SN 47.2 memorization technique: natural order sequence

SN 47.2 (full sutta text) - 🔗🔊  (audio link) S&S postures

(💭 sampajāno definition )

“kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sam-pajāno hoti?	And-how, monks, {is a} monk lucidly-discerning ****?
idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu	Here, monks, a monk [does this]:
Abhik-kante paṭik-kante	Forward-going (and) backward-going,
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
ālokite vilokite	Looking-ahead (and) looking-aside,
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
samiñjite pasārite	Drawing-in (and) extending (his limbs),
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
Saṅghāṭi-patta-cīvara-dhāraṇe	(his) outer-robes,--bowl,--robes;--using [these things],
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
asite pīte khāyite sāyite	eating, drinking, chewing his food, and tasting;
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
Uccāra-passāva-kamme	Feces—(and)—urine—working [those out of his body],
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
gate ṭhite	walking, standing,
nisinne sutte	sitting, falling asleep,
jāgarite bhāsite tuṇhībhāve	waking up, speaking, and keeping silent
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.
evaṃ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu	Thus indeed, monks, ******
Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,	Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.

This sutta is a nice companion to AN 3.16 description of jagara (wakefulness), and what one is doing for the walking meditation.

0. Sam-pajāna-kārī hoti,

Lucid-discerning- (he) -exercises ****.

This refrain follows each step, and serves as a memory aid in the sutta composition in building a rhythm and marks. 

1. Abhik-kante paṭik-kante

Forward-going (and) backward-going,

That may be referring to a walking path for walking meditaiton, pacing forward and backward.

2. ālokite vilokite

Looking-ahead (and) looking-aside,

Notice the natural sequence here, #2 is something you do while doing #1

3. samiñjite pasārite

Drawing-in (and) extending (his limbs),

Notice the natural sequence here, #3 is something you do while doing #1, 

4. Saṅghāṭi-patta-cīvara-dhāraṇe

(his) outer-robes,--bowl,--robes;--using [these things],

This is done once a day (bowl, going for alms round).

5. asite pīte khāyite sāyite

eating, drinking, chewing his food, and tasting;

Notice the natural sequence, you eat and drink after alms round.

6. Uccāra-passāva-kamme

Feces—(and)—urine—working [those out of his body],

Notice the natural sequence, after you eat and drink, there will definitely be waste elimination as a result of that.

7. gate ṭhite

walking, standing,

nisinne sutte

sitting, falling asleep,

jāgarite bhāsite tuṇhībhāve

waking up, speaking, and keeping silent

Notice that #7 loops back to #1 again, with the walking.

And Jagara (wakefulness) naturally slurps/links to that important sutta you should have memorized already, AN 3.16.

Another interesting feature about #7, is it only has one refrain after all 7 words, instead of 2 refrains, one after the 4 postures, and then one after the last 3 items. This breaks the pattern of the first 6 activities, which all used the refrain as a marker to break up conceptually different groupings. 

I wondered if this was a transmission error, that the refrain 'sampanajo hoti' after the 4 postures was accidentally lost. But assuming it's not an error, then the lack of a refrain after the 4 postures actually serves well as a dissonant signal that the end of the sutta passage is coming to an end. 

Another helpful memory aid #7, has 7 words for 7 activities. 

I chant this sutta at least once a week, and when I was first learning to memorize it, I chanted it several times a day. The less frequently you chant something, the more you start to understand the role of specific things that the Buddha and the elder disciples did in how they designed and engineereed the sutta compositions to aid memory. What modern book readers think of as annoying repetition or boring composition sutta structure, all of those details are actually important aids to memory, and markers to help you do a check sum and recover from errors you make from a faltering memory, signals to alert you that, "hey that didn't sound right, what I just chanted, let's try it again..."

Importance of the number 7

There's a secret slurp here, sati is #1 of the 7sb awakening factors, sampajano corresponds to #2 of 7sb, dhamma-vicaya. So by having exactly 7 parts (marked by 7 refrains), it's another reminder to that #1 sati and #2 sampajano that you should slurp in all 7 awakening factors.

Kind of like saying:

1. here is a root of a tree

2. here is an empty hut... (you know what you should do now)...

(slurp in instructions for 7 awakening factors, 4 jhanas, and execute those instructions)