MN 125 thai pali version on satipatthana first jhana section differs from burmese, sri lankan, and Chinese Agama MA 198
(This article is part of a series: šMN 125 restoration project )
MN 125 burmese canon (do 4sp with no kÄma-vitakka/thoughts of sensuality = first jhana)
Tamenaį¹ tathÄgato uttariį¹ vineti: | Then the Realized One guides them further: |
‘ehi tvaį¹, bhikkhu, kÄye kÄyÄnupassÄ« viharÄhi, mÄ ca kÄmÅ«pasaį¹hitaį¹ vitakkaį¹ vitakkesi. | ‘Come, monk, meditate observing an aspect of the body, but don’t think thoughts connected with sensual pleasures. |
VedanÄsu … | Meditate observing an aspect of feelings … |
citte … | mind … |
dhammesu dhammÄnupassÄ« viharÄhi, mÄ ca kÄmÅ«pasaį¹hitaį¹ vitakkaį¹ vitakkesÄ«’ti. | principles, but don’t think thoughts connected with sensual pleasures.’ |
MA 198 (do 4sp with no kÄma-vitakka/thoughts of sensuality)
(describing the same first jhana’s kusala dhamma vitakka of MN 19, AN 8.30, and their agama parallels)
「č„čå¼å č§å
§čŗ«å¦čŗ«，ä¹č³č§č¦ŗ、åæ、ę³å¦ę³。 |
24. "When the noble disciple contemplates the body as body internally ... (up to) ... contemplates feelings, mental states and dharmas as dharmas, |
å½¼å¦ä¾å¾© ę“čŖæå¾”ęÆäø： |
then the TathÄgata further tames the monk: |
『ę±ē¶č§å
§čŗ«å¦čŗ«，č«åæµę¬²ēø ęåæµ，ä¹č³č§č¦ŗ、åæ、ę³å¦ę³，č«åæµéę³ēøę åæµ。』 |
'You should contemplate the body as body internally, do not think a thought related to sensual pleasures ... (up to) ... contemplate feelings, mental states and dharmas as dharmas, do not think a thought related to what is not rightful!'25 |
č„čå¼åč§å
§čŗ«å¦čŗ«，äøåæµę¬²ēøęåæµ， ä¹č³č§č¦ŗ、åæ、ę³å¦ę³，äøåæµéę³ēøęåæµč
， å¦ęÆčå¼åéØå¦ä¾ę。 |
[13] When the noble disciple contemplates the body as body internally and does not think a thought related to sensual pleasures ... (up to) ... contemplates feelings, mental states and dharmas as dharmas and does not think a thought related to what is not rightful, then like this the noble disciple follows the instructions of the TathÄgata. |
(simile: elephant trained to like and follow commands for good war elephant)
éæå„čé£！ē¶å¦é č±”å¾čŖæč±”åø«，å仄ęč»åÆęčØå，č„čµ·、å» ä¾、åęØ、å±ä¼øč
，å¦ęÆéč±”éØčŖæč±”åø«ę。 |
"Aciravata, just as the forest elephant who, on being addressed by the elephant tamer with soft and agreeable words, lay down and got up, went and came back, took up and put down, bent and stretched, like this the forest elephant followed the instructions of the elephant tamer.26 |
å¦ ęÆ，éæå„čé£！č„čå¼åč§å
§čŗ«å¦čŗ«，äøåæµ ę¬²ēøęåæµ，ä¹č³č§č¦ŗ、åæ、ę³å¦ę³，äøåæµéę³ ēøęåæµ，å¦ęÆčå¼åéØå¦ä¾ę。 |
Like this, Aciravata, when the noble disciple contemplates the body as body internally and does not think a thought related to sensual pleasures ... (up to) ... contemplates feelings, mental states and dharmas as dharmas and does not think a thought related to what is not rightful, then like this the noble disciple follows the instructions of the TathÄgata. |
Here's B. Thanissaro's translation from the MN 125 Thai canon,
and his footnote explanation on why he stuck with the Thai anomaly instead of going with the other pali sources.
“Then the TathÄgata trains him further: ‘Come, monk, remain focused on the body in & of itself, but do not think any thoughts connected with the body.4 Remain focused on feelings in & of themselves, but do not think any thoughts connected with feelings. Remain focused on the mind in & of itself, but do not think any thoughts connected with mind. Remain focused on mental qualities in & of themselves, but do not think any thoughts connected with mental qualities.’
With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters & remains in the second jhÄna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance.
“With the fading of rapture he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhÄna, of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.’
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN125.html#mn125note04
4. Reading kÄyÅ«pasaį¹hitaį¹… dhammÅ«pasaį¹hitaį¹ with the Thai and PTS editions. The Sri Lankan and Burmese editions read kÄmÅ«pasaį¹hitam, “connected to sensuality,” in both places. There are two reasons for following the Thai and PTS editions here. (1) As SN 47:6 and SN 47:7 point out, sensual thoughts connected with the five strings of sensuality are considered “out of range” when one is practicing the establishings of mindfulness. For this reason, thoughts connected with sensuality should have already been abandoned at that stage, and not at the stage of entering the second jhÄna. (2) In the standard descriptions of the four jhÄnas, thoughts directed at sensuality are abandoned prior to entering the first jhÄna; all directed thought is abandoned on entering the second. The simple instruction to not think thoughts connected with sensuality would not be enough to end all directed thoughts—it leaves open the possibility of thinking thoughts connected to the object of mindfulness—and so it would not serve to bring the mind all the way to the second jhÄna. However, once thoughts of sensuality have been abandoned with the practice of the four establishings of mindfulness, the only remaining directed thoughts in the meditator’s mind would be those directed at the objects of mindfulness. For that reason, the instruction at this point not to think thoughts connected with those objects would be enough to bring the mind to the second jhÄna.
Frankk response
Ven. Thanissaro's explanation of the Thai canon discrepancy makes sense, and does give a cleaner explanation in some respects regarding how 4sp satipatthana is done in first jhana (with thought related to Dhamma) and how that transitions to second jhana.
Namely, second jhana 4sp satipatthana where vitakka verbal thoughts have dropped out and sublimated into subverbal mental activity in the form of sati, sampajano, and attention to perceptions and feelings (citta sankhara) experienced.
But I believe the other pali versions, and the agama parallel MA 198 make better sense in terms of big picture. It's not that the Buddha was trying to imply that this stage of satipatthana (compared to the previous stage of 4sp) was liable to be easily interrupted with vitakka thoughts of sensuality (kÄma), it's that he wanted to draw a direct connection between this stage of satipatthana and first jhana. Namely, they are the exact same practice under two different labels! First jhana's first two words, are "vivicceva kamehi", seclusion from sensual pleasure, pointing to the exact type of thought this 4sp is supposed to have removed and prevent from re-arising.
The other point Ven. Thanissaro was making, about first jhana satipatthana having thoughts of sensuality being already "out of range", doesn't cause a real problem or contradiction within the suttas. Ambiguous minor contradictions happen frequently in the suttas. AN 9.41 and SN 40.1 for example, show first jhana being interrupted by thoughts and perceptions of kama/sensuality. A learner's first jhana, or impure first jhana, is still called a jhana by the Buddha.
Factoring in the architecture considerations of how the simile passage was structured for oral transmission to be effective, memory triggers and associations to work easily, the Buddha would have wanted obvious links and clues to make the sections of correspondence clear between which stage of elephant gradual training corresponded with which monk training. Sensuality/kÄma makes the first jhana correspondence very obvious.
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