To: K-list
Recieved: 2004/02/29 23:14
Subject: [kundalini_p] The lack of evidence in support of a 'Dry' Insigh
From: Macdocaz1
On 2004/02/29 23:14, Macdocaz1 posted thus to the K-list:
First I believe we must accept that the Buddha was born into a culture and a
period in which the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads were the dominant liturgy.
Therefore, he was a yogi who practiced within the context of the yogas. And,
he articulated his teaching within that theoretical construct. Even though the
historic Buddha chose not to embrace many of the concepts of Hinduism, still
his philosophy and practice were well within the constraints of that liturgy.
One need only read these three bodies of literature to find evidence for that
fact.
In the yoga sutras the basic theme is one practices meditation to give rise
to absorption states (samadhis), which are numbered in 8 intervals, and
culminate in nirvikalpa samadhi, which is otherwise known as nirvana. This concept
of course is both philosophically and linguistically tied to the Buddhist
concept of nirvana/nibbana and the jhanas.
I find it rather intriguing that, while the Sutta pitaka is saturated and
suffused with references to absorption (jhana), that one who claims to have a
knowledge of the Tipitaka rejects that the Buddha taught an absorption (jhana)
based philosophy and practice regimen. The Noble Eight Fold Path specifies
Right Absorption (sama-samadhi). Right Absorption (sama-samadhi) is defined in
terms of absorption (jhana) in the Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21).
DN 22.21
"And what is right {absorption (sama-samadhi)}? There is the case where an
aspirant -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental)
qualities -- enters & remains in the first jhana..." through the fourth jhana.
Often the Ariyapariyesana Sutta is invoked by 'dry' practitioners [those who
are so unfortunate to have not given rise to absorption (jhana)] as a means of
proving the Buddha rejected jhana as a path to nibbana. His rejection of the
two teachers who taught him absorption (jhana) is often interpreted as
Siddharta Gotama rejecting absorption (jhana). However If you read further in that
same sutta you will find that the Buddha did not reject the absorption states
(jhanas) that he learned under the instruction of Alara Kalama and Uddaka
Ramaputta, but he only found the absorption states he learned from them were
simply not the final liberation through cessation (nibbana). However, he clearly
validated the importance of all of the jhanas at the end of that sutta. Please
read the following:
Ariyapariyesana Sutta, MN 26.28
"Listen, Bhikkhus, the Deathless has been attained. I shall instruct you. I
shall teach you the Dhamma. Practicing as you are instructed, by realizing
for yourselves here and now through direct knowledge you will soon enter upon
and abide in that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen
rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness."
There are a few pages of discourse on dependent origination then he concludes
with this:
MN 26.34
"...quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states,
a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana..."
The Buddha continued to instruct his student to enter and abide in all of the
8 ecstatic absorption states (jhanas/dhyanas). And, he concluded by saying,
for a bhikkhu who has learned to abide in the 8 jhanas...
MN 26.42
"...his taints are destroyed by his seeing with wisdom (panna). This bhikkhu
is said to have blindfolded Mara, to have become invisible to the Evil One by
depriving Mara's eye of opportunity, and to have crossed beyond attachment to
the world.
Often those who adhere to a 'dry' contemplative practice refer to one of
Three Suttas in the Tipitaka that are believed to support their 'dry' practice.
Three Suttas out of 34 suttas in the Digha Nikaya, and 152 in the Majjhima
Nikaya, is only 1.6% of these two key volumes, which seems rather insignificant
support for a rather flimsy claim.
Just because there are three tiny references that support a 'dry' practice in
the whole of the Pali canon, does not mean that Siddharta Gotama ever taught
such a practice. These tiny and insignificant references could even be
considered anomalous that could indicate errors in the Pali canon, such that the
suttas or portions of those suttas in question might even be apocryphal.
In conclusion there is poor evidence to support a belief that the Buddha
taught a 'dry' insight practice. If you read any volume of the Pali canon I am
confident you will find absorption (jhana) mentioned in almost every sutta.
Therefore I believe it is reasonable to assume that the ecstatic absorption
states (jhanas/dhyanas) were of central importance to the historic Buddha's
teaching method, and the very means of arrival at cessation (nibbana).
Best regards,
Jeff Brooks
Jhana Support Group
A dialog support group for ecstatic contemplatives in a Buddhist context
website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/
Subscribe: Jhanas-subscribeATyahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kundalini_p/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
kundalini_p-unsubscribeATyahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
DISCLAIMER!
Home | Archive Index | Search the archives | Subscribe
K. List FAQ | Kundalini FAQs | Signs and Symptoms | Awakening Experiences | K. list Polls | Member Essays | Meditations | List Topics | Art Gallery | Cybrary | Sitemap | Email the moderators.
symbol.