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"There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment." An4.144

There are other similar comparisons of pleasant abidings, ranking various classification of pleasure & happiness ìn the pali texts of early schools.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Though some might say, 'That is the highest pleasure that beings experience,' I would not grant them that. Why is that? Because there is another pleasure, more extreme & refined than that.

 

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Now it's possible, Ananda, that some wanderers of other persuasions might say, 'Gotama the contemplative speaks of the cessation of perception & feeling and yet describes it as pleasure. What is this? How can this be?' When they say that, they are to be told, 'It's not the case, friends, that the Blessed One describes only pleasant feeling as included under pleasure. Wherever pleasure is found, in whatever terms, the Blessed One describes it as pleasure.'"

The difference between these classifications and the saying "that “one must sacrifice the lesser good for the greater good”; so too must “our heroes sacrifice their lives in order to preserve the naition..." is that the Sutta classification is precisely expressed & it's meaning is easily here drawn out, sun is brighter than the moon obv. The quotation about "hero sacrificing life for the nation" is far from precise because the words 'hero, nation' are very abstract terms and open to interpretation. It can easily be argued against as not being 'the greater good' and one can argue about what constitutes a real hero. It's kind of typical of politians&poets to use language in this way.

"There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment." An4.144

There are other similar comparisons of pleasant abidings, ranking various classification of pleasure & happiness ìn the pali texts of early schools.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Though some might say, 'That is the highest pleasure that beings experience,' I would not grant them that. Why is that? Because there is another pleasure, more extreme & refined than that.

 

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Now it's possible, Ananda, that some wanderers of other persuasions might say, 'Gotama the contemplative speaks of the cessation of perception & feeling and yet describes it as pleasure. What is this? How can this be?' When they say that, they are to be told, 'It's not the case, friends, that the Blessed One describes only pleasant feeling as included under pleasure. Wherever pleasure is found, in whatever terms, the Blessed One describes it as pleasure.'"

The difference between these classifications and the saying "that “one must sacrifice the lesser good for the greater good”; so too must “our heroes sacrifice their lives in order to preserve the naition..." is that the Sutta classification is precisely expressed & it's meaning is easily here drawn out, sun is brighter than the moon obv. The quotation about "hero sacrificing life for the nation" is far from precise because the words 'hero, nation' are very abstract terms and open to interpretation. It can easily be argued against as not being 'the greater good' and one can argue about what constitutes a real hero. It's kind of typical of politians&poets to use language in this way.

"There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment." An4.144

There are other similar comparisons of pleasant abidings, ranking various classification of pleasure & happiness ìn the pali texts of early schools.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Though some might say, 'That is the highest pleasure that beings experience,' I would not grant them that. Why is that? Because there is another pleasure, more extreme & refined than that.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Now it's possible, Ananda, that some wanderers of other persuasions might say, 'Gotama the contemplative speaks of the cessation of perception & feeling and yet describes it as pleasure. What is this? How can this be?' When they say that, they are to be told, 'It's not the case, friends, that the Blessed One describes only pleasant feeling as included under pleasure. Wherever pleasure is found, in whatever terms, the Blessed One describes it as pleasure.'"

The difference between these classifications and the saying "that “one must sacrifice the lesser good for the greater good”; so too must “our heroes sacrifice their lives in order to preserve the naition..." is that the Sutta classification is precisely expressed & it's meaning is easily here drawn out, sun is brighter than the moon obv. The quotation about "hero sacrificing life for the nation" is far from precise because the words 'hero, nation' are very abstract terms and open to interpretation. It can easily be argued against as not being 'the greater good' and one can argue about what constitutes a real hero. It's kind of typical of politians&poets to use language in this way.

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"There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment." An4.144

There are other similar comparisons of pleasant abidings, ranking various classification of pleasure & happiness ìn the pali texts of early schools.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Though some might say, 'That is the highest pleasure that beings experience,' I would not grant them that. Why is that? Because there is another pleasure, more extreme & refined than that.

"And what, Ananda, is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that? There is the case where a monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. This is another pleasure more extreme & refined than that. Now it's possible, Ananda, that some wanderers of other persuasions might say, 'Gotama the contemplative speaks of the cessation of perception & feeling and yet describes it as pleasure. What is this? How can this be?' When they say that, they are to be told, 'It's not the case, friends, that the Blessed One describes only pleasant feeling as included under pleasure. Wherever pleasure is found, in whatever terms, the Blessed One describes it as pleasure.'"

The difference between these classifications and the saying "that “one must sacrifice the lesser good for the greater good”; so too must “our heroes sacrifice their lives in order to preserve the naition..." is that the Sutta classification is precisely expressed & it's meaning is easily here drawn out, sun is brighter than the moon obv. The quotation about "hero sacrificing life for the nation" is far from precise because the words 'hero, nation' are very abstract terms and open to interpretation. It can easily be argued against as not being 'the greater good' and one can argue about what constitutes a real hero. It's kind of typical of politians&poets to use language in this way.