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SN 47.10 B. Sujato's incoherent meditation instructions using vitakka, satipaṭṭhāna, and seven awakening factors

 

His translation, as of today's date.

SN 47.10: Bhikkhunupassayasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net)


Being joyful, rapture springs up.Pamuditassa pīti jāyati.When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil.Pītimanassa kāyo passambhati.When the body is tranquil, one feels bliss.Passaddhakāyo sukhaṁ vedayati.And when blissful, the mind becomes immersed in samādhi.Sukhino cittaṁ samādhiyati.Then they reflect:So iti paṭisañcikkhati:‘I have accomplished the goal for which I directed my mind.‘yassa khvāhaṁ atthāya cittaṁ paṇidahiṁ, so me attho abhinipphanno.Let me now pull back.’Handa dāni paṭisaṁharāmī’ti.They pull back, and neither place the mind nor keep it connected.So paṭisaṁharati ceva na ca vitakketi na ca vicāreti.They understand: ‘I’m neither placing the mind nor keeping it connected. Mindful within myself, I’m happy.’‘Avitakkomhi avicāro, ajjhattaṁ satimā sukhamasmī’ti pajānāti.






There are many problems with this, but for now I'm just going to point out this big one.

His use of 'place the mind' (for vitakka) shows he believes this seven awakening factor sequence is a first jhāna and second jhāna boundary context.

Take note of this word I highlighted in his translation
paṇidahi
aor. (+acc) guided; directed; determined; intended; aimed [pa + ni + √dhā + a + i] ✓



B. Sujato has attempted to justify his translation of vitakka in first jhāna as 'placing the mind' (on a visual kasina, as in Vism. or Ajahn Brahm redefinition of jhāna), because he claims the Buddha lacked the pāḷi vocabulary to indicate the "placing of mind" or "mounting the mind on a meditation object", and therefore vitakka has to take on a more subtle meaning in jhāna context.

Well here's just one example of a word which the Buddha supposedly doesn't possess,  paṇidahi.
If the Buddha had wanted to vitakka to do Sujato's "placing the mind", he simply could have used 'panidahi', instead of redefining a fundamental term. 

'vitakka' means linguistic verbal thought in every occurrence in the suttas, whether in jhāna or not.

And there are actually many other words the Buddha could have used.
If the Buddha had actually intended vitakka of first jhāna to mean what Sujato wants vitakka to mean,
He simply could have used, instead of vitakka, 
1. citta-sankhāra (mental fabrication, mental co-activity)
2. vitakka-sankhāra (thought formation, thought fabrication, thought co-activities that underly verbal thought)
3. mano-sankhāra,
(all 3 of those come in jhāna, samādhi, psychic power mind reading context)

MN 111 which describes in detail what factors are operating during the practice of each of the four jhānas and nine meditation attainments,
has cetana (volition), 
adhimokkha (decision),
chanda (desire),

Those all overlap with "placing the mind" or "mounting the mind on a kasina", or "initial application of mind".

Conclusion

There is no justification for Sujato redefining vitakka in the jhāna context when plenty of pāḷi meditation terms already exist in the suttas, to perform "placing the mind",  as shown above.


from Sujato's article on "Why vitakka doesn’t mean ‘thinking’ in jhana"
https://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/why-vitakka-doesnt-mean-thinking-injhana/ Why vitakka doesn’t mean ‘thinking’ in jhana
 
It is in this way, I believe, that the innocent term vitakka has taken on a whole
new life. In Pali it had a certain spectrum or flexibility of meaning, such that the
Buddha could prod it out of its everyday meaning of ‘thought’ and tease it into a
new meaning, ‘application of the mind on to its object in profound meditation’



Just for fun

Sit, down, meditate, try to follow Sujato's  (translation of the Buddha's) meditation instructions above in SN 47.10.
Even if you can do the Vism. or Ajahn Brahm redefinition of first and second jhāna,
I have no idea how you're going to get there following that translation.

A rational person at this point, would rightly question, maybe Sujato isn't translating and interpreting the sutta passages [on jhāna] correctly?





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