Skip to main content

What is the 'dhamma' category in 4sp satipatthana?


https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1313/what-is-the-meaning-of-dhamm%c4%81-in-the-context-of-the-four-satipa%e1%b9%ad%e1%b9%adh%c4%81na/34239#34239

Does anyone have a proper explanation as to why the fourth set is called "dhammas"?
Because the 4th category is not about dhamma (mental qualities or phenomena), it's ☸Dhamma-[teaching that leads directly to nirvana].
The standard Theravada interpretation of the cryptic formula in 4sp satipatthana, is that one focuses on one of the frames to the exclusion of the other 3. But that's not the real purpose. The real meaning, is that one should see "body as body [as it actually is]".http://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-real-meaning-of-cryptic-formula-in.html
For ☸Dhamma, the meaning of seeing ☸Dhamma as ☸Dhamma as it actually is, is very similar in meaning to  ☸Dhamma-anu-dhamma☸šŸ“ {the practice of} dhamma/Dhamma that accords with {the Buddha's} ☸Dhamma. http://lucid24.org/tped/d/dhamma/index.html

EA, the MN 10  (satipatthana sutta) parallel in Chinese Agama, supports my interpretation

Or at the very least, has an idea much closer to mine, than to Theravada.
It looks like they're interpretation is that you take any dhamma [thing, quality, phenomena], and put it through a thorough ☸Dhamma investigation, after attaining 4 jhanas via 7sb.
“How does a monk in regard to dharmas contemplate the characteristics of dharmas as a satipaį¹­į¹­hāna? Here a monk cultivates the mindfulness awakening factor supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states.
“He cultivates the [investigation-of-]dharmas awakening factor [supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states].
“He cultivates the energy awakening factor [supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states].
“He cultivates the joy awakening factor [supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states].14
“He cultivates the tranquillity awakening factor [supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states].
“He cultivates the concentration awakening factor [supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states].
「云何比 äø˜ę³•ę³•ē›øč§€ę„ę­¢?ę–¼ę˜Æ,ęÆ”äø˜äæ®åæµč¦ŗę„,依 觀、ä¾ē„”ę¬²、ä¾ę»…ē›”,ęØč«øęƒ”ę³•。äæ®ę³•č¦ŗę„、 äæ®ē²¾é€²č¦ŗę„、äæ®åæµč¦ŗę„、äæ®ēŒ—č¦ŗę„、äæ®äø‰ę˜§ č¦ŗę„、äæ®č­·č¦ŗę„,ä¾č§€、ä¾ē„”ę¬²、ä¾ę»…ē›”,ęØ č«øęƒ”ę³•。å¦‚ę˜Æ,ęÆ”äø˜ę³•ę³•ē›øč§€ę„ę­¢。
“He cultivates the equanimity awakening factor supported by insight, supported by dispassion, and supported by cessation, discarding evil states. In this way a monk [in regard to] dharmas contemplates the characteristics of dharmas as a satipaį¹­į¹­hāna.

(1st jhāna)

「復欔,比 丘!Fù cƬ, bǐqiÅ«!
“Further more, Bhikkhus!
於愛欲解脫,WÅ« Ć iyù jiětuō,
free from craving for sensual pleasures,
é™¤ęƒ”äø-善法,ChĆŗ ĆØ bùshĆ n fĒŽ,
removing evil (and) un-wholesome dhamma [qualities],
ęœ‰č¦ŗ、꜉觀,YĒ’u juĆ©, yĒ’u guān,
with coarse-thinking (and) with subtle-thinking,
ęœ‰ēŒ—åæµ,YĒ’u yÄ« niĆ n,
with tranquility (and) mindfulness,
ęØ‚ę–¼åˆē¦Ŗč€Œč‡ŖåØ›ęØ‚。LĆØwÅ« chÅ« chĆ”n Ć©r zƬ yĆŗlĆØ.
(he) delights in first Jhāna, and he experiences delight.
(jhāna is satipaṭṭhāna refrain)
å¦‚ę˜Æ,RĆŗshƬ,
In this way,
ęÆ”äø˜ 法 BǐqiÅ« fĒŽ
(a) Bhikkhu [in regard to] dhammas,
法相 fĒŽxiāng
(those) dhamma characteristics
č§€ę„ę­¢。 Guān yƬ zhǐ.
(he) contemplates (as a) satipaṭṭhāna.
(A note on vitakka and vicāra)
Ven. Anālayo translated jue and guan as “directed awareness and sustained contemplation,” but that’s a translation based on an extrapolation of the literal reading of some archaic characters (in non-Buddhist Chinese contexts, they mean “realize” and “observe,” respectively). The Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra and the Yogacarabhumi (texts that are traditionally used as dictionaries), among others, explain that jue and guan should be understood as “coarse thinking” and “subtle thinking,” respectively.

(2nd jhāna)

「復欔,比 丘!Fù cƬ, bǐqiÅ«!
“Further more, Bhikkhus!
ęØęœ‰č¦ŗ、꜉觀,Shě yĒ’u juĆ©, yĒ’u guān,
discarding coarse-thinking (and) subtle-thinking,
內 ē™¼ę­”å–œ,NĆØi fā huānxǐ,
Internally arousing joy
å°ˆå…¶äø€ę„,Zhuān qĆ­ yÄ«yƬ,
the mind being unified,
ęˆē„”č¦ŗ、焔觀,ChĆ©ng wĆŗ juĆ©, wĆŗ guān,
achieved no coarse-thinking (and) no subtle-thinking,
åæµēŒ— NiĆ n yÄ«
mindful (and) tranquil,
喜安, xǐ'ān,
(with) joy (and) ease,
éŠäŗŒē¦Ŗč€Œč‡ŖåØ›ęØ‚。Yóu ĆØr chĆ”n Ć©r zƬ yĆŗlĆØ.
(he) travels-to second Jhāna and he-himself (experiences) happy pleasure [sukha].
(jhāna is satipaṭṭhāna refrain)
å¦‚ę˜Æ,RĆŗshƬ,
In this way,
ęÆ”äø˜ 法 BǐqiÅ« fĒŽ
(a) Bhikkhu [in regard to] dhammas,
法相 fĒŽxiāng
(those) dhamma characteristics
č§€ę„ę­¢。 Guān yƬ zhǐ.
(he) contemplates (as a) satipaṭṭhāna.

(3rd jhāna)

「復欔,比 丘!Fù cƬ, bǐqiÅ«!
“Further more, Bhikkhus!
ęØę–¼åæµ,Shě wÅ« niĆ n,
discarding [joy] mindfully
修於護,xiÅ« wÅ« hù,
(he) cultivates equanimity in this respect,
ę’č‡Ŗč¦ŗēŸ„ 身覺樂,hĆ©ng zƬjuĆ© zhÄ« shēn juĆ© lĆØ,
constantly he experiences (and) knows (with his) body the-experience-of pleasure [sukha].
諸賢聖所求,zhÅ«xiĆ”n shĆØng suĒ’ qiĆŗ,
as sought after by noble ones,
護念清淨,hù niĆ n qÄ«ngjƬng,
equanimity (and) mindfulness, (are) pure-(and)-clean,
č”Œę–¼äø‰ 禪。xĆ­ng wÅ« sān chĆ”n.
(he) engages in third Jhāna.
(jhāna is satipaṭṭhāna refrain)
å¦‚ę˜Æ,RĆŗshƬ,
In this way,
ęÆ”äø˜ 法 BǐqiÅ« fĒŽ
(a) Bhikkhu [in regard to] dhammas,
法相 fĒŽxiāng
(those) dhamma characteristics
č§€ę„ę­¢。 Guān yƬ zhǐ.
(he) contemplates (as a) satipaṭṭhāna.

(4th jhāna)

「復欔,比 丘!Fù cƬ, bǐqiÅ«!
“Further more, Bhikkhus!
ęØ č‹¦ęØ‚åæƒ,Shě kĒ” lĆØ xÄ«n,
discarding pain [dukkha] (and) pleasure [sukha] (of) heart/mind,
ē„”å¾©ę†‚å–œ,wĆŗ fù yōu xǐ,
without sadness (and) joy,
焔苦焔樂,wĆŗ kĒ” wĆŗ lĆØ,
without pain [dukkha] (and) without pleasure [sukha],
護念清淨,hù niĆ n qÄ«ngjƬng,
equanimity (and) mindfulness, (are) pure-(and)-clean,
樂 於四禪。lĆØwÅ« sƬ chĆ”n.
(He) delights in fourth Jhāna.
(jhāna is satipaṭṭhāna refrain)
å¦‚ę˜Æ,RĆŗshƬ,
In this way,
ęÆ”äø˜ 法 BǐqiÅ« fĒŽ
(a) Bhikkhu [in regard to] dhammas,
法相 fĒŽxiāng
(those) dhamma characteristics
č§€ę„ę­¢。 Guān yƬ zhǐ.
(he) contemplates (as a) satipaṭṭhāna.

(arising, ceasing, pari-mukhaṃ refrain)

å½¼č”Œēæ’ 法,Bǐ xĆ­ng xĆ­ fĒŽ,
“he practices the venue to [its] origination,
č”Œē›”ę³•,XĆ­ng jǐn fĒŽ,
he practices the venue to [its] cessation,
å¹¶č”Œēæ’ē›”ä¹‹ę³• BƬngxĆ­ng xĆ­ jǐn zhÄ« fĒŽ
and he practices the venue to both [its] origination and cessation.”
č€Œč‡ŖåØ›ęØ‚, Ć©r zƬ yĆŗlĆØ,
experiencing joy in himself [by removing evil thoughts and being free from worry and sorrow].
便 å¾—ę³•ę„ę­¢ BiĆ n dĆ©fĒŽ yƬ zhǐ
He gains the satipaṭṭhāna of dharmas
č€Œē¾åœØå‰。 Ć©r xiĆ nzĆ i qiĆ”n. (pari-mukha)
and keeps it present in front [of himself].
(A note on pari-mukha)
Visuddhimagga apologists often explain the parimukha-instruction as “bringing attentional focus” to one’s nose-tip. But Chinese passages where that instruction occur actually are virtually identical to what you find here in EA. Here in EA, the expression clearly means something to the effect of “keeping it present,” as a nose-tip focus would not be a sensible starting point for dharma-based satipatthana. If it means “keeping it present” here, why would it mean “fixing on nose-tip” elsewhere?
(EA 12.1 translation notes for STED 4 jhānas and 4sp)
č­· is equanimity. This is peculiar to this EA recension.
ęØ (Shě) is what most Chinese Agamas have for equanimity.
樂 as sukha is a noun sometimes, but also gets used as a verb "to enjoy" or "to delight in". (such as in 4th jhāna)
ę„ę­¢ (yƬ zhǐ) in EA is satipaį¹­į¹­hāna.
åæµä½ (nianzhu) is the phrase for satipaį¹­į¹­hāna used in most Chinese agamas.

åÆēŸ„åÆč¦‹,é™¤åŽ»äŗ‚ęƒ³, ē„”ę‰€ä¾ēŒ—,äøčµ·äø–é–“ęƒ³;å·²äøčµ·ęƒ³,便焔 ē•ę€–;å·²ē„”ē•ę€–,ē”Ÿę­»ä¾æē›”;ę¢µč”Œå·²ē«‹,ę‰€ä½œ 已辦,ę›“äøå¾©å—ęœ‰,å¦‚åÆ¦ēŸ„ä¹‹。
“He is able to know, able to see, discarding distracted perceptions, he does not depend on anything and does not give rise to worldly perceptions. Not having given rise to such perceptions he is not agitated, not being agitated he knows as it really is that ‘birth and death have been extinguished, the holy life has been established, what had to be done has been done, there is no more experiencing of [another] existence.’    


Response to Questions and Commenters


on the interpretation of analyzing dhamma-phenomena through Dhamma-teaching framework

my response to one of the comments below: in DN 22 though, the 4 noble truths and noble eightfold path description under Dhammaanupassana are just cut and paste jobs from other fundamental suttas defining what those factors are. Unlike the EA parallel where Dhamma anupassana is described where you're activing USING a Dhamma-teaching framework to analyze the phenomena. DN 22 maybe implies that, but the Theravada model is so massive and convoluted you can't tell for sure. In EA, for sure that's what they're doing. The problem is if you take DN 22 as viewing dhamma-phenomena viewed through Dhamma-teaching framework, then how do you approach the other 3 satipatthana where that wouldn't work? It doesn't say kaya-Dhamma-anupassi, vedana-dhamma-anupassa, etc...


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lucid24.org: What's new?

Link to lucid24.org home page :    4šŸ‘‘☸   Remember, you may have to click the refresh button on your web browser navigation bar at to get updated website. 2024 9-17 Lots of new stuff in the last 2 and a half years.  Too many to list. Main one justifying new blog entry, is redesign of home page. Before, it was designed to please me, super dense with everything in one master control panel. I've redesigned it to be friendly to newbies and everyone really. Clear structure, more use of space.  At someone's request, I added a lucid24.org google site search at top of home page. 2022 4-14 Major update to lucid24.org, easy navigation of suttas, quicklink: the ramifications 4-2 new feature lucid24.org sutta quick link 3-28 A new translation of SN 38.16, and first jhāna is a lot easier than you think šŸ”—šŸ“notes related to Jhāna force and J.A.S.I. effect AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111: How does Ajahn Brahm and Sujato's "Jhāna" work here? 3-13 Added to EBPedia J.A.S.I. ('Jazzy...

Advice to younger meditators on jhāna, sex, porn, masturbation

Someone asked: Is porn considered harmful sexual.activity? I don't have a sex life because I don't have a partner and I don't wish to engage in casual sex so I use porn to quench the biological urge to orgasm. I can't see that's it's harmful because nobody is being forced into it. The actors are all paid well and claim to enjoy it etc. The only harm I can see is that it's so accessible these days on smart devices and so children may access it but I believe that this is the parents responsibility to not allow unsupervised use of devices etc. Views? Frankk response: In another thread, you asked about pleasant sensations and jhāna.  I'm guessing you're young, so here's some important advice you won't get from suttas   if you're serious about jhāna.  (since monastics are already celibate by rule)   If you want to attain stable and higher jhānas,   celibacy and noble silence to the best of your ability are the feedstock and prerequiste to tha...

AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111: How does Ajahn Brahm and Sujato's "Jhāna" work here?

What these 3 suttas have in common, AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111, is the very interesting feature of explicitly describing doing vipassana, while one is in the jhāna and the first 3 formless attainments. LBT (late buddhist text) apologists, as well as Sujato, Brahm, claim that the suttas describe a jhāna where one enters a disembodied, frozen state, where vipassana is impossible until one emerges from that 'jhāna'.  Since Sujato translated all the suttas, let's take a look at what he translated, and how it supports his interpretation of 'jhāna'.  AN 9.36: Jhānasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net) ‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’ ‘Paį¹­hamampāhaṁ,   bhikkhave,   jhānaṁ   nissāya   āsavānaṁ   khayaṁ   vadāmÄ«’ti,   iti   kho   panetaṁ   vuttaṁ. That’s what I said, but why did I say it? KiƱcetaṁ   paį¹­icca   vuttaṁ? Take a mendicant who, q uite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskill...