notes on the Dhamma

People often study,  almost exclusively, Sati-'paṭṭhāna 🐘Sutta (MN 10, DN 22), told by authorities that it's one of the most, if not the most important sutta on meditation and "mindfulness". They're wrong, very wrong. There is over reliance in modern times on that one sutta for the subject of Sati-'paṭṭhāna. MN 10 can be useful and interesting as additional supplemental material on the subject, but what you really should use as your basis and foundation on Sati-'paṭṭhāna, is the first 10 suttas of SN 47, as the Theras (elder keepers of Dhamma) intended. If you repeatedly study these 10 suttas, as was designed in the oral tradition, you're going to get a much more comprehensive and holistic understanding of "Mindfulness meditation" (sati), how it integrates with jhāna and 7 awakening factors, how all the noble 8 factors and 7 awakening factors are to be done all the time. Provided you read a correct translation. If you read Sujato's for e...

 Not content to redefine (verbal, linguistic, mental talk) "thinking" as "not thinking", and (physical) body, as mental body devoid of physical, to account for noble silence being second jhāna rather than first, and Nigantha (founder of Jain religion) being able to do first jhāna  (if Sujato's fraudulent interpretation of jhāna were true, Nigantha would not claim he can do first jhāna) Sujato essentially redefines vāca (vocalized speech), as non-vocalized mental talk. This is what happens when you redefine basic words in the Buddhist dictionary,  or any dictionary for that matter. You have to start redefining a bunch of other basic fundamental concepts and terms to fit your warped version of "reality". I quote Sujato's disingenuous and fraudulent translation notes for SN 41.6 today, 2026 april 5. which match his notes for MN 44 which share the same passage.   “The verbal process ceases first, then physical, then mental.” The verbal process ceases i...

I'm posting this today, because checking Sujato's translation footnotes for SN 41.6 (today, 2026 april 5), which shares his fraudulent translation notes discussed below for MN 44, Sujato has not bothered to change the gross and obvious error I informed him of years ago. I don't enjoy publicly exposing Bhikkhu fraud, whether they're famous or not. It makes all Buddhists look bad, monastic, lay, etc. That's why this post sat in my draft folder for a long time, unpublished.  But in the end,  I can't sleep at night if I'm aware of a major crime,  and in response do and say nothing when my action has the potential to help right things.  Civic responsibility, being a decent human being, etc. It's amazing to me Sujato and his followers seem to be able to get a good night's sleep. Originally intended to post this on 2025 oct. 28, sat in my draft folder for about half a year (today is 2026 april 5)  I checked today to see if Sujato corrected an error in his t...

They were standing in front of the Bodhi tree.   The 3 famous figures known for their honesty and integrity, asked Sujato,  "What basis do you have for redefining vitakka and vicāra  when there is no evidence in the EBT early buddhist teachings?" And Sujato responded They said in return Proof, Audit trail SN 41.6, MN 44: Sujato doubles down on fraudulent interpretation of jhāna April 05, 2026 MN 44 footnote error: Proof that Bhikkhu Sujato has no integrity in translating and interpreting jhāna samādhi in EBT April 05, 2026 SN 21.1, SN 36.11, SN 41.8: Sujato’s disingenuous SN jhāna sutta translation notes continues March 23, 2026 · ⏱️ 6 min read

I asked chatgpt about a disturbing pattern I've noticed with AI chatbots: why do ai chatbots like to say "to be honest" or "honestly"? it makes me not trust you. because when you're not "being honest", i can only assume you're being deceptive That’s a fair reaction—and you’re not wrong to question it. 🧠 Why AIs say “honestly” or “to be honest” It’s not because the AI is switching between truthful and deceptive modes. It’s because: 1. It’s mimicking human conversation patterns In human speech, phrases like: “honestly” “to be honest” “frankly” are used to: signal emphasis soften a statement make something feel more personal or direct AI models learn this from tons of human-written text. 2. It’s often used to signal “important / candid point” The model is trying to say: “This part matters more” or “I’m giving you a straight answer” …but it ends up sounding like: “I wasn’t honest before” (which is not the intent) 3. It’s a stylistic habit, not a...

(from the email update newsletter for DPD) 2026 - April 2 update Dear Venerable monastics, professors, and Pāḷi enthusiasts, There are a few important updates to the dictionary this month. - DPD Android app — looking for beta testers A beta version of the  DPD app  is now available for testing on Android. This is a big step forward for anyone who reads Pāḷi on their phone or tablet. The application includes all the features of the webapp and GoldenDict, plus a few new features. It works offline, can look up words shared from any other app or website, and automatically keeps itself up to date with the latest dictionary releases.  Find out how to  download and install the app here .  - Other dictionaries for download You can find all the other Pāḷi and Sanskrit dictionaries available for download  on this webpage . There's a new Sanskrit dictionary available for download,  Apte's Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary  of 1890 from the Cologne c...