https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/jhanas-the-body/21371/27
nibbanka wrote:
So, despite the shift to the “mental body” in the later literature, the Commentary still preserves the literal “physical body” meaning in this particular context. And explanation in the earlier sources, namely the Paṭisambhidāmagga and the Vimuttimagga, gives support for such a reading.
cdpatton responds:
The problem is that there’s only one Agama parallel that I can find that agrees with these Theravada passages that exist in DN and MN. There’s just not much evidence that it was from the earliest period of Buddhism, otherwise we should see more parallels and consistency the way we do with the jhana formulas themselves.
After I posted my comments in the other thread, I did find a Chinese parallel to DN 2 (T22) that includes metaphors with the four jhanas. They use similar imagery but mean completely different things. Not only do they lack the connecting passage that Theravadins point to as explicitly defining kaya in the third jhana as physical, the explanations of the metaphors specifically avoid that reading of kaya repeatedly.
It reads like this, to paraphrase a bit (T22.274c11-275a7):
The first jhana is like a person entering a bathing pool filled with clean and pure water. They cross over the other side, and their mind rejoices.
The monk is likewise. In quiet seclusion, he’s peaceful and happy. He observes everything that arises from the body and sees nothing of the body. Throughout his observation, there’s no (sense faculties?), and the mind’s activity is quieted, making him joyous and comfortable.
The second jhana is like lotus flowers and water lilies that grow in the muck under water. Although they were in the water, the water and dirt doesn’t cling to their stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit.
The monk is likewise. In this body with samadhi, he’s comfortable and rejoices. With this mental attainment, he reaches a steadfast place, it becomes unchangeable, and his mind is purified without the dust of desire.
The third jhana is like a mountain that’s solid without cracks and it’s limitless in size. When an east wind blows on it, it isn’t moved by it. It’s the same with south, west, and north winds. That’s because it’s root is solid and imperturbable. It has a water spring that’s clear and delicious, without any pollutants. it supports the mountain by filling it up and flows all around it. The water purifies it.
The monk is likewise. In this body of contemplation, there’s no delight or comfort to depend on. His (mental) activity is perfected, observing there’s no body, and then his view is universal.
The fourth jhana is like a person who puts on new clothes on the seventh or eighth day of the month. Their face is shining, and they observe their non-naked body because they wanted to cover it with a fine garment.
The monk is likewise. His physical actions are pure, and his mind is without defilement. With joy, he’s liberated, without any domain for this (mental) activity. He doesn’t see there’s a body, and everywhere observes no abodes (sense fields?). His mind’s function is purified without any of the many pollutants.
Then it goes on (T22.275a9-17):
It’s like a great meeting hall that’s not far from a regional capital. Someone goes up into it and lights a (beacon) fire. It’s light shines, neither high nor low. The wind doesn’t put it out. It’s not obscured by birds (flying) or any other type of creature. It remains steadfast and undisturbed.
The monk is likewise. His mind is unconfused, steadfast, and undisturbed. He has attained the purity of emptiness. The monk has this understanding, has attained this attainment, and his body is tranquil. This body of four elements was born from parents. The consciousness that depends on it discards this body and doesn’t enjoy it. The constantly renewed body and mind is tiresome, so he doesn’t accept it anymore. He makes the mind formless and eliminates all bodies of form and types of existence, but he doesn’t lose the root that establishes the body and mind (i.e., doesn’t die?).
It goes on. Admittedly, the explanations are a little difficult to translate because they use terms that often mean the sense faculties and fields, and the passages about “seeing no body” is unclear. (There are lots of bodies in Buddhism.)
I ought to translate the entire sutra sometime soon. It’s pretty fascinating as an alternate version of DN 2. I really have to wonder if this isn’t the Sarvâstivāda version, but I won’t be able to know until someone publishes something of what’s in the Skt. fragments scholars are working on.
There just isn’t anything else I can find in parallels. I’ve hunted, believe me, because it’s pretty interesting to try to track these things down and see the variations that existed. Another is an EA sutra that calls the four jhanas “bathing pools” (of the mind, not the body). There may be others I haven’t discovered yet - the EBTs and Abhidharma texts in Chinese are voluminous to say the least.
At the end of the day, I think someone caught the literalist bug and wrote these passages we see in a handful of Pali suttas. The sensible reading of kaya in the third jhana to me, given all of this comparative reading, is that “with this body” means “in this life with this incarnation made of five aggregates.” It would jibe with the EBT view of the mortal existence in general.
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