Abhidhamma View: Recollection of Peace[Nibbaana]

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yawares
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Abhidhamma View: Recollection of Peace[Nibbaana]

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Dear Members,

:candle: Abhidhamma View:Recollection of Peace[Nibbaana] :candle:
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @ sariputtadhamma/JTN]

Vism. p. 286-289 (excerpt):

245. One who wants to develop the recollection of peace mentioned next to mindfulness of breathing (III.105) should go into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of Nibbaana, in other words, the stilling of all suffering, as follows:

Bhikkhus, in so far as there are dhammas, whether formed or unformed, fading away is pronounced the best of them, that is to say, the disillusionment of vanity, the elimination of thirst, the abolition of reliance, the termination of the round, the destruction of craving, fading away, cessation, Nibbaana (A II 34).

246. Herein in so far as means as many as. Dhammas [means] individual essences. Whether formed or unformed: whether made by conditions going together, coming together, or not so made. Fading away is pronounced the best of them: of these formed and unformed dhammas, fading away is pronounced the best, is called the foremost, the highest.

247. Herein fading away is not mere absence of greed, but rather it is that unformed dhamma which, while given the names 'disillusionment of vanity,' etc., in the clause, 'that is to say, the disillusionment of vanity,' Nibbaana, is treated basically as fading away. It is called disillusionment of vanity because on coming to it all kinds of vanity (intoxication), such as the vanity of conceit, and vanity of manhood, are disillusioned, undone, done away with. And it is called elimination of thirst because on coming to it all thirst for sense desires is eliminated and quenched. But it is called abolition of reliance because on coming to its reliance on the five cords of sense desire is abolished. It is called termination of the round because on coming to it the round of the three planes [of existence] is terminated. It is called destruction of craving because on coming to it craving is entirely destroyed, fades away and ceases. It is called Nibbaana (extinction) because it has gone away from (nikkhanta), has escaped from (nissa.ta), is dissociated from craving, which has acquired in common usage the name'fastening' (vaana) because, by ensuring successive becoming, craving serves as a joining together, a binding together, a lacing together, of the four kinds of generation, five destinies, seven stations of consciousness and nine abodes of beings.

249. As he recollects peace in its special qualities of disillusionment of vanity, etc., in this way, then: On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed or obsessed by hate or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by peace (see VII.65, etc.). So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described under the recollection of the Enlightened One, etc., the jhaana factors arise in a single moment. But owing to the profundity of the special qualities of peace, or owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of various kinds, the jhaana is only access and does not reach absorption. And that jhaana itself is known as'recollection of peace' too because it arises by means of the special qualities of peace.

250. And as in the case of the six recollections, this also comes to success only in a noble disciple. Still, though this is so, it can nevertheless also be brought to mind by an ordinary person who values peace. For even by hearsay the mind has confidence in peace.

251. A bhikkhu who is devoted to this recollection of peace sleeps in bliss and wakes in bliss, his faculties are peaceful, his mind is peaceful, he has conscience and shame, he is confident, he is resolved [to attain] the superior [state], he is respected and honoured by his fellows in the life of purity. And even if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
*************** :anjali:
:heart: Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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