[Ph.D] The Functional Co-occurrence of Cetanā and Saññā in Early Buddhist Meditation Discourse

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the functional co-occurrence of cetanā (volition) and saññā (perception) in early Buddhist soteriology, and explores the mechanism through which manipulative practice transitions toward non-manipulative sati (mindfulness), through a sutta-immanent analysis of the Pāli Nikāyas.

The study proposes a discursive intensity scale for cetanā ranging from 0 to 5, derived through triangulation of four independent textual indicators: verbal morphology, the character of modifying participles, negative constructions, and co-occurring predicates. Analysis of the Mahāsaccaka Sutta (MN 36), Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta (MN 20), Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118), Kāyagatāsati Sutta (MN 119), Cūḷasuññata Sutta (MN 121), and Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10) confirms a spectrum descending from coercive verbal clusters (abhiniggaṇhāti series) through sikkhati (trains) to pajānāti (clearly knows) and amanasikāra (non-attention).

Saññā is systematically categorized into five modal types: distorted perception (vipallāsa), reactive perception (paṭigha), practice-cultivated perception (bhāvita), seeing-as-it-is (yathābhūta), and transcendent perception (atikkanta). The dissertation argues that as saññā matures through practice, the deliberate intervention of cetanā naturally recedes — a functional co-occurrence identified as the core dynamic of meditative progression.

Daratha (agitation), as elaborated in the Cūḷasuññata Sutta, is analyzed as a structurally necessary accompaniment to transitions between stages of emptiness (suññatā) practice, operating across three dimensions: perceptual agitation (stages ①–⑥), existential agitation (stage ⑦), and dissolution of the observational frame (stages ⑧–⑨). This threefold structure provides an early Buddhist framework for recontextualizing what contemporary meditation research classifies as "adverse effects."

The dual cut-off point structure — Vinaya as the first cut-off point prior to sensory contact (phassa), and sati as the second cut-off point between feeling (vedanā) and craving (taṇhā) — is identified as the meditative safety structure that enables practitioners to traverse daratha without being overwhelmed. The psychological buffer of avippaṭisāra (freedom from remorse), generated through ethical discipline (sīla), is shown to be the structural precondition for non-manipulative observation.

The central thesis of this dissertation is that the transformation of perception (saññā) is associated with the release of volition (cetanā) and a restructuring of kamma. This thesis is corroborated by the purposive structure of saṅkhāra in SN 22.79 (Khajjanīya Sutta), the spontaneous-arising sequence of AN 10.2 (Cetanākaraṇīya Sutta), and the graduated practice path of AN 11.1 (Kimatthiya Sutta).

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