My third Satipatthana Sutta course - June 19, 2010 to June 27, 2010 at CVC, North Fork, CA.
The following are the pieces that made a strong impression this time. I picked these from the discourses of S.N. Goenka ji.
Pali abstract of the discovery of Buddha.
salaayatan paccaya phassa [salaayatan = senses, paccaya = results in, phassa = contact] [senses when confronted with relative sense objects, result in contact]
phassa paccaya vedana [vedana = sensation] [contact results in sensation] = Discovery of Buddha.
vedana paccaya tanha [tanha = craving] [sensation leads to craving]
As the time passes after one Buddha and before the raise of another one, the Dhamma gets lost and it gets lost in the order of difficulty to practice. Dhamma is a sum total of Sila, Samadhi and Panna. [Morality, Concentration and Wisdom - in same order]. The wisdom or Panna disappears first as it is hard to practice. The samadhi disappears later and then sila or morality. In today's India you can very rarely find the practice of panna, then you can rarely find the practice of concentration e.g. there are some people practicing jhanas and then you can find the sila or partial/distorted sila e.g. fasting for a day, donation to a religious institution, abstaining from talking, etc. Distorted because some people extend the fasting for example for so long without any panna (wisdom), that it is of very less use.
loke = lujjathi palujjathi ithi. [The one which gets destroyed and then created]. It is referred in the context of the universe of senses.
lokiya jhana = the concentration techniques which keeps one rotating in the field or universe of senses.
lokotthara jhana = the concentration technique (jhana) which takes one out of the field of birth and death.
ariya = noble person - who has taken a dip at least once in Nibbana.
anariyo = ignoble person - who has not taken a dip in Nibbana.
sotapanna = stream enter-er. Max of seven lives to become fully enlightened. No power on earth can stop him/her from becoming fully enlightened within seven lives.
sagdagami = second stage of liberation. Max one more life on earth, otherwise in heavenly planets.
anagami = third stage of liberation. Only one more life but not on earth.
arahant = fully enlightened. There is no more coming back.
