4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦

🐴🐎💭 Epilogue

thinking💭 & evaluation🕵️

You can 'direct' a horse to first jhana, but you can't make him 'think'.

V&V💭: vitakka & vicāra

Vitakka 💭 = directed thought.
Vicāra 🕵️ = the evaluation of that very same directed thought, not a separate train of thought (SN 46.3).
Vicāra explores, inspects, discriminates, evaluates, ponders, scrutinizes, discerns, considers the very same thought initially fixed upon by vitakka.
Vitakka decides on a topic, then gives it to vicara to analyze it further, KN Pe 7.72.
V&V are speech vocalization co-activities, MN 44. You need to think and evaluate with V&V before coherent speech can be vocalized.

4👑☸ → 👑8☸ → 8🌄: → V&V💭 S&S🐘💭 5⛅ 7☀️ (⤴)

SN 56.7 and first jhana

You can 'direct' a horse to first jhana, but you can't make him 'think'. Let's take a close look at SN 56.7 now the 3 wrong sankappa, opposed to samma sankappa, are explicitly mentioned, with thoughts about the 4NT in juxtaposition to that. Plug this in to MN 19, and especially the agama parallel, which omits the first jhana formula, then you have the vitakka of first jhana being thoughts of the 4NT. Now, obviously vitakka has to be "thinking" here. It can't just be directing the mind to point to the 4NT and not think about it. Really look at the sutta and think this through carefully. If you didn't think about the 4NT in first jhana, if you only "directed attention" or "placed the mind", then how could you possibly be able to have the insight of SN 56.7 that says "Because those thoughts (vitakka) are beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They lead to disillusionment, fading away, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. " For that to happen, the mind can't be in a daze, just sitting there, 'placed' in front of the 4NT. It has to actually think about it to register understanding and insight. 8aam, like 7sb, is also a causal moment to moment sequence leading to jhana (SN 45.1). The vitakka examining the 4NT for samma sankappa, is the same vitakka that appears in the first jhana formula under samma samadhi. There is no secret 9th limb of the 8aam where the Buddha is hiding a special vitakka just for first jhana. The Buddha is not a liar and a cheat. The same vitakka in SN 56.1, is the same vitakka in MN 19, and the same vitakka of first jhana.

SN 56.1 2nd jhana

For the 2nd jhana version of SN 56.7, see SN 56.1. Vitakka there is replaced with samadhi and 'pajanati' (discern). 'pajanati' is what S&S (sati and sampajano) does, explicitly listed in third jhana formula.

Conclusion

Now if you had a horse that you 'directed' to the water of first jhana, but it didn't drink the water, that would be a pretty useless horse wouldn't it? Take it back and get a full refund, because that is one stupid Assa (pāli word for horse).

⛔ Wrong translations for V&V💭

✅ ☸EBT V&V💭: vitakka & vicāra = directed-thought & evaluation

⛔ Vism. Redefinition V&V💭: applied-thought & sustained-thought (b.nanamoli)
⛔ Vism. Redefinition V&V💭: initial-application & sustained-application (u thittila, Te Ab Vb 12 )
⛔ B.Sujato mistranslation of V&V💭: placing-the-mind & keeping-it-connected
⛔ B.Anālayo mistranslation of V&V💭: [directed] awareness and [sustained] contemplation

⛔🔗The one stop V&V shop, where errant views meet the chopping block