Dear Nina,
Thanks for a very good and clear exposition on sammaa samaadhi. I was studying "Dutiya samaadhi Sutta" and it shows two ways of vipassana practice. A person first practices vipassanaa and then later attains samatha - this is one of the two types of vipassana practices. The same has been said in Yuganadha vagga, Patisambhidaamagga. It is conveying, theoretically too, that vipassana can be practiced without the basis of jhaana. Although the sub-commentary says that this 'samatha' refers to the path consciousness moment concentration, the patisambhidamagga commentary says that it is the concentration present when a person is observing the impermanent and other characteristics, practicing vipassana. The question is can a person practice vipassana without any basis of samatha? What will be sammaa samaadhi in the case of a person who practices vipassana without the basis of jhaana and attain noble stages?

One renown Meditation Teacher in Myanmar says that sammaa samaadhi and citta visuddhi are same. For those who follow samatha vehicle, access concentration and absorption concentration are sammaa samaadhi. And for those who follow vipassana vehicle, the momentary concentration is sammaa samadhi. He adds, based upon the commentaries that this momentary concentration starts to appear when naamaruupapariccheda knowledge appears and becomes stronger and stronger as one develops in vipassana. This concentration reaches a level that is equal to absorption. The Visuddhimagga, however, does not mention momentary concentration as citta visuddhi; while its sub-commentary does.

According to Abhidhamma, as you pointed out the sammaa samaadhi as a supramundane path factor is available only in supramundane consciousnesses. As you said, the samaadhi of fruition absorption must be very very strong as it can be attained for extended period of time. But can the ekaggata cetasika present there be, at least technically called a path factor?

Another thing i would like to discuss is why in the suttas the Buddha always said that four material jhana as sammaa samaadhi and also that why he did not mention immaterial jhaana ?

Be Happy and Wise
Bhante Sobhana

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom <vangorko@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Sakyaputtiyo,
> Op 15-jun-2011, om 15:03 heeft sakyaputtiyo het volgende geschreven:
>
> > dhamma friends, can we have a discussion about sammaa samaadhi?
> > What is sammaa samaadhi? Is it only jhaanas or is it only the
> > concentration in magga cittas?...based on pali literature.
> ------
> N: As you suggest, sammaa samaadhi is of a great variety, it has
> several meanings, depending on the context. It is actually a
> cetasika, mental factor, arising with every citta, moment of
> consciousness. It is called ekaggataa cetasika, one-pointedness.
>
> Ekaggataa which has as function to focus on an object is translated
> as 'one-pointedness' or concentration. When we hear the word
> concentration we may believe that ekaggataa only occur in samatha,
> tranquil meditation, but this is not so. It is true that when calm is
> developed ekaggataa also develops, but ekaggataa does not only occur
> in samatha. Ekaggataa accompanies every citta, although its quality
> is different as it arises with different cittas.
>
> Ekaggataa which accompanies akusala ciata is also called 'micchaa-
> samaadhi', wrong concentration. Ekaggataa which accompanies kusala
> citta is also called 'sammaa-samaadhi', right concentration. Samaadhi
> is another word for ekaggataa cetasika. Although wrong concentration
> and right concentration are both ekaggataa cetasika their qualities
> are different. Sammaa-samaadhi focuses on the object in the right
> way, the wholesome way. There are many levels of right concentration.
>
> Sammaa-samaadhi is one of the jhaana-factors which are developed in
> samatha in order to suppress the hindrances and attain jhaana. The
> jhaana factors of applied thought (vitakka), sustained thought
> (vicara), enthusiasm (piiti), happy feeling (sukha) and samaadhi have
> to be developed together in order to attain jhaana. All the jhaana-
> factors assist the citta to attain tranquillity by means of a
> meditation subject.
>
> Sammaa-samaadhi is one of the factors of the eightfold Path. When
> pa~n~naa knows, for example, the visible object which presents itself
> as only a ruupa appearing through the eyes or the seeing which
> presents itself as only a naama which experiences visible object,
> there is also right concentration at that moment: sammaa samaadhi
> focuses on the object in the right way.
> When sammaa-samaadhi accompanies lokuttara citta, sammaa-samaadhi is
> also lokuttara and it focuses on nibbaana. Then sammaa-samaadhi is a
> factor of the supramundane eightfold Path (lokuttara magga).
>
> In the suttas right concentration is often defined as the four jhaana
> stages, but not always. We have to study the context in each case.
> Sometimes there is reference to samaadhi-bhaavanaa and this is the
> knowledge of the destruction of the cankers of the arahat with jhaana
> as basis (paadaka-jhaana). Thus in this case someone developed both
> jhaana and vipassanaa and jhaana was the base for insight, he emerged
> from jhaana and was mindful of the jhaanafactors and any reality that
> appeared through the six doors.
>
> Sammaa samaadhi can also refer to samaadhi that accompanies the
> fruition-consciousness (lokuttara vipaakacitta that is the result of
> the magga-citta) of the arahat. This is the highest level of calm
> since all defilements have been eradicated.
>
> Thus, there is a great variety of the quality of sammaa-samaadhi and
> we have to study the different texts in order to understand the context.
>
> Nina.
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>