Skip to main content

SN 36.31 New translation where the vimokkha section makes sense

compare my new translation, with 

SN 36.31 three kinds of liberations (vimokkha), unclear in all existing translations

 

SN 36.31 Nirāmisa: Non-carnal

(2023 SP-FLUENT translation by frankk‍)  

    SN 36.31 - SN 36.31 Nirāmisa: Non-carnal
        SN 36.31.1 - (3 types of pīti)
            SN 36.31.1.1 – (s'-āmisā pīti / carnal rapture = 5kg )
            SN 36.31.1.2 – (nir-āmisā pīti / non-carnal rapture = first two jhānas)
            SN 36.31.1.3 - (nir-āmisā nir-āmisatarā pīti / surpassing non-carnal rapture = arahant)
        SN 36.31.2 - (3 types of sukha)
            SN 36.31.2.1 – (s'-āmisā sukha / carnal pleasure = 5kg )
            SN 36.31.2.2 – (nirāmisaṃ sukhaṃ / non-carnal [physical] pleasure = first 3 jhānas)
            SN 36.31.2.3 – (nir-āmisā nir-āmisatarā sukha / surpassing non-carnal pleasure = arahant)
        SN 36.31.3 - (3 types of upekkha)
            SN 36.31.3.1 – (s'-āmisā upekkha / carnal upekkha = equanimous-boredom)
            SN 36.31.3.2 – (nirāmisaṃ upekkha / non-carnal equanimous-observation = 4th jhāna)
            SN 36.31.3.3 – (nir-āmisā nir-āmisatarā upekkha / surpassing non-carnal equanimous-observation = arahant)
        SN 36.31.4 - (3 types of vimokkho / liberation)
            SN 36.31.4.1 – (nekkhamma and 4 jhānas are liberation from carnality)
            SN 36.31.4.2 – (formless attainments are liberation from limitations of four jhānas and rūpa)
            SN 36.31.4.3 – (arahant has the highest liberation)

excerpt:

The highlighted parts above from my translation that explicitly explain vague or inscrutable sections of existing English translations.


36.31.3.1 – (s'-āmisā upekkha / carnal upekkha = equanimous-boredom)

♦ “katamā ca, bhikkhave,
"And what is
s'-āmisā upekkhā?
carnal equanimous-boredom?
pañc'-ime, bhikkhave,
Monks, there are five
kāma-guṇā.
cords of sensual pleasure.

...

paṭicca uppajjati upekkhā,
depending on those, equanimous-boredom arises.
ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave,
This is called
s'-āmisā upekkhā.
carnal equanimous-boredom.

36.31.3.2 – (nirāmisaṃ upekkha / non-carnal equanimous-observation = 4th jhāna)


36.31.4 - (3 types of vimokkho / liberation)

36.31.4.1 – (nekkhamma and 4 jhānas are liberation from carnality)

[Carnality is the five cords of sensual pleasure 5kg , with sensuality as its limitation.]
♦ “katamo ca, bhikkhave,
"What is
sāmiso vimokkho?
carnal liberation?
rūpap-paṭi-saṃyutto vimokkho
Any liberation [devoid of sensuality but] connected to material form.
sāmiso vimokkho.
[The four jhānas are] carnal liberation.

36.31.4.2 – (formless attainments are liberation from limitations of four jhānas and rūpa)

[Non-carnality is the four jhānas, and has material form as its limitation.]
♦ “katamo ca, bhikkhave,
"What is
nirāmiso vimokkho?
non-carnal liberation?
a-rūpap-paṭi-saṃyutto vimokkho
Any liberation [more refined than 4 jhānas] that is connected to formless [attainments such as 8 vimokkha ].
nirāmiso vimokkho.
is non-carnal liberation

36.31.4.3 – (arahant has the highest liberation)

♦ “katamo ca, bhikkhave,
"And what is
nir-āmisā nirāmisataro vimokkho?
something even better than non-carnal liberation?
yo kho, bhikkhave,
It’s when
khīṇ'-āsavassa bhikkhuno
A monk who has ended asinine-inclinations
rāgā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ paccavekkhato,
Equanimously-observes his mind liberated from passion,
dosā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ paccavekkhato,
Equanimously-observes his mind liberated from aversion,
mohā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ paccavekkhato
Equanimously-observes his mind liberated from delusion.
uppajjati vimokkho,
The liberation that arises
ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave,
is called
nir-āmisā nirāmisataro vimokkho”ti.
something even better than non-carnal liberation.

(end of sutta⏹️)



Comments

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

SN 48.40 Ven. Thanissaro comments on Ven. Sunyo's analysis

This was Ven. Sunyo's analysis of SN 48.40: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2024/05/exciting-news-honest-ebt-scholars-like.html And here is Ven. Thanissaro's response to that analysis: I think there’s a better way to tackle the issue of SN 48:40 than by appealing to the oldest layers of commentarial literature. That way is to point out that SN 48:40, as we have it, doesn’t pass the test in DN 16 for determining what’s genuine Dhamma and what’s not. There the standard is, not the authority of the person who’s claiming to report the Buddha’s teachings, but whether the teachings he’s reporting are actually in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma that you know. So the simple fact that those who have passed the Buddha’s teachings down to us say that a particular passage is what the Buddha actually taught is not sufficient grounds for accepting it. In the case of the jhānas—the point at issue here— we have to take as our guide the standard formula for the jhānas, a

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