AN 3.101 misc., Q&A

Someone asked a question for this article:

AN 3.101 gold purification, exactly which jhanas do the stages correspond to? Now I know for sure.

MagesMay 1, 2021 at 9:06 AM

Can we be free from hindrances without jhana sir ?

frankk:

Anyone, of any religion or spiritual practice, can be temporarily free from hindrances through will power and continuous effort moment to moment to purify the mind.

The problem with that, is it doesn't cut off the root of the defilements. With deluded and confused underlying tendencies, hindrances will keep sprouting up no matter how fast and how persistently we chop them down.

That's why jhana, the four jhanas are necessary. The pacification (passadhi) of body and mind clears our muddied vision, so we can see truth of reality (more and more) accurately.

The right samadhi that results from that can see the roots of defilements ever more clearly as jhana increases in power, and eventually we're qualified and able to cut off the roots to all defilements, so the hindrances can never arise again.

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