The rūpa (physical body) is active in 4 jhānas, not transcended until to arūpa (formless) samādhis

9/14 the first installment glosses 4th jhana
9/15 the second installment glosses 3rd jhana
third installment: solves the crime committed by Vism. and late Theravada
9/16  update:  expose the flaws of  B. Sujato's translation
9/17 update: Late Theravada crime against the Dhamma
9/18 update: Comparison of Vism. and KN Pe confirms the crimes of Vism. in redefining Jhāna

Who killed kāya in 3rd jhāna, and Why?

Before we can understand what kāya means in 3rd jhana, first we have to dissect 4th jhāna's standard formula, which provides the clues we're looking for.

4th Jhāna

.	.

STED 4th jhāna formula

sukhassa ca pahānā	(with) Pleasure's ** abandoning,
dukkhassa ca pahānā	(with) pain's ** abandoning,
pubbeva so-manassa-do-manassānaṃ atthaṅgamā	(with) previous elated-mental-state-(and)-distressed-mental-states’ disappearance,
A-dukkham-a-sukhaṃ	Neither-pain nor-pleasure
👁🐘 Upekkhā-sati-pārisuddhiṃ	👁🐘 equanimous-observation-(and)-remembrance-purified,
🌕 catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati	🌕 fourth Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.

Gloss STED 4th jhāna formula

When ‘sukha’ and ‘dukkha’ are unqualified, it’s ambiguous whether physical sensation, mental feeling, or both, are the intended meaning.

SN 48.37 informs whether sensation is physical or mental

SN 48.37 helps us to determine exactly what sukha vedana and dukkha vedana mean mental or physical.
(sukha indriya = physical pleasure)
(dukkha indriya = physical pain)
(so-manssa indriya = mental happiness)
(do-manssa indriya = mental un-happiness)
(upekkha indriya = both physical and mental equanimity)
(sukha vedana = sukha indriya + so-manssa indriya,. Similar for dukkha)
Since the Buddha explicitly lists all 5 of the vedana-indriya types from SN 48.37,
then by deduction it’s clear the unqualified ‘sukha’ and ‘dukkha’ are referring to sukha-indriya (physical pleasure) and dukkha-indriya (physical pain) are meant.

Gloss

sukhassa ca pahana:

means physical pleasure has been abandoned in 4th jhana.
when was sukha-indriya still present?
Since 3rd jhana’s formula “sukham ca kaya” (physical pleasure experienced with the body) , then we know first through 3rd jhana are referring to at minimum, sukha-indriya (physical pleasure), and possibly sukha-vedana (both physical and mental pleasure).

dukkhassa ca pahana:

means physical pain has been abandoned in 4th jhana.
when was dukkha-indriya still present?
The Pali EBT is not absolutely clear on this. Some suttas suggest dukkha-indriya must be abandoned prior to first jhana. Some reliable canonical scripture, like KN Peta and EBT Agama parallel to SN 48.40, say that it’s in 2nd jhana that dukkha-indriya has been abandoned.

pubbeva somanassa (atthangama):

means ‘previously [before 4th jhana], [mental]-pleasurable states (disappeared)’.
when were mentally pleasurable states still present?
Since third jhana has “pitiya ca viraga” (Rapture fades), and we know from 7sb awakening factors the standard formula always emphasizes the mental portion of Piti (piti-manassa, kayo pi passambhati…), then we know somanassa must be referring to the rapture of piti. Which means somanassa was still present in 1st and 2nd jhana, and then is removed with piti in the 3rd jhana.

(pubbeva) domanassa atthangama:

means ‘previously [before 4th jhana], [mental]-painful states (disappeared)’.
when were mentally painful states still present?
Since first jhana states “vivicceva kamehi, vivicca akusalehi dhammehi’ (secluded from sensual pleasures and unskillful Dharmas), then that means domanassa (painful mental states faculty) would have been abnadoned prior to first jhana.

a-dukham-a-sukham:

Means neither [physical] pain nor [physical] pleasure.
How do we arrive at that deduction?
Again, we can solve this with SN 48.37.
There is no a-dukham-a-sukham indriya, which is the 3rd vedana of the 3 vedana scheme.
Instead, there is upekkha-indriya, which is ambiguous in the same way as sukha-vedana and dukkha-vedana, of meaning either or both mental and physical sensation.
Now since we deduced earlier that 4th jhana explicitly listing all 5 vedana indriya types of SN 48.37, that sukha and dukha unqualified must mean physical sensation of sukha-indriya and dukhka-indriya,
then here adukham-a-sukham must also be referring to physical sensation origin, since upekkha-indriya covers the mental part.

upekkha-sati-parisuddhim

Means equanimous-observation and remembrance [of Dharma] purified.
Upekkha is frequently mistranslated and misunderstood as being a passive ‘equinimity.’
But if we carefully research the suttas where vitakka & vicara are used in conjunction with upekkha, or upa-pari-ikkhati, and the role of upekkha-sambojjhanga in SN 46.3,
then it becomes clear upekkha is the bridge between the 6th factor samadhi-sambojjhanga (equivalent to 4 jhanas), doing vipassana to realize nirvana. Upekha could not be the 7th factor of awakening if it as a passive element that didn’t use the samadhi of the 6th factor to realize nirvana.

Second Installment: glossing 3rd jhāna

So from 4th jhana gloss, the Buddha, by using the 5 vedana indriya scheme, is making it absolutely crystal clear which factors are mental and which are physical. It's like he has a bright neon sign that says, "kaya is physical, sukha is physical, don't you dare try any dirty tactics and distort my meaning."

The Buddha is watching you to see how you translate sukha-indriya in 3rd jhāna

On to the 3rd jhana gloss.

STED 3rd Jhāna

🚫😁 pītiyā ca virāgā	🚫😁(with) Rapture ** fading,
👁 upekkhako ca viharati	👁 Equanimously-observing ** (he) dwells,
(S&S🐘💭) sato ca sam-pajāno,	(S&S🐘💭) (he is a) Rememberer, (a) lucid-discerner,
🙂🚶 sukhañca kāyena paṭi-saṃ-vedeti,	🙂🚶 pleasure with-the-body (he) experiences,
yaṃ taṃ ariyā ācikkhanti —	that those Noble-Ones declare -
‘upekkhako satimā sukha-vihārī’ti	“(He is an) equanimous-observer (and a) Rememberer, (he has) pleasurable-abiding.”
🌖 tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.	🌖 third Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.

Very straightforward gloss. Not only did the Buddha make it explicit and clear from 4th jhana, that sukha is sukha-indriya (physical), in 3rd jhana he also says "sukham ca kaya" just to make sure nobody tries any dirty tricks and pass off sukha as a pure mental happiness.

We also know from the 7sb awakening factor causal sequence into the 4 jhanas,  that piti is triggered by mental cause, leading to the pacification/relaxation of kaya (again the physical body), and directly causing sukha (from bodily cause).

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.

But you know how people with an agenda can be. They'll do anything to circumvent the law of Dharma.

In the next installment, we'll investigate the crime scene and dissect how they committed the crime, and how they got away with it.

Third installment: solving the crime

This article explains how Abhidhamma corrupts the 3rd and 4th jhana formulas to murder kāya and sukha as we know them.
Theravada Abhidhamma 3rd jhāna gloss corruption

On a related note, the same English Translator U Thittila corrupts the translation of vitakka and vicara from the corruption of first jhana. You are being groomed.
Audit: U Thittila mistranslation of V&V in Abhidha...

• In Vism., Buddhaghosa deliberately ignores the anatomical body of the jhana similes (AN 5.28), never even mentioning one of the most beautiful and popular similes in all of EBT. Why do you think that is? Because they murdered the body (kāya) and physical bodily pleasure (sukha), and don't want to draw attention to it.

As AN 5.28 Theravada commentary explicitly states:

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.

A monk's body that consists of skin, flesh, and blood, is not a "body of only mental aggregates" as Abhidhamma  redefines in the 3rd jhana gloss in the linked article. That's why Vism. never talks about the jhana similes. 

Instead, they butcher, deliberately modify and corrupt the words of SN 48.40, to support their murder of kaya and sukha. 

• 
  
• SN 48.40 (S V 213) is a corrupt sutta

• SN 48.40 Corrected version, CST4 Pāli fixed (VRJ v...

Our EBT brothers from another era, in the Agama parallel to SN 48.40, confirm that late Theravada Abhidhamma is abandoning and corrupting established earlier meaning.

• Sautrāntika (sutta-vāda, sutta-method), our EBT Jedi brothers from another era...

And in canonical early Theravada, such as the KN Pe, here is their 3rd jhana gloss, corroborating the straightforward physical body interpretation of AN 5.28 commentary, and just basic common sense straightforward EBT reading of the STED standard jhana formulas.

STED 3rd Jhāna

---

pītiyā ca virāgā	(with) Rapture ** fading,
upekkhako ca viharati	Equanimously-observing ** (he) dwells,
sato ca sam-pajāno,	(he is a) Rememberer, a clear-discerner,
sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṃvedeti,	pleasure with-the-body (he) experiences,
yaṃ taṃ ariyā ācikkhanti —	that those Noble-Ones declare -
‘upekkhako satimā sukha-vihārī’ti	“(He is an) equanimous-observer (and a) Rememberer, (he has) pleasurable-abiding.”
tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.	third Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.

---

(KN Pe commentary)

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.

• BCE milestone EBT events
  • 480 BCE: Birth of the Buddha
  • 400 BCE: Pari-nibbāna of the Buddha
  • 350 BCE: AN 5.50/EA 32.7
  • 237 BCE: KN Ps = Paṭi-sambhidā-magga
  • 200 BCE: Abhidhamma is not EBT
  • 101 BCE(?) KN Pe = Peṭakopadesa
  • 100 BCE KN Mil = Milinda Pañha
• CE milestone EBT events
  • 1 CE Vimt. = Vimutti-magga
    • wikipedia entry
  • 500 CE Vism = Visuddhi-magga

So Vism., when they redefine the four jhanas by murdering kaya and sukha, is blatantly disregarding not just the straightforward unambiguous words of the Buddha, but also the earlier Theravada predecessors, our EBT Jedi forefathers who explicitly clarified that kaya and sukha in the 4 jhanas are physical in nature, including blood, flesh, skin and bones. The  Vism. Theravada (literally teachings of the elders)  did not respect and listen to their elders. The elders did not respect their elders who had a correct understanding and interpretation, so why should we respect them?

9/16 update:

B. Sujato makes the body disappear in 3rd jhana

The rūpa (physical body) is active in 4 jhānas, not transcended until to arūpa (formless) samādhis

9/17 update:

Late Theravada crime against the Dhamma

9/18 update:

Comparison of Vism. and KN Pe confirms the crimes of Vism. in redefining Jhāna