ED, Yes, I have only come across one source that argues the jhana states are essential for Enlightenment and he (Jeffrey Brooks) is widely ignored in the Buddhist community. I do think that attainment of the jhanas indicates some kind of stage in meditation, but not an essential stage. They are useful for gaining a strong, one-pointed concentration that can be applied to insight meditation (vipassana) which can lead to Enlightenment, but they are not the goal themselves. In fact, much like the song of the sirens, they can distracting to such an extent that they lead a person away from the path permanently (read anything by Jeffrey Brooks!). The way to 'tie yourself to the mast' is, as you already pointed out, to just continue practicing.
Mike ________________________________ From: ED <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, 18 April, 2011 0:56:18 Subject: Re: [Zen] The Three Dimensions of Release 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
