Skip to main content

SN 7.9 lucid24: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, always in jhāna and samādhi 🌄, equated with metaphor of fire 🔥

Jhāna also means 'burning', and samādahati is putting together the kindling to a fire.
Two important points to make in this short article:

1. jhana and samadhi both often use a metaphor of a fire. Based on passages like this, 'jhana' being a fire that burns away defilements seems to be what the Buddha intended, and not just a fanciful commentary explanation as I originally thought.

2. the Buddha expects his disciples to be in jhana and samadhi all the time. Several passages in the EBT, such as this one, make that point explicitly. 'nicca' = permanent, constant. Noble silence means second jhana, and 'pleasant abiding' (dittha dhamma sukha vihara) is a code phrase for 3rd jhana.

2b. always in jhana and samadhi means all postures, all activities, not just formal sitting practice.

excerpt from SN 7.9

SN 7 all suttas
Atha kho sundarikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo saṃviggo lomahaṭṭhajāto yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā ekamantaṃ aṭṭhāsi.
Then Sundarika the brahmin, shocked and awestruck, went up to the Buddha, and stood to one side.
Ekamantaṃ ṭhitaṃ kho sundarikabhāradvājaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ bhagavā gāthāhi ajjhabhāsi:
The Buddha addressed him in verse:
“Mā brāhmaṇa dāru samādahāno,
“When you’re kindling the wood, brahmin,
Suddhiṃ amaññi bahiddhā hi etaṃ;
don’t imagine this is purity, for it’s just an external.
Na hi tena suddhiṃ kusalā vadanti,
Experts say that those who wish for purity
Yo bāhirena parisuddhimicche.
through externals will not find it.
Hitvā ahaṃ brāhmaṇa dārudāhaṃ,
I’ve given up kindling firewood, brahmin,
Ajjhattamevujjalayāmi jotiṃ;
now I just light the inner flame.
Nicc-agginī nicca-samāhitatto,
Always blazing, always undistractify-&-lucidifyd,
Arahaṃ ahaṃ brahmacariyaṃ carāmi.
I am a perfected one living the spiritual life.
Māno hi te brāhmaṇa khāribhāro,
Conceit, brahmin, is the burden of your possessions,
Kodho dhumo bhasmani mosavajjaṃ;
anger your smoke, and lies your ashes.
Jivhā sujā hadayaṃ jotiṭhānaṃ,
The tongue is the ladle and the heart the fire altar;
Attā sudanto purisassa joti.
a well-tamed self is a person’s light.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
Post a Comment
Read more

illustration of Buddha Gotoma where he looks like a human being

Illustration by Bhikkhu Vimalo from a BPS postcard wishing a happy vesak   More images where Buddha looks human: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2021/02/where-are-buddha-images-and-statues.html Buddha and Arahant images that look like real humans
Post a Comment
Read more

1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue

To give more context, this is a public event,  * everyone knows cameras are rolling  *  it's a room full of children * the boy's mom is standing off camera a few feet away watching all of this * the boy initiated contact, he had already had a hug with Dalai Lama earlier and then asked Dalai Lama for another hug which triggered this segment  17 min. video showing what happened before that 1 min. clip and after, with some explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0qey5Ts78 16min talk from Ajahn Acalo with his thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, relevance to Bhikkhu monastic code, sexual predators in religion in general, and how celibate monastics deal with sexual energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2m0TcUib0 The child's comments about the incident in a filmed interview later https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/04/18/643eba5d46163ffc078b457c.html The child: It's a great experience It was amazing to meet His Holiness and I think it's a great ex
Post a Comment
Read more