Arahattaphala Samādhi

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jankala
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2022 1:59 am

Arahattaphala Samādhi

Post by jankala »

Hello again, all.
This is another post more suited for those familiar with Ven. Katukurunde Ñānananda's work and writings.

I'm curious what your opinions are on his take on the arahattaphala samādhi, especially in relation to the arahant when not in that state. It seems that he implies that things such as salayatananirodha occur in the samādhi, and that outside of it they are still there, but are 'detachable' / not picked up by the arahant (usually because of their knowledge and experience with arahattaphala samādhi).

He also often implies that the bliss of Nibbāna = the bliss of that state of samādhi, and that the arahant can directly experience the arising and ceasing of paticcasamuppāda in forward and reverse order, such as in Ud 1.3. This, again, puts a lot more emphasis on the samādhi.

I'm not sure how much weight to give to the arahattaphala samādhi / naupādisesā nibbāna-dhātu in comparison to the nibbāna-dhātu outside of that and interacting with the world. It seems he also attributes the things such as "contacts that do not contact" as referring to the samādhi, rather than the arahant in everyday life, similar to the salayatananirodha, and likewise that bhavanirodha refers to the experience in that state, rather than all the time outside of it.

I imagine this is related to his comments on Ven. Ñānavīra not distinguishing the two Nibbāna-dhātus as thoroughly as he would have liked—it seems he attributes most worth to the arahattaphala samādhi, and outside of that the arahant makes pseudo-use of the vortex of viññāna-nāmarūpa to interact until the cooling of the aggregates. I recall Ven. Anālayo disagreeing with his point in one of the Nibbāna sermons where he talked about how the arahant directs their mind to this samādhi before 'Māra comes to grab.'

Any thoughts on this?
Mettā
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