notes on the Dhamma

AN 7.67  B. Sujato translates hiri as 'conscience': in the same way a noble disciple has a conscience. They’re conscientious about bad conduct by way of body, speech, and mind, and conscientious about having any bad, unskillful qualities.  Evamevaṃ kho, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako hirīmā hoti, hirīyati kāyaduccaritena vacīduccaritena manoduccaritena, hirīyati pāpakānaṃ akusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ samāpattiyā. It's not necessarily a wrong translation or interpretation, but by not translating it as 'shame', as many other translators do, it loses the powerful motivating factor that 'shame' has in governing people's actions, in our practice. Here's an excerpt from B. Thanissaro that explains why really well. And in a similar vein IMO, this is why the Buddha talks about 4 noble truths of suffering, and not 4 noble truths of happiness. Both could work, but dukkha is a powerful motivating factor, to drive our practice. A focus on happiness could easil...

Excerpt from the book announcement: Anālayo is particularly well placed to give an authoritative account of early Buddhist mindfulness in practice and theory. He is able to conduct research by comparing Chinese Agamas and Pali Canonical texts, with reference to Tibetan and Ghandharvan text fragments. And he is that rare and precious combination, a scholar-practitioner.  ...   Anālayo ends this book with a new and more comprehensive definition of mindfulness than is used in most current scholarship, Buddhist or secular. He defines it as “ an openly receptive presence that enables a full taking in of information, resulting in an awake quality of the mind that facilitates clarity and recollection by monitoring, in the present moment and without interfering, the internal and external repercussions of whatever is taking place.”      I don't know what scholars are reading and what they're thinking if that's what they think 'mindfulness' is. It certainly is...

Summary of the discussion thread: MN 69 Goliyāni (Sariputta is giving the talk, not the Buddha) (1. should have respect and reverence for his spiritual companions) (2. should be careful where he sits) (3. should know even the supplementary regulations) (4. shouldn’t enter the village too early or return too late in the day) (5. shouldn’t socialize with families before or after the meal) (6. shouldn’t be restless and fickle) (7. shouldn’t be gossipy and loose-tongued) (8. should be easy to admonish, with good friends) (9. should guard the sense doors) (10. monk should eat in moderation) (11. monk should be committed to wakefulness) (12. should have aroused-vigor) (13. should be rememberful [of Dharma]) (14. monk should have undistractible-lucidity) (15. a wilderness monk should be wise) (16. should make an effort to learn the higher Dharma (Abhidhamma) and higher training (Abhivinaya)) (17. to realize the peaceful liberations that are formless, transcending form) (18. to realize the sup...

 I heard this on an old recorded Dhamma talk of his, not a quote, just a very rough inaccurate paraphrase of the gist of what he said. For someone who's a terrible person, doing terrible things, no normal person would  have a genuine wish for them to unconditionally be happy. But if you're skillful in "being specific" about how you do metta, with practice you can do metta where you genuinely wish for their happiness. A couple of examples: 1. May that person stop doing terrible things so he can enjoy the peace of mind that comes from that and be happy as a result. 2. May that person realize what he's doing is terrible and harmful, and from that realization have wisdom arise and happiness with it that follows.  

The two suttas AN 4.11 and AN 4.12 are a connected set to be read and understood together.   AN 4.12 talks about doing four jhanas in all four postures without explicitly using the label '4 jhanas', instead using synonymous terms from the 7sb awakening factors (passaddhi, samadhi, ekaggata, etc.).  Similar to how AN 8.63, SN 47.4, also are very clearly describing four jhanas without ever using the term 'jhana'.  AN 4.12 also doesn't mention vitakka and vicara, so it's clear when the previous sutta AN 4.11 is describing a stage prior to first jhana, with vitakka and vicara, and when the vitakka has been calmed, second jhana is implied, and since it has a clear thematic continuation with AN 4.12, we can then be certain it is second jhana being referenced.  The phrase  Vitakk-ūpasame   is used in the verse, which is nearly the same as second jhana's stock formula of "vitakka vicaranam vupasama" (thoughts and evaluation have subsided). In verse, for po...

Ven. Jiv.'s pāli chanting for the first 10 suttas of SN 47 Sati-'paṭṭhāna 🐘 Saṃyutta If you want to learn correct pāli pronunciation, this is the gold standard.