notes on the Dhamma

  B. Subhuti, an American monk in Pa Auk system following Vism. claims success rate of people able to accomplish VRJ (vism. redefinition of jhana) is actually high, producing hundreds, maybe over a thousand people who can do "jhana".  Ven. Dhammando points out a huge statistical problem, based on Vism text: Re: Ajahn Brahmavamso's Dark Jhana Report Quote Post   by  Dhammanando  »  Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:10 am bksubhuti  wrote:  ↑ Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:53 am 1 in 1000 as stated in the vsm is probably "run of the mill population selected at random" This is just a baseless conjecture and not the Theravada view. The text of the Visuddhimagga offers no support for it, while Dhammapāla's Visuddhimagga-ṭīkā actually contradicts it, for it limits the scope of the term "beginner" ( ādikammika ) to yogāvacaras who are "regularly/habitually engaged in mental development" ( bhāvanaṃ anuyuñjanto ). Clearly this doesn't mean, "Any Tom, Dick or Harry....

  Re: Ajahn Brahmavamso's Dark Jhana Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:24 am bksubhuti  wrote:  ↑ Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:53 am ... If you ask.. Parajika 4 Mula explains ven Mahamoggalana's jhana and hearing elephants bathing in the river commentary says it was 4th jhana during the first 2 weeks. He was slower than average but it was worth it. ... Moggallana was not in 4th jhana, parajika 4 says, imperturbable (anenja) samādhi. Which usually means the arupa attainments, or the imperturbable version of 4th jhana that can exercise supernormal powers. You can rule out 4th jhana then, since if someone were exercising supernormal powers, such as moggallana visiting deva realms and conversing with his physical body, it would be expected he could sense his own body and hear sounds. So parajika 4's 'anenia samadhi' must be referring to arupa formless attainments, and moggallana's being impure because he could quickly switch between ...

The original meaning of "appana" (applying, fixing upon), is the "directed" part of vitakka's "directed-thought". It's "fixing" the mind upon a kusala skillful Dharma thought, instead of the evil akusala thoughts that it tends to gravitate towards. So when early Abhidharma talks about "appana" as part of vitakka's definition, and "appana samadhi" such as vimutti-magga, appana samadhi means one is fixed in kusala perceptions and/or thoughts, as opposed to being constantly drawn towards akusala thoughts in the province of 5 hindrances. In Vism., appana samadhi gets redefined as the mind going into a predetermined time of frozen stupor, and one only has a single perception that does not change until one emerges from that frozen stupor.  Here in KN Mil, you can see vitakka retains the original correct meaning of directing ones thoughts towards kusala thoughts, as opposed to akusala thoughts. Very similar to MN 20's...

The suttas talk about the buddha and moggallana being able to live out the remainder of the aeon. This is my response to Robert's post and his belief in the commentary interpretation that living out a cosmic aeon actually means living out the normal lifespan of a healthy human, 80-100 years.  Re: how can i live for an aeon or the remainder of an aeon? Edit Delete Report ote Post   by  frank k  »  Sun Nov 29, 2020 9:40 am That's the commentary interpretation. The more likely common sense straightforward interpretation of the sutta is the way kappa is normally used, as the remainder of a cosmic aeon. To give an example of how long an aeon is, that's the lifespan of a brahma realm being, and in this present aeon, 7 buddhas will arise and pass away. AFAIK it only mentions the Buddha and Moggallana claiming to be able to exercise that ability of living out the aeon/kappa. If it were only to extending one's life by 10-20 years, it's hard to imagine why so few disciple...

This is in response to B. Subhuti's blog article where he states Vism. has the correct definition and method of 'jhana', and Ajahn Brahm does not.    Re: Ajahn Brahmavamso's Dark Jhana Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:09 am Last time I checked, Theravada claimed to be 100% backward compatible with EBT sutta. So anywhere Vism. contradicts that is fair game to question. You certainly are under no obligation to address those inconvenient truths, but not addressing it only tends to confirm people's suspicions that you know there are contradictions and have no evidence and reasoning to prove otherwise. (Maybe it's on the reddit forum with your same thread OP where you avoided answering the issue of Vism. contradicting EBT in a post of mine). And as far as your main thesis, As another user pointed out, if Ajahn Brahm's "jhana" fulfills vism's white kasina as a prerequisite, what exactly is the big deal on the differe...

  Re: Ānāpānasati Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:49 am Ceisiwr  wrote:  ↑ Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:42 am In your opinion, is Ānāpānasati best translated as “mindfulness with breath” or “mindfulness of breath”? Regardless of how you translate it, the most important thing is to understand the meaning of the implicit words associated with sati. sati is remembrance [of Dharma instructions]. sati is not a vague choiceless zombie awareness and "mindfulness" of the present moment. So the exact definition the Buddha gives for sati, such as SN 47.2, is the 4sp satipatthana formula. specifically: sati = remembrance [of the Dharma instructions having a default value of 4sp satipatthana formula]. Now in the case of ana pana sati, now sati is being given a more specific context and we're overriding the default Dharma of 4sp, with the 16aps Dharma instructions. so ana-pana-sati = inhale & exhale [Dharma instruction] - remembrance....

I got a few complaints about my recent article: 2 super powerful tools to help you get (and improve!) your jhana: 1) foot in the door and 2) bullying the bully The complaint was that, those two tips weren't that helpful and didn't actually help with attaining first jhana.  So here is another article to fill in some of the gaps. Basically, if you follow the simple instructions in the suttas, first jhana is really easy, but for the vast majority of the people, what they will experience instead of the bliss of first jhana, is instead jhana constipation.  Here is the billion dollar insight I'm sharing with you now:  Because you think jhana constipation is not first jhana. Actually it is! You just have to be wise and patient enough to put in your daily practice until the energy blockages melt. Most people will get it in piece meal, gradually over months. Parts of your body will feel bliss, and then more and more as various blockages melt. But the whole time, you were doing the...