[Tobi-Wan Kenobi]

Dear Dhamma friends,
I have been looking for a sutta for a few days.

In this sutta it is described that one should not cultivate citta and mind while wandering, but in seclusion, i.e. in the forest, in a hut or a monastery, etc.

And it is explained with a question that is usually asked by the Buddha or his best subjects, Ananda, Sariputta, etc.: “There it is asked how one should cultivate citta by wandering or in seclusion, absorbed in samadhi.” Something likes that… I had only skimmed this sutta and after 2 months it bore fruit with the following insight.

This means that we should not study suttas or the translations of Lal on the train or in public places, otherwise we will also cultivate things around us. Cultivation must take place in seclusion, absorbed in samadhi. In public places, only mindfulness of thoughts should be practiced when dealing with sense objects. Of course, it is better to read on the train etc. than not at all, but one should be careful with deep contemplation. Because we cultivate, Citta in the essence MIND..

 

P.S. it was just a passing mention in the last third of the sutta, which had a different focus…

[Lal]

Such verses are probably from several suttas delivered to bhikkhus, especially when cultivating Satipatthana after the Sotapanna stage.

See, for example, “Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22)“:

“Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā.”

• The translation in the link is not very good. But it conveys the point you pointed out.

It is not necessary to go to the wilderness to meditate. However, if someone has the time (like bhikkhus do), that is better since there are fewer distractions.

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Tobi-Wan Kenobi

[cubibobi]

This is off topic, but since Lal brought up the mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22), and the verse:

“Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā.”

… I’d like to suggest everyone look at this post, if you haven’t seen it before:

Prerequisites for the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvanā

Here Lal explained the deeper meaning of the verse as getting into certain mindsets, and keeping the mind on the main subject of nibbana or cooling down. (Bullets 3,4,5,6)

Up until then I had only known the mundane meaning of the verse, which is similar to the translation in the above-mentioned link:  Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22) :

It’s when a mendicant — gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut — sits down cross-legged, sets their body straight, and establishes mindfulness in their presence.

I went to a number of “vipassana” retreats before, and this verse was always interpreted only with this mundane meaning, with some explaining the last part to mean “keeping attention in the area around the mouth” (i.e. breath meditation).

I can’t tell you all how exhilarated I was when I first came upon the above post! To the point where I memorized the verse — and Pali was no easy thing to a non native Sri Lankan or Indian like me.

Best,
Lang

 

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