internet is talking more abouut difference between piti and sukha because its important for Jhana I liked this discussion here Is pīti physical and sukha emotional? However in VedanA SaSyutta, sukha and somanassa also refered together.. Can you give me the subtle difference between them. and similarly what is difference between dukhas and domanassa..
3 Answers
From the SN 48.38:
“Monks, there are these five faculties. Which five? The pleasure-faculty, the pain-faculty, the happiness-faculty, the distress-faculty, the equanimity-faculty.
“And what is the pleasure-faculty? Any physical pleasure, physical comfort born of body-contact to be experienced as pleasure & comfort. That is called the pleasure-faculty.
“And what is the pain-faculty? Any physical pain, physical discomfort born of body-contact to be experienced as pain & discomfort. That is called the pain-faculty.
“And what is the happiness-faculty? Any mental pleasure, mental comfort born of intellect-contact to be experienced as pleasure & comfort. That is called the happiness -faculty.
“And what is the distress-faculty? Any mental pain, mental discomfort born of intellect-contact to be experienced as pain & discomfort. That is called the distress-faculty.
“And what is the equanimity-faculty? Anything, physical or mental, to be experienced as neither comfort nor discomfort. That is called the equanimity-faculty.
“With regard to this, the pleasure-faculty & happiness-faculty are to be seen as a feeling of pleasure. The pain-faculty & distress-faculty are to be seen as a feeling of pain. The equanimity-faculty is to be seen as a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain. Thus, by this exposition, the five are three; and the three, five.”
The Pali can be viewed here
See my answer to your question on the difference between sukha and sukha-indriya here: what is difference between sukha and sukhendriyam?
The same sutta referenced for that question, SN 48.37, also answers your question on the difference between sukha indriya and somanassa indriya (my version of the sutta is annotated showing clearly which factors are physical and mental).
Also, if you study SN 36 suttas carefully, you'll find that sukha (unqualified) and sukha vedana usually referring to physical pleasant sensations. Example of the dart sutta. First you feel the physical sensation of dart, then mental baggage of mental pain is added on unnecessarily. But even a Buddha still feels physical pain of the dart, or physical pleasure of eating a mango for example.
Sukha is defined in the context of feeling: pleasant, painful and neutral.
MN44:24.2: “Sukhā kho, āvuso visākha, vedanā ṭhitisukhā vipariṇāmadukkhā;
MN44:24.2: “Pleasant feeling is pleasant when it remains and painful when it perishes.
MN44:24.4: adukkhamasukhā vedanā ñāṇasukhā aññāṇadukkhā”ti.
MN44:24.4: Neutral feeling is pleasant when there is knowledge, and painful when there is ignorance.”
Somanassa is defined in terms of outcome:
DN21:2.3.11: ‘imaṁ kho me somanassaṁ sevato akusalā dhammā abhivaḍḍhanti, kusalā dhammā parihāyantī’ti, evarūpaṁ somanassaṁ na sevitabbaṁ.
DN21:2.3.11: ‘When I cultivate this kind of happiness, unskillful qualities grow, and skillful qualities decline.’ You should not cultivate that kind of happiness.
DN21:2.3.13: ‘imaṁ kho me somanassaṁ sevato akusalā dhammā parihāyanti, kusalā dhammā abhivaḍḍhantī’ti, evarūpaṁ somanassaṁ sevitabbaṁ.
DN21:2.3.13: ‘When I cultivate this kind of happiness, unskillful qualities decline, and skillful qualities grow.’ You should cultivate that kind of happiness.
We can also understand these two terms with regard to mindfulness meditation:
Sukha is part of the second kind of mindfulness meditation:
MN10:3.3: They meditate observing an aspect of feelings—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world.
And somanassa is part of the fourth kind of mindfulness meditation:
MN10:3.5: They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world.
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> Sukha is experiential and of the moment. Somanassa is subtler in that it requires an understanding and mindfulness of principle. <----- Not correct. See my detailed answer on this thread, as SN 48.37 shows. Sukha and Somanassa can both be coarse or subtle, both are experiential, both can be experienced in the present moment.– frankkCommented May 22, 2022 at 15:09
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