SN45:11 Dwelling (1)
- fdg sc © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. (More copyright information)
1At Sāvatthī. "Bhikkhus, I wish to go into seclusion for half a month. I should not be approached by anyone except the one who brings me almsfood."[n.18] Spk: Why does he speak thus? During that half-month, it is said, he had no one to guide. Then he thought, "I will pass this half-month in the bliss of fruition attainment. Thus I will enjoy a pleasant abiding and set an example for future generations." "Yes, venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied, and no one approached the Blessed One except the one who brought him almsfood. |
2Then, when that half-month had passed, the Blessed One emerged from seclusion and addressed the bhikkhus thus: |
"Bhikkhus, I have been dwelling in part of the abode in which I dwelt just after I became fully enlightened.[n.19] Spk takes this to refer to the Buddha’s forty-nine days of meditation in the vicinity of the Bodhi Tree just after his enlightenment. During that period (according to Spk) he contemplated the aggregates, sense bases, elements, Four Noble Truths, etc., in full (nippadesa); but now he contemplated them only partly (padesena), namely, in relation to feeling. Spk gives examples of how feelings arise conditioned by wrong view and by right view. The sutta is referred to at As 30–31 as "proof" that the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma. Vism 519 (Ppn 17:9) also cites the sutta in arguing against the view that dependent origination is a "simple arising." I have understood thus: ‘There is feeling with wrong view as condition, also feeling with right view as condition … . There is feeling with wrong concentration as condition, also feeling with right concentration as condition. There is feeling with desire as condition, also feeling with thought as condition, also feeling with perception as condition. [n.20] Spk: Feeling with desire (chanda) as condition is the feeling associated with the eight cittas accompanied by greed (see CMA 1:4); that conditioned by thought is the feeling in the first jhāna; that conditioned by perception is the feeling in the six meditative attainments from the second jhāna through the base of nothingness. |
"‘When desire has not subsided, and thought has not subsided, and perception has not subsided, there is feeling with that as condition. When desire has subsided, and thoughts have not subsided, sn.v.13 and perceptions have not subsided, there is also feeling with that as condition. When desire has subsided, and thoughts have subsided, and perceptions have not subsided, there is also feeling with that as condition. When desire has subsided, and thought has subsided, and perception has subsided, there is also feeling with that as condition. There is effort for the attainment of the as-yet-unattained. When that stage has been reached, there is also feeling with that as condition.’"[n.21] The passage in brackets is not in Be and may have been imported into the Sinhalese tradition from Spk. Spk explains the feeling when none of the three have subsided as the feeling associated with the eight cittas accompanied by greed. The feeling when desire alone has subsided is that of the first jhāna; the feeling when perception alone remains is that of the second and higher jhanas. The feeling when all three have subsided is that of the base of neither-perception-nor-nonperception. The "as-yet-unattained" is the fruit of arahantship. The last expression includes the supramundane feeling accompanying the four paths. The word rendered "effort" here is āyāma, effectively synonymous with vāyāma, the actual reading in some mss. Spk glosses with viriya. |