notes on the Dhamma

dsuj  = derived from 2018-decem. edition of  Sujato, Bhikkhu translator, mostly unchanged, but  with some important terms substituted. https://sites.google.com/a/audtip.org/wiki/wiki/file-naming-conventions andj Anandajoti Bhikkhu translator  bodh Bodhi, Bhikkhu translator  bjt Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka dsuj  derived from 2018-decem. edition of  Sujato, Bhikkhu translator, mostly unchanged, but  with some important terms substituted.  flipt FLIPT: Fast Learning Intuitive Pali Translation  irld Ireland, John D. translator nypo Nyanaponika, Bhikkhu translator nymo Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu translator ntbb Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu; Bodhi, Bhikkhu translators than Thanissaro, Ajahn translator tanp Tan, Piya translator piya Piyadassi, Bhikkhu translator pts Pali Text Society rhyc Rhys Davids, C.A.F. translator  suj Sujato, Bhikkhu translator vri Vipasana Research Institute (includes DPR) wlsh Walshe, Maurice O'Co...

MN 20 excerpt http://lucid24.org/mn/mn014/toc-addon/index.html Taṃ kiṃ maññathāvuso nigaṇṭhā, pahoti rājā māgadho seniyo bimbisāro, What do you think, reverends? aniñjamāno kāyena, abhāsamāno vācaṃ , satta rattindivāni ekantasukhaṃ paṭisaṃvedī viharitun’ti? Is King Bimbisāra capable of experiencing perfect happiness for seven days and nights without moving his body or speaking ?’ ‘No hidaṃ, āvuso’. ‘No he is not, reverend.’ ‘Taṃ kiṃ maññathāvuso nigaṇṭhā, pahoti rājā māgadho seniyo bimbisāro, ‘What do you think, reverends? aniñjamāno kāyena, abhāsamāno vācaṃ, cha rattindivāni … pe … Is King Bimbisāra capable of experiencing perfect happiness for six days … pañca rattindivāni … five days … cattāri rattindivāni … four days … tīṇi rattindivāni … three days … dve rattindivāni … two days … ekaṃ rattindivaṃ ekantasukhaṃ paṭisaṃvedī viharitun’ti? one day?’ ‘No hidaṃ, āvuso’. ‘No he is not, reverend.’ ‘Ahaṃ kho, āvuso nigaṇṭhā, pahomi aniñjamāno kāyena, ...

👉👄🐍 penis in snake mouth similes Varaṃ te, mogha-purisa, It would be better, foolish-man, āsivisassa ghoravisassa mukhe aṅgajātaṃ pakkhittaṃ, for your penis to enter the mouth of a terrible and poisonous snake na tveva mātugāmassa aṅgajāte aṅgajātaṃ pakkhittaṃ. rather than {inserting your penis into a} woman’s vagina. Varaṃ te, mogha-purisa, It would be better, foolish-man, kaṇhasappassa mukhe aṅgajātaṃ pakkhittaṃ, for your penis to enter the mouth of a black snake na tveva mātugāmassa aṅgajāte aṅgajātaṃ pakkhittaṃ. rather than {inserting your penis into a} woman’s vagina. Ever wonder what that snake bite would look like? Here you go: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1410237

“Handa kuto nu bhavaṃ piṅgiyānī āgacchati divā divassā”ti? “So, Piṅgiyānī, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?” “Itohaṃ, bho, āgacchāmi samaṇassa gotamassa santikā”ti. “I’m coming, my good man, from the presence of the ascetic Gotama.” “Taṃ kiṃ maññati bhavaṃ piṅgiyānī samaṇassa gotamassa paññāveyyattiyaṃ? Paṇḍito maññe”ti? “What do you think of the ascetic Gotama’s proficiency in wisdom? Do you think he’s astute?” “Ko cāhaṃ, bho, ko ca samaṇassa gotamassa paññāveyyattiyaṃ jānissāmi. “My good man, who am I to judge the ascetic Gotama’s proficiency in wisdom? Sopi nūnassa tādisova yo samaṇassa gotamassa paññāveyyattiyaṃ jāneyyā”ti. You’d really have to be on the same level to judge his proficiency in wisdom.” “Uḷārāya khalu bhavaṃ piṅgiyānī samaṇaṃ gotamaṃ pasaṃsāya pasaṃsatī”ti. “Master Piṅgiyānī praises the ascetic Gotama with magnificent praise indeed.” “Ko cāhaṃ, bho, ko ca samaṇaṃ gotamaṃ pasaṃsissāmi. “Who am I to praise the ascetic Gotama? ...

sutta exercpt from AN 5.51: http://lucid24.org/an/an05/an05-0051/toc-addon/index.html (under influence of 5niv, monk can’t see clearly) “so vata, bhikkhave, bhikkhu "[when] the ****, ***********, monk, ime pañca āvaraṇe nīvaraṇe his five obstacles (and) hindrances cetaso ajjhāruhe (that the) mind (is) overcome (by), paññāya dubbalīkaraṇe (that his) wisdom (is) weakened (by) ap-pahāya, (are) not-abandoned, a-balāya paññāya dubbalāya (when he is) without-power (and) wisdom weak, att'-atthaṃ vā ñassati (that he) {understands} (what is for) his-own-benefit, par'-atthaṃ vā ñassati (that he) {understands} (what is for) other's-benefit, ubhay'-atthaṃ vā ñassati (that he) {understands} (what is for) both-[parties']-benefit, uttari vā manussa-dhammā (for a) superior ** human-state, alam-ariya-ñāṇa-dassana-visesaṃ (a) truly-noble-knowledge-(and)-vision-distinction, sacchi-karissatīti [that he] would-realize (this), n'etaṃ ṭ...

AN 4.191. Followed by Ear 191. Sotānugatasutta 191. Followed by Ear “Sotānugatānaṃ, bhikkhave, dhammānaṃ, vacasā paricitānaṃ, manasānupekkhitānaṃ, diṭṭhiyā suppaṭividdhānaṃ cattāro ānisaṃsā pāṭikaṅkhā. “monks, you can expect four benefits when the teachings have been followed by ear, reinforced by recitation, examined by the mind, and well comprehended theoretically. Katame cattāro? What four? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu dhammaṃ pariyāpuṇāti— Take a monk who memorizes the teaching— suttaṃ, geyyaṃ, veyyākaraṇaṃ, gāthaṃ, udānaṃ, itivuttakaṃ, jātakaṃ, abbhutadhammaṃ, vedallaṃ. statements, songs, discussions, verses, inspired sayings, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and analyses. Tassa te dhammā sotānugatā honti, vacasā paricitā, manasānupekkhitā, diṭṭhiyā suppaṭividdhā. They’ve followed those teachings by ear, reinforced them by recitation, examined them by the mind, and well comprehended them theoretically. So muṭṭhassati kālaṃ kurumāno aññataraṃ dev...

AN 4.157 Illness 157. Rogasutta 157. Illness “Dveme, bhikkhave, rogā. “monks, there are two kinds of illness. Katame dve? What two? Kāyiko ca rogo cetasiko ca rogo. Mental and physical. Dissanti, bhikkhave, sattā kāyikena rogena ekampi vassaṃ ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, dvepi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, tīṇipi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, cattāripi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, pañcapi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, dasapi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, vīsatipi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, tiṃsampi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, cattārīsampi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, paññāsampi vassāni ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā, vassasatampi, bhiyyopi ārogyaṃ paṭijānamānā. Some sentient beings are seen who can claim to be free of physical illness for a year, or two, or three years … even up to a hundred years or more. Te, bhikkhave, sattā sudullabhā lokasmiṃ ye cetasikena rogena muhuttampi ārogyaṃ paṭijānanti, aññatra khīṇāsavehi. But it’s very hard to find any sentient beings in the wo...

A-byāpanno sadā sato, One who has non-ill-will, ever rememberful, ajjhattaṃ su-samāhito; internally, thoroughly  undistractable-&-lucid, Abhijjhā-vinaye sikkhaṃ, avarice-removal, training in that,  appamattoti vuccatī”ti. is called ‘an assiduous one’.” Basically, being appamada means assiduously, continuously, practicing 4NT &  (☸ 8aam)    all the time, nonstop. The quote from AN 4.30 above, hits the major items: samadhi, sati, samma sankappo, samma ditthi. Other translators render appamada/pamada as: b.thanissaro:  heedful/heedless b.sujato: diligent/negligent One thing B. Thanissaro said that doesn't make sense to me, he disagreed with someone who rendered appamada as "careless", and said, "no, not careless, heedless." I looked up both words in the dictionary, they're pretty synonymous. I think this is a case where B. Thanissaro has a very specific EBT meaning assigned to 'appamada' in his own mind, but...

from wikipedia: Chinese whispers ( Commonwealth English ) or the telephone game ( American English ) [1] is an internationally popular children's game [2] in which players form a line, and the first player comes up with a message and whispers it to the ear of the second person in the line. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. When the last player is reached, they announce the message they heard to the entire group. The first person then compares the original message with the final version. Although the objective is to pass around the message without it becoming garbled along the way, part of the enjoyment is that, regardless, this usually ends up happening. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly from that of the first player, usually with amusing or humorous effect. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, the difficult...

http://lucid24.org/dn/dn21/toc-addon/index.html 2. Sakkūpasaṅkama 2. The Approach of Sakka Atha kho sakkassa devānamindassa etadahosi: Then Sakka, lord of gods, thought: “paṭisammodati pañcasikho gandhabbadevaputto bhagavatā, bhagavā ca pañcasikhenā”ti. “Pañcasikha is exchanging pleasantries with the Buddha.” Atha kho sakko devānamindo pañcasikhaṃ gandhabbadevaputtaṃ āmantesi: So he addressed Pañcasikha: “abhivādehi me tvaṃ, tāta pañcasikha, bhagavantaṃ: “My dear Pañcasikha, please bow to the Buddha for me, saying: ‘sakko, bhante, devānamindo sāmacco saparijano bhagavato pāde sirasā vandatī’”ti. ‘Sir, Sakka, lord of gods, with his ministers and retinue, bows with his head at your feet.’” “Evaṃ, bhaddantavā”ti kho pañcasikho gandhabbadevaputto sakkassa devānamindassa paṭissutvā bhagavantaṃ abhivādeti: “Yes, lord,” replied Pañcasikha. He bowed to the Buddha and said: “sakko, bhante, devānamindo sāmacco saparijano bhagavato pāde sirasā vandatī”ti. “Sir, Sakka, lo...

For English sutta translations, why not translate nibbāna as "nirvana"? It's a well understood English word. B. Thanissaro has "unbinding". b. Sujato has "extinguishment". I'm going with 'nirvana'. Here is the common English dictionary understanding of 'nirvana'. nirvana 🚫🔥 / nibbāna Noun: nirvana |nir'vaa-nu| (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness = enlightenment ~ beatification, beatitude, blessedness (Any place of complete bliss ) Any place of complete bliss and delight and peace = Ed...

I noticed something interesting about a-nimitta samadhi, which sheds some light on the difference between perceptions (sañña) and viññana/consciousness. In the first suttas of SN 40, Moggallana is working on mastering the 8 samadhi attainments, and the impure verison of each attainment, the words used are paying attention (manasi karoti) to the perceptions (sañña) of the impurity of that attainment. For animitta samadhi however, instead of perception, he uses consciousness (viññana). From SN 40.9: STED a-nimitta ceto-samādhi ‘idha bhikkhu 'Here (a) monk, sabba-nimittānaṃ a-manasi-kārā (regarding) all-signs, no-attention-(is)-given (to them). a-nimittaṃ ceto-samādhiṃ upasampajja viharati. Sign-less concentration-of-mind (he) enters (and) dwells. ayaṃ vuccati a-nimitto ceto-samādhī’ti. This (is) called Sign-less concentration-of-mind.'" impure version of animitta so khvāhaṃ, āvuso, "** Then-****, friends, sabba-nimittānaṃ a-manasi-kārā (rega...

āraddha-vīriyo (aroused-vigor) has a specific meaning from SN 21.3 “Idhāhaṃ, āvuso, bhagavantaṃ etadavocaṃ: “Well, reverend, I said to the Buddha: ‘āraddhavīriyo āraddhavīriyoti, bhante, vuccati. ‘Sir, they speak of one who is energetic. Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, āraddhavīriyo hotī’ti? How is an energetic person defined?’ Evaṃ vutte, maṃ, āvuso, bhagavā etadavoca: When I said this, the Buddha said: ‘idha, moggallāna, bhikkhu āraddhavīriyo viharati— ‘Moggallāna, it’s when a mendicant lives with energy roused up: kāmaṃ taco ca nhāru ca aṭṭhi ca avasissatu, sarīre upassussatu maṃsalohitaṃ, yaṃ taṃ purisathāmena purisavīriyena purisaparakkamena pattabbaṃ na taṃ apāpuṇitvā vīriyassa saṇṭhānaṃ bhavissatīti. “Gladly, let only skin, sinews, and bones remain! Let the flesh and blood waste away in my body! I will not stop trying until I have achieved what is possible by manly strength, energy, and vigor.” Evaṃ kho, moggallāna, āraddhavīriyo hotī’ti. That’s how a person i...