A question regarding Sakkapañhasutta DN 21

The section "2.2 Meditation on Feelings” of Sakkapañhasutta is a little bit confusing for me. Especially when they talk about unskillful and skillful hapiness/sadness and equanimity.

How could I apply that section of the sutta to my daily practice? That would be very helpful to know.

Thanks in advance.

P.D: It’s my first time here; I already read the community guidelines and terms of service. But if you believe that this post doesn’t fit here, please let me know and I’ll correct that.
Once again thank you so much.

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Hi Javier6

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As per FAQ 8, please refrain from posting personal practise. Thank you :slight_smile:

Right, so there’s some cool ways to get around the mods’ rules… Although not so much getting around, as it’s sticking to the rules, that is: Asking in general terms, analyzing the sutta, rather than bringing up (or mentioning) personal practice at all. :slight_smile:

So you could just ask:

What sort of a practice does DN 21’s Section 2.2 envision?

So anyway, the relevant section is in DN 21:

Lord of gods, there are two kinds of happiness, I say: that which you should cultivate, and that which you should not cultivate. There are two kinds of sadness, I say: that which you should cultivate, and that which you should not cultivate. There are two kinds of equanimity, I say: that which you should cultivate, and that which you should not cultivate.

The sutta goes on to explain how it distinguishes these things:

Why did I say that there are two kinds of happiness? Well, should you know of a happiness: ‘When I cultivate this kind of happiness, unskillful qualities grow, and skillful qualities decline.’ You should not cultivate that kind of happiness. Whereas, should you know of a happiness: ‘When I cultivate this kind of happiness, unskillful qualities decline, and skillful qualities grow.’ You should cultivate that kind of happiness.

What are some obvious examples? Perhaps, we could say:

  • Drinking alcohol can be a source of happiness, but it results in bad things happening.
  • In contrast, helping others also feels good, so it’s a skillful happiness.

Same could be found for negative feelings - feeling crippled completely with sadness for the wars in the world might not be too skillful. On the other hand, feeling sad for an error you’ve caused, could spur you to change yourself.

Or, neutral feelings, they can be a source of calm collectedness in the face of problems (something skillful), or it can be a cold, heartless indifference to people’s suffering (something unskillful).

So all three sorts of feelings can be skillful or unskillful, and we should be mindful to understand their effects.


Finally, they all share this same bit:

And that which is free of placing the mind and keeping it connected is better than that which still involves placing the mind and keeping it connected.

So, this is a comparison between first jhana (which still involves placing the mind and keeping it connected) and second jhana, which doesn’t have these. It makes sense to make this distinction for the positive and neutral feelings, but Bhante Sujato notes:

It is hard to know what the text is getting at here, as there is no “sadness” in any jhāna.

So, it feels a bit cryptic, and the commentaries doesn’t really offer anything to explain it to us. I guess, it just feels like a standard praise of jhanas in general. So, without complicating things more, sutta seems to suggest that practising jhana is ever the skillful choice. :slight_smile:

I hope this helps a bit. Feel free to ask and perhaps others could chime in to add something else as well. :slight_smile:

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Good day/night (depending where you are), thank you so much for your notes on that sutta; I struggled a little bit on figuring out what does “unskillful happiness” meant the first time I read it; now I’m free of doubt.

About personal practice? Thank you for pointing out that as well, I’ll avoid talking about personal experiences next time around.

May you have a happy and blessed week!

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Thanks for being responsive! It’s fine to ask about things from a practical perspective, just make sure to avoid any implication about your own or others’ meditative experiences and the like. An internet forum is not a great place to address those issues.

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