-By Vipassana Research Institute
Sāmisa in Pāli means raw meat or flesh, or delicious food. Metaphorically, however, it connotes a defiled state of mind which will only lead to rebirth in this world or another. It refers to a mind subject to react to sensations (vedanā), thereby creating rāga (lust or passion for pleasurable sensations), dosa (aversion for unpleasant ones) and moha (ignorance about the neutral ones). In contrast to this, the type of mind which remains dispassionate, unattached to the sensations, understanding them as anicca (impermanent), dukkha (suffering) and anattā (substanceless) is called nirāmisa.
The mental activity of an ordinary person always remains sāmisa (defiled, impure), whereas a meditator develops the ability to keep his mind nirāmisa (pure, undefiled). He does so by making every effort to truly comprehend the anicca (transitory) nature of vedanā (sensations).
Sāmisa and nirāmisa are often used metaphorically by the Buddha, as opposites and in association with various other terms. Presented here are examples of his figurative explanations of meditation practice. We are not concerned here with the popular modern meanings of 'vegetarian' (nirāmisa) and 'non-vegetarian' (sāmisa), as they have sometimes been interpreted.
In the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, in the section on Vedanānupassanā, the terms 'sāmisa' and 'nirāmisa' occur in reference to the three types of vedanā: sukhā (pleasant), dukkha (unpleasant) and adukkhamasukha (neutral)—which a meditator is instructed to understand thoroughly as anicca (impermanent). Again, in the Aṅguṭṭara Nikāya,1 it is said that sukhā vedanā (pleasant sensation) may be sāmisa (defiled) or nirāmisa (undefiled). It emphasises that the latter is superior to the former. Elsewhere the term 'sāmisa' (sometimes spelt 'āmisa') is used as an opposite to 'Dhamma'. For example, dhammadāna (the gift of Dhamma) is said to be superior to āmisadāna (ordinary donation). In the same way, dhammayoga (joined with Dhamma), dhammacāga (Dhamma generosity) and dhammabhoga (Dhamma wealth) are designated as superior to the respective terms associated with āmisa. 2
In the Paṭisambhidāmagga,3 the terms 'āmisa' and 'nirāmisa' are connected with a number of words: 'uppāda' (arising), 'pavatta' (conduct), 'nimitta' (image), 'āyuhana' (relinquishing life), 'paṭisandhi' (conception), 'gati' (going), 'nibbatti' (rebirth), 'upapatti' (rebirth), 'jāti' (birth), 'jarā' (ageing), 'byādhi' (illness), 'maraṇaṃ' (death), 'soka' (sorrow), 'parideva' (lamentation) and 'upāyāsa' (despair). All these terms should be understood in their context, but in each case nirāmisa is opposed to and superior to āmisa.
When any vedanā (sensation) arises because of contact at any of the six sense doors, an ordinary person will naturally start reacting to the vedanā. Sukhā vedanā (pleasant sensation) elicits lust, dukkha vedanā (unpleasant sensation) elicits aversion and adukkhamasukha vedanā (neutral sensation) elicits the reaction of ignorance. Being ignorant of the real nature of the sensation, aniccatā (impermanence), one remains attached and continues to flow in the stream of rebirth. As a result, all the kamāsukhā (worldly objects) are characterised as sāmisa, just as all the vedanā which lead to bhavacakka (the cycle of birth and death) are sāmisa (defiled). 4
In the Nirāmisa Sutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya,5 sāmisa and nirāmisa are connected to the terms pīti (rapture), sukhā (delight), upekkhā (equanimity) and vimokkha (deliverance) as they are experienced in different stages of jhāna (absorptions). It says that an ordinary person can only experience the qualities of pīti, sukhā and upekkhā through the kāmaguṇa (five sense doors). As such, they are always sāmisa (defiled), leading to misery in this world, and certainly not to liberation.
In contrast, whatever pīti (rapture), sukhā (delight) and upekkhā (equanimity) a meditator encounters as he advances through the first four jhānas, it is nirāmisa (undefiled) because it is increasingly detached from sense pleasures and mental pain or pleasure. They are characterised as nirāmisa piti, nirāmisa sukhā and nirāmisa upekkhā and are said to be far superior to that experienced by an ordinary person. 6
By practising jhāna, a meditator escapes the kamāloka (sensual world) by attainment of the first four, but he is still attached to the rūpa-loka (world of form). The vimokkha (deliverance) of the first four jhāna is described as sāmisa-vimokkha in comparison to the deliverance which a meditator attains by transcending each level from the fifth to the eighth jhāna, respectively. As these stages of samādhi (concentration) are more subtle and superior to the previous four jhāna, the associated vimokkha (deliverance) is described as nirāmisa-vimokkha by comparison.
At the stage of the eighth jhāna, however, the meditator is still attached to the arūpaloka (formless worlds), and so his vimokkha (deliverance) is still partial in comparison to the final stage of nibbāna. Buddha says that the piti (rapture), sukhā (delight), upekkhā (equanimity) or vimokkha (deliverance) that an emancipated person experiences cannot be compared with that experienced in any of the jhānas. It is a stage of purity beyond all others; hence, it is described as nirāmisatara, the purest of the pure, the stage par excellence, where all the āsavas (cankers) are destroyed, the heart is free from lust, hatred and illusion, and the meditator is firmly established in vimutti (liberation):
Yo kho, bhikkhave, khīṇāsavassa bhikkhuno rāgā cittaṃ vimuttaṃ paccavekkhato, dosā… mohā paccavekkhato uppajjati piti... sukham... upekkha... vimokkho, ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, nirāmisā nirāmisataro vimokkho ti. 7
Of the meditator who has attained this prime state of mind in meditation, the Buddha says:
Santakāyo santavāco, santavā susamāhito; Vantalokāmiso bhikkhu,“upasanto”ti vuccati. 8
Calm of body, calm of speech, well concentrated, the monk who has left behind worldly desires is called 'supremely calm'.
Notes: (All references are to the VRI edition.)
- Anguttara Nikāya 1.2.65-77, Sukhavagga
- Ibid. 2.8.37, Dānavagga, Sappurisadānasuttaṃ
- Paṭisambhidamagga 1.213 Vimokkhakathā. Niddeso
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 2.4.279 Vedanāsaṃyuttaṃ, Nirāmisasuttaṃ
- Op. cit.
- Also cf. Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, op. cit.; Majjhima Nikāya, Uparipaṇṇāsapāḷi
Pancattaya Sutta 3.21; Ānāpāna Sutta 3.144;
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 2.4.279 Vedanāsaṃyuttaṃ, Nirāmisasuttaṃ
- Dhammapada, Bhikkhuvagga 378