Anomalies in the suttas?

Dear friends,

in the course of my study and research (focussed mainly on the Suttanta
Piṭaka) I'm encountering what seem in one way or another to be 'anomalies' -
or at least 'surprises' - in some of the texts. I'd like to inquire about
some
of these, because there is a question here about whether, and how, some
texts
should be at least temporarily 'bracketed' because of such anomalies, in
comparison to others, even within the Suttanta Piṭaka. That in itself is
obviously a deep question and problem: I'm not ready to tackle that one, but
fortunately, it doesn't really affect what I'm primarily working on.

The first example, which I'll put in this post, is a very small one, but
still
rather peculiar. Has anyone come across any further textual 'evidence' that
would support (or categorically refute) what 'seems' to be the 'obvious'
sense
of the following:
SN IV.2.2.1 Rahogata Sutta (36.11; PTS S iv.216) has:

atha kho pana, bhikkhu, mayā anupubbasaṅkhārānaṃ nirodho akkhāto.
paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa vācā niruddhā hoti. dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ
samāpannassa vitakkavicārā niruddhā honti. tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ
samāpannassa pīti niruddhā hoti. catutthaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa
assāsapassāsā niruddhā honti. (etc.)

(A quick search on the wonderful DPR shows a repetition of this formulation
in A
iv.409, and Abhi 5.2.2.(14)5.)

It's the last sentence in this quotation that I'm curious about: "catutthaṃ
jhānaṃ samāpannassa assāsapassāsā niruddhā honti." Am I to understand,
here, that in the fourth jhāna, inhalation and exhalation cease??

Even internally to the doctrine itself, let alone more mundane practical
reasons, this seems strange, because of the fact that it is usually stated
that
breathing stops during saññāvedayitanirodha: i.e., the kāyasaṅkhārā are
the first to cease upon entering saññāvedayitanirodha.

I will look at the commentary, next, but I'm curious to know how the more
seasoned deal with such seeming 'anomalies'.

Metta,
Krhistos


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