In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [235]
4 Ps: “Knowledge and vision” (ñāṇadassana) here refers to the divine eye, the ability to see subtle forms invisible to normal vision.
5 This translation follows Be and Ce, which read asamayavimokkhaṃ in the preceding sentence and asamayavimuttiyā in this sentence. Ee seems to be mistaken in reading samaya in the two compounds and ṭhānaṃ instead of aṭṭhānaṃ. Ps cites the Paṭisambhidāmagga for a definition of asamayavimokkha (lit., non-temporary or “perpetual” emancipation) as the four paths, four fruits, and Nibbāna, and of samayavimokkha (temporary emancipation) as the four jhānas and four formless attainments. See also MN 122.4.
6 Ps says that “unshakable liberation of mind” (akuppā cetovimutti) is the fruit of arahantship. Thus “perpetual emancipation”—as including all four paths and fruits—has a wider range than “unshakable liberation of mind.” The latter alone is declared to be the goal of the holy life.
7 Rāgavirāgatthaṃ. This might also have been rendered, somewhat awkwardly, “For the dispassioning of passion,” or “For the delusting of lust.”
8 Spk: When he was in seclusion, Ānanda thought, “This practice of a monk succeeds for one who relies on good friends and on his own virile effort; thus half depends on good friends and half on one’s own virile effort.”
9 Vacchāyana is Pilotika’s clan name.
10 See p. 436 (chapter V, n.19).
11 The signs (nimitta) are the prominent qualities of the object which, when grasped unmindfully, can instigate defiled thoughts; the features (anubyañjana) are the details that attract one’s attention when one does not restrain the senses. “Longing and dejection” (abhijjhā-domanassa) implies the opposed reactions of desire and aversion, attraction and repulsion, toward sense objects.
12 Here, longing (abhijjhā) is synonymous with sensual desire (kāmacchanda), the first of the five hindrances. This entire passage deals with the overcoming of the five hindrances.
13 He does not come to such a conclusion because the jhānas, as well as the first two higher knowledges (to follow), are not unique to the Buddha’s teaching.
14 According to Ps, this shows the occasion of the supramundane path. Since at this point the noble disciple has still not completed his task, he has not yet come to a conclusion (na tveva niṭṭhaṃ gato hoti) about the Three Jewels; rather, he is in the process of coming to a conclusion (niṭṭhaṃ gacchati). The sutta puns on the meaning of the expression “coming to a conclusion” in a way that is just as viable in English as in Pāli.
15 Ps: This shows the occasion when the disciple has attained the fruit of arahantship, and having entirely completed his task, has come to a conclusion about the Three Jewels.
CHAPTER VIII: MASTERING THE MIND
1 These are the stages of stream-entry, once-returning, nonreturning, and arahantship. See chapter X.
2 See, e.g., AN 9:3 (IV 358) = Ud 4:1.
3 A translation of the sutta together with its commentary and substantial excerpts from the subcommentary can be found in Soma Thera, The Way of Mindfulness. Two excellent modern expositions, which also include translations of the sutta, are: Nyanaponika Thera, The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, and Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization.
4 Mp: When serenity is developed independently of insight, it leads to the suppression of the five hindrances, the first of which is sensual lust, and culminates in the “higher mind” (adhicitta) of the jhānas, characterized by the absence of lust. But it is only when serenity is developed in conjunction with insight that it can give rise to the noble path, which eradicates the underlying tendency to sensual lust (by the path of nonreturning) and attachment to existence (by the path of arahantship). Mp interprets serenity here in this second sense, presumably on account of the last sentence of the sutta.
5 Mp: It is the wisdom of the supramundane path (magga-paññā) that is developed. The “ignorance abandoned” is the great ignorance at the root of the cycle of existence.
6 Arahantship is often