Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

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manas
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by manas »

Zom wrote:So - as far as I understood - everyone agrees that "awareness in/to the present moment " is a vital part of meditation ,)
So the only disputable point is how to call this awareness - "sati" or not "sati" (or - "included into sati")? Does that really matter?
Hi Zom,

I used to think that sati was "awareness in/to the present moment " but I read somewhere (by a very reputable monk-scholar) that really strictly speaking this is a misleading definition. We are instructed to be aware of/in the four frames of reference; body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects, and if we are focussed there we will, naturally, be in the present as well. If you mean that the mind should actually be here, right now, aware of itself and/or it's object, and not lost in some thought - then yes, I do know what you mean. But I think that we need to be careful in how we define it, because it subtly changes the meaning and thus how someone might practise it. Sati has to be present for us to cognize the object in a useful way. But it is the object itself that needs to be standing out clearly, and so in a way sati is just a tool, like our hands that reach out to catch a ball, we keep our eyes on the ball, not on our hands. Sometimes I feel that when sati is at it's brightest, it operates invisibly, in that only the object is manifest.

Anyway, this is such an interesting subject...there is so much to learn. Even just a clear and consistent definition of sati that everyone can agree on, it seems to be hard to find!

with metta
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by chownah »

It seems that a major point of concern here has been whether being mindful of the present moment is sati....or not. My question is if one is truly in the present moment that what else could they be aware of if not body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects? In the exact present moment what else could there be?
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by tiltbillings »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Tilt,
tiltbillings wrote:In other words, one thinks oneself to awakening.
What Dmytro said does not warrant this contemptuous "one thinks oneself to awakening" one-liner that sometimes gets bandied around here.
It is no more contemptuous than are Dmytro's various strawman attacks on the idea of mindfulness vis a vis sati.

Let us look at the OP: "He mentions the Sutta-nipata passages, which I will quote: . . . I don't see here any trace of "present moment awareness" meaning of sati."

What Ven Analayo actually said:
Sati as present moment awareness is similarly reflected in the presentations
of the Patisambhiddimagga and the Visuddhimagga, according
to which the characteristic quality of sati is "presence"
(upatthiina), whether as a faculty (indriya), as an awakening factor
(bojjhanga), as a factor of the noble eightfold path, or at the moment
of realization.19
Thus mindfulness being present (upatthitasati) can be understood
to imply presence of mind, in so far as it is directly opposed to
absent-mindedness (mutthassati); presence of mind in the sense
that, endowed with sati, one is wide awake in regard to the present
moment.20 Owing to such presence of mind, whatever one does or
says will be clearly apprehended by the mind, and thus can be more
easily remembered later on.21
Sati is required not only to fully take in the moment to be remembered,
but also to bring this moment back to mind at a later time. To
"re-collect", then, becomes just a particular instance of a state of
mind characterized by "collectedness" and the absence of distraction.22
This twofold character of sati can also be found in some verses
in the Sutta Nipiita, which instruct the listener to set out with sati,
subsequent to an instruction given by the Buddha.23 In these instances
sati seems to combine both present moment awareness and
remembering what the Buddha had taught.


19 Paps I 16;Patis I 116;and Vism 510.
20 Cf. S I 44, where sati is related to wakefulness. A related nuance occurs at Vism 464,
which relates sati to strong cognition (thirasanna).
21 The opposite case is documented at Vin II 261,where a nun failed to memorize the
training rules for lack of sati.
22 Nanananda 1993: PA7·
23 Sn 1053;Sn 1066;and Sn 1085.
Ven Analayo is making a far more nuanced and reasonable argument than our critic is allowing for (or seems to understand).
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by tiltbillings »

Ven Analayo wrote:Sati as present moment awareness is similarly reflected in the presentations of the Patisambhiddimagga and the Visuddhimagga, according
to which the characteristic quality of sati is "presence"
(upatthiina), whether as a faculty (indriya), as an awakening factor
(bojjhanga), as a factor of the noble eightfold path, or at the moment
of realization.19
19 Paps I 16;Patis I 116;and Vism 510.
Dmytro in his OP wrote: Regarding his reference to Patisambhidamagga and Visuddhimagga, and the word "upatthāna". This word is one of the components of the compound "satipatthana". As explained in the Patisambhidamagga-Atthakatha 2.509, upatthāna refers to the sati being established on the particular basis (arammana). (See the Pali quote at http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5656" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ). "Upatthāna" does not mean "presence".
PTS Dictionary:
Upaṭṭhahati & ˚ṭṭhāti

Upaṭṭhahati & ˚ṭṭhāti [upa + sthā, cp. upatiṭṭhati] 1 (trs.) to stand near or at hand (with acc.), to wait on, attend on, serve, minister, to care for, look after, nurse (in sickness) Vin i.50, 302; iv.326; M iii.25; S i.167; A iii.94; v.72; Sn 82 = 481 (imper. ˚ṭṭhahassu); J i.67 (ppr. ˚ṭṭhahamāna), 262 (ppr. ˚ṭṭhahanto); iv.131; v.396; Dpvs ii.16; PvA 19, 20. -- aor. upaṭṭhahi PvA 14, 42, 82. -- inf. upaṭṭhātuŋ A v.72; PvA 20. -- ger. upaṭṭhahitvā PvA 76. -- grd. upaṭṭhātabba Vin i.302; PvA 20. -- pp. upaṭṭhita (q. v.). -- 2. (intrs.) to stand out or forth, to appear, to arise, occur, to be present M i.104 sq.; A iv.32; J iv.203 (mante anupaṭṭhahante since the spell did not occur to him); v.207; Miln 64; ThA 258. <-> aor. upaṭṭhāsi J i.61; iv.3; PvA 42. -- Caus. I. upaṭṭheti; Caus. II. upaṭṭhapeti & ˚ṭṭhāpeti (q. v.). -- Pass. upaṭṭhīyati J iv.131 (ppr. ˚ṭṭhiyamāna), & upaṭṭhahīyati A iii.94 (ppr. ˚ṭṭhahiyamāna).

Upaṭṭhāka

Upaṭṭhāka [fr. upa + sthā, cp. BSk. upasthāka M Vastu i.251, and upasthāyaka Divy 426; Av. Ś. i.214; ii.85, 112.] a servitor, personal attendant, servant, "famulus". Ānanda was the last u. of Gotama Buddha (see D i.206; Th 1, 1041 f.; ThA in Brethren loc. cit.; Vin i.179 (Sāgato u.), 194; ii.186; iii.66; iv.47; D i.150 (Nāgita); S iii.113; A i.121; iii.31, 189; J i 15, 100 (a merchant's); ii.416; Pug 28; DhA ii.93; VvA 149; PvA 211. -- agg˚ main follower, chief attendant D ii.6; gilān˚ an attendant in sickness, nurse Vin i.303; A i.26; sangh˚ one who looks after the community of Bhikkhus Vin i.216; A i.26; iii.39. -- dupaṭṭhāka & supaṭṭhāka a bad (& good) attendant Vin i.302.
-- kula a family entertaining (or ministering to) a thera or a bhikkhu, a family devoted to the service of (gen.) Vin i.83 (Sāriputtassa), 213; iii.62, 66, 67; iv.283, 286; VvA 120.

Upaṭṭhāna

Upaṭṭhāna (nt.) [fr. upa + sthā] -- 1. attendance, waiting on, looking after, service, care, ministering A i.151, 225; Sn 138; J i.226, 237, 291; ii.101; iv.138; vi.351. Ps i.107; ii.7 sq., 28, 230; PvA 104, 145 (paccekabuddhassa), 176; VvA 75 (ther˚); Sdhp 560. -- 2. worship, (divine) service D iii.188 sq. (˚ŋ gacchati); PvA 122. Buddh˚ attendance on a Buddha PvA 93; ThA 18. <-> 3. a state room J iii.257.
-- sambhāra means of catering, provisions PvA 20. -- sālā hall for attendance, assembly room, chapel [cp. BSk. upasthāna -- śālā Divy 207] Vin i.49, 139; ii.153, 208; iii. 70 (at Vesālī); iv.15, 42; D ii.119 (at Vesālī); S ii.280; v.321; A ii.51, 197; iii.298; DhA i.37, 38; iii.413.

http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philol ... li.1693671" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I would say the Ven Analayo is on good ground here.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Nyana »

Dukkhanirodha wrote:IMO this paragraph makes it very clear that the practice of sati involves the observation of phenomena in the present moment, and in this context there is little room IMO for remembrance.
Without an ongoing ability to remember what we are doing we cannot function in the world, and there can be no meaningful observation of presently occurring phenomena. For example, Clive Wearing has no capacity to retain short-term memories and lives in a vacuum of the immediate present with no context or experience of continuity.

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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by ground »

Dukkhanirodha wrote:IMO this paragraph makes it very clear that the practice of sati involves the observation of phenomena in the present moment, and in this context there is little room IMO for remembrance.
If there is no remembrance at all then "observation" is not what the word "observation" implies.
I mean there are certainly such blank states where physical data enter the sense doors without there being any awareness of anything. "observation of phenomena" implies "awareness of phenomena" which in turn implies at least re-cognition of phenomena qua mere phenomena which already is an act of remembrance.
If there is not remembrance that there are what is called "phenomena" in conventional terms how could one observe these?
There does not have to be gross thought like "this is a phenomenon" for remembrance to occur.


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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by chownah »

If we do not observe phenomena in the present moment then in which moment do we observe them?

Is a remembrance just a thought that arises that we ascribe to being something that happened in the past?...but isn't the rememberance actually happening in the present moment.....isn't it just a present thought about our views of something we ascribe to the past?
It seems unlikely that a remembrance is thinking IN the past....it is just thinking ABOUT the past but the thinking is happening in the present moment...I guess....I'd like to be notified if I've made some major blunder in this view....
Also, I'm still wondering about my question, If one is truly in the present moment then what else could they be aware of if not body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects? In the exact present moment what else could there be?

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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Sekha »

An additional element occured to me, which sustains the standpoint adopted by Ven. Analayo and Tilt:
from Mahasatipatthana Sutta wrote:Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṃ ābhujitvā ujuṃ kāyaṃ paṇidhāya parimukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā. So satova assasati, satova passasati.

A bhikkhu, having gone to the forest or having gone at the root of a tree or having gone to an empty room, sits down folding the legs crosswise, setting kāya upright, and setting sati parimukhaṃ. Being sato, he breathes in, being sato he breathes out.

http://www.suttapitaka.net/formulae/vivitta.html#c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
How could it be possible to set remembrance on any spot of the body? IMO this interpretation does not fit in this context. It makes much more sense to understand it as "presence of mind" as suggested by Ven. Analayo.
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Sekha »

Ñāṇa wrote: Without an ongoing ability to remember (...) there can be no meaningful observation of presently occurring phenomena.
TMingyur wrote: If there is no remembrance at all then "observation" is not what the word "observation" implies.
I mean there are certainly such blank states where physical data enter the sense doors without there being any awareness of anything. "observation of phenomena" implies "awareness of phenomena" which in turn implies at least re-cognition of phenomena qua mere phenomena which already is an act of remembrance.
If there is not remembrance that there are what is called "phenomena" in conventional terms how could one observe these?
There does not have to be gross thought like "this is a phenomenon" for remembrance to occur.
For both these posts: no one said the ability to remember should be absent. What was said is that the mind should be present.

Mahasatipatthana Sutta instructions in ending § of each section: wrote:Yāvadeva ñāṇamattāya paṭissatimattāya anissito ca viharati.

Thus he develops his awareness to such an extent that there is mere understanding along with mere awareness.
http://tipitaka.org/stp-pali-eng-parallel#3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

VRI comments: Yāvadeva ñāṇamattāya paṭissatimattāya [Thus he develops his awareness to such an extent that there is mere understanding along with mere awareness.] The mind of the meditator at this stage is absorbed in the wisdom of anicca (the arising and passing away of sensations), with no identification beyond this awareness. With the base of this awareness he develops understanding with his own experience. This is paññā (wisdom). With his awareness thus established in anicca, there is no attraction to the world of mind and matter.
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by ground »

Dukkhanirodha wrote:
Ñāṇa wrote: Without an ongoing ability to remember (...) there can be no meaningful observation of presently occurring phenomena.
TMingyur wrote: If there is no remembrance at all then "observation" is not what the word "observation" implies.
I mean there are certainly such blank states where physical data enter the sense doors without there being any awareness of anything. "observation of phenomena" implies "awareness of phenomena" which in turn implies at least re-cognition of phenomena qua mere phenomena which already is an act of remembrance.
If there is not remembrance that there are what is called "phenomena" in conventional terms how could one observe these?
There does not have to be gross thought like "this is a phenomenon" for remembrance to occur.
For both these posts: no one said the ability to remember should be absent. What was said is that the mind should be present.
What you actually said was this:
Dukkhanirodha wrote:IMO this paragraph makes it very clear that the practice of sati involves the observation of phenomena in the present moment, and in this context there is little room IMO for remembrance.
and "little room" certainly does not mean "absence".

But now you are speaking of "ability" without explicitly stating whether this "ability to remember" is manifesting through remembering or not.

But your quotes imply "restriced" remembering ("restriced" alluding to your "little room for"): "Thus he develops his awareness to such an extent ..." and "with no identification beyond this awareness".
Again "to such an extent" and "not beyond this awareness" implying this "little room for" remembrance.


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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Nyana »

chownah wrote:Is a remembrance just a thought that arises that we ascribe to being something that happened in the past?
It's more subtle than this. Sati in this sense is the remembrance of what one is doing as they are doing it from moment to moment. Sampajañña is the full awareness of what is being experienced from moment to moment. Satisampajañña requires recognition (saññā) of what is occurring as it occurs within the context of individuated particulars (i.e. phenomena which have been previously learned and can therefore be identified). None of these mental functions require thoughts.
chownah wrote:Also, I'm still wondering about my question, If one is truly in the present moment then what else could they be aware of if not body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects? In the exact present moment what else could there be?
Yes, but the question is: Is this alone an effective way to develop and maintain skillful mental qualities? Or should the satipaṭṭhānā be interpreted to indicate a more specific training regimen? That is, one picks one of the meditation subjects as object support (i.e. kāyānupassanā), then abandons carnal joy and pleasure and develops non-carnal joy and pleasure (i.e. vedanānupassanā), and recognizes the difference between limited and afflicted states of mind vs. expansive states of mind (i.e. cittānupassanā), and engages in the appropriate categories of phenomena to (a) abandon any further occurrences of hindrances, and (b) develop insight (i.e. dhammānupassanā).

Support for this latter interpretation can be found in the Satipaṭṭhānavibhaṅga, which takes the subject of the 32 parts of the body as an example of the object support, then explicitly differentiates the distinctions between full awareness (sampajañña) and mindfulness (sati), and so on.
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by ancientbuddhism »

A comment I made in my earlier post got lost in the editing.

With reference to the context of sati in Ānāpānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna work, I think Analayo covered that accurately, although I don’t have the time at present to go over the relevant section to confirm why.

Although I already mentioned this here, in my opinion, sati is best understood in its context and when that context is Ānapānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna contemplative work, it is for the practitioner to stay on task with the object of contemplation, in ānāpāna to develop calm with breathing, and then to the examination of states at feeling and mind.
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Sekha »

TMingyur wrote: What you actually said was this:
Dukkhanirodha wrote:IMO this paragraph makes it very clear that the practice of sati involves the observation of phenomena in the present moment, and in this context there is little room IMO for remembrance.
and "little room" certainly does not mean "absence".

But now you are speaking of "ability" without explicitly stating whether this "ability to remember" is manifesting through remembering or not.
Ok, I got your point. The way I formulated my idea was not clear enough, so I reformulate: "...and in this context there is little room IMO for an interpreation of sati as meaning remembrance."

I didn't mean to say that there is no faculty of memory at all present in the mind

TMingyur wrote: But your quotes imply "restriced" remembering ("restriced" alluding to your "little room for"): "Thus he develops his awareness to such an extent ..." and "with no identification beyond this awareness".
Again "to such an extent" and "not beyond this awareness" implying this "little room for" remembrance.
Sorry, I really don't see what you mean.
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by chownah »

Nana,
Thanks for your reply.
Ñāṇa wrote:
chownah wrote:Is a remembrance just a thought that arises that we ascribe to being something that happened in the past?
It's more subtle than this. Sati in this sense is the remembrance of what one is doing as they are doing it from moment to moment. Sampajañña is the full awareness of what is being experienced from moment to moment. Satisampajañña requires recognition (saññā) of what is occurring as it occurs within the context of individuated particulars (i.e. phenomena which have been previously learned and can therefore be identified). None of these mental functions require thoughts.
Great....then remembrance in this sense seems to have more of a meaning of "staying on task" then it has to do with anything associated with the past....is this right?
Ñāṇa wrote:
chownah wrote:Also, I'm still wondering about my question, If one is truly in the present moment then what else could they be aware of if not body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects? In the exact present moment what else could there be?
Yes, but the question is: Is this alone an effective way to develop and maintain skillful mental qualities? Or should the satipaṭṭhānā be interpreted to indicate a more specific training regimen?
I usually think of sati as being more than just part of a "training regimen"....but maybe I'm wrong. In any event, regardless of if we are in training or not it does seem to me that it is important for people to know if body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects are really all there is to be experienced in the present moment (or if this is wrong) and it is only in the present moment that things can be expereinced (or if this is wrong).....it seems to me that some are expressing views that seem to be pointing to the possibility that there is some other moment in which things can be experienced (other than the present moment) and I have seen this view inferred in other threads as well. I think it is not too far afield to say that if one fully accepted and maintains awareness that there is only the present moment and all experience is only happening in the present moment for now and for forever and at the same time sees how it is present conditions which give rise to experience......then most of the work of following the path would be accomplished......I guess.....not sure....anyway for me the basic ideas that we should be absolutely sure that we do not stray from are that there is only experience in the present moment and the only things we can experience can be catalogued as being either body, feelings, mind, and mind-object.........on top of this base you can construct a training regimen but without that base I don't think one will progress very far.....but maybe I'm wrong...
Thanks again for your reply....it has really helped me get a better understanding of the ongoing discussion.....
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Re: Objection to the Views of Venerable Analayo

Post by Nyana »

ancientbuddhism wrote:Although I already mentioned this here, in my opinion, sati is best understood in its context and when that context is Ānapānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna contemplative work, it is for the practitioner to stay on task with the object of contemplation, in ānāpāna to develop calm with breathing, and then to the examination of states at feeling and mind.
Yes, I think that the function of "stay[ing] on task with the object of contemplation" offers a good indication of sati as a mental factor, and fits well with the definitions given in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, the Vibhaṅga, the Milindapañha, and so on.
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