notes on the Dhamma

  SN 47.5 Akusalarāsi: A Heap of the Unskillful (standard 4sp🐘 formula) (translation style  SP-FLUENT  by  frankk‍ ) 5. Akusalarāsisutta 5. A Heap of the Unskillful Sāvatthinidānaṃ. At Sāvatthī. Tatra kho bhagavā etadavoca: There the Buddha said: “‘akusalarāsī’ti, bhikkhave, vadamāno pañca nīvaraṇe sammā vadamāno vadeyya. “Rightly speaking, monks, you’d call these five hindrances a ‘heap of the unskillful’. Kevalo hāyaṃ, bhikkhave, akusalarāsi, yadidaṃ—pañca nīvaraṇā. For these five hindrances are entirely a heap of the unskillful. Katame pañca? What five? Kāmacchandanīvaraṇaṃ, byāpādanīvaraṇaṃ, thinamiddhanīvaraṇaṃ, uddhaccakukkuccanīvaraṇaṃ, vicikicchānīvaraṇaṃ. The hindrances of sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. ‘Akusalarāsī’ti, bhikkhave, vadamāno ime pañca nīvaraṇe sammā vadamāno vadeyya. Rightly speaking, you’d call these five hindrances a ‘heap of the unskillful’. Kevalo hāyaṃ, bhikkhave, akusalarāsi, yadi...

 Sujato's Jhāna related suttas in SN translation notes as of 2026-march 22 SN 21.1 why is the bar for noble silence second jhāna and not first jhāna? Here, Sujato only notes that vitakka and vicāra are absent from 2nd jhāna. He makes no mention of why first jhāna is not noble silence. Is "placing the mind and keeping it connected" (to a white kasina) noisy? Can the mind reading devas and monastics who have mind reading psychic power hear the squeaky noises from these redefined "jhāna" meditators grabbing at a kasina? Does that make a squeaky noise? What makes Sujato's first "jhāna" be considered "noisy" and not "noble silence"?  If first jhāna is indeed as Sujato, Brahm, Vism., redefine the term, which is a frozen disembodied stupor where the body sense faculties are shut off, verbal thought is not possible, the mind is glued to a visual kasina, Then why is first jhāna not "noble silence"? Maybe it's because Sujato...

  vitakka and vicāra (V&V) are fundamental building blocks in the oral tradition, not just in Buddhism, but the other major religions in India. The Dharma you memorize is in the form of V&V, linguistic, verbal, communicable language. The Dharma you recite everyday to strengthen your memory, those are vitakka, directed verbal thoughts. Vicāra, evaluation of the vitakka thought, is exploring, evaluating, pondering the vitakka thought in more depth. You recite a line of memorized Dharma,  you pause to evaluate it more deeply before moving on. That's vicāra. If you recite quickly, and you know just enough that you're reciting accurately with no errors, and you have a superficial understanding of what you just recited very quickly, that's vitakka. This is a fundamental, basic law of oral tradition. You can't arbitrarily redefine V&V (vitakka and vicāra) to take on new meanings  in specialized contexts,  because then the oral tradition doesn't work. V&V do...

  This sutta doesn't make much sense if you're in the YOLO (you only live once) no rebirth believer. desktop wallpaper SN 56.35 Sattisata: A Hundred Spears (same dukkha refrain as SN‍-q 56.1.2 ) 35. Sattisatasutta 35. A Hundred Spears “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puriso vassasatāyuko vassasatajīvī. “monks, suppose there was a man with a lifespan of a hundred years. Tamenaṃ evaṃ vadeyya: And someone might say to him: ‘ehambho purisa, pubbaṇhasamayaṃ taṃ sattisatena hanissanti, majjhanhikasamayaṃ sattisatena hanissanti, sāyanhasamayaṃ sattisatena hanissanti. ‘Come now, my good man, they’ll strike you with a hundred spears in the morning, at midday, and in the late afternoon. So kho tvaṃ, ambho purisa, divase divase tīhi tīhi sattisatehi haññamāno vassasatāyuko vassasatajīvī vassasatassa accayena anabhisametāni cattāri ariyasaccāni abhisamessasī’ti. And you’ll live for a hundred years being struck with three hundred spears every day. But when a hundred years have passed, you will compr...

  (similar results with chatgpt and google gemini) Frankk asked claude AI  how does vitakka and vicara work in first jhana claude says 6:07 AM In the Pali Buddhist meditation tradition, vitakka and vicāra are two of the five factors (jhānaṅga) that characterize the first jhāna. Here's how they function: Vitakka (Applied Thought / Initial Thought) Vitakka literally means "thinking toward" something. In the context of the first jhāna, it is the mental factor that places and directs the mind onto the meditation object — like a hand picking something up and setting it down. It's the initial application of attention, the act of "touching" the object with the mind. It's often described with the simile of a bell being struck — vitakka is the initial strike. It counters the hindrance of sloth and torpor by keeping the mind engaged and pointed. Vicāra (Sustained Thought / Examination) Vicāra is what happens after vitakka — the mind sustains, explores, and rubs up...

  desktop wallpaper SN 56.47 Paṭhamachiggaḷayuga: A Yoke With a Hole (1st) (same dukkha refrain as SN‍-q 56.1.2 ) 47. Paṭhamachiggaḷayugasutta 47. A Yoke With a Hole (1st) “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puriso mahāsamudde ekacchiggaḷaṃ yugaṃ pakkhipeyya. Tatrāpissa kāṇo kacchapo. So vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṃ sakiṃ ummujjeyya. “monks, suppose a person was to throw a yoke with a single hole into the ocean. And there was a one-eyed turtle who popped up once every hundred years. Taṃ kiṃ maññatha, bhikkhave, What do you think, monks? api nu kho kāṇo kacchapo vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṃ sakiṃ ummujjanto amusmiṃ ekacchiggaḷe yuge gīvaṃ paveseyyā”ti? Would that one-eyed turtle, popping up once every hundred years, still poke its neck through the hole in that yoke?” “Yadi nūna, bhante, kadāci karahaci dīghassa addhuno accayenā”ti. “Only after a very long time, sir, if ever.” “Khippataraṃ kho so, bhikkhave, kāṇo kacchapo vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṃ sakiṃ umm...

 You need saddha (justifiable-trust, not blind faith or sloppy lazy faith that people tend to default to), but here's the definitive answer from the Buddha, given in the context of when he was near death, when his two chief disciples had passed away before him. dn16 Mahāparinibbānasutta The Great Discourse on the Buddha’s nirvana dn26 Cakkavattisutta The Wheel-Turning Monarch sn47.9 Gilānasutta Sick sn47.13 Cundasutta With Cunda sn47.14 Ukkacelasutta At Ukkacelā (conclusion: 🏝️you island, Dharma refuge)   Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, So monks, attadīpā viharatha attasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā, be your own island, your own refuge, with no other refuge. dhammadīpā dhammasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā. Let The Dharma be your island and your refuge, with no other refuge.   Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anaññasaraṇo? And how does a monk do this? attadīpo viharati attasaraṇo anaññasaraṇo, dhammadīpo dhammasaraṇo Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu … It’s when … (standard 4sp🐘 formul...