New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

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retrofuturist
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New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Apologies if this has already been posted.

Image
This book offers a practical guide on how virtue and sense restraint, paired with ‘concurrent attention’, result in what the Buddha described as jhāna meditation or an experience elevated from any obstructive states. The early Suttas explicitly repeat that the only way to this purification is through the taming of the mind by withdrawing it from unwholesome actions and intentions. This is known as the Gradual Training: keeping the precepts, sense restraint, guarding the senses, moderation in eating, wakefulness, recollection and awareness, seclusion, overcoming the five hindrances (lust, aversion, sloth, agitation, doubt), and living in jhāna.

The author goes into detail on how the Gradual Training differs from what is commonly understood as meditation, and how the contemporary meditation techniques that revolve around ‘focusing’, ‘concentration’ and ‘observing sensations’ completely miss the mark. It offers detailed instructions on how to practice khanti – the correct ‘endurance’ of things on the mental level after establishing oneself in the lifestyle of the precepts and sense restraint – and how to dig up the roots of lust and aversion towards any discomfort and pressure that sensual desires create, without ever needing to give in or distract oneself from it.
To download or order a physical copy, visit the Hillside Hermitage website.

:reading:

Review of the text, and any related discussion is very welcome!

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Ceisiwr »

Looks interesting, but glancing through I noticed this:
That’s why it is important what view a person has with regard to meditation. Most contemporary notions about meditation (even when people have genuine reasons, initially, for wanting to practice it) imply some sort of special pleasant experience that will result from commit- ment to a technique, a pleasure that will replace the pain, and that will easily allow you to conclude that you had a very ‘successful meditation’. It comes down to concentrating on an object until the issue of existence and the world disappears temporarily.

But that is not ‘calming’, to begin with; it is a form of sensuality— trying to replace whatever bothers you (displeasure) with pleasurable experience. This never resolves an underlying issue, but instead always covers it up.
I don’t agree with Bhante here. The bliss of Jhana, absorbed or not, isn’t one based on sensuality. I also disagree that it’s not to be sought out. The suttas say we are to seek it out.
“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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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

I've only just started reading it, but it's far more conversationalist and easily accessible than his essays, which are often quite dense and technical and cannot be read at speed.

I'm hoping this text might flesh out some of the ideas I was exploring previously here, Phases and applications of Sense Restraint in daily life. Through that exploration I concluded that there's a limit to how far the lay practitioner can profitably take this pursuit, so I look forward to anything that challenges that perspective.

UPDATE: He addresses this on pages 94-96, and it is pretty much as I suspected. Note in particular the bolded/underlined portion below... easier said than done for the lay practitioner, no matter how "serious" they are... unless they're a lay hermit, perhaps.

By my reckoning this is one of the primary functions of the monastic lifestyle... namely, the freedom to not have to take the features of sankharas or nama-rupa seriously, for the purposes of daily communication and action. I explored this theme in an even older topic from 2016 - The weight of nobility. It is unfortunate when modern monks squander the opportunity for mental solitude by engaging themselves in all manner of worldly, political, and frivolous pursuits.
Q: If you are living in such a non-distracted way, your life naturally be-
comes simple and minimalistic.

Nm: The amount of proliferation and elaboration of the senses and
engagement with them will have to fade. That’s why working, talking and
sleeping are not sensual in themselves, but can be the reason for slowing
down the sotāpanna’s progress. For one with the Right view, if he were
to practice sense restraint and learn to abide in non-activity even more,
avoid managing the dukkha through techniques and psychologising, he
can become an Arahant in this life. However, in an effort to do all of
this, some still get distracted with work, talk and sleep, which becomes
an obstruction to progress. That’s why the Buddha admonished some of
his Noble disciples:

Now on that occasion the venerable Ānanda, along with many
bhikkhus, were busy making robes at Ghāṭā the Sakyan’s dwelling.
Then, when it was evening, the Blessed One rose from retreat and
went to Ghāṭā the Sakyan’s dwelling. There he sat down on a seat
made ready and asked the venerable Ānanda: ‘Ānanda, there are many
resting places prepared in Kāḷakhemaka the Sakyan’s dwelling. Do
many bhikkhus live there?’
‘Venerable sir, many resting places have been prepared in
Kāḷakhemaka the Sakyan’s dwelling. Many bhikkhus are living there.
This is our time for making robes, venerable sir.’
‘Ānanda, a bhikkhu does not shine by delighting in company, by
taking delight in company, by devoting himself to delight in company;
by delighting in society, by taking delight in society, by rejoicing
in society. Indeed, Ānanda, it is not possible that a bhikkhu who
delights in company, takes delight in company, and devotes himself to
delight in company, who delights in society, takes delight in society,
and rejoices in society, will ever obtain at will, without trouble or
difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of peace,
the joy of awakening. But it can be expected that when a bhikkhu lives
alone, withdrawn from society, he will obtain at will, without trouble
or difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of
peace, the joy of Nibbāna ...’
– MN 122

The amount of work that the monks were engaged in was obviously not
necessary and the Buddha rebuked them, even though that work was
not sensual. If you lose the context and do not sufficiently clarify the
motivation behind your engagement in work, talk and sleep, this will
then become a basis for maintaining delusion. Obviously a Noble disciple
maintains that delusion in a much subtler way than an ordinary person
would, but it’s still a form of distraction. All he would need to do is to
not engage, or not allow himself to be engaged in work, talk and sleep
for the purpose of distraction, then he will progress towards Nibbāna.


There is no other effort he needs to make because he has already un-
derstood the Dhamma.

The Blessed One then said to a bhikkhu: ‘Is it true, bhikkhu, that after
returning from the alms round you enter your dwelling after the meal
and pass the time living in non-activity and keeping silent, and you do
not render service to the bhikkhus at the time of making robes?’
‘I am doing my own duty, venerable sir.’
Then the Blessed One, having known with his own mind the
reflection in that bhikkhu’s mind, addressed the bhikkhus thus:
‘Bhikkhus, do not find fault with this bhikkhu. This bhikkhu is one who
gains at will, without trouble or difficulty, the four comprehensions
that constitute the higher mind and provide a pleasant dwelling in
this very life. And he is one who, by realising it for himself with direct
knowledge, in this very life enters upon that unsurpassed goal of the
holy life for the sake of which people go forth from the household life
into homelessness ...’
– SN 21.4

That pleasant abiding here and now paired with your Right view is basi-
cally jhāna which leads you to Nibbāna. But as I said many times, jhāna
is not a product of your activity or meditation, jhāna is a product of
withdrawal from the senses and disengagement from the unwholesome.
It’s the pleasure and security that comes from that type of non-activity
when citta turns away from thinking-and-pondering.
But again, non-
activity is determined by whether or not you are motivated by distrac-
tion, aversion or lust. In other words, if you are ‘doing’ the non-activity
because you don’t want to deal with dukkha internally, you are deluding
yourself just as much as the one who runs to sensuality in order to avoid
emotional discomfort.
Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by ssasny »

Ceisiwr wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 11:53 pm
I don’t agree with Bhante here. The bliss of Jhana, absorbed or not, isn’t one based on sensuality. I also disagree that it’s not to be sought out. The suttas say we are to seek it out.
I believe you are misreading him here.
He is saying "Most contemporary notions about meditation ... imply some sort of special pleasant experience that will result from commitment to a technique,...
But that is not ‘calming’, to begin with; it is a form of sensuality.."

What he is referring to are misguided attempts to attain jhāna, not actual jhāna.

I'm also not sure what you mean by not seeking out, he's written a whole book on the subject, surely it's something he hopes people will pursue.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by ssasny »

Ajahn Nyanamoli wrote: In other words, if you are ‘doing’ the non-activity
because you don’t want to deal with dukkha internally, you are deluding
yourself just as much as the one who runs to sensuality in order to avoid
emotional discomfort.
Thanks for posting the extended excerpt.
This last bit, for me, seems to encapsulate one of his central points.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by BrokenBones »

Ceisiwr wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 11:53 pm Looks interesting, but glancing through I noticed this:
That’s why it is important what view a person has with regard to meditation. Most contemporary notions about meditation (even when people have genuine reasons, initially, for wanting to practice it) imply some sort of special pleasant experience that will result from commit- ment to a technique, a pleasure that will replace the pain, and that will easily allow you to conclude that you had a very ‘successful meditation’. It comes down to concentrating on an object until the issue of existence and the world disappears temporarily.

But that is not ‘calming’, to begin with; it is a form of sensuality— trying to replace whatever bothers you (displeasure) with pleasurable experience. This never resolves an underlying issue, but instead always covers it up.
I don’t agree with Bhante here. The bliss of Jhana, absorbed or not, isn’t one based on sensuality. I also disagree that it’s not to be sought out. The suttas say we are to seek it out.
Strangely enough... I pretty much agree with Bhante. I think I've said similar on this forum. The 'method' is one of renunciation... giving things up... not achieving anything or gaining anything.

It's not the act of producing something with the senses as foundation.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Sasha_A »

Ceisiwr wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 11:53 pmI don’t agree with Bhante here. The bliss of Jhana, absorbed or not, isn’t one based on sensuality. I also disagree that it’s not to be sought out. The suttas say we are to seek it out.
From chapter 9:
Meditation is not about replacing the experience that has arisen. It is about thoroughly knowing it and being unmoved by it while it’s there. But the point will come when, in order to fully understand it, you need to learn how to stay calm, within it—and that is the role of the right samādhi—patiently enduring an experience without acting out of craving to get rid of the unpleasant and replace it with a sensual pleasure.

Such a samādhi practice will result in the pleasure that the Buddha praises, the pleasure that is different from the pleasure of sensuality, that of not being bothered, the pleasure of being withdrawn from danger, the pleasure of internal safety of a mind that has turned away from the entire world. It is a pleasure that you cannot crave more of, because it didn’t come in that external sense of just replacing one experience with another. The pleasure of jhāna is the pleasure of that withdrawal. It is a result of that seclusion from and non-activity of going after sense pleasures or of needing to get rid of discomfort.

Here, bhikkhus, withdrawn from sense desire, withdrawn from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon the first comprehension … the second … the third … the fourth comprehension. This is called the pleasure of renunciation, the pleasure of seclusion, the pleasure of peace, the pleasure of awakening. I say of this kind of pleasure that it should be pursued, that it should be developed, that it should be cultivated, and that it should not be feared. – MN 139
It is merely dukkha that comes into being, dukkha that stands and disappears,
Nothing apart from dukkha comes into being, nothing other than dukkha ceases.
- SN5.10
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by mjaviem »

I appreciate bhante's talks but they get complicated. Simple matters end up sounding complicated. I only started reading the first paragraphs in chapter 6 "Discerning the body" and found for example "your body and senses are there peripherally enduring, as a basis from
which you are pressured
". In the suttas sensual pleasures are defined as the desire for sense objects. But bhante speaks of this entity, sounding almost like a being, that is our body/senses pulling us or pressuring us towards the objects.

And I don't think he quite explain the danger of sensuality. It seems he explain understanding the danger of sensual pleasures as understanding they are unsatisfactory. It sounds like this were the key and he helpfully completes this understanding explaining there is an untamed body pressuring too. While I think understanding they are unsatisfactory is correct, in the suttas we also see clearly explained that the danger it's all the bad and wrong things we do on account of sensual pleasures. But bhante seems to not give importance to this. He turns the matter of sensuality more like an intellectual understanding and an awareness issue. When you are afraid of doing wrong you willl easily withdraw from sensual pleasures imo. To me this is more understanding the danger of sensuality than understanding they the gratification isn't perfect and permanent.

So as with his video talks, we can learn great things of course but the suttas are better than any explanation when it gets complicated.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by BrokenBones »

mjaviem wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:04 pm I appreciate bhante's talks but they get complicated. Simple matters end up sounding complicated. I

So as with his video talks, we can learn great things of course but the suttas are better than any explanation when it gets complicated...
Yes, for all the things I agree with Bhante, I nevertheless get completely befuddled at times in how he phrases things.

I don't know if this is a translation problem, poor understanding on my part or just the Bhante trying to rephrase the teachings.

I get half way through a paragraph where I am in total agreement with what is being stated but by the end of the paragraph I'm completely lost.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Kilaya Ciriello »

Sasha_A wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:27 am From chapter 9:
Such a samādhi practice will result in the pleasure that the Buddha praises, the pleasure that is different from the pleasure of sensuality, that of not being bothered, the pleasure of being withdrawn from danger, the pleasure of internal safety of a mind that has turned away from the entire world. It is a pleasure that you cannot crave more of, because it didn’t come in that external sense of just replacing one experience with another. The pleasure of jhāna is the pleasure of that withdrawal. It is a result of that seclusion from and non-activity of going after sense pleasures or of needing to get rid of discomfort. – MN 139
"The pleasure of jhāna is the pleasure of that withdrawal." This is what the Buddha called "calm and pleasant abiding," right?

I haven't read the book yet so I hope this is not unfair but "calm and pleasant abiding" is not the goal, right? It's helpful and as others mentioned, it's recommended, but it needs to be coupled with effacement leading to true penetration into the Four Noble Truths:

From MN 8: " if [the object] in which these views arise, in which they underlie and become active, is seen with right wisdom as it actually is, thus: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self' — then the abandoning of these views, their discarding, takes place in him [who thus sees]."

""It may be, Cunda, that some monk, detached from sense-objects, detached from unsalutary ideas, enters into the first absorption that is born of detachment, accompanied by thought-conception and discursive thinking, and filled with rapture and joy, and he then might think: 'I am abiding in effacement.' But in the Noble One's discipline it is not these [attainments] that are called 'effacement'; in the Noble One's discipline they are called 'abidings in ease here and now.'"

So it is important that the "pleasure of jhana" which is "of that withdrawal" is not the ultimate "pleasure" that leads to Nibbana. That pleasure comes from direct realization of the dhamma or perhaps it is more precise to say, that pleasure comes from direct realization of the Four Noble Truths. Valuing the attainment of that pleasure over the pleasure of withdrawal is a coupling of concentration practice and right view, I'm thinking. Otherwise there is self-delusion thinking that the "pleasure of withdrawal is a pleasure that you cannot crave more of, because it didn’t come in that external sense of just replacing one experience with another." But as long as there is any value to any "experiencing" one is doomed to the possibility of future craving. But perhaps I am missing something here or that the Venerable author includes this point already. In that case my apologies.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Sasha_A »

Kilaya Ciriello wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 2:16 pm I haven't read the book yet so I hope this is not unfair but...
The ebook is available for free in pdf, epub and mobi.
It is merely dukkha that comes into being, dukkha that stands and disappears,
Nothing apart from dukkha comes into being, nothing other than dukkha ceases.
- SN5.10
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by nirodh27 »

What a pleasant surprise, a new book of Nyanamoli! Thanks for pointing out Retro!
retrofuturist wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:07 am Greetings,

I'm hoping this text might flesh out some of the ideas I was exploring previously here, Phases and applications of Sense Restraint in daily life. Through that exploration I concluded that there's a limit to how far the lay practitioner can profitably take this pursuit, so I look forward to anything that challenges that perspective.
Unfortunately, I came to the same conclusion. For what I consider the sutta jhanas (which are very similar to the ones of Nyanamoli) Lay life (engaged one, of course if one creates the conditions of hermitage is different) cannot support them.

Concentrative jhanas (the one of Pa Auk/Shaila Catherine/Ayya Khema for example) can be mantained as a form of pleasure with a rigorous approach and in which the letting go is one avoidance / non-contact with the world. This is a thing shared by many practitioners. Of course, the dopamine and pleasure that one can experience is not unlimited, so it is a form of pleasure that you need to balance in a laylife renouncing to use that limited source elsewhere and btw is a lot more prone to be taken away from you (since the rigorous conditions are actually hard to respect and laylife is way way more inconstant than monk's life) and ofc you don't have to desire them to be the only thing that you do all the time, which is very easy to do for hermit-like characters.
In other words, if you are ‘doing’ the non-activity because you don’t want to deal with dukkha internally, you are deluding
yourself just as much as the one who runs to sensuality in order to avoid emotional discomfort.
I feel that for pure-concentration jhanas, this is the mindset that many times occurs. They don't occur naturally from understanding, but from actively "do" the separation from the unwelcomed. It is an escape that is not an u-turn seeing the world upside-down, but a technique.

Instead the jhanas of renunciation that I find perfectly described here
Such a samādhi practice will result in the pleasure that the Buddha praises, the pleasure that is different from the pleasure of sensuality, that of not being bothered, the pleasure of being withdrawn from danger, the pleasure of internal safety of a mind that has turned away from the entire world. It is a pleasure that you cannot crave more of, because it didn’t come in that external sense of just replacing one experience with another. The pleasure of jhāna is the pleasure of that withdrawal. It is a result of that seclusion from and non-activity of going after sense pleasures or of needing to get rid of discomfort.
are the jhanas of u-turn of renunciation and those can be known from laypeople, but if they choose to remain engaged in the world by work or relationship, that is simply to serve 2 masters like in the gospel: you cannot serve both. They totally deplete every willingness to have engagement with the world (because you see the dangers so well and the escape is way more calm and appealing): relationships would be guided by compassion if there's the need or else there's really no point in talking, engaging, etc. Work that needs energy and interest will be impossible to be mantained as well. Who wants to live with a person that, when you make a gift to him, is totally disinterested, and it is also disinterested in your presence or in what you say about every argument? :jumping:

As said here, for someone that engages with the world, jhanas almost impossible as explained well in MN122
Ānanda, it is not possible that a bhikkhu who delights in company, takes delight in company, and devotes himself to
delight in company, who delights in society, takes delight in society, and rejoices in society, will ever obtain at will, without trouble or difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of peace, the joy of awakening. But it can be expected that when a bhikkhu lives alone, withdrawn from society, he will obtain at will, without trouble or difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of peace, the joy of Nibbāna ...’ – MN 122
while are natural for one that doesn't engage because the escape is seen as health, as safety (Which it is)

That is why I find strange when Monks asks to laypeople to engage in sense-retraint tout-court. They have to be perfectly clear that or it is a lay-hermit style, or you will have to become one if you progress up to a certain point. Remember that if one doesn't have the higher pleasure (so Jhana), the only way to escape Dukkha for the unenlightened is to find a source of Sukha in sensuality so Sense-restraint actually removes also that option. It is fine instead to do that for a period until you discover some things about identity (and btw if you do, it means that you are really f*** suffering your condition, so you will do that nonethless searching for someone who knows a way out), then one have to make the choice based again in his sensibility to Dukkha and other factors like responsability and the happiness of others.

Sense Restraint can be useful for a time to arrive at seeing many important things about Dhamma so that you will be a lay people that knows the escape and can choose the engagements wisely and "be saved by sati" when too much Dukkha is coming from an attachment so that you will not fall into heavy forms of Dukkha like despair, lament etc because you always have the knowledge of how to escape (non-acquisition). This is in a sutta in which the Buddha praises the lay-person that knows the escape, but still enjoys sensual pleasures (ofc etical ones).

Total sense-restraint strenghten Dukkha and makes it more visible and you can really see the demon of tanha going outside and inside searching for delight, which again is fine if you want to go full-route, else it is counterproductive and the middle is not an enjoyable place to be. My best insights into the Dhamma happened when sense-restraint was total and Dukkha was made extremely visible due to non-action (actually, this strategy was suggested by Ajahn Sumedho). But then maybe you go back and, if by any reason you don't want to go further, you have to stop sense-restraint tout-court and wisely choose the ethical ways to cope with Dukkha in the best possible, and imperfect, way. Knowing that abandonment and memory of the teachings can save you anytime, like a guardian angel that intervenes when you are taking a wrong direction. Which is already quite an achievement in my opinion.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Noble Sangha »

mjaviem wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:04 pm
And I don't think he quite explain the danger of sensuality. It seems he explain understanding the danger of sensual pleasures as understanding they are unsatisfactory.
The thing is . . . Does anyone / teachers or teaching materials (besides from sutta's) we know of now days that explains / teaches the danger of sensuality more in depth than besides: unsatisfactory, impermeant, inconsistent and maybe some other words that I might have not mentioned?

If there is, please do mention.
I am a Buddhist that doesn't practice Buddhism. What I practice is nekkhamma, abyāpāda, avihiṁsā, viraga, nirodha or the Noble Eight Fold Path. The elimination / eradication / extermination of defilements, kilesa's, raga, dosa, moha and asava's.

Lineage: Buddha > Sthaviravada > Vibhajjavada > Theravada > Striving for Nibbana.
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Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by Sasha_A »

Noble Sangha wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:53 pm The thing is . . . Does anyone / teachers or teaching materials (besides from sutta's) we know of now days that explains / teaches the danger of sensuality more in depth than besides: unsatisfactory, impermeant, inconsistent and maybe some other words that I might have not mentioned?

If there is, please do mention.
For example, from the book "Dhamma Within Reach" by the same author:
ven. Nanamoli wrote: Chapter 11
TRUTH ABOUT THE FIVE HINDRANCES
...
What is the chief hindrance on account of which people let the other four hindrances in? Which unwholesome thing is usually not seen as unwholesome?

It’s sensuality, of course. Delight and lust. It is not seen as wrong and the deep danger of it is not something that is apparent. Thus, by welcoming and accepting the arisen prospects of sensual desires, you are automatically welcoming and accepting the domain of the five hindrances. That means that when restlessness and anxiety arise, although you will not want it, you have already opened the door for it from before, when you opened the door to sensuality. Thus, through accepting one, you place yourself on the ground that is flooded by them all. That’s where the crux of that recognition of danger in sensuality is. By accepting sensuality you are becoming simultaneously liable to everything else that is painful and unwholesome. Such as anxiety, worry, doubt, fear and so on. And that liability remains, for as long as you maintain an attitude of welcoming sensual pleasures. Like consuming a perfect tasty drink that has poison in it. You cannot taste, smell nor see the poison, but it enters you as you enjoy the taste of the drink.

Thus, through willingly entertaining sensuality you are willingly accepting anxiety, worry, fear, dullness, depression, confusion, and everything else that comes from the domain of the unwholesome. When this “poison”, this danger, is discerned as what sensuality actually is, then no amount of sensual pleasures will be able to make you accept it and say “yes” to it.

“There are ascetics and brahmins in the present who see the things that seem nice and pleasant in the world as impermanent, as suffering, as not-self, as diseased, and as dangerous. They give up craving. Giving up craving, they give up attachments. Giving up attachments, they give up suffering. Giving up suffering, they are freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They are freed from suffering, I say.”
“Suppose there was a bronze cup of beverage that had a nice colour, aroma, and flavour. But it was mixed with poison. Then along comes a man struggling in the oppressive heat, weary, thirsty, and parched. They’d say to him: ‘Here, mister, this bronze cup of beverage has a nice colour, aroma, and flavour. Drink it if you like. If you drink it, its nice colour, aroma, and flavour will refresh you. But drinking it will result in death or deadly pain.’ Then that man might think: ‘I could quench my thirst with water, whey, or broth. But I shouldn’t drink that beverage, for it would be for my lasting harm and suffering.’ He’d reject that beverage. After appraisal, he wouldn’t drink it, and it wouldn’t result in death or deadly pain.”
—SN 12:66

By seeing the connection between welcoming sensuality and the simultaneous ingestion of poison that is hidden in it, you will then realize that no amount of sensuality is worth accepting. No benefit of sensual pleasures can outweigh that risk. That’s when the “danger becomes apparent” as the Suttas often say:

“I, a monk, went to a charnel ground, And saw a woman left there,
Discarded in a cemetery, full of worms that devoured her.
Some men were disgusted, seeing her dead and rotten;
But sexual desire arose in me, I was as if blind to her oozing body.
Quicker than the boiling of rice, I left that place,
Mindful and aware, I sat down to one side.
Then my attention gained a perspective—
The danger became apparent,
And I was firmly repulsed.
Then my mind was liberated—
See the excellence of the Dhamma!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
And fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.”
—Thag. 5:1

Thus, the only actual reason people keep engaging with sensuality is because they do not see the danger of it.
And this short talk might be interesting too:
It is merely dukkha that comes into being, dukkha that stands and disappears,
Nothing apart from dukkha comes into being, nothing other than dukkha ceases.
- SN5.10
pegembara
Posts: 3465
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:39 am

Re: New book: The Only Way to Jhāna by Ajahn Nyanamoli

Post by pegembara »

‘Ānanda, a bhikkhu does not shine by delighting in company, by
taking delight in company, by devoting himself to delight in company;
by delighting in society, by taking delight in society, by rejoicing
in society. Indeed, Ānanda, it is not possible that a bhikkhu who
delights in company, takes delight in company, and devotes himself to
delight in company, who delights in society, takes delight in society,
and rejoices in society, will ever obtain at will, without trouble or
difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of peace,
the joy of awakening. But it can be expected that when a bhikkhu lives
alone, withdrawn from society, he will obtain at will, without trouble
or difficulty, the joy of renunciation, the joy of seclusion, the joy of
peace, the joy of Nibbāna ...’ – MN 122
The only way to cessation aka nibbana beyond even the jhanas.
Viveka=detachment; seclusion. The path that very few are willing to travel.
"The mind sent outside is the origination of suffering.
The result of the mind sent outside is suffering.
The mind seeing the mind is the path.
The result of the mind seeing the mind is the cessation of suffering."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/tha ... eleft.html
What is the chief hindrance on account of which people let the other four hindrances in? Which unwholesome thing is usually not seen as unwholesome?

It’s sensuality, of course.
Well... not necessarily unwholesome but certainly not helpful towards the goal.
"There was the case where Sariputta — quite secluded from sensuality, [and] secluded from unskillful qualities — entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Whatever qualities there are in the first jhana — directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness,[2] desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention — he ferreted them out one after another. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided. He discerned, 'So this is how these qualities, not having been, come into play. Having been, they vanish.' He remained unattracted & unrepelled with regard to those qualities, independent, detached, released, dissociated, with an awareness rid of barriers. He discerned that 'There is a further escape,' and pursuing it there really was for him.

"Furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure & stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — Sariputta entered & remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. Whatever qualities there are in the fourth jhana — a feeling of equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of awareness;[3] singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention — he ferreted them out one after another. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided. He discerned, 'So this is how these qualities, not having been, come into play. Having been, they vanish.' He remained unattracted & unrepelled with regard to those qualities, independent, detached, released, dissociated, with an awareness rid of barriers. He discerned that 'There is a further escape,' and pursuing it there really was for him.

"Furthermore, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, Sariputta entered & remained in the cessation of feeling & perception. Seeing with discernment, his fermentations were totally ended. He emerged mindfully from that attainment. On emerging mindfully from that attainment, he regarded the past qualities that had ceased & changed: 'So this is how these qualities, not having been, come into play. Having been, they vanish.' He remained unattracted & unrepelled with regard to those qualities, independent, detached, released, dissociated, with an awareness rid of barriers. He discerned that 'There is no further escape,' and pursuing it there really wasn't for him.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
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