Re: AN I.51-52, translation

--- In palistudy@..., Nina van Gorkom <nilo@...> wrote:
> op 05-07-2001 03:18 schreef Jim Anderson op jimanderson_on@...
> > 1. 6. 1.
> > pabhassaramida.m bhikkhave citta.m ta~nca kho aagantukehi
upakkilesehi
> > upakkili.t.tha.m.
> N: This consciousness, monks, is luminous, and it is indeed
corrupted by
> oncoming defilements.
>
> >ta.m assutavaa puthujjano yathaabhuuta.m nappajaanaati.
> N:The ordinary person who has not learned (the Dhamma, not listened
to it)
> does not understand it as it really is.
> > tasmaa assutavato puthujjanassa cittabhaavanaa natthiiti
vadaamiiti.
> N:Therefore I say that for the ordinary person who has not listened
there is
> no mental development (literally. free: the ordinary person who has
not
> listened to the Dhamma has not developed the mind.)
>  
> > 1. 6. 2.
> > pabhassaramida.m bhikkhave citta.m ta~nca kho aagantukehi
upakkilesehi
> > vippamutta.m.
> N: This consciousness, monks, is luminous, and it is indeed released
from
> oncoming defilements.
> >ta.m sutavaa ariyasaavako yathaabhuuta.m pajaanaati.
> N: The learned noble disciple understand it as it really is.
> >tasma sutavato ariyasaavakassa cittabhaavanaa atthiiti vadaamiiti.
> N: Therefore I say that the learned, noble disciple has developed
the mind.
>
> Remarks: sutavaa seems to be from sutavant, just like mahaa from
mahavant.
> Ta~nca: a niggahita before the c. Aagantuka: who has arrived, a
visitor. The
> upakilesas, defilements arising with the citta (different from the
anusayas,
> latent tendencies who do not arise with the akusala citta but can
condition
> akusala), are like visitors from outside. It seems disturbing, but
we have
> to note: the ariyan knows the citta as it really is: yathaabutta.
One has to
> know also akusala citta as it is, otherwise one cannot become an
ariyan,
> this is stressed in this short sutta.
> Yathaabhuuta: bhuuta: that which has grown, is, exists, the truth.
> yathaabhuuta: in its real essence, according to the truth.
> vippamutta: pamu~ncati: to release. The prefix vip is usually a
negation,
> but what is it here?
>   
> The Atthasalini speaks about the bhavangacitta as being pure, using
the word
> pa.n.dara (I, Book I, Part IV, Ch II, 140) : "Mind also is said to
be clear
> in the sense of exceedingly pure with reference to the
Bhavanga-citta." Now
> I like to quote from Acharn's Survey of Paramattha dhammas where she
> explains about the bhavanga-citta which is different from the cittas
> experiencing objects impinging on the six doors. She explains that
when one
> is fast asleep one does not know who one is or where one is, one
does not
> experience the world. When one wakes up the world appears, one
experiences
> all the objects impinging on the six doors and then these objects
give rise
> to defilements. The bhavanga-citta, life-continuum, that has the
function of
> keeping continuity in the life of an individual, arises when fast
asleep and
> also in between the processes of cittas. Thus our life, consisting
of an
> uninterrupted series of cittas, goes on. The bhavanga-citta
experiences the
> same object as the rebirth-consciousness, and this object is like an
echo of
> the object experienced shortly before the dying-consciousness of the
> previous life. This citta is pure, but it does not mean that there
are no
> latent tendencies of defilements, anusayas, which lie dormant in the
citta.
> It is called pure or luminous, because at that moment no defilements
arise.
> I quote: 
> < The citta is pure only at the moment it does not experience an
object
> through the doors of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense or mind.
Everybody
> who is fast asleep looks innocent, pure, he does not experience like
or
> dislike, he is not jealous, stingy, conceited, he has no
lovingkindness nor
> compassion; thus, unwholesome or wholesome qualities do not arise
because he
> does not see, hear, experience tangible object or think. However, it
should
> be known that whenever the citta which arises experiences an object
through
> one of the six doors, citta is not pure. The reason is that many
different
> defilements have been accumulated in the citta and these condition
the
> arising of pleasure and attachment when one sees something pleasant,
and the
> arising of displeasure and annoyance when one sees something
unpleasant.>
>
> The person who is enlightened, the ariyasaavako, has eradicated
anusayas by
> the development of pa~n~naa of the eightfold Path. It is pa~n~naa
which
> knows realities as they are, yathaabhuuta, no other way. Anusayas
are
> eradicated at the different stages of enlightenment, and only the
arahat is
> freed from all defilements, he has no more latent tendencies of
defilements,
> no conditions for their arising. Nina.


Dear Nina, and all,

As usual the Pali is way over my head but the dhamma is beautiful,
thank you and many thanks to Jim, as always, for this wonderful
reminder,

Amara