Re: request: on the Digha, arthaviniscaya/satipatthana

hello Kare,

thanks for that info. So it seems i was wrong, this is not a version
of 'the' Satipatthana Sutta; i had guessed as much when i checked
again what i had written about it. Anyway, the text clearly is
structured around the 'samyutta-matika', the basic list of topics in
the Samyutta Nikaya/Agama. This samyutta-matika also forms the basis
for one of the oldest strata of abhidhamma literature, the
Vibhanga/Dharmaskandha/Sariputrabhidharma.

in Dhamma

bhante Sujato

>
> Bhante,
>
> The Arthavinishcayasutra is in Sanskrit, but it is pre-Mahayana,

probably

> originally a Sautrantika-Vaibhashika Sutra. It is almost like a

short

> encyclopaedia of Buddhist teachings. It is a very condensed text,
> containing mostly definitions of central Dhamma-terms, and most of

the

> contents is stock phrases that are very easy to recognize for

anyone who is

> a little familiar with the Pali texts. That is why this sutra is

of

> interest for those who study Pali - it can work like a bridge from

Pali

> into Sanskrit.
>
> The Sutra explains 27 topics (I'll use the terminology of the

Introduction

> to the Sutra here): 1) five aggregates (skandhas), 2) five

aggregates of

> clinging to existence (upaadaanaskandhas), 3) eighteen elements

(dhaatus),

> 4) twelve bases (aayatanas), 5) twelvefold law of dependent

origination

> (pratiityasamutpaada), 6) four noble truths (aaryasatyas), 7)

twenty-two

> faculties (indriyas), 8) four trances (dhyaanas), 9) four formless
> attainments (aaruupyasamaapattis), 10) four sublime states
> (brahmavihaaras), 11) four courses (to the acquirement of

knowledge)

> (pratipads), 12) four states (of cultivation) of meditation
> (samaadhibhaavanas), 13) four fields of mindfulness

(sm.rtyupasthaanas),

> 14) four right efforts (samyakprahaa.nas), 15) four bases of

psychic powers

> (.rddhipaadas), 16) five faculties (indriyas), 17) five powers

(balas), 18)

> seven contituents of enlightenment (bodhyangas), 19) noble

eightfold path

> (aryaa.s.taangamaarga), 20) sixteenfold mindfulness of inbreathing

and

> outbreathing (aanaapaanasm.rti), 21) four factors of attaining the

stream

> (srotaaapattyangas), 22) ten powers of the Tathagata

(tathaagatabalas), 23)

> four grounds of selv-confidence (vai"saaradyas), 24) four kinds of

detailed

> and special knowledge (pratisa.mvids), 25) eighteen special

characteristics

> of the Buddha (aave.nikabuddhadharmas), 26) thirty-two marks of a

great man

> (mahaapuru.salak.sa.nas), 27) eighty minor marks (of the Buddha)
> (anuvyañjanas).
>
> Chapter 13 only gives a short list of mindfulness of kaya, vedana,

citta og

> dharma. Many of the more detailed instructions from the
> Mahasatipatthanasutta are found in chapter 12, where the parts of

the body

> also are described.
>
> Yours,
>
> Kåre A. Lie
> http://www.lienet.no/