Victor

Thanks very much for the references you provide below. However, I'm not
sure that they help us to understand the meaning of your original post.

'Concentration' is one of those terms that has different meanings in
different contexts, and so one cannot simply take a reference from one
place and apply it in another (unfortunately).

Here is my understanding of the 3 references we now have to concentration.

1. Concentration as a condition for knowledge and vision, in your
original post (which, by the way, I believe was from Samyutta Nikaya XII,
23, not XXXV, 99 as stated in your post)

According to the commentary in the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation of SN XII,
23, 'concentration' here means 'the jhana used as a basis for insight',
and the 'knowledge and vision' is 'weak insight'. So the meaning is that
jhana conditions mundane insight.

As we know, jhana *may* be a basis for insight, but according to my
understanding, it is not a *necessary* condition for mundane insight.

When jhana is a basis for insight as described here, the jhana moment
*precedes* the moment of insight; there is no (mundane) jhana of this
kind at the actual moment of insight.

2. Right Concentration (samma samadhi) of the Noble Eightfold Path, in
the first example given in your post below.

According to my understanding, this is the concentration that arises
*together with* the moment of insight consciousness. At the supramundane
level (but not at mundane insight level) the concentration is of an
intensity equivalent to that of jhana citta and is regarded as a jhana
citta, hence the reference to jhana in the description of this path
factor.

3. Concentration leading to the 'attainment of knowledge and vision',
(your quote from the Samadhi Sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya), in the second
example below.

Again relying on Bh. Bodhi's translation of the commentary to that sutta,
'knowledge and vision' here refers to certain supernormal powers [i.e.,
not any level of insight].

To summarise, the situations described in these 3 passages are--
1. Mundane jhana as a basis for (subsequent) mundane moments of insight.
2. The mental factor of concentration that accompanies a (co-arising)
moment of insight; reckoned as jhana citta when accompanying a moment of
supramundane insight (path citta).
3. Concentration of the level of samatha that leads to the attainment of
supernormal powers

Jon

--- Victor Yu <victoryu@...> wrote: > Hello Jon,
>
> > I would be interested to know -
> > 1. What is meant by concentration in this context (ie., what kind of
> > concentration conditions the understading of things as they really
> are)?
>
> Right concentration (samma samadhi).
>
> "And what, monks, is right concentration? (i) There is the case where a
> monk -- quite withdrawn from sensual pleasures, withdrawn from
> unskillful
> (mental) qualities -- enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture &
> pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought &
> evaluation.
> (ii) With the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he enters &
> remains
> in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of concentration,
> one-pointedness of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation --
> internal assurance. (iii) With the fading of rapture, he remains in
> equanimity, mindful & fully aware, and physically sensitive of pleasure.
> He
> enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare,
> 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' (iv) With the
> abandoning of pleasure & pain -- as with the earlier disappearance of
> elation & distress -- he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of
> equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This, monks, is
> called
> right concentration."
>
> Samyutta Nikaya XLV.8
> Magga-vibhanga Sutta
> An Analysis of the Path
> http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/sn45-008.html
>
>
> > 2. In what way is concentration is a condition for understanding
> things
> > as they actually are? Could you perhaps give an example, please.
>
> "And what is the development of concentration that, when developed &
> pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge & vision? There is the
> case
> where a monk attends to the perception of light and is resolved on the
> perception of daytime [at any hour of the day]. Day [for him] is the
> same as
> night, night is the same as day. By means of an awareness open &
> unhampered,
> he develops a brightened mind. This is the development of concentration
> that, when developed & pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge &
> vision.
>
> Anguttara Nikaya IV.41
> Samadhi Sutta
> Concentration
> http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/anguttara/an04-041.html
>
> Thank you for these questions as they've motivated me to look into what
> the
> Buddha taught on concentration (samadhi) as recorded in the discourse.
> I
> hope I have provided pertinent references to your questions.
>
> Regards,
> Victor
>
>
>
>
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>
>

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