Thanks for the research @Gabriel! This topic’s been carrying my attention for the past couple days and it’s been riveting to read the cross-section of excerpts mentioned here in the context of the pointed issues @SCMatt has raised.
For whatever it’s worth, the ‘agreeable/disagreeable’ in SN 35.247 finds some resonance with the “overcoming of like and dislike” in MN 119’s first of ten advantages, corroborating the point here.
As regards bringing nimitta into this, I take it that you connect it to the topic via “not grasping at signs or features” in the gradual training’s sense restraint sections. I mention to point out that the signs in The Cook and The Bhikkhunis’ Quarter are to be pursued rather than avoided.
But the way you present SN 47.8 and SN 47.10 above makes me consider the meaning of “inspiring nimitta” as like “inspired cooking ingredient” which is kind of interesting I think.
But speaking of SN 47.10 here’s my take on some of @SCMatt’s pointed questions. It’s not particularly rigorous, but I hope it’s worth considering:
- In SN 47.10 there’re the -ārammaṇa compounds.
- It’s a word we also find in MN 119 “[For someone with strong kāyagatāsati,] Māra does not gain access, does not gain ārammaṇa.”
- It’s also one of the ‘samādhi skills’ in the Samādhi/Jhāna Saṃyutta, eg SN 34.41.
I think the available translation for SN 47.10 in trying to take the compound as adnominal ends up treating it kind of like a preposition or verb (“based
on the body”) whereas I’d posit that it’s perfectly fine as the agent noun to the main action of the clause (cf. Olendzki @ accesstoinsight.org).
I landed on “spot” to satisfy all three usages, although if I recall correctly there are still some incompatible usages of the word elsewhere.
Notwithstanding, what I end up with is, roughly speaking:
- SN 47.10: A spot in the body starts to burn
- SN 34: One can be skilled in the spots they focus on
- MN 119: Māra does not gain access to the body, does not gain a spot in the body.
What I like is that this melds well with the arguably spatial similes that follow the occurrence in MN 119:
[details=MN 119 Similes Abridged (exp. tr.)]## Includes Qualia Conducive to Discovery
For whomever bodily mindfulness is developed and strengthened,
he includes within the abiding the skillful qualia which are conducive to discovery.
Like one who has pervaded awareness over a great ocean
includes within the abiding the rivers which constitute the ocean.
Māra Gains Access
For whomever bodily mindfulness is not developed and not strengthened,
Māra gains access, Māra gains a spot.
[1: Stone ball gains access to wet clay]
Suppose a man were to throw a heavy stone ball into a mound of moist clay.
That heavy stone ball would gain access to that mound of moist clay.
[2: Drillstick makes heat rubbing dry timber]
Like dry sapless timber,
and a man were to come along wielding a drillstick, like: ‘I will light a fire, I will make heat.’
That man rubbing such dry sapless timber would light a fire and make heat wielding a drillstick.
[3: Man gains deposit of water from empty jug]
Like a water-jug standing on a support, devoid & empty,
and a man were to come along carrying a load of water.
That man would gain a deposit of water.
Māra Gains No Access
For whomever bodily mindfulness is developed and strengthened,
Māra does not gain access, Māra does not gain a spot.
[1: Thread ball gains no access to strong door]
Suppose a man were to throw a light ball of thread against a door made from heartwood.
That light ball of thread would not gain access to that door made from heartwood.
[2: Drillstick makes no heat rubbing wet timber]
Like wet sappy timber,
and a man were to come along wielding a drillstick, like: ‘I will light a fire, I will make heat.’
That man rubbing such wet sappy timber would not light a fire and make heat wielding a drillstick.
[3: Man gains no deposit of water from full jug]
Like a water-jug standing on a support, full of water, brimming, drinkable by a crow,
and a man were to come along carrying a load of water.
That man would not gain a deposit of water.[/details]
And so I like to think of it like this:
-
With senses unrestrained, I imagine we react to external stimuli by ennervating certain areas (ārammaṇā?) along the nervous system(s) of the body while co-opting neuropathways for exteroception.
-
Kāyagatāsati, I imagine, would be strengthening the neuropathways for interoception (via mindfulness of breathing and objectionables?), proprioception (via four postures?), and kinaesthesia (via clear comprehension in action?)
-
I wouldn’t rule out the marrows of our bones being considered ‘connected’ to the nervous system somehow, along with hair follicles, nail cuticles, and gums…and I imagine there are those that can modulate their heart rate along these lines…
Mind you I’ve taken one bio course in my life and I’m certainly no MD (@Mat).
But I’d been trying to read some long-form science articles earlier today:
(Article on etymology of “interoception”)
On the Origin of Interoception - PMC
(Study that tries to isolate whether MBSR causes interoception brain changes)
Mindfulness meditation training alters cortical representations of interoceptive attention - PubMed
[details=and a weak tangent…]I’d also like to mention that there’s an enigmatic ‘cattupada’ at the end of Kīṭāgiri MN 70; a sutta that begins with the Buddha admonishing a group of bhikkhus for questioning his injunction to take one meal a day. The starting bits about skillful and unskillful pains, pleasures and feelings resonate somewhat with the first two padas where (I say) an oddly specific list of body parts are “willingly” to remain.
kāmaṃ taco ca nhāru ca aṭṭhi ca avasissatu
sarīre upassussatu maṃsalohitaṃ
Willingly, let only my skin, sinews, and bones remain,
and let the flesh and blood dry up on my body
I highlight to suggest: perhaps nirāmisa might be taken to mean “down to the bone” in some sense. [/details]