SuttaCentral
Still reflecting upon this.
Does this also mean that you never do anything that makes you or others tired or is burdensome here and now? Or do you have a view that things might be burdensome and painful here and now but in the long run will lead to happiness?
In general, I try not to. I donât normally talk to people too much as to not tire them out and or be a burden to them.
In this moment I have no pain, but if I eat sugary food then I will get a painful headache or tooth ache, so this suffering is in my control. I enjoy dairy products, but if I eat them then I will have an upset stomach, so I sacrifice my pleasure of dairy products to prevent discomfort.
So that is what is meant by sacrificing pleasure to prevent pain. This is basically the entire path, I donât kill/steal/cheat because I donât want to be killed/stolen from/cheated. It goes even more subtler like giving up the pleasure of papanca, which also causes pain.
The Buddha said that jhana is not dangerous like sensual pleasures are because jhana is the result of a degree of non-doing/giving up. The more you non-do/give up, the deeper the jhana you get. Just like I non-do/give up/stop dairy to prevent later discomfort, one gives up a degree of unwholesome qualities and sankhara to get later jhanas. Now if you take this all the way to the end, you give up/non-do/stop papanca & conceit to get nibbana.
Sankhara and Papanca belong to the 5 aggregates, the 3 poisons belong to ignorance. A non-ariyan/mundane jhana only stops sankhara, an ariyan/Supermundane jhana stops sankhara and the 5 hindrances/3 poisons. The main thing being conceit (moha), starting with giving up identity view, that the 5 aggregates are not self.
âGold has coarse corruptions: sand, soil, and gravel. A panner or their apprentice pours it into a pan, where they wash, rinse, and clean it. When thatâs been eliminated, there are medium corruptions in the gold: fine grit and coarse sand. The panner washes it again. When thatâs been eliminated, there are fine corruptions in the gold: fine sand and black grime. The panner washes it again. When thatâs been eliminated, only gold dust is left. A goldsmith or their apprentice places the gold in a crucible where they blow, melt, and smelt it. Still the gold is not settled and the dross is not totally gone. Itâs not pliable, workable, or radiant, but is brittle and not completely ready for working. But the goldsmith keeps on blowing, melting, and smelting it. The gold becomes pliable, workable, and radiant, not brittle, and ready to be worked. Then the goldsmith can successfully create any kind of ornament they want, whether a bracelet, earrings, a necklace, or a golden garland.
In the same way, a mendicant who is committed to the higher mind has coarse corruptions: bad bodily, verbal, and mental conduct. A sincere, capable mendicant gives these up, gets rid of, eliminates, and obliterates them.
When theyâve been given up and eliminated, there are middling corruptions: sensual, malicious, or cruel thoughts. A sincere, capable mendicant gives these up, gets rid of, eliminates, and obliterates them.
When theyâve been given up and eliminated, there are fine corruptions: thoughts of family, country, and being looked up to. A sincere, capable mendicant gives these up, gets rid of, eliminates, and obliterates them.
When theyâve been given up and eliminated, only thoughts about the teaching are left. That immersion is not peaceful or sublime or tranquil or unified, but is held in place by forceful suppression.
But there comes a time when that mind is stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in samÄdhi. That immersion is peaceful and sublime and tranquil and unified, not held in place by forceful suppression. They become capable of realizing anything that can be realized by insight to which they extend the mind, in each and every case.
Key point is only thoughts about the teaching are left, i.e no-self. Sankhara is stopped until one can focus on delusion, self-view.