Dear Alexander and Lennart,
Thank you Lennart for these passages:
<Evam passam, bhikkhave, sutavaa ariyasaavako ruupesupi nibbindati,
saddesupi nibbindati, gandhesupi nibbindati, rasesupi nibbindati,
photthabbesupi nibbindati, dhammesupi
nibbindati. (lit. "does not find (anything) in it" - adiinava anupassana
nyana)
Nibbindam virajjati; (up to here Nibbidanupassana nyana)
N:As to the terms you gave, we found some of them also in the
Mahaaraahulovaadasutta. And the Co. explained them.
As I see it, the commentarial tradition is firmly based on the Tipitaka, I
have no doubt.
Pa~n~naa must lead to detachment from all dhammas, but it has to begin at
the beginning. There are three stages of tender insight, taru.na vipassanaa.
A precise understanding of naama and ruupa has to be developed, so that they
are clearly distinguished.
We have to know first what object *exactly* we take for permanent or self.
We find the explanation of this in countless suttas. The suttas about all
the objects experienced one at a time through the six doors. Six different
worlds that are not mixed.
Before someone can realize the arising and falling away of realities, thus,
impermanence, he has to be sure which nama or which rupa has arisen and
appears and then falls away. We have to remember that the citta with sati
and pa~n~naa only experiences one object at a time. Seeing, visible object,
hearing, sound, feeling, thinking! They arise all the time. Even people who
have skills for jhana (and they need the masteries, entering and emerging
from jhana whenever they wish, etc) still have to distinguish nama from
rupa. It is the beginning of insight. It is an important step from
theoretical understanding towards a beginning of direct understanding. It is
important though that the theoretical understanding of nama and rupa should
be clear first.
Now I post something I had written about this subject before. Maybe it can
be of some use.
In the Scriptures, there is no detailed explanation of the stages of
insight knowledge. The stages are mentioned in the ³Path of Discrimination²
and the ³Visuddhimagga², but they are only described with a few words. When
paññå develops and the stages of insight are reached, paññå can directly
realize the true nature of realities and it does not need any words.
In the Suttas the development of insight is implied in the words ³clear
comprehension², or ³full understanding².
We read in Kindred Sayings IV, Kindred Sayings on Sense, Ch 3, § 26,
Comprehension:
Without fully knowing, without comprehending the all, brethren, without
detaching himself from, without abandoning the all, a man is incapable of
extinguishing Ill...
It is explained that the all are: the eye, visible object, seeing,
eye-contact, etc. It is then explained that by fully knowing ³the all²
dukkha can be extinguished.
The Commentary explains: ³In this sutta the three kinds of full
understanding, pariññås, are referred to: fully knowing (abhijåna.m), this
word refers to ³full understanding of the known² (ñåta pariññå).
Comprehending (parijåna.m), this word refers to full understanding as
investigation (tírana pariññå). Detaching (viråjaya.m) and abandoning
(pajaha.m) refer to the third kind of full understanding, which is full
understanding as abandoning (pahåna-pariññå).²
Actually, in these few words all stages of insight are included.
The ³Visuddhimagga²(Ch XX,4) explains about the three kinds of full
understanding: full understanding of the known (ñåta pariññå) begins at the
first stage of insight knowledge (knowing the difference between nama and
rupa) up to the second stage (knowing them as conditioned realities). As
paññå develops it penetrates the specific characteristics of nåma and rúpa.
It comes to know different kinds of nåma and of rúpa. It comes to know the
characteristics of all realities that appear and it understands them more
clearly as nåma and rúpa.
The second kind of full understanding, full understanding as investigation
(tírana pariññå): begins at the third stage of tender insight (comprehension
by groups, beginning to see rise and fall) until the fourth stage which is
the first stage of principle insight (mahå-vipassana ñåna): realizing the
arising and falling away of realities. Here paññå comes to penetrate more
the general characteristics of impermanence, dukkha and anattå. The third
kind of full understanding, full understanding as abandoning (pahåna
pariññå), begins at the contemplation of dissolution (bhangañåna), the
second stage of principal insight.
We can see from this description that as pannñå develops it leads to
detachment, to abandoning, but it develops stage by stage. If the specific
characteristics of nåma and rúpa are not fully understood, the three general
characteristics cannot be penetrated. The development of paññå evolves
according to a specific order, according to the stages of insight.
Nina.