on compulsory meditation:
I was just reading [S 43] yesterday, the samyutta on asankhata (the
unconditoned, i.e. nibbana). This would be CDOB p. 1372. On the DPI,
Samyutta book 4, vaggo 9. I could be misreading the "..." ellipses that
reduce repetition, but it looks to me as if every single sutta in that
samyutta ends with the famous sequence of "here is a foot of a tree, an
empty hut, do jhana monks...":

(cut and paste stock phrase from DPI)
yam., <javascript:postout('ya.m,',849)> bhikkhave,
<javascript:postout('bhikkhave,',850)> sattha-ra-
<javascript:postout('satthaaraa',851)> karan.i-yam.
<javascript:postout('kara.niiya.m',852)> sa-vaka-nam.
<javascript:postout('saavakaana.m',853)> hitesina-
<javascript:postout('hitesinaa',854)> anukampakena
<javascript:postout('anukampakena',855)> anukampam.
<javascript:postout('anukampa.m',856)> upa-da-ya,
<javascript:postout('upaadaaya,',857)> katam.
<javascript:postout('kata.m',858)> vo <javascript:postout('vo',859)>
tam. <javascript:postout('ta.m',860)> maya-.
<javascript:postout('mayaa.',861)> eta-ni,
<javascript:postout('etaani,',862)> bhikkhave,
<javascript:postout('bhikkhave,',863)> rukkhamu-la-ni,
<javascript:postout('rukkhamuulaani,',864)> eta-ni
<javascript:postout('etaani',865)> suñña-ga-ra-ni.
<javascript:postout('su~n~naagaaraani.',866)> jha-yatha,
<javascript:postout('jhaayatha,',867)> bhikkhave,
<javascript:postout('bhikkhave,',868)> ma-
<javascript:postout('maa',869)> pama-dattha;
<javascript:postout('pamaadattha;',870)> ma-
<javascript:postout('maa',871)> paccha-
<javascript:postout('pacchaa',872)> T <javascript:void(0)>
vippat.isa-rino <javascript:postout('vippa.tisaarino',874)> ahuvattha.
<javascript:postout('ahuvattha.',875)> ayam.
<javascript:postout('aya.m',876)> vo <javascript:postout('vo',877)>
amha-kam. <javascript:postout('amhaaka.m',878)> anusa-sani-"ti.
<javascript:postout('anusaasanii``ti.',879)> pat.hamam..
<javascript:postout('pa.thama.m.',880)>

This whole section [S 43] deals with how unconditioned is arrived at via
mindfulness of body, samatha, vipassana, and the 37 aids to
enlightenment. After enumerating each set, it ends with the "... do
jhana monks... " phrase.
I wonder how many suttas in all the nikayas end with that paragraph? If
we remove suttas addressed to laity, etc, and only look at suttas
dealing with development of wisdom, concentration, mindfulness, I bet a
really high % of suttas end with "do jhanas, monks..." any tech savvy
people on this list ever do a search for " rukkhamu-la-ni,
<javascript:postout('rukkhamuulaani,',864)> eta-ni
<javascript:postout('etaani',865)> suñña-ga-ra-ni.
<javascript:postout('su~n~naagaaraani.',866)> jha-yatha,
<javascript:postout('jhaayatha,',867)> " on the pali nikayas and tally
it up? We could get an answer to that question pretty quick.

-Frank

On 1/4/2010 3:14 AM, ashinpan wrote:
>
>
> Dear Nina,
>
> Sorry, I have just come back from a trip hence this late reply.
>
> You wrote:
>
> > We are bound to be distressed about an unpleasant experience such as
> > an insult or a loss of dear people, but when we begin to develop
> > pa~n~naa we can gradually learn from such an experience. Sometimes,
> > when there are conditions, we may even be glad and full of confidence
> > in the Triple Gem, as we also read in this sutta:
> > < Tassa ce aavuso bhikkhuno eva.m Buddha.m anussarato eva.m Dhamma.m
> > anussarato eva.m Sa"nga.m anussarato
> > But if, when a bhikkhu recollects the Enlightened One, the Teaching
> > and the Community,
> > upekhaa kusalanissitaa sa.n.thaati, so tena attamano hoti...
> > equanimity with the beneficial (kusala dhamma) as its support,
> > becomes established in him, then he is satisfied.>
> >
> > Chapter I of the Visuddhimagga deals with siila, and passages on the
> > fourfold purification of siila can also be partly applied by a
> > layfollower in his own situation. We read in the Visuddhimagga (I,
> > 100, 101), that restraint of the sense faculties should be undertaken
> > with mindfulness, and <When not undertaken thus, virtue of Patimokkha
> > restraint is unenduring: it does not last, like a crop not fenced in
> > with branches...>
> > Also laypeople can remember that without satipa.t.thaana one is bound
> > to give in to akusala in thought, speech and action, there will be
> > impatience and intolerance.
> > We read in Vis. I, 49-51:
> > <Proper resort as support: a good friend. Proper resort as guarding.
> > Proper resort as anchoring:<It is the four foundations of mindfulness
> > on which the mind is anchored; for this is said by the Blessed
> > One:'Bhikkhus, what is a bhikkhu's resort, his own native place? It
> > is these four "foundations of mindfulness" (S.V, 148).>
> > These are like an anchor both for monks and laypeople.
> >
> > The following text of the Diigha Nikaaya, Mahaaparibbaanasutta (80)
> > shows clearly the impact of aniccaa sa~n~naa and anattaa sa~n~naa on
> > siila, good morality as to thought, speech and action. This
> > encouraging text that refers to the Order of monks is also beneficial
> > for laypeople:
> >
> > <So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves in the realization
> > of the ideas of the impermanency of all phenomena, bodily and mental,
> > the absence [in them of any abiding principle] of any "soul", of
> > corruption, of the danger of wrong thoughts, of the necessity of
> > getting rid of them, of purity of heart, of Nibbaana- so long may the
> > brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.>
>
> I agree with your comments and conclusions. All the sources you have
> quoted are from the Sutta Pi.taka, where we can meet the Buddha as a
> guide, as a patient teacher. However, in Vinaya we see the Buddha as
> an enforcer of law who practiced the policy of "carrot or stick". All
> Paatimokkha precepts, for example, are in the format of "Don't do this
> or else".
>
> I agree that meditation like satipa.t.thaana can really help
> individual monks to observe Vinaya rules but there is no rule to force
> monks to meditate. I sometimes wonder why the Buddha has not made
> meditation compulsory for monks.
>
> with metta
>
> Ven. Pandita
>
>



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