notes on the Dhamma

 

Frankk translation of the formless part of sutta “Ākiñcaññaṁ pekkhamāno satimā, “[In the dimension of] nothingness, equanimously-observing, Remembering-and-applying- ☸Dharma  ,” (upasīvāti bhagavā) (replied the Buddha) , Natthīti nissāya tarassu oghaṁ; depending [on the perception] ‘there is nothing’, cross the flood. Kāme pahāya virato kathāhi, Giving up sensual pleasures, refraining from chatter, Taṇhak-khayaṁ nattam-ah-ābhi-passa”. watch day and night for the ending of craving.”   B. Bodhi has 1070. “Contemplating nothingness, mindful, (Upasīva,” said the Blessed One), “supported by ‘there is not,’ cross over the flood. [206] Having abandoned sensual pleasures, refraining from perplexity, night and day see into the destruction of craving. Thanissaro has Mindfully focused on nothingness, relying on ‘There isn’t,’ you should cross over the flood. Abandoning sensuality, abstaining from conversations,...

  Notice that the monkey's 2 arms + 2 legs + mouth = 5,  matching the 5kg cords of sensuality. SN 47.7 A monkey  “monks, in the Himalayas there are regions that are rugged and impassable. In some such regions, neither monkeys nor humans can go, while in others, monkeys can go but not humans. There are also level, pleasant places where both monkeys and humans can go. There hunters lay snares of tar on the monkey trails to catch the monkeys.   The monkeys who are not foolhardy and reckless see the tar and avoid it from afar. But a foolish and reckless monkey goes up to the tar and grabs it with a hand. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free his hand, he grabs it with his other hand. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands, he grabs it with a foot. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands and foot, he grabs it with his other foot. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands and feet, he grabs it with his snout. He gets stuck there. And so the mon...

 This would be a great T-shirt. Sati ("Mindfulness"). Come and get some! This would be a great T-shirt. There's a double meaning here. . 1. Most people don't have nearly enough sati. They need Dhamma, and they need to develop the sati that keeps the Dhamma with them all the time, ready to deploy. To those people, you need more sati. Come and get some. 2. If you do have pretty decent Sati... Then "Sati. Come and get some!" means: You have sati, you wield the Dhamma weapons of the Buddha skillfully, so you invite Māra and the defilements to "come and get some!", a battle cry that your Dhamma is going to destroy them. Just as the Quail says to the Hawk in SN 47.6 SN 47.6 quail simile in 10 sec. video: Sati "Mindfulness" is 24/7. No timeouts!

  In SN 47.6, as in many suttas, the Buddha constantly reminds you that sati ("Mindfulness") is to be done all the time, 24/7, or death and suffering can be expected. When you do sati, you're in your safe ancestral territory. When you don't do sati, you're in Māra's territory, the 5kg cords of sensual desire.  sati ("Mindfulness")  = remembering and applying the Buddha's Dhamma. If no specific Dhamma is given in that context, then default value of Dhamma is the 4 satipaṭṭhāna. "Mindfulness" can not be nonjudgmental choiceless awareness! Notice how the simile doesn't work if you follow the watered down and down right wrong definition of "mindfulness" used by many Buddhist teachers, influenced by the hijacked modern psychotherapy bastardization of sati. If the quail was sitting there being nonjudgmental, nonreactive, "choiceless awareness", the hawk would eat him for lunch. Instead, the quail is discerning (sat...

frankk comment: This is a real interesting take on the dukkha of losing an elite sports world championship. In the 2025 world series (major league baseball championship), The Blue Jays lost to the Dodgers by the barest margins imaginable. 4 or 5 times they were just one hit, or one play away from winning. But 5 times the Dodgers seemed to have some divine intervention that pulled off a miraculous play to keep them alive, and BARELY win in the 7th game, in the most dramatic way possible. from a 4NT and 12ps  point of view, you could say the solution is simple. Don't build an empire of self, possessions, identity out of anything internal (your body, mind), or external (the world outside of your internal). If you don't identify with the city of Toronto, you don't identify and treat their Blue Jays baseball club as you, yours, a possession of yours, don't treat baseball as something important in your life, don't treat a "world championship" as anything meaninf...

   in every bad guy wanted poster,  the Buddha always lists Kāma/sensuality number 1. Kāma-taṇha (1st type of craving in the 2nd noble truth of suffering) Kāma-c-chanda (1st of 5 hindrances) Kāma-āsava (first of the asinine inclinations an arahant destroys) first of the 3 cravings in 12ps's taṇha link the first thing one has to be temporarily understood and secluded from in 1st jhāna, and so on. Reward You bring back kāma alive, but understood and targeted for terminaton, 7 million $, and 7 or less lives to complete the mission. You bring back kāma dead, then arahantship.

J.R. commented on my recent Snp 1.11 post:  A-subha theatre, KN 1.11 Vijaya/victory Hello! Can you provide me with your explanation of dependent origination as it is used in this context? (As this is, so is that. As that is, so is this.) And how you would understand it here/perhaps your general understanding of it? Thank you Frankk response It's common in verse such as Snp to use variants of standard formulas. Snp 1.11's  So kho naṁ parijānāti, fully understands it, Yathābhūtañhi passati. for they see it as it is. Yathā idaṁ tathā etaṁ, “As this is, so is that, Yathā etaṁ tathā idaṁ; as that is, so is this.” Ajjhattañca bahiddhā ca, They’d reject desire for the body Kāye chandaṁ virājaye. inside and out. Chandarāgaviratto so, That wise monk here Bhikkhu paññāṇavā idha; rid of desire and lust, Ajjhagā amataṁ santiṁ, has found the deathless peace, Nibbānaṁ padamaccutaṁ. nirvana, the imperishable state. Is simply following the Buddha's enlightenment using the 12ps formula in U...

  KN Snp 1.11 Vijaya: Victory Sutta Nipāta 1.11 Vijayasutta 1.11 Victory Caraṁ vā yadi vā tiṭṭhaṁ, Walking and standing, nisinno uda vā sayaṁ; sitting and lying down, Samiñjeti pasāreti, extending and contracting the limbs: esā kāyassa iñjanā. these are the movements of the body. Aṭṭhinahārusaṁyutto, Linked together by bones and sinews, tacamaṁsāvalepano; plastered over with flesh and hide, Chaviyā kāyo paṭicchanno, and covered by the skin, yathābhūtaṁ na dissati. the body is not seen as it is. Antapūro udarapūro, It’s full of guts and belly, yakanapeḷassa vatthino; liver and bladder, Hadayassa papphāsassa, heart and lungs, vakkassa pihakassa ca. kidney and spleen, ...

  downloadable epub here: wordofthebuddha.com (I include link not because I recommend anyone read it, but there as a reference to what I describe below) I took a brief look at it, especially how he translates and interprets jhāna and samādhi related terms. It's a fraudulent translation and interpretation,  regarding their claim it's according to the EBT (early buddhist teachings). So far they have not recanted or changed any of their wrong views on jhāna. I do detailed audits of their fraud here: EBT Jhāna Vs.  VRJ👻🥶  (V)isuddhi-magga (Re)-definition of (J)hana  and Ajahn Brahm's  BRJ👻🥶 How might the Buddha have reacted to the state of his teachings on jhāna 2500 years later?

  1.1 - AN 1.1 (nothing occupies man’s mind like sight of a woman) 1 1 Evaṃ me sutaṃ—​ So I have heard. ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṃ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: There the Buddha addressed the monks: “bhikkhavo”ti. “monks!” “Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṃ. “Venerable sir,” they replied. Bhagavā etadavoca: The Buddha said this: “Nāhaṃ, bhikkhave, aññaṃ ekarūpampi samanupassāmi yaṃ evaṃ purisassa cittaṃ pariyādāya tiṭṭhati yathayidaṃ, bhikkhave, itthirūpaṃ. “monks, I do not see a single sight that occupies a man’s mind like the sight of a woman. Itthirūpaṃ, bhikkhave, purisassa cittaṃ pariyādāya tiṭṭhatī”ti. The sight of a woman occupies a man’s mind.” 1.2 - AN 1.2 (...sound of a woman) 2 2 “Nāhaṃ, bhikkhave, aññaṃ ekasaddampi samanupassāmi yaṃ evaṃ purisassa cittaṃ pariyādāya tiṭṭhati yathayidaṃ, bhikkhave, itthisaddo. “monks...