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jhāna does not necessarily mean transcending the kāma loka and attaining “jhānic states” as commonly interpreted these days.
“Jhāna” means to “cleanse one’s defilements (especially kāma raga“) by making an effort, especially via Anapanasati and Satipatthana Bhavana.
– When one does that panna grows and one may also attain “jhānic states.”This verse basically says that one needs to cultivate both jhāna and panna. The latter, of course, via learning true Dhamma. In fact, they grow together.
One can get a better idea of the meaning of the verse by looking at other verses in the sequence:
“Dhammapada Verses 368 to 376“1 user thanked author for this post.
OK, Tiom. I am glad that you are able to attain jhanas.
– Of course, the jhanic experience is the same whether it is an Ariya jhana (with kama raga removed) and for anariya jhana (with kama raga suppressed).Since you get to jhanas via breath meditation, these are definitely anariya jhana.
– But it is good to be able to get to any jhana.The only thing I can say is that anariya jhanas do not get one to Nibbana (end of the rebirth process). But it is possible that you may not be interested in attaining Nibbana.
Tobias, I do not have time to spend answering non-essential questions. There are many “interesting” questions/issues that a lot of people waste time on.
– As the Buddha explained to venerable Mālunkyāputta in the “The Shorter Discourse to Mālunkyāputta (MN 63)” Buddha Dhamma is not about investigating “interesting worldly things.” It is about ending the samsaric suffering.
– Besides, I have given the relevant answer, even though it may not be the direct answer that you are looking for.I think it would be more beneficial to focus on the issue of pancakkhandha.
– Rupa is different from rupakkhandha. Rupakkhandha consists of MENTAL impressions of rupa. It is essential to understand that. I have given the references. Please go through them and ask questions from there if not clear.
– What you quoted, “Tattha katamaṁ rūpaṁ? Cattāro mahābhūtā, catunnañca mahābhūtānaṁ upādāyarūpaṁ— idaṁ vuccati “rūpaṁ” is about rupa. But rupakkhandha has mental impressions of rupa.You wrote: “When one builds vinnana for a future activity that will be stored in pancakkandha or namarupa (as mind-made image).”
– That is not quite correct. Pancakkhada are MOSTLY records of past rupa experienced together with accompanying mental aggregates (“present rupa” and “future rupa” are also included in rupakkhandha). For example, say I saw a nice car yesterday. That event has an image of a rupa associated with it (image of the car). In addition, there were vedana, sanna, sankhara, and vinnana associated with that event. They all got added to pancakkhandha.
– Namarupa are mental images that come to one’s mind WHILE one is engaged with an arammana in the idappaccayātā PS. Again, read the post “Viññāna Paccayā Nāmarūpa“. I have revised most of it to make it a bit more clear. Please let me know if it is not clear. Maybe I need to write two posts to discuss the two types of PS.
– In the upapatti PS, namarupa is the “seed” formed by the merging of the gandhabba with the zygote in the womb. I realized that those old posts need to be re-written with further explanations. These are a bit hard to grasp because different types of namarupa come into play in different cases.I am not sure what the last part of your comment is about. It seems to be connected to the previous part. May be you can re-phrase the question after resolving the rupa/rupakkhandha and namarupa issues.
Per my above post:
I am revising the post, “Viññāna Paccayā Nāmarūpa”
– Hopefully, I will be able to finalize the revision later today.” What is the PS for “getting a glass of water from the kitchen”?”
That is the wrong way to look at the issue.
– We get thirsty, hungry, injured, etc., all because we are born with this physical body that CAN BE subjected all such sufferings.
– Those are the (cumulative) results of the previous kamma per akusala-mula PS.
– This is why I always refer to “removal of FUTURE suffering.” We can learn how physical bodies like ours arise due to akusala-mula PS AND how that can be stopped via kusala-mula PS.“What is namarupa?”
See, “Viññāna Paccayā Nāmarūpa”
“Is there a difference between namarupa and dhamma and pancakkandha?”
Yes. Huge differences. But they are all related too, especially the first two. Again, you need to read the relevant posts. Those cannot be described in a single post:
– If there are specific questions from a given post, I can try to explain.
– It may be a good idea to read the first few posts in “The Five Aggregates (Pañcakkhandha)” to understand pancakkhandha.Yes. It is necessary to clearly understand these fundamental concepts.
You asked: “Now also “kāyasaṅkhāro, vacīsaṅkhāro, cittasaṅkhāro” are mentioned. That is explained as “kāyasañcetanā kāyasaṅkhāro, vacīsañcetanā vacīsaṅkhāro, manosañcetanā cittasaṅkhāro”. What is that in real life? It seems it is every action that is not abhisankhara. It could be e.g. “getting a glass of water from the kitchen”. I have not seen a PS for such daily activities.”
1. The post is about akusala-mula Paticca Samuppada, which starts with “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra.”
– Getting a glass of water does not fall under that.2. The Tipitaka reference that you provided explains what is involved under “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra“: “Tattha katame avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā? Puññābhisaṅkhāro, apuññābhisaṅkhāro, āneñjābhisaṅkhāro, kāyasaṅkhāro, vacīsaṅkhāro, cittasaṅkhāro” AND “Kāyasañcetanā kāyasaṅkhāro, vacīsañcetanā vacīsaṅkhāro, manosañcetanā cittasaṅkhāro. Ime vuccanti “avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā”.
– Note that Puññābhisaṅkhāra, apuññābhisaṅkhāra, āneñjābhisaṅkhāra are generated via kāyasaṅkhāra, vacīsaṅkhāra, cittasaṅkhāra. But the second verse above explains that ONLY sañcetanā are counted under akusala-mula Paticca Samuppada.
– Here sañcetanā means those that involve “san” (lobha, dosa, moha).
– That is why “getting a glass of water from the kitchen” does not fall under this category.You wrote: “What I do not understand: why is the word “kamma” not used in PS and where is it created?”
The answer is partly explained above. Not all kamma are bad. Kamma basically means “action.”
– Punna kamma (moral deeds) are done with punnabhi sankhara.
– Pāpa kamma (immoral deeds) are done with apunnabhi sankhara.
– Kusala kamma (in Kusala-mula Paticca Samuppada) are done with “kusala-mula paccya sankhara” instead of “avijja paccaya sankhara.” Those kamma help one attain Nibbana.
– Then there are abyakata kamma (kammically neutral) like in “getting a glass of water from the kitchen”.You wrote: “..Lal explains in the post “Key Steps of Kammic Energy Accumulation” that kamma is created in the step “upādāna paccayā bhavo”. But is it also created in sankhara paccaya (kamma)vinnana and kammavinnana paccaya namarupa?
– This is exactly what I tried to explain in that recent post, “Key Steps of Kammic Energy Accumulation.”
– We don’t automatically start accumulating kamma with “avijja paccaya sankhara.”
– Kamma accumulation needs a trigger, as explained with the above post and the next post, “Generating Kammic Energy in the “Upādāna Paccayā Bhava” Step”
– That trigger is explained in #1 of that second post in detail. The time sequence is discussed in detail in #1 through #3 of that second post referred to above. Then time sequence moves to the “avijja paccaya sankhara” and goes through all the steps in akusala-mula PS.
– So, please read those two posts again carefully.You asked: “Kamma is energy created via sankhara and stored in the mental plane, so it is namarupa? Kamma seems to be apart from citta, cetasika and rupa..”
Kammic energy is created in javana citta, not all citta.
– Such javana citta involve punnabhi sankhara, apunnabhi sankhara in akusala-mula PS. See above at the beginning of my response.
– As explained there kamma are various types. Only those kamma that involve “sancetana” (with greed, anger, ignorance OR “san“) contribute to akusala-mula PS.Please feel free to ask questions. It is important to get these basic ideas right.
Yes. It is a good idea to make certain that one has gone through the four lower jhanas as described by the Buddha.
See, “Jhānic Experience in Detail – Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2)“
The following is a recent youtube video “Time to Take the ‘Big Bang’ out of the Big Bang Theory? (May 5, 2021)” by a scientist, Paul Steinhardt, who claims that the Big Bang Theory about the origin of the universe is not correct:
He has co-authored a book on this subject too, where they argue against the proposed “Big Bang Theory”:
“Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang” by Paul J. Steinhardt, Neil Turok (2007).As we know, the Buddha taught that only parts of the universe are destroyed and re-emerge periodically:
“Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)“Thanks, Christian. I just deleted the link.
David, If you would like to make a comment on why that video is relevant to mediation, you can do so.
Hello David,
I am not sure how much of Buddha Dhamma (true Buddhism) that you have been exposed to.
– It is based on cleansing one’s mind of greed, anger, and ignorance about the true nature of the world.I suggest scanning through the list here:
“Bhāvanā (Meditation)”If you can provide your thoughts after reading some of the posts, we may be able to comment further.
The above link does not provide any insights.
You need to try to understand Buddha Dhamma with more insight, Anil!
Hello Tobias,
The point is that jhana citta is a type of a javana citta.
We do “bad kamma” (that lead to births in bad realms) and “mundane good kamma” (that lead to births in good realms) with javana citta.
– Jhana citta are a part of “mundane good kamma” because they also lead to births in “good realms”, i.e., Brahma realms.We do lokottara kusala kamma (that lead to Nibbana) also with javana citta.
P.S. All “kammic energies” are produced in javana citta.
Hello Abhayamudra,
It is also explained in the post, “Prerequisites for the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvanā“
It is explained in the post, “Prerequisites for the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvanā“
