San Sarv Bu Pm Tf 11 Sk 82Soiling
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sāmisa
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The Sāmisa Sutta: Exposition on Sensuality and Happiness
Background
The Sāmisa Sutta (Pāli: sāmisa, meaning "with flesh," "material," or "connected with bait") is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. This is an important part of the Vinaya Piṭaka, where regulations and guidance concerning discipline for Buddhist monastics and laypeople are recorded.
This sutta is derived from certain specific circumstances in which the Buddha saw earlier disciples engaging in actions not suitable to virtuous conduct. The historical context shows issues connected with ambition, sensual desire (kāma-chanda), and actions related to the body, especially matters of sexuality.
In the context of the early Sangha community, the Buddha established specific rules to protect the virtue of monastics, as well as to protect the honor of the Dharma from criticism by the lay community.
Main Content
The main content of the sutta centers on the Buddha's instruction concerning actions related to bodily pleasure (sāmisa sukha) and the way they affect the practice of the Buddha Dharma. The sutta emphasizes that pleasures based on matter or food, which we may understand as pleasures connected with the senses, may temporarily bring pleasant feelings, but they never lead to liberation or nirvana.
The sutta presents the distinction between happiness based on sensual desire (sāmisa sukha) and happiness based on the spiritual dimension (nirāmisa sukha). The first kind of happiness consists of fleeting sensations, governed by impermanent phenomena (anicca), and is therefore unstable and capable of causing suffering. The second kind of happiness, arising from meditation, awareness, and wisdom, is what a true monastic should pursue.
The rules in the sutta may also include specific guidance about actions to be completely avoided or actions that need restraint. The Buddha always emphasized that these rules are not arbitrary punitive commands, but paths leading to peace and liberation.
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