And by repeated practice he knew for sure that there is. Tabbahulīkārā atthitvevassa hoti. (1)

in AN 4.41, b.sujato correctly translates vitakka as “thoughts”:

And what is the way of developing immersion further that leads to mindfulness and awareness? Katamā ca, bhikkhave, samādhibhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satisampajaññāya saṃvattati? It’s when a mendicant knows feelings as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno viditā vedanā uppajjanti, viditā upaṭṭhahanti, viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti; They know perceptions as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. They know thoughts as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. viditā saññā … pe …

viditā vitakkā uppajjanti,
viditā upaṭṭhahanti,
viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti.

This is the way of developing immersion further that leads to mindfulness and awareness. Ayaṃ, bhikkhave, samādhibhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satisampajaññāya saṃvattati.

conclusion

B. Sujato needs to translate V&V consistently for those 2 passages because it’s the same activity.

That MN 111 is early abhidhamma, and not on B. Sujato’s “authentic” EBT list is beside the point. S&S (sato and sampajano) is active while in all 4 jhanas, and all 7 perception samadhi attainments. Plenty of EBT passages support this, such as AN 9.36, so MN 111 is authentic on this point, in accordance to the Dhamma.

Replies to some comments on the post:

Re: AN 4.41 and MN 111 How B. Sujato, B. Analayo, and Ajahn Brahm understand vitakka and vicara in those suttas.

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Post by frank k » Thu May 28, 2020 4:37 am

I don't mind so much translators who translate vitakka correctly but misinterpret the meaning. Because they got that part of the job correct, and it's an extremely important part, that vitakka should be translated with the same word all the way through in the EBT, while in jhana or outside of it. If they got that part correct, then people who rely on their translations have the possibility of practicing jhana correctly.

But with how U Thitthila back translated earlier canonical Abhidhamma with late Theravada anachronistic understanding of vitakka, that's a heinous crime, and B. Sujato following his lead by rewriting MN 117 and MN 43 into his own Abhidhamma to redefine vitakka and vicara, that's even a worse crime because he's supposed to be basing his translation on EBT. Instead of honoring EBT, he's rewriting EBT according to his own misunderstanding of it.

mikenz66 wrote: ↑

Thu May 28, 2020 3:07 am

sentinel wrote: ↑

Thu May 28, 2020 12:27 am

This probably need to view it from both angle . One is belonging to yours from the point of practice . One is belonging to frank . If frank is correct in his understanding , standing firm to inform other there is something incoherence (frank's word) in sujato translation ....

I'm not sure if the translation is the root of the problem. Others use the English that Frank approves of, but interpret the passage the same way as Bhikkhu Sujato (and the Theravada Commentaries).

Of course, it's an important point. If Frank (and others who agree with his interpretation of jhana) is correct then jhana is much easier than suggested by the Theravada tradition, and practitioners may be unnecessarily frustrated. On the other hand, if Frank (and the others who agree with him) are not correct, then they may be overestimating their attainments.



Mike

mikenz66 wrote: ↑

Thu May 28, 2020 3:07 am

...If Frank (and others who agree with his interpretation of jhana) is correct then jhana is much easier than suggested by the Theravada tradition, and practitioners may be unnecessarily frustrated. On the other hand, if Frank (and the others who agree with him) are not correct, then they may be overestimating their attainments.
...

I would not characterize it that way.
A low quality of first jhana, let's say first jhana for a few seconds, according to the suttas is not that hard. That is according to the exact words of the EBT in pali text and other sources.
The ability to suspend the 5 hindrances for a significant length of time, let's say one hour for example, that is a craft that one has to work on all the time, not just in sitting meditation, no matter if one understands jhana according to the EBT, or follows late Theravada's redefinition of jhana or Ajahn Brahm's redefined jabrama jhana.

Suspending the 5 hindrances for an hour, on demand, that's quite an achievement, a superhuman feat, and if first jhana is to be characterized as difficult, that is the main difficulty.
So in that department, authentic EBT jhana and corrupted redefined jhanas are equally difficult to obtain.

VRJ (vism. redefined jhana) and jabrama jhana adds a further requirement for 'first jhana' that is not in the EBT. That one enter a formless attainment where one can not hear sounds, feel mosquito bites, mind is divorced from 5 sense faculties.

So basically, VRJ is asking for a further skill that typically in the EBT is not expected of someone who can't do fourth jhana.
This is like requiring high school graduates applying for first year freshman status, to have a Phd before they can qualify for the 1st year of bachelors program. Totally insane and uncalled for.

Read the EBT, see for yourself and trust in the words of the Buddha, not the later words of revisionists with an agenda adding a whole new set of requirements not in the original scripture.

AN 6.20 (un)intentional humor? "a centipede bite might kill me, that would be inconvenient"

AN 6.20 (un)intentional humor? "a centipede bite might kill me, that would be inconvenient"

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Post by frank k » Mon May 25, 2020 5:42 am

AN 6.20 (un)intentional humor? "a centipede bite might kill me, that would be inconvenient"

(pali + english formatted properly)
http://lucid24.org/an/an06/an06-0020/index.html


sata-padī vā maṃ ḍaṃseyya;
{or a} hundred-footed [centipede] ** I might-be-bitten (by),
tena me assa kāla-kiriyā,
because-of-that my **** time-of-death [would arrive],
so mamassa antarāyo.
that (for) me, (would be an) obstacle.


Two pali grammar related questions:
1) what exactly is the obstacle:
* death,
* the specific cause of that death,
* or the fact that one would have to die, be reborn, and for most beings that means they
- forget the Dhamma they've learned this life time and have to relearn it again,
- or not even get a chance to encounter Dhamma again?
2) was there any humor intended by the original pali construction? The way most English translators render the " that would be an obstacle for me", comes across as humor to many people.

AN 4.41: what's the difference between S&S and samadhi bhavana for asava destruction?

Samadhi Sutta - qestion?

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Post by SarathW » Tue May 12, 2020 10:27 pm

(section 3) "And what is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to mindfulness & alertness? There is the case where feelings are known to the monk as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. Perceptions are known to him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. Thoughts are known to him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. This is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to mindfulness & alertness.

(section 4)"And what is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents? There is the case where a monk remains focused on arising & falling away with reference to the five clinging-aggregates: 'Such is form, such its origination, such its passing away. Such is feeling, such its origination, such its passing away. Such is perception, such its origination, such its passing away. Such are fabrications, such their origination, such their passing away. Such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.' This is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

What is the difference between the highlighted in blue?

Answer

First of all, AN 4.41 samadhi sutta, all 4 sections are dealing with the four jhanas. 

section 3 talks about sati and sampajano  S&S🐘💭 . This corresponds with 3rd jhana formula's explicit declaration of "sato ca sampajano", and is describing how one does vipassana in 3rd jhana. MN 111 and AN 9.36 confirm this point. 

section 4 talks about pañña realizing destruction of asavas (i.e. arahant), see panna-indriya, it uses the same words as AN 4.41 for arising and passing away (udaya,  gaminiya).The sanskrit parallel to AN 4.41, Arv 12, is very interesting in that it explicitly states that the 4th jhana is what one uses to realize the development of samadhi for (panna). That's equivalent to AN 6.29's saying 4th jhana is for "penetrating the many elements (aneka dhatu pativedaya)", and panna-indriya stated purpose for destroying dukkha. All of these are equivalent to realizing state of arahant. 

note that sampajano, panna, dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga,  are all closely related. They all have to do with lucid discerning, discernment/wisdom, dhamma-investigation, vimamsa/discrimination, and ultimately for the goal of realizing arahantship. 

sampajāno = lucid-discerning

in verb form: pajānāti (he discerns). See SN 54.1, MN 10, 3⚡💭.
Frequently occurs in the phrase S&S🐘💭 sati & sampajāno.
Sampajāno is what Dhamma-vicaya 2💭🕵️ (Dharma investigation) does in the 7sb☀️ awakening factors.
Sampajāno is equivalent and/or closely associated with pañña/discernment 5👁, vimāmsa/discrimination of 4ip 🌕⚡, right view 1👁, vipassana/insight (see SN 46.3).

So the answer to the question, what's the difference between section 3 and section 4 of AN 4.41, in section 4 all 5 aggregates are being penetrated all the way to arahantship. 

In section 3, while it's also observing rising and falling of 2 of the aggregates vedana and sanna, the 3rd item being observed is vitakka, referring to to perceptions and attention to vitakka/thoughts arising. 

In second jhana, this would be the subverbal citta sankharas that are bubbling under vitakka, but not fully formed yet into a thought. 

Or it can refer to all four jhanas being intruded upon and ending that jhana state with a vitakka. 

So even though section 3 and 4 of AN 4.41 are very similar, section 4 is deeper, and section 3 is obviously addressing the typical flow of mental activity while in especially the first 3 jhanas. 

AN 4.41

• AN 4.41 samādhi-bhāvanā-sutta
  • undistractible-lucidity development
    • (1. STED Four Jhānas for pleasant abiding now)
    • (2. STED smd-asnd: For knowledge and vision)
    • (3. For sati and sampajaññāya)
    • (4. For destroying Āsava's)
    • (verse)
• sanskrit parallel:
  • 12.1 The Abandoning of Sensual Desire
  • 12.2 A Pleasant Abiding Here and Now
  • 12.3 The Acquisition of Knowledge and Insight
  • 12.4 The Acquisition of Wisdom
• misc.

excerpt:

samadhi for pleasant abiding, (STED 3rd Jhāna)

🚫😁 pītiyā ca virāgā	🚫😁(with) Rapture ** fading,
👁 upekkhako ca viharati	👁 Equanimously-observing ** (he) dwells,
(S&S🐘💭) sato ca sam-pajāno,	(S&S🐘💭) (he is a) Rememberer, (a) lucid-discerner,
🙂🚶 sukhañca kāyena paṭi-saṃ-vedeti,	🙂🚶 pleasure with-the-body (he) experiences,
yaṃ taṃ ariyā ācikkhanti —	that those Noble-Ones declare -
‘upekkhako satimā sukha-vihārī’ti	“(He is an) equanimous-observer (and a) Rememberer, (he has) pleasurable-abiding.”
🌖 tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.	🌖 third Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.

section 3 explains what S&S is doing from 3rd jhana:

(3. For sati and sampajaññāya)

Katamā ca, bhikkhave, samādhi-bhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā	{and} what, *********, undistractible-lucidity-development, when developed (and) pursued,
Sati-sampajañ-ñāya saṃvattati?	(to) remembering-(and)-lucid-discerning (it) leads?
Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno	Here, monks, a-monk:
viditā vedanā uppajjanti,	known (are) Experienced-sensations (as they) arise,
viditā upaṭṭhahanti,	known (as they are) attended-upon,
viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti.	known (as they) go to disappear.
viditā saññā uppajjanti,	known (are) perceptions (as they) arise,
viditā upaṭṭhahanti,	known (as they are) attended-upon,
viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti.	known (as they) go to disappear.
viditā vitakkā uppajjanti,	known (are) thoughts (as they) arise,
viditā upaṭṭhahanti,	known (as they are) attended-upon,
viditā abbhatthaṃ gacchanti.	known (as they) go to disappear.
Ayaṃ, bhikkhave, samādhi-bhāvanā bhāvitā bahulīkatā	This, *********, undistractible-lucidity-development, when developed (and) pursued,
Sati-sampajañ-ñāya saṃvattati.	remembering-(and)-lucid-discerning (it) leads-to.

is 'agape' a reasonable translation for 'metta'?

A good posting from dhammawheel.

Re: Loving kindness same as agape?

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Post by Kim OHara » Tue May 19, 2020 10:56 pm

It's very similar -

Agápe (ἀγάπη agápē[1]) means "love: esp. charity; the love of God for man and of man for a good God."[2] Agape is used in ancient texts to denote feelings for one's children and the feelings for a spouse, and it was also used to refer to a love feast.[3] Agape is used by Christians to express the unconditional love of God for his children.[4] This type of love was further explained by Thomas Aquinas as "to will the good of another."[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love

- but not as close as some people seem to think. Thanissaro has a good essay on the difference here - https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... dwill.html

...Buddha says to develop this wish for ourselves and everyone else: "With metta for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart." (Snp 1.8) But what's the emotional quality that goes along with that wish? Many people define it as "lovingkindness," implying a desire to be there for other people: to cherish them, to provide them with intimacy, nurture, and protection. The idea of feeling love for everyone sounds very noble and emotionally satisfying. But when you really stop to think about all the beings in the cosmos, there are a lot of them who ... would react to your lovingkindness with suspicion and fear. Rather than wanting your love, they would rather be left alone. Others might try to take unfair advantage of your lovingkindness, reading it as a sign either of your weakness or of your endorsement of whatever they want to do. In none of these cases would your lovingkindness lead to anyone's true happiness. When this is the case, you're left wondering if the Buddha's instructions on universal metta are really realistic or wise.

But ... metta is not necessarily an attitude of lovingkindness. It's more an attitude of goodwill — wishing the other person well, but realizing that true happiness is something that each of us ultimately will have to find for him or herself, and sometimes most easily when we go our separate ways.

This understanding of metta is borne out in the Pali Canon, first of all in the word itself. The Pali language has another word for love — pema — whereas metta is related to the word mitta, or friend. ...

Agape seems to have a clinging, possessive, aspect that metta doesn't.


Kim

fixed wikipedia's wrong definition of maraṇa-s-sati 💀

correct definition:

maraṇa-s-sati 💀 = death-remembering

‘appamattā viharissāma, tikkhaṃ maraṇassatiṃ bhāvessāma āsavānaṃ khayāyā’ti. (AN 6.19)
1. Never forget, remembering to assiduously practice ☸Dharma for arahantship every moment, giving it everything you got, for the time it takes for one breath, or the time it takes to eat one mouthful of food. If you get sidetracked or forget to be assiduous (ap-pamāda), the Buddha calls that negligence (pamāda). (AN 6.19).
2. Remembering, not forgetting that fatal accidents can strike at any moment, so practice the ☸Dharma assiduously every moment. Doing this correctly, will activate the 7sb☀️ sequence producing virtuous-mirth (mudita/pamojja) and rapture (pīti). (AN 6.20).

4👑☸ → STED → maraṇa-s-sati 💀🧟     sati 🐘   (⤴)

maraṇa-s-sati 💀🧟

I made this fix on wikipedia: Probably just a matter of time before the collective 'wisdom' of the internet alter it into something wrong again. But here's proof I made the attempt to correct their original error:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara%E1%B9%87asati

In the Pali Canon

There are only two suttas (and 2 other ones slightly expanded) that explicitly explain the term maraṇa-s-sati (death-remembering). ‘appamattā viharissāma, tikkhaṃ maraṇassatiṃ bhāvessāma āsavānaṃ khayāyā’ti. (AN 6.19) 1. Never forget, remembering to assiduously practice Dharma for arahantship every moment, giving it everything you got, for the time it takes for one breath, or the time it takes to eat one mouthful of food. If you get sidetracked or forget to be assiduous (ap-pamāda), the Buddha calls that negligence (pamāda). (AN 6.19). 2. Remembering, not forgetting that fatal accidents can strike at any moment, so practice the Dharma assiduously every moment. Doing this correctly, will activate the 7 factors of awakening sequence, producing virtuous-mirth (mudita/pamojja) and rapture (pīti). (AN 6.20).

A common misunderstanding seems to be that the 9 stages of corpse contemplation is maranasati. It is not. Corpse contemplation (described in AN 6.29 and MN 10) is for the purpose of realizing impermanence and not self and lack of persisting identity in our body (Asmi-māna-samugghātāya).  

Second attempt to fix that wikipedia definition

They removed my wikipedia fix above, claiming my edit was original research, and not something I could corroborate from published sources. So I tried again 5/22/2020:

According to first maraṇa-s-sati sutta (AN 6.19), when the Buddha asks 6 monks how they practice death-remembering (maraṇa-s-sati), they give answers with successfully shorter time spans, with the same basic formula: "If I would only have one more day and night to live, I’d focus on the Buddha’s instructions and I could really achieve a lot." The last two monks answer with a time span of the time it takes to chew one mouthful of food, and the last monk says, "in the time it takes to breathe in one breath, ... I can achieve a lot." The sutta ends with the surprising admonishment from the Buddha that the first 4 monks are negligent (pamada), and only the last 2 monks are diligent (appamada). The Buddha then gives the following injunction, which serves as the basic definition of marana-sati:

So you should train like this:

‘appamattā viharissāma, tikkhaṃ maraṇassatiṃ bhāvessāma āsavānaṃ khayāyā’ti. ‘We will live diligently. We will keenly develop rememberfulness of death for the ending of defilements.’  

been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

1st story, the book report

In my childhood American public school education, from kindergarten to 12th grade, there were only two times that I encountered topics in class that I was genuinely intimidated.  School was easy. With little effort I could get an 'A' (highest grade) in any subject I desired.  That's not bragging, that's a testament to the (poor) quality of American public education. 

The first subject that freaked me out was pre-calculus *.

The second subject that totally freaked me out, happened in 3rd grade (8 or 9 year old child). We were reading a children's story that was maybe 10 pages long, and this was the first time as kids we were asked to write a book report.  Now I understood what a book report was asking for. You were suppose to condense the meaning of the story into a short summary. Why did this freak me out? Because I could not for the life of me figure out what details of the story were important and what was trivial and could be disregarded. It's a children's story! Something like a boy and his dog were walking around a neighborhood and had an encounter with a neighbor. That's my adult educated and experienced mind able to summarize the essence of the children's story into one line, but think about a 3rd grade 8 year old boy. I didn't have a sufficient vocabulary yet, didn't have the life experience and perspective needed to sort out what was relatively more important and relatively a trivial detail. Every detail seemed equally important! I sweated and struggled to pick out what parts to summarize, and fully expected to get a fail on that paper, despite my best effort. I ended up getting a 'B' or 'A' (highest mark). Afterwards, I was still freaked out, because I had no idea what was correct, what was wrong, what I needed to do to make it better or what I could have done that would scored lower. In contrast, in math and other subjects, correct and wrong are very clear even for children. I'm still mad about the book report incident to this day. It was inhumane and irresponsible of the educators to not make it clear that they weren't expecting a 3rd grader to produce an accurate summary with no clear criteria of what was good quality output and what was poor quality. Probably all they were looking for was the grammar and punctuation that was expected  of a 3rd grader, and that the details in the summary should be consistent with the book.

Now I'm going to connect that point with an important Dharma:

(from the standard formula on recollection of past lives)

evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto	(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro	such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī	such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,	such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto	he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
idhū-(u)papanno’ti.	here, (re)-arose

Even if you don't believe in past lives and rebirth, this formula excerpt is an extremely powerful mantra (an important principle to recite out loud or silently, and reflect upon frequently). 

Each phase of your life is like a death and a rebirth. The 3rd grader with their circle of friends, the middle school hormonal rage period with a new circle of friends or feeling of being alienated, high school years pondering the meaning of life, college, getting your first job, first girl friend, first kid, etc. 

If you were to write a book report for each of those phases, what would it look like?

If you asked me decades ago, maybe I could write entire books, not just a short book report, on each phase. But now?

grade school phase: been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

middle school phase: been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

high school...:  been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

first job...: been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

2nd story, the video game addict

When I was a kid, I loved video games. My mom was always complaining and preventing me from playing video games to my heart's content (maybe only satisfying 30-50% of the length of time I desired), resulting in building an even greater uncontrollable desire to play once I moved out and went to college, where I could play all I wanted as an independent adult.  You better believe countless hours were wasted.

When I was 25, I finally had an awakening. After playing one of the Nintendo Mario adventure games to it's conclusion, I reflected on my experience. This game was the state of the art, one of the masterpieces and critically acclaimed video game experiences of all time. Just to pick an even number, let's say it took 100 hours to complete. While it offered great joy in the realm of sensual pleasures via the stimulating visuals, sounds, music, interactive tactile control and immersive experience in a stunning alternate world, if I really took an accurate accounting, probably:

10% of that was really joyful time spent

50% of the time was kind of neutral, neither particularly pleasurable nor painful

40% of the time you're angry at the game designers for putting frustrating elements and wasting your time forcing you to do frivolous and dumb things just to provide an illusion that you 'earned' the story's conclusion by wasting countless hours doing arbitrary frivolous trivial inane mini quests.

Now keep in mind, this game was a masterpiece, and if the best game available can only offer me a pleasure ratio of only 10%, why am I wasting my time doing this stupidity?

In comparison, low quality and mediocre games, I could expect ratios of maybe 2-5% pleasure and well over 70% anger and frustration.

Upon that deep reflection, I stopped playing video games that day and never played again.

One final  remark on that Mario game. After I spent well over 100 hours completing that game, do you know what the ultimate reward was? Something like a short one minute animation of the princess I rescued giving me a cake or some cookies. 100 hours of sweat and tears for a box of cookies? Never again.

been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

How many thousands of hours had I wasted in my 25 year old life on stupid video games?

I was such a dumb ass. 

3rd story, the books, movies, television

I don't remember the age but I was young, 6th grader or younger. The first book series that I read that was totally immersive, and became my whole world, was 'little house on the prairie' by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I just checked google to see if I got the name and spelling of the author correct, and it was. Decades after not thinking about the book, I could still remember some details like that accurately. 

By immersion, what I mean is I felt like I was in that world. It's amazing that words on a page can make you feel like you're breathing the air of the frontier, as if you were actually there yourself with all of those characters.

 

When I finished reading that book series, I was devastated, because that immersive world ended, almost as if all of the characters in her story were my family and relatives and had all abandoned me in loneliness and depression.  

The melancholy and mild depression lasted weeks. 

How did that depression end? I started some other novel, don't remember the genre. I had a wide range of tastes and interests. Charles Dickens was a favorite, classics, fantasy, science fiction. 

I could list some titles, but why? You know how it ends in each case, be it the great American novel, movies, television shows, or an inane children's book. 

been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

How many thousands of hours wasted on video games, and stories?

I was such a dumb ass. 

Depression and melancholy were never fixed, just temporarily set aside until the next story reached the same predictable conclusion. 

Conclusion

Stop being a dumb ass.

Get up, look away, exit stage left. 

Whenever you find the urge to engage in a book, movie, video game, remember (sati) that you know the ending already. At best, all you get is a picture of a princess with a box of cookies. But that's a bait and switch! Princess is going to get old and ugly and your cookies are going to excrete. 

(from the standard formula on recollection of past lives)

evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto	(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro	such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī	such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,	such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto	he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
idhū-(u)papanno’ti.	here, (re)-arose

If the Buddha was was the teacher, that's the book report he's looking for, and you'd get an A+ without having to even read that thick book or watch the movie. Now that is a good deal worth taking every time. 

What are you going to do with all that time you save? May I suggest: 

 AN‍   DN‍   KN‍   MN‍   SN‍

Better yet, listen to it on audio, while walking, jogging, biking,  making your body and mind healthy at the same time, feeding two birds with one scone. 

Oh what bliss, to realize that there is no bliss going down the wrong path.

footnotes

1. The first subject that freaked me out was pre-calculus, 

the class that comes the year before calculus. In hindsight, it wasn't my fault. What was intimidating about the subject was I couldn't easily grasp the underlying principles of how it worked. I could score an 'A' on the class following the instructions, but it would be like doing black magic or chanting magic mantras that worked, but I didn't understand why it worked like all of the math classes prior to calculus, where math has an intuitive and logical basis you can see and feel. It was a struggle, but eventually I was able to understand the core principles of how calculus worked. Then the next year when I took the actual calculus class, it was easy because I had done the hard part of understanding the underlying mechanism in precalulus the previous year. But they never explained to us in pre-calculus that they really didn't expect you to understand the underlying principles right away. I wish the educators who designed the curriculum were more humane and just explained that this subject is going to be very difficult, they don't expect you get grasp it completely in precalculus and the second time around in calculus it would start to sink in and make sense.

Why am I sharing this story on calculus? Meditation and dhamma teachers  need to exercise some of foresight in anticipating what things are difficult and explain that students shouldn't expect to get quick results or understand principles right away. Many things in Dhamma and meditation take decades to sink in and understand. 

2.  The standard formula on the power of recollection of past lives, 

6ab → 4♾️🏠 aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ: many dwellings of previous lives

aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ	many-instances (of) previous-abodes-[lives]
anus-sarati,	(he) recollects,
seyyathidaṃ –	like-this -
ekampi jātiṃ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo	one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births,
dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṃsampi jātiyo cattālīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo	ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births,
jāti-satampi jāti-sahassampi jāti-sata-sahassampi	one hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand births,
anekepi saṃvaṭṭa-kappe	many contractions-(of cosmic)-aeons,
anekepi vivaṭṭa-kappe	many expansions-(of cosmic)-aeons,
anekepi saṃvaṭṭa-vivaṭṭa-kappe –	many contractions-&-expansions-(of cosmic)-aeons, [recollecting],
‘amutrāsiṃ	There
evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto	(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro	such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī	such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,	such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto	he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
amutra udapādiṃ [uppādiṃ (sī.)];	there, (re)-arose.
tatrāpāsiṃ	There too
evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto	(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro	such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī	such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,	such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto	he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
idhū-(u)papanno’ti.	here, (re)-arose
Iti sākāraṃ sa-uddesaṃ	thus (with its) characteristics (and) details
aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ	many-instances (of) previous-abodes-[lives]
anus-sarati,	(he) recollects,