Regarding the meaning, it is true upekkhindriya can have similar meaning to adukkhamasukhā, even though the five vedanā exposition uses sātaṃ & asātaṃ while the three vedanā exposition only uses dukkhaṃ & sukhaṃ. That is not the main issue. But changing the word used in an exposition with other word with "similar" meaning used in another exposition of the same topic (vedanā) may cause confusion. Problem arises since it turned out that there is more to upekkhā than merely equals to adukkhamasukhā, and the damage is done. Below is the explanation.culaavuso wrote:What is the difference between upekkhindriya, classed as vedanā and said to be anything to be experienced as adukkhamasukhā, and upekkhā vedanā? In what way is this distinction critical to the practice of the path and how does a misunderstanding between them lead astray?vesak2014 wrote:I'm talking about upekkhā vedanā, there is no such thing, and it is not the pali term for the third type of feeling. This small yet critical error makes the rest of the path misleading.
When the three kinds of feeling cease, there remains only equanimity (upekkhā.) If you say the third type of feeling and upekkhā are the same, then it turns out to be erroneous. So the difference is (the condition) when it arises.MN 140:
"There remains only consciousness: pure & bright. What does one cognize with that consciousness? One cognizes 'pleasure.' One cognizes 'pain.' One cognizes 'neither pleasure nor pain.' In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure, there arises a feeling of pleasure. When sensing a feeling of pleasure, one discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling of pleasure.' One discerns that 'With the cessation of that very sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure, the concomitant feeling — the feeling of pleasure that has arisen in dependence on the sensory contact that is to be felt as pleasure — ceases, is stilled.' In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as pain... In dependence on a sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, there arises a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain. When sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, one discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain.' One discerns that 'With the cessation of that very sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain, the concomitant feeling — the feeling of neither pleasure nor pain that has arisen in dependence on the sensory contact that is to be felt as neither pleasure nor pain — ceases, is stilled.'
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"There remains only equanimity: pure & bright, pliant, malleable, & luminous. Just as if a skilled goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice were to prepare a furnace, heat up a crucible, and, taking gold with a pair of tongs, place it in the crucible: He would blow on it time & again, sprinkle water on it time & again, examine it time & again, so that the gold would become refined, well-refined, thoroughly refined, flawless, free from dross, pliant, malleable, & luminous. Then whatever sort of ornament he had in mind — whether a belt, an earring, a necklace, or a gold chain — it would serve his purpose. In the same way, there remains only equanimity: pure & bright, pliant, malleable, & luminous. One discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure & bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of space, I would develop the mind along those lines, and thus this equanimity of mine — thus supported, thus sustained — would last for a long time. One discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure and bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness... the dimension of nothingness... the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, I would develop the mind along those lines, and thus this equanimity of mine — thus supported, thus sustained — would last for a long time.'
And how the misunderstanding leads people astray? By equalizing them, people will not likely to have any idea between household equanimity and renunciation equanimity. Because the three vedanā exposition is more commonly known compared to the five vedanā exposition which seems to be used in more advanced topic such as jhana. The MN 140 passage about equanimity is talking about renunciation equanimity, i.e. equanimity which goes beyond form, sound, smell, tastes, tactile, & mano. Below is the passage from MN 137 about household and renunciation equanimity:
Now take a look at the fact in the mainstream vipassana movement, their take on equanimity:MN 137:
"And what are the six kinds of household equanimity? The equanimity that arises when a foolish, deluded person — a run-of-the-mill, untaught person who has not conquered his limitations or the results of action & who is blind to danger — sees a form with the eye. Such equanimity does not go beyond the form, which is why it is called household equanimity. (Similarly with sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, & ideas.)
"And what are the six kinds of renunciation equanimity? The equanimity that arises when — experiencing the inconstancy of those very forms, their change, fading, & cessation — one sees with right discernment as it actually is that all forms, past or present, are inconstant, stressful, subject to change: This equanimity goes beyond form, which is why it is called renunciation equanimity. (Similarly with sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, & ideas.)
Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations
"comes into the range of his sense doors" means one sees form with eye, hears sound with ear, etc. Tell me if it is not household equanimity.He cherishes no desire nor hate with regard to any object, desirable or undesirable, that comes into the range of his sense doors, but taking them as just the same in his act of noticing, he understands them (that is to say, it is a pure act of understanding). This is “equable vision” at the stage of “equanimity about formations.”
The effect from downgrading equanimity (to household equanimity) is the emergence of deluded people (which follow the teaching) with their arahant claims. How come household equanimity leads to arahantship.