DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Sutta study - MN 121 Cula-suññata Sutta

**neniajany** · 03-18-2010, 04:27 PM

but it does require leading a lifestyle to give rise to it as well as to sustain it

Ain't necessarily so Andy. It requires seclusion (ie. some time on your own in a quiet room) and correct instruction.

Being a monk, nun or having heaps of vows and radiating pure goodness may help a lot, but it's not essential. Anyone can do it and once gained, you don't suddenly lose it.

Sustaining samhadi is very pleasurable, it's not a chore in any way, so it's something you will go back to time and time again.

The sutta demonstrates how Buddha is doing this:
The Perception of Earth
"Further, Ananda, the monk — not attending to the perception of human being, not attending to the perception of wilderness — attends to the singleness based on the perception of earth. His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth. Just as a bull's hide is stretched free from wrinkles with a hundred stakes, even so — without attending to all the ridges & hollows, the river ravines, the tracts of stumps & thorns, the craggy irregularities of this earth — he attends to the singleness based on the perception of earth. His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth. Firstly, he's not attending to the perception of human being. This means, he's dropped self-identification. How has he done this? Easy, by attending to the singleness based on the perception of earth. In other words, he has placed his attention on form. Within the "form" jhanas, this is what you do.

In doing so, he is releasing the tension of "I" and absorbing into the sensory field of his body; sounds, physical feelings etc. outlined in the frames of reference. The process is very blissful and accompanies the breath - hence "His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth".

It's not a case of 'locking' the awareness tightly on an object, rather in relinquishing ownership of the process and in just noting what transpires. Stress and its release.

Namaste

03-18-2010, 04:27 PM	#12
neniajany Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 461 Senior Member	but it does require leading a lifestyle to give rise to it as well as to sustain it Ain't necessarily so Andy. It requires seclusion (ie. some time on your own in a quiet room) and correct instruction. Being a monk, nun or having heaps of vows and radiating pure goodness may help a lot, but it's not essential. Anyone can do it and once gained, you don't suddenly lose it. Sustaining samhadi is very pleasurable, it's not a chore in any way, so it's something you will go back to time and time again. The sutta demonstrates how Buddha is doing this: The Perception of Earth "Further, Ananda, the monk — not attending to the perception of human being, not attending to the perception of wilderness — attends to the singleness based on the perception of earth. His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth. Just as a bull's hide is stretched free from wrinkles with a hundred stakes, even so — without attending to all the ridges & hollows, the river ravines, the tracts of stumps & thorns, the craggy irregularities of this earth — he attends to the singleness based on the perception of earth. His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth. Firstly, he's not attending to the perception of human being. This means, he's dropped self-identification. How has he done this? Easy, by attending to the singleness based on the perception of earth. In other words, he has placed his attention on form. Within the "form" jhanas, this is what you do. In doing so, he is releasing the tension of "I" and absorbing into the sensory field of his body; sounds, physical feelings etc. outlined in the frames of reference. The process is very blissful and accompanies the breath - hence "His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of earth". It's not a case of 'locking' the awareness tightly on an object, rather in relinquishing ownership of the process and in just noting what transpires. Stress and its release. Namaste
	Quote