Saṁyutta Nikāya
Ānandasutta (With Ānanda) SN 8.4
Translated by Ven. Sujato
- At one time Venerable Ānanda was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
Then Venerable Ānanda robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms with Venerable Vaṅgīsa as his second monk.
And at that time Venerable Vaṅgīsa became dissatisfied, as lust infected his mind. Then he addressed Ānanda in verse:
“I’ve got a burning desire for pleasure;
My mind is on fire!
Please, out of compassion, Gotama,
tell me how to quench the flames.”
“Your mind is on fire
because of a perversion of perception.
Turn away from the feature of things
that’s attractive, provoking lust.
See all conditioned phenomena as other,
as suffering and not-self.
Extinguish the great fire of lust,
don’t burn up again and again.
With mind unified and serene,
meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.
With mindfulness immersed in the body,
be full of disillusionment.
Meditate on the signless,
give up the underlying tendency to conceit;
and when you comprehend conceit,
you will live at peace.”
Sutta Nipāta
Rāhulasutta (With Rāhula) Snp 2.11
Translated by Ven. Sujato
- “Does familiarity breed contempt,
even for the man of wisdom?
Do you honor he who holds aloft
the torch for all humanity?”
“Familiarity breeds no contempt
for the man of wisdom.
I always honor he who holds aloft
the torch for all humanity.”
“One who’s given up the five sensual stimulations,
so pleasing and delightful,
and who’s left the home life out of faith—
let them make an end to suffering!
Mix with spiritual friends,
stay in remote lodgings,
secluded and quiet,
and eat in moderation.
Robes, almsfood,
requisites and lodgings:
don’t crave such things;
don’t come back to this world again.
Be restrained in the monastic code,
and the five sense faculties,
With mindfulness immersed in the body,
be full of disillusionment.
Turn away from the feature of things
that’s attractive, provoking lust.
With mind unified and serene,
meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.
Meditate on the signless,
give up the tendency to conceit;
and when you comprehend conceit,
you will live at peace.”
That is how the Buddha regularly advised Venerable Rāhula with these verses.
Notes:
The key here seems to be in understanding this
saññāvipallāsā (perversion of perception). Ven. Bodhi renders this "inversion", though both seem to capture the meaning cleanly. In SN 8.4 and Snp 2.11 above it looks to be referring to the order of attractive and unattractive, and that it is perverse/inverse to take the sign of attractive/beauty as primary. Yes, there are beautiful things in the world, but the unattractive aspect looks to be more fundamental.
From
AN 4.49:
Monks, there are these four perversions of perception, perversions of mind, perversions of view. Which four? ‘Constant’ with regard to the inconstant is a perversion of perception, a perversion of mind, a perversion of view. ‘Pleasant’ with regard to the stressful… ‘Self’ with regard to not-self… ‘Attractive’ with regard to the unattractive is a perversion of perception, a perversion of mind, a perversion of view. These are the four perversions of perception, perversions of mind, perversions of view.
- Ven. Thanissaro
/
Monks, there are these four inversions of perception, inversions of mind, inversions of view. What four? The inversion of perception, mind, and view that takes the impermanent to be permanent; the inversion of perception, mind and view that takes what is suffering to be pleasurable; the inversion of perception, mind, and view that takes what is not-self to be self; the inversion of perception, mind, and view that takes what is unattractive to be attractive. These are the four inversions of perception, mind, and view.
- Ven. Bodhi
Looks to be saying that the qualities of permanence, pleasure, Self and attractive are wrongly taken as primary. Or not even as primary: as all there is in things. The qualities of impermanence, suffering, not-self and unattractive are barely recognized, i.e., they are undeveloped (too small to recognize?). Optional even? Perhaps this is where "inversion" paints a slightly more accurate picture. All in all, the view itself is inverse/perverse when understood this way, so I think it can be said that this is also what makes the view wrong. More from AN 4.49:
Perceiving permanance in the impermanent,
perceiving pleasure in what is suffering,
perceiving a self in what is not-self,
and perceiving attractiveness in what is unattractive,
beings resort to wrong views,
their minds deranged, their perception twisted.
(Also see
Snp 2.7 for a fascinating description of inversion/perversion where we find some older brahmins asking the Buddha about the ancient traditions. A story in verse reveals that the ancients were once restrained, had given up pleasures of the senses, and were happy, and then a perversion "crept" in after seeing the lavishness of the king's lifestyle. Eventually they "fell under the sway of sense pleasures", i.e., they began to take sensuality as first rather than restraint - an order that leads to their suffering.)
So what does this mean for our study of
kāyagatāsati? Just considering SN 8.4 and Snp 2.11, it seems critical to take the unattractive aspects of the body as primary, but if we also take a look at the verse portion of
SN 35.95, which gives a description of
sati in general, it always seems to be about not wrongly attending to that pleasing sign, i.e., not attend it in a way that would pervert the available directions of attending:
SN 35.95 wrote:“Having seen a form with mindfulness muddled,
Attending to the pleasing sign,
One experiences it with infatuated mind
And remains tightly holding to it.
“Many feelings flourish within,
Originating from the visible form,
Covetousness and annoyance as well
By which one’s mind becomes disturbed.
For one who accumulates suffering thus
Nibbāna is said to be far away.
“Having heard a sound with mindfulness muddled …
“Having smelt an odour with mindfulness muddled …
“Having enjoyed a taste with mindfulness muddled …
“Having felt a contact with mindfulness muddled …
“Having known an object with mindfulness muddled …
For one who accumulates suffering thus
Nibbāna is said to be far away.
“When, firmly mindful, one sees a form,
One is not inflamed by lust for forms;
One experiences it with dispassionate mind
And does not remain holding it tightly.
“One fares mindfully in such a way
That even as one sees the form,
And while one undergoes a feeling,
Suffering is exhausted, not built up.
For one dismantling suffering thus,
Nibbāna is said to be close by.
“When, firmly mindful, one hears a sound,
One is not inflamed by lust for sounds; …
“When, firmly mindful, one smells an odour,
One is not inflamed by lust for odours; …
“When, firmly mindful, one enjoys a taste,
One is not inflamed by lust for tastes; …
“When, firmly mindful, one feels a contact,
One is not inflamed by lust for contacts; …
“When, firmly mindful, one knows an object,
One is not inflamed by lust for objects; …
For one diminishing suffering thus
Nibbāna is said to be close by.
So it seems the key to any mindful reflection is to set the perversion/inversion rightly? To set them up so they are not twisted. That even if the pleasing aspect has that prominence, to be able to remember that there are those more accurate aspects of impermanence, suffering, not-self and unattractive, and that properly ordered would lead to less inflammation of lust, diminished suffering and being closer to Nibbāna. One more from AN 4.49:
Having heard it, wise people,
having regained their sanity.
They have seen the impermanent as impermanent,
And what is suffering as suffering.
They have seen what is non-self as non-self,
and the unattractive as unattractive,
By the acquisition of right view,
they have overcome all suffering.
(I'd like to revisit this again week when we take on MN 10/62/118/119. Those body contemplations also seem to be setting the order rightly. Especially in cases of the breakdown of the body - seeing a corpse and understanding that the body right here and now is also subject to this. A truth that seems to be most significant and a threat to passion when compared to following that sign of attractive, which would keep the thoughts away from that truth, i.e. keep the perversion intact.)