notes on the Dhamma

(work in progress. this will take me some time to articulate and explain sufficiently so people can understand, but it's such a great discovery I have to share even the minimal explanation as the article takes shape) terminology Definition of low-hanging fruit: the obvious or easy things that can be most readily done or dealt with in achieving success or making progress toward an objective. Think about the fruit that hang low on a tree, grow close to ground that are easy to pick, compared to the fruit that are high up in the tree, and hard to climb up, have thorns, etc.  sukha = physical pleasure. The physical pleasure you feel when you eat delicious food, have an orgasm, physical exercise done at the proper dosage and intensity, laughing with friends, etc.  pīti = mental joy, can be intense mental rapture. The mental joy you feel when doing the same activities as listed for sukha. Mining for sukha, low hanging jhāna fruit I discovered another great way to generate some easy ...

Re: Vitakka & Vicāra Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:04 am I don't know the full context of your conversation, as cswr is on my blocked list, but the key point is V&V are vaci-sankhāra in an oral tradition. Nonverbal images, are citta-sankhāra. most notably sañña (perceptions arising through 6 doors). citta-sankhara are subverbal, nonverbal, they exist in all 4 jhānas and the first 3 formless attainments. The Buddha's 4 jhānas are not a disembodied frozen mental stupor. First jhāna allows for verbal mental talk in investigating the four noble truths, the remaining jhānas and perception formless attainments the investigation is done with subverbal mental processing. citta sankhara can be contained within vaci-sankhara, but vaci sankhara are not part of citta sankhara. ∴ vitakka are not nonverbal images. Again, in an oral tradition, people think, speak out loud their VERBAL lingusistic thoughts to other people because it's a C...

Re: Vitakka & Vicāra jankala wrote: ↑ Sat Oct 01, 2022 9:24 am...I'd also call to attention SN 41.8, where a Nigantha doesn't believe that there could be a state of mind without thinking and pondering / directed thought and evaluation (vitakka vicāra). If these terms had a special meaning in the Buddhist context of jhāna, why would this conversation occur between another ascetic and a Buddhist without confusion? Just a straightforward question in every day parlance about "vitakka vicara," i.e. thinking and pondering. response by  frank k  » Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:06 am You can actually prove, based on SN 41.8, that vitakka and vicāra must be the same linguistic verbal mental talk as a fundamental component of the oral tradition. link to sutta, and link to its agama parallel https://lucid24.org/sn/sn41/sn41-v01/index.html#s8 What most people fail to notice, is that since Nigantha is saying second jhana (samādhi without V&V) is not possible, he's saying that f...

  Here's an analogy of the difference between Buddhism during the Buddha's time, and Buddhism 1000 years later circa Vism, and 2500 years circa Ajahn Brahm. Vism. and Ajahn Brahm redefinition of jhāna, is like two young hormonally charged teenagers going out on a date. The girl would be like the Buddha using consistent dictionary definition of what "yes" and "no" means. The boy would have his own dictionary definition of "yes" and "no" that conveniently agrees with what he wants.

Re: Vitakka & Vicāra Edit Post by frank k » Sat Oct 01, 2022 8:50 am nirodha wrote: MN125 is a sutta that is composed of various other sources (I've spent a month on that and the parallel 2 years ago, I would have to find my notes) and there are mistakes like there are in MN19. If I remember well it skips to second Jhana, while the agama parallel goes to first jhana. In MN19 and MA102 the thing is actually inverted with the agamas going directly to second jhana, so it seems like a mexican standoff (if there were no tons of other arguments that supports second jhana = end of discursive thought ofc). frankk: It's not a mexican standoff for many reasons. First of all, there's MN 78, which shows that kusala sankappa doesn't cease until second jhāna, which means it is active in the first jhāna. Second, both MN 125, and the agama parallel, both have two distinct stages of satipatthana. The first satipatthana is not jhana, the second satipatthana descirbed right after t...

Re: Vitakka & Vicāra Post by frank k » Sat Oct 01, 2022 9:08 am vitakka and vicara in first jhana, just as they are anywhere else, in an oral tradition, is linguistic verbal thoughts mental talk. Here is a concrete example. In first jhāna, you can have the verbal linguistic thought, "do I have samādhi?" in second jhāna, you can have the nonverbal knowing without mentally saying, "I have samadhi". That's the difference. Here's another easy concrete example. You know instantly if you are 5 years old or not 5 years old. You don't have to mentally talk it out. First jhāna would be, "am I 5 years old, no." second jhāna would be nonverbal knowing (pajānati, what sampajāno does in satipaṭṭhāna and jhāna), without mentally saying to yourself "no I am not 5 years old." Other examples, easy to do, even for people without jhāna. You can nonverbally lucidly discern whether this moment you have greed or hatred. You can lucidly discern all o...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySkqvOHL7qY jump to 9m:30 sec ajahn acalo was having problem with oversleeping on his nap. he thought to himself, "if i was my guardian angel, i'd kick my butt right now." soon after, when he opened the door to kuti, snake came into kuti, crawled up on to his bed, and under the pillow.