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vitakka in first jhāna, spelled out so you can't hide from the truth


🚫💑 vivicc’eva kāmehi
🚫💑 Quite-withdrawn (from) sensuality,
🚫😠 vivicca a-kusalehi dhammehi
🚫😠 withdrawn (from) un-skillful Dhamma [teachings & qualities],
(V&V💭) sa-vitakkaṃ sa-vicāraṃ
(V&V💭) With-directed-thought, with-evaluation,
😁🙂 viveka-jaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ
😁🙂 withdrawal-born rapture-&-pleasure,
🌘 paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
🌘 first Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.


Notice the sutta titles of these 3 suttas!

They're the only suttas in the whole canon titled that way, explicitly giving you critical information about first jhana.
AN 6.75 is really the 3rd of that set, and could have been titled "3rd sutta explaining first jhana".

The content of those thoughts, unlike ordinary V&V, must be kusala (skillful) related to Dharma (AN 6.73, AN 6.74, AN 6.75).
Otherwise, vitakka & vicāra in 1st Jhāna🌘 is intrinsically the same in 1st jhāna as it is outside of it.
So long as the thinking is attenuated, not too frequent and intense to tire the body and block kāya-passaddhi (bodily pacification), pīti & sukha (MN 19).

From AN 6.75, we see that the vitakka of first jhana, expanded out, is:

(dittha dhamma sukha vihara = first 3 jhanas, AN 6.29, AN 4.41)

Chahi, bhikkhave, dhammehi samannāgato bhikkhu
When a monk has six dharmas
diṭṭheva dhamme sukhaṃ viharati
they live happily in the present life—
...

(These 3 kusala Dharma thoughts in first jhana, MN 19, MN 78, MN 125)

Nekkhamma-vitakkena,
1. renunciation-thought, [especially as opposed to kāma/lust-passion]
a-byāpāda-vitakkena,
2. non-ill-will-thought, [of good will]
a-vihiṃsā-vitakkena,
3. non-harming-thought, [of compassion]

KN Pe 7.72 gloss of first jhana formula explains V&V based on those 3 vitakkas also:


♦ vitakkāti tayo vitakkā —
578. Directed thought: There are three kinds of directed thought, namely
nekkhammavitakko
the thought of renunciation,
abyāpādavitakko
the thought of non-aversion,
avihiṃsāvitakko.
and the thought of harmlessness.
tattha paṭham-ābhinipāto vitakko,
579. Here, directed thought is the first instance
paṭiladdhassa vicaraṇaṃ vicāro.
while evaluation is the evaluation of what is thereby received.


Even canonical Abhidhamma agrees! From Te Ab Vb 12 jhana gloss

“Accompanied by directed-thought, accompanied by evaluation” [means]:
“Sa-vitakkaṃ sa-vicāran”ti
There is directed-thought; there is evaluation.
atthi vitakko, atthi vicāro.
Therein what is directed-thought?
Tattha katamo vitakko?
That which is speculative-thought, directed-thought,
Yo takko vitakko
resolve [a thought-formation or fashioning a thought],
saṅkappo
fixing, firm-fixing,
appanā by-appanā
application of the mind,
cetaso abhiniropanā
right-resolve.
sammā-saṅkappo—
This is called directed-thought.
ayaṃ vuccati “vitakko”.


You plug in samma sankappo standard definition,
STED right-resolve
And what is right resolve? (SN 45.8)
Nekkhamma-saṅkappo,
Renunciation-resolve,
A-byāpāda-saṅkappo,
Non-ill-will-resolve,
A-vihiṃsā-saṅkappo —
Non-harmfulness-resolve

And that's basically equivalent in this context to our AN 6.75 from the beginning:
Nekkhamma-vitakkena,
1. renunciation-thought, [especially as opposed to kāma/lust-passion]
a-byāpāda-vitakkena,
2. non-ill-will-thought, [of good will]
a-vihiṃsā-vitakkena,
3. non-harming-thought, [of compassion]


Vimutti magga, based on the early Abhidhamma,  agrees with the above, and their first jhana gloss is very similar, even using most of the exact same examples as KN Pe.

Only in Vism., where they have an agenda to redefine jhana to conform to their radical momentariness redefinition of Abhidhamma, does vitakka take on a different meaning than above.  They can't actually redefine the Abhidhamma definition, so what they do instead is just segregate and confine the 3 types of first jhana vitakka to upacara samadhi, access concentration.

So in genuine Buddha Dhamma, first jhana vitakka, plugging back into standard first jhana formula:


🚫💑 vivicc’eva kāmehi
🚫💑 Quite-withdrawn (from) sensuality,
🚫😠 vivicca a-kusalehi dhammehi
🚫😠 withdrawn (from) un-skillful Dhamma [teachings & qualities],

(V&V💭) With-directed-thought, with-evaluation,
sa-Nekkhamma-vitakka,
1. with renunciation-thought, 
sa-a-byāpāda-vitakka,
2. with non-ill-will-thought,
sa-a-vihiṃsā-vitakka,
3. with non-harming-thought, 
😁🙂 viveka-jaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ
😁🙂 withdrawal-born rapture-&-pleasure,
🌘 paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
🌘 first Jhāna (he) enters, dwells.

Whenever you see the first jhana formula, that's what you should see your mind, with vitakka in first jhana spelled out. In the EBT, there is no earth kasina first jhana with a redefinition overriding that definition. So when Ajahn Brahm and B. Sujato try to claim otherwise, they are completely without basis.

Proof:

• explicit: every. single. reference. to vitakka in the suttas

You'll not find any redefinition in there. Besides, if there was one, you can bet Buddhaghosa would have pointed it out in Vism. The fact that they have to redefine vitakka in earth kasina first jhana tells you right there it didn't exist. It didn't even exist in canonical Abhidhamma!

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