Aj. Pasanno: Happiness before Samadhi

[Mkoll]

Hello all,

I was reading Ajahns Pasanno and Amaro's book Broad View, Boundless Heart and came across this passage which struck me (emphasized at bottom). I see this tendency in myself and others, and these words are a helpful reminder of the sequential order of development.

A Foundation for One’s Practice

Cultivating the brahmaviharas means bringing these qualities (metta,
karuna, mudita, and upekkha) into consciousness. It is like exercising
muscles that have not been used. As you develop these qualities, you have
to consider whether your mind is getting clearer or more confused.The
correct practice of the brahmaviharas always leads to increased clarity
and joy. That is the nature of these qualities of mind.

The whole point of the Buddha’s teachings is to cultivate mental
qualities in order to gain happiness of mind. And the brahmaviharas—a
prime source for creating happiness—can thus lay the foundation for the
entire practice. Most of the terms the Buddha uses regarding the developing
of practice are those that describe states of well being.We see this
in a sequence he sets out to illustrate the development of the mind.

Anavajjasukha is the state of mind resulting from abiding by the
moral precepts—the happiness of blamelessness or harmlessness, the
happiness of non-remorse.

Abhyasekhasukha is the happiness that ensues from training in sense
restraint—the composure one finds when one is not bent on gratification
or excitement of the senses.

Pamojja means the delight that results from being free of the five hindrances
that hinder meditation (sensual desire, ill will, sleepiness or
drowsiness, restlessness, and skeptical doubt). Pamojja also refers to the
happiness that meditative states of tranquility can bring—an unalloyed
kind of happiness. It also includes the delight that arises from skilful
reflection on the true nature of things. Pamojja leads to piti (joy). Piti
leads to passadhi (the state of tranquility).When there is tranquility, sukha
(happiness) arises, and because of sukha, samadhi arises. Samadhi is the
firm meditative state of mind.The Buddha says in many discourses that
the happy mind is easily concentrated.

We see that happiness brings about samadhi, whereas usually we approach
it the other way round.We often think, “If only I could get my
meditation together, then I would be happy,”whereas it should be:“How
do I gain true happiness so that my heart could be at ease?” It is a very
important truth that the Buddha points to in this sequence of shades of
happiness culminating in samadhi.

[cjmacie]

postby Mkoll » Sun Jul 10, 2016 11:02 am

Thanks for bringing this teaching to light here. It brings up some new terms new to me, offers some good information, and raises questions.

First, the overall treatment of "happiness" triggers issues associated with that term. Taking the sense (etymologically) that "happy" has to do with good fortune, good luck… Yes, teachers s/t mention, e.g. in introductory remarks at retreats, how fortunate we are -- to be born in a time with access to the Dhamma, access to teachers and things like retreats; it's also a theme in the Pali Canon – the good fortune of human (re-)birth.

"The whole point of the Buddha’s teachings is to cultivate mental qualities in order to gain happiness of mind."
But here, we have the opportunity to "gain" something, not by happenstance, not by luck, but by our own solid efforts (cultivation). So that's happiness not by good fortune, but rather more by the definition as simply "freedom from dukkha", which could be said is a more direct statement of the Buddha's teaching.

A couple of points maybe more accomplished Pali readers here can help me with:

1) The meaning built into "Anavajjasukha" : Clear is "sukha" at the end, this is a type of sukha (as opposed to dukkha). For the prefix parts of the term, I find:
"avajja -- adj. unblameable; faultless."
If the "an-" at the start were the "alpha-privitive" ("free-from…"), negating prefix, then it wouldn't make sense, i.e. as "free from faultlessness sukha"; I can't find words "anavajja" or "navajja", but can guess that the latter could be "avajja" with a prefixed "na-" negating particle, which then further prefixed by the alpha-privitive builds the meaning "free from not being faultless", which is a clumsy construct in English, but not uncommon from what I've seen in Pali. "Not-Not-faultless-sukha", i.e. (factoring subterms) "faultless sukha", expressed, as so many of the Buddha's key terms, in indirect or negative terminology. (As in, e.g. Right Speech being NOT false, NOT harsh, etc.; or metta as free of danger, free of mental ills, free of physical ills, etc.)

2) "Abhya-sekha-sukha" (sukha from moral restraint): Again, the "sukha" is clear, as also the "sekha" (trainee, as distinct from an ariya). The "abhya-" is puzzling. Is it built from 'abhi-' compounded somehow? Or perhaps the "ab-" has alternate form "av=", "v" and "b" being s/t interchangeable in Pali, as also in the Russian/Greek family of languages? In the several dictionaries at hand, I can't find anything to explain "abhya-".

Further down, the nice elucidation of the series pamojja-piti-passadhi-sukha-samadhi (the progression of mental qualities so often listed in the sutta-s as the build-up to various deeper modes of meditation – notably but not just jhana). Comparing various English translations of that series of terms uncovered confusions which largely motivated my researches in trying to more exactly pin-down the Pali meanings – some use "joy" for piti, and "happiness" for sukha ; another uses "rapture" for piti, "bliss" or "joy" for sukha, etc. Reading just the translations, without comparing the Pali, can foster uncertainty.

The bottom-line, so to speak: "We see that happiness brings about samadhi, whereas usually we approach it the other way round."
A worthwhile point, but yes, and no. Happiness as freedom from mental dukkha (if only temporary) does form a platform for absorptive samadhi (not necessary, though, for khanika samadhi). But happiness as emotional elation (a common English association) is not a necessary condition for samadhi. It may be considered so for that specific type of samadhi often called "sutta-jhana" (e.g. by Leigh Brasington, B. Vimalaramsi and other contemporary teachers). Other, more traditional training in jhana (from many teachers, especially monastics), however, focus on other methods of building jhanic samadhi (e.g. in the Pa Auk Sayadaw lineage, in which I was trained.)

[Phena]

Hello all,

I was reading Ajahns Pasanno and Amaro's book Broad View, Boundless Heart and came across this passage which struck me (emphasized at bottom). I see this tendency in myself and others, and these words are a helpful reminder of the sequential order of development.

A Foundation for One’s Practice

Cultivating the brahmaviharas means bringing these qualities (metta,
karuna, mudita, and upekkha) into consciousness. It is like exercising
muscles that have not been used. As you develop these qualities, you have
to consider whether your mind is getting clearer or more confused.The
correct practice of the brahmaviharas always leads to increased clarity
and joy. That is the nature of these qualities of mind.

The whole point of the Buddha’s teachings is to cultivate mental
qualities in order to gain happiness of mind. And the brahmaviharas—a
prime source for creating happiness—can thus lay the foundation for the
entire practice. Most of the terms the Buddha uses regarding the developing
of practice are those that describe states of well being.We see this
in a sequence he sets out to illustrate the development of the mind.

Anavajjasukha is the state of mind resulting from abiding by the
moral precepts—the happiness of blamelessness or harmlessness, the
happiness of non-remorse.

Abhyasekhasukha is the happiness that ensues from training in sense
restraint—the composure one finds when one is not bent on gratification
or excitement of the senses.

Pamojja means the delight that results from being free of the five hindrances
that hinder meditation (sensual desire, ill will, sleepiness or
drowsiness, restlessness, and skeptical doubt). Pamojja also refers to the
happiness that meditative states of tranquility can bring—an unalloyed
kind of happiness. It also includes the delight that arises from skilful
reflection on the true nature of things. Pamojja leads to piti (joy). Piti
leads to passadhi (the state of tranquility).When there is tranquility, sukha
(happiness) arises, and because of sukha, samadhi arises. Samadhi is the
firm meditative state of mind.The Buddha says in many discourses that
the happy mind is easily concentrated.

We see that happiness brings about samadhi, whereas usually we approach
it the other way round.We often think, “If only I could get my
meditation together, then I would be happy,”whereas it should be:“How
do I gain true happiness so that my heart could be at ease?” It is a very
important truth that the Buddha points to in this sequence of shades of
happiness culminating in samadhi.

This is a really important point to remember - sukha before samadhi.

Interestignly the progression the Ajahns describe are links 3-7 of the progression in the twelve links of Transcendental Dependent Arising:

• Suffering (dukkha)
• Faith (saddha)
• Joy (pamojja)
• Rapture (piti)
• Tranquility (passaddhi)
• Happiness (sukha)
• Concentration (samadhi)
• Knowledge and vision of things as they are (yathabhutañanadassana)
• Disenchantment (nibbida)
• Dispassion (viraga)
• Emancipation (vimutti)
• Knowledge of destruction of the cankers (asavakkhaye ñana)

[Cormac Brown]

Yes, good point. Sukha, however, can seemingly refer to 'happiness' or to 'pleasure': both "of the flesh" and "not-of-the-flesh." In the description of samadhi/jhana, it is the body that is suffused with sukha. This being the case, aren't we dealing less with a "happiness" or, as it was put above, "mental elation," and instead with something that is experienced more physically, despite being born of the mind?

In the Anapanasati instructions, for example, we have this sequence:

First, the meditator breathes in and out "calming the bodily fabrication (kaya-sankhara)", which presumably lays the groundwork for what follows.

Next one breathes in "sensitive to piti," and then to "sukha." This occurs in the second/vedana tetrad. It's worth mentioning that piti and sukha are clearly defined in the final part of this tetrad as a citta-sankhara, or mental fabrication.

Then, in the third, we are instructed to "gladden the mind." If "gladness" or happiness were already present as sukha, this instruction wouldn't be necessary.

Finally, in the same tetrad, immediately following the "gladdening" of the citta, the instruction is "Samādahaṃ cittaṃ," or to "concentrate the mind."

In this context, both physical pleasure and mental gladness seem to precede full concentration, but certainly sukha here seems to be distinguished from mental gladness, and precedes it. Piti, in turn, precedes sukha, and bodily calm precedes both.

Clearly, however, as with many factors in Dependent Co-arising, they are mutually supportive, and the causal chain is perhaps not as linearly straightforward as it may at first glance seem. Even in order to begin Anapanasati properly, one is often advised to cleanse the mind of "greed and distress with reference to the world." Just doing this much would surely give rise to some mental gladness.

Anapanasati Sutta

[samseva]

Thanks for sharing, Mkoll.

Regarding the discussion, I think the point of the text is that samādhi shouldn't be a means to happiness, like many unconsciously think. Only developing happiness, solely as a means to obtain samādhi, would be a very similar situation (where one doesn't meditate, but only finds ways to be more happy, for example). I think both happiness and samādhi should be developed to the best of one's abilities, both at the same time.

[Mkoll]

Hi all,

Here is Venerable Pasanno talking about happiness, juxtaposing it with suffering, from the documentary Fearless Mountain.

The link should jump to right before he talks about it. The whole documentary is well worth watching.

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