December 16, 2024 at 8:18 am
#52904
Keymaster
1. It is true that “just reading suttas” will not help.
- A Noble Person (Ariya) who understands the concepts in and out must explain those concepts in detail to a puthujjana. See “Sutta Interpretation – Uddēsa, Niddēsa, Paṭiniddēsa.”
- That can be done via oral discourses or writing (or a combination of them.)
2. The following single verse in the “Brahmāyu Sutta (MN 91)” provides an example: “Rasapaṭisaṁvedī kho pana so bhavaṁ gotamo āhāraṁ āhāreti, no ca rasarāgapaṭisaṁvedī” OR “He (the Buddha) eats experiencing the taste of food, but without experiencing greed for the taste.”
- There is no explanation in that sutta.
- To understand the explanation, one must explain why Buddha Dhamma is “sandiṭṭhika.” One becomes “sandiṭṭhiko” (comprehending how “san” or defilements arise, which happens at the Sotapanna stage) by understanding the meaning of the above verse.
- At least several suttas must be explained in detail. For example, in the “Upavāṇasandiṭṭhika Sutta (SN 35.70),” Venerable Upavāna asks the Buddha how one can become “sandiṭṭhika.” The Buddha explains that there are sights, sounds, tastes, smells, touches, and memories that come to a mind automatically generating “joyful sensations,” thus triggering attachment to them. That attachment CANNOT be forcefully suppressed. One must understand how that “distorted sanna” arises; as “Brahmāyu Sutta (MN 91)” states, it arises even in a Buddha! Once that is understood, one realizes that all such “temptations” are a mirage. That is how “kama raga” is removed from the mind; it cannot be stopped by sheer willpower, even though one must do that to the extent possible (so that one gets the mind to calm down and comprehend these deeper concepts.)
- Such an explanation requires many discourses or written posts. I have been thinking about doing a combination, which would be the best. However, I like to write down the essential explanations first so that such references can be cited even in an oral discourse.