Freedom of Heart and Freedom by Wisdom

Q & A
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Last night at Newbury Monastery we had a sutta reading and discussion of MN53. There was a question about the following line:

Relying on this supreme purity of mindfulness and equanimity, that noble disciple realizes the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom

I think some teachers regard freedom of heart and freedom of wisdom as two different ways of realizing the Dhamma. Is this the case?

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Hey JR!

The suttas are a little ambiguous on this point. Generally speaking, the two are presented together, and represent two aspects of arahantship, resulting from the paired development of samatha and vipassana. However in a few places they seem to be at least partially distinguished, correspodning roughly to those who prioritize samatha and those who prioritize vipassana.

In addition, “release of heart” is used in a distinct sense to refer to samadhi, especially the brahmaviharas.

I hope this helps.

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Hi Bhante!

Thanks for your erudition. :slight_smile:

J.R.

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