Counterpart sign

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auto
Posts: 4584
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:02 pm

Counterpart sign

Post by auto »

i sometimes, well actually quite often think if the anti visuddhimagga people read this goldmine and how often, i suggest to do it once in a while.
pdf 178 wrote:The difference between the earlier learning sign and the counterpart sign is
this. In the learning sign any fault in the kasióa is apparent. But the counterpart
sign [126] appears as if breaking out from the learning sign, and a hundred
times, a thousand times more purified, like a looking-glass disk drawn from its
case, like a mother-of-pearl dish well washed, like the moon’s disk coming out
from behind a cloud, like cranes against a thunder cloud. But it has neither
colour nor shape; for if it had, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross, susceptible
of comprehension [by insight—(see XX.2f.)] and stamped with the three
characteristics.11
it also good reference that the nimitta is not grasped with the eyes, so no point look for it with physical eyes.

I specially like the part in this quote saying 'breaking out from the learning sign'.
finishing above quote wrote:..But it has neither
colour nor shape; for if it had, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross, susceptible
of comprehension [by insight—(see XX.2f.)] and stamped with the three
characteristics.11 But it is not like that. For it is born only of perception in one
who has obtained concentration, being a mere mode of appearance.12 But as
soon as it arises the hindrances are quite suppressed, the defilements subside,
and the mind becomes concentrated in access concentration.
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Ceisiwr
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Location: Wales

Re: Counterpart sign

Post by Ceisiwr »

Ko ca, bhikkhave, āhāro anuppannassa vā samādhisambojjhaṅgassa uppādāya, uppannassa vā samādhisambojjhaṅgassa bhāvanāya pāripūriyā? Atthi, bhikkhave, samathanimittaṁ abyagganimittaṁ. Tattha yonisomanasikārabahulīkāroayamāhāro anuppannassa vā samādhisambojjhaṅgassa uppādāya, uppannassa vā samādhisambojjhaṅgassa bhāvanāya pāripūriyā.

And what, bhikkhus, is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of concentration and for the fulfilment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of concentration? There are, bhikkhus, the sign of serenity, the sign of nondispersal: frequently giving careful attention to them is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of concentration and for the fulfilment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of concentration. - SN 46.2

Although nimitta in the suttas never means "image" it can mean "sign". This is what a nimitta, in the commentarial literature, is. It is a perceptual image which is a mental sign of deepening concentration, unity and stillness.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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