Anthony,
In "Zen-Mind Reflections" by Dr. James Austin, the absorbtions (jhana
states) are said to comprise a stage one may encounter in one's
practice, and which stage lies between the makyo ('awakenings') and
kensho-statori (wisdom-insight) stages.
As reported in the Theravada literature, the Buddha himself encountered
these jhana states prior to his enlightenment, and prior to his demise
- and very probably at other times too.
The jhana states are not 'illusory' states, as they are the actual
personal experiences (sensations, visions, bliss states, compassion
states) of the the meditator - and they are all impermanent, as are all
phenomena. The experiences in each of the eight jhana states has been
been itemized in detail in the Theravada literature.
The advice is uniform and unambiguous toward all phenomena encountered
in Zen practice, including phenomena in the makyo, jhana and
kensho-satori states, and this advice is: Continue practicing.
--ED
--- In [email protected], Anthony Wu wuasg@ wrote:
> Mike,
> It is my belief right now that jhana, samadhi, vipassana, chakra
manipulating, psychic power acquisition etc are good practices. But they
are not zen. Zen is pragmatic, but directed to nothing and attached to
nothing. This statement seems to be contraditory, but zen itself is
contradictory.
>
> >Anthony
Anthony,
I'm not sure if this is a step forward,or a step backward, in my
practice (my intuition says 'forward' for me, but not necessarily for
other people), but due to recent happenings I can empathise alot more
with where JM is coming from.
Before last week.JM's language was utterly alien to me and seemed to
have no connection with the Zen I was familiiar with. Now I'm not so
sure. I think Zen without incorporating the absorbtions (jhanas) and
'heart' can be dry and a little compassionless, but maybe Chan without
Zen's hard reality is a little too fuzzy and a bit too 'fairy'
worshiping.
That might not make sense to most, if not all here, but it does to me.
Further, I don't think Zen is completely removed from notions such as
chi, chakras etc. After all, in some schools focus is directed to the
'hara' as a place of holding energy. It is this that is cut in seppeku
(hara kiri) to release a person's ki (chi).
Mike
