notes on the Dhamma

New and Improved simile borrowed from Vism. Visuddhimagga is a mish mash of many commentaries, often disagreeing with each other. In the four jhānas and the 7 awakening factors, pīti is a somanassa, a mental factor. sukha can be a combination of both physical and mental factors, but in the context of 7 awakening factor and 4 jhānas,  it's clear from context that sukha is referring to the physical sensation. Pīti is mental joy, mental rapture. sukha is physical pleasure, felt with a physical body one is conscious of during all 4 jhānas. In Vism., they ambiguate pīti to the point you really can't tell if they believe it's physical or mental. But one simile they do use, does conform to a correct EBT interpretation of how pīti and sukha differ, so I adopt that here and extend it to 3rd and 4th jhāna as well. The water represents sukha, physical pleasure felt with the physical body. First jhāna doesn't have physical contact with the water, all the happiness is mental, somana