https://suttacentral.net/an5.28/en/sujato
furthermore, with the fading away of rapture, a mendicant enters and remains in the third absorption. They meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, personally experiencing the bliss of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.’
Pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampajāno,
sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṃvedeti, yaṃ taṃ ariyā ācikkhanti: ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
my comment: The 3rd jhana simile, which is referring to the same physical body 'kāya', and the body/kaya that experiences 'bliss'/sukha,
in the very next sentence, is completely inconsistent and incoherent. The simile is talking about the same
body, the same kaya that 3rd jhana standard formula is referring to.
Puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu
They drench, steep, fill, and spread their body with bliss free of rapture.So imameva kāyaṃ nippītikena sukhena abhisandeti parisandeti paripūreti parippharati;There’s no part of the body that’s not spread with bliss {sukha} free of rapture.nāssa kiñci sabbāvato kāyassa nippītikena sukhena apphuṭaṃ hoti.It’s like a pool with blue water lilies, or pink or white lotuses. Some of them sprout and grow in the water without rising above it, thriving underwater.Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, uppaliniyaṃ vā paduminiyaṃ vā puṇḍarīkiniyaṃ vā appekaccāni uppalāni vā padumāni vā puṇḍarīkāni vā udake jātāni udake saṃvaḍḍhāni udakānuggatāni anto nimuggaposīni.
The justification B. Sujato uses to make the physical body disappear, is that the pali word 'kāya'
in some meditative contexts might not be referring to the physical body. For example, in these passages:
AN 4.87
And how is a person a pink lotus ascetic?
Kathañca, bhikkhave, puggalo samaṇapadumo hoti?
It’s when a mendicant realizes the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. … And they have direct meditative experience of the eight liberations.
Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu āsavānaṃ khayā anāsavaṃ cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṃ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharati, aṭṭha ca vimokkhe kāyena phusitvā viharati.
That’s how a person is a pink lotus ascetic.
Evaṃ kho, bhikkhave, puggalo samaṇapadumo hoti.
AN 6.46, referring to "The Deathless Element".
Because it’s incredibly rare to find individuals in the world who have direct meditative experience of the deathless.
Acchariyā hete, āvuso, puggalā dullabhā lokasmiṃ, ye amataṃ dhātuṃ kāyena phusitvā viharanti.
https://suttacentral.net/an6.46/en/sujato
Thus, friends, you should train yourselves: 'Being Dhamma-devotee monks, we will speak in praise of jhana monks.' That's how you should train yourselves. Why is that? Because these are amazing people, hard to find in the world, i.e., those who dwell touching the deathless element with the body.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html
AN 9.43:
“Reverend, they speak of a person called ‘personal [body] witness’.
“‘Kāyasakkhī, kāyasakkhī’ti, āvuso, vuccati.
What is the personal witness that the Buddha spoke of?”
Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā”ti?
“First, take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and remains in the first absorption.
Idhāvuso, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi … pe … paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati.
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the personal witness in a qualified sense.
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena. (1)
Furthermore, take a mendicant who, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, enters and remains in the second absorption …
Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, bhikkhu vitakkavicārānaṃ vūpasamā … pe … dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ …
third absorption …
tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ …
fourth absorption.
catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati.
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the personal witness in a qualified sense.
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena. (2–4.)
Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond perceptions of form, with the ending of perceptions of impingement, not focusing on perceptions of diversity, aware that ‘space is infinite’, enters and remains in the dimension of infinite space.
Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso rūpasaññānaṃ samatikkamā paṭighasaññānaṃ atthaṅgamā nānattasaññānaṃ amanasikārā ‘ananto ākāso’ti ākāsānañcāyatanaṃ upasampajja viharati.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati.
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the personal witness in a qualified sense. Furthermore, take a mendicant who enters and remains in the dimension of infinite consciousness … the dimension of nothingness … the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception …
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena … pe …. (5–8.)
Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, their defilements come to an end.
Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṃ samatikkamma saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ upasampajja viharati, paññāya cassa disvā āsavā parikkhīṇā honti.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati.
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the personal witness in a definitive sense.”
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, kāyasakkhī vutto bhagavatā nippariyāyenā”ti. (9)
https://suttacentral.net/an9.43/en/sujato
Of the 3 passages quoted, the first two, referring to nirvana and 8 liberations, are not equivalent to four jhanas,
so it's practically a completely different context.
The AN 9.43 however, groups 4 jhanas as part of the 9 samadhis. So B. Sujato's reasoning is,
since the arupa samadhis, one could not be physically using the body/kaya to 'touch' the attainment,
therefore since 3rd jhana uses the word 'kaya', it must also be a metaphorical meaning of "personally experiencing".
It's a valid point, but ultimately we have to reject it because many other passages establish a clear
context for the 3rd jhana physical body. Such as the AN 5.28 jhana simile above, where the simile,
and the meditation instruction to "pervade, suffuse, the entire body" is clearly referring to the anatomical body that's experiencing bliss and rapture, not "personally experiencing with a personal pronoun self."
The Theravada commentary for that same sutta AN 5.28, explicitly says the body is "flesh and blood" in the 3rd jhana part of the formula:
AN 5.28, DN 2, MN 39, jhāna simile commentary – physical!
| |
AN-a 5, 1. paṭhamapaṇṇāsakaṃ, 3. pañcaṅgikavaggo, 8. pañcaṅgikasuttavaṇṇanā, para. 1 ⇒
| (geoff shatz trans.) |
imameva kāyan-ti imaṃ karajakāyaṃ.
| “This very body:” this body born of action [i.e. born of kamma]. |
Abhisandetī-ti temeti sneheti,
| “He drenches:” he moistens, |
sabbattha pavatta-pīti-sukhaṃ karoti.
| he extends joy and pleasure everywhere. |
Parisandetī-ti samantato sandeti.
| “Steeps:” to flow all over. |
Paripūretī-ti vāyunā bhastaṃ viya pūreti.
| “Fills:” like filling a bellows with air. |
Parippharatī-ti samantato phusati.
| “Permeates:” to touch all over. |
sabbāvato kāyassāti assa bhikkhuno
| “His whole body:” in this monk’s body, |
sabbakoṭṭhāsavato kāyassa kiñci upādinnakasantatipavattiṭṭhāne
| with all its parts, in the place where acquired [material] continuity occurs there is not even the smallest part consisting of |
Chavi-maṃsa-lohit-ānugataṃ
| skin, flesh, and blood |
aṇumattampi ṭhānaṃ paṭhamaj-jhāna-sukhena a-phuṭaṃ nāma na hoti.
| that is not-permeated with the pleasure of the first-jhāna.
|
KN Pe 3rd jhana gloss
| |
so pītiyā virāgā
| 587. he, (with) rapture's fading-away, |
yāti ojahi jalla-sahagataṃ.
| drives nutritive-essence wetness-,connected-with-that. |
| |
♦ 73. tattha so-manassa-cittam-upādānanti{uppādayati} ca
| 587. there happy-mental-state-(of)-mind-arises, [pīti leftover from 2nd jhana] |
so taṃ vicinanto upekkhameva manasi-karoti.
| he then investigates (that with) equanimous-obervation attention. |
so pītiyā virāgā
| he, (with) rapture's fading, |
upekkhako viharati.
| equanimously-observing (he) dwells. |
yathā ca pītiyā sukha-mānitaṃ,
| as-to the rapture induced-pleasure, |
taṃ kāyena paṭisaṃvedeti
| that, (with the) body (he) experiences, |
sam-pajāno viharati.
| (with) clear-discerning (of that he) dwells. |
yena sati-sampajaññena
| because-of remembrance-&clear-discerning, |
upekkhā-pāripūriṃ gacchati.
| equanimous-observation-fulfillment happens. |
idaṃ tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ
| this third jhana, |
catur-aṅga-samannāgataṃ.
| four-factors-(it)-possesses. |
Remember, KN Peta is canonical Theravada, about 6 hundred years earlier than Vism.
KN Pe, you'll notice in the highlighted passage, also makes the explicit connection between 4 jhanas and the 7sb awakening factors by saying the sukha is induced by pīti-sambojjhanga.
And as we, know the 7sb sequence is explicitly referenced dozens of times in the EBT pali sutta, over 60 times including the key relevant portion of Kāya - passaddhi sukhino (with body pacified, one experiences sukha/pleasure/bliss).
SN 46.3 (7sb☀️)
This is one of the most important models in the EBT. You should have it memorized and know it by heart forwards and backwards. This is the canonical definition of "bhāvana", meditation, every method of meditation that generates samadhi and jhanas, uses this model. It appears as part of many 16 APS suttas, it often appears without the explicit "bojjhanga" suffix attached, but a partial causal sequence is unmistakable.
| (implied: pamojja and pīti would result from contact with inspiring monks) |
(0. 👂 Bhikkhūnaṃ dhammaṃ sutvā)
| 0. 👂 listen to Dhamma [teaching] from a monk [and memorize it] |
(1. 🐘 Sati: taṃ Dhammaṃ anus-sarati anu-vitakketi)
| 1. 🐘 that Dhamma [teaching] (he) recollects and thinks about |
(2. 💭 Dhamma-vicaya: taṃ dhammaṃ paññāya, pa-vicinati pa-vicarati pari-vīmaṃsam-āpajjati )
| 2. 💭 that Dhamma discerning; he discriminates, evaluates, investigates |
(3. 🏹 Vīriya: āraddhaṃ hoti vīriyaṃ a-sallīnaṃ.)
| 3. 🏹 his aroused vigor is not-slackening |
(4. 😁 Pīti: Āraddha-vīriyassa uppajjati pīti nir-āmisā,)
| 4. 😁 his aroused vigor leads to arising of rapture not-carnal (of jhana) |
(5. 🌊 Passaddhi: Pīti-man-assa, kāyo-pi passambhati, cittam-pi passambhati )
| 5. 🌊 with enraptured-mind, his body becomes pacified, his mind becomes pacified |
(6. 🌄 Samādhi: Passaddha-kāyassa sukhino, cittaṃ samādhiyati.)
| 6. 🌄 with pacified body, he is in pleasure, mind becomes undistractable and lucid. |
(7. 👁 Upekkha: so tathā-samāhitaṃ cittaṃ, sādhukaṃ ajjh-upekkhitā hoti)
| 7. 👁 he of such undistractable & lucid mind, thoroughly looks-upon-it-with-equanimity |
(7 types of fruits, Nirvana)
| Seven different levels of awakening results from proper practice of 7sb. |
And B. Sujato translates 'kāya' as 'body' in 7sb awakening factor context, as well as 16 APS breath meditation context.
So in the meditative context involving the physical body, physical breath, he does the right thing and translates the kāya consistently as 'body'.
Except in the 3rd jhāna, where he wrongly translates it using the metaphorical "he personally experiences."
So when you consider all of these passages, in contrast to the lone AN 9.43 context he uses to support his metaphorical body, it's clear he's cherry picking, quoting out of context, blatantly ignoring the far more relevant physical body meditation passages which occur with far more frequency.
Also when you consider the lengths of corruption late Theravada has to go through in Vism. to kill the physical body in 3rd jhāna, detailed in the article links below, it's fair to wonder why they didn't use the same pali grammar trickery as B. Sujato as part of their arsenal?
Conclusion:
The Vism. approach is like a mafia crime boss giving the kill order to make 'kāya'/body and bodily born pleasure 'sukha' disappear.
B. Sujato is like the smart and clever expensive defensive attorney the mafia crime boss hires to keep them out of prison.
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