sword of samādhi: "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing!" (comparing various Buddhist meditation systems)

The dry insight "sword" of samādhi

That sword is not looking too sharp.

While the dry insight warrior is armored,

guarding the sense doors diligently mentally noting all the defilements every moment,

that spoon sword is not going to do any damage against the really big monsters and demons.

You could beat very minor demons with the spoon and stun them for a short time,

and maybe scoop the poop of the bigger monsters,

but you're never going to deal a death blow to the defilements with that thing.

Another dry insight meditator here.

Weapon of choice is a bamboo spatula instead of shiny serving spoon.

Quiver of arrows have no sharp tips.

Spear has no sharp tip.

You could maybe hurt some mosquitoes with that spatula?

Too much vipassana, not enough samatha,
resulting in toothless, unsharpened, unlethal weapons.
Without enough samatha, insights will be superficial.

Visuddhi-magga and Ajahn Brahm sword of samādhi:

It's shiny and sharp!

The VRJ and BRJ meditator spends most of the day sitting down,

sharpening their swords,

polishing and stroking their blades for hours on end,
becoming masters of their domain in samatha.

The problem is,

"It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing!"

You can have the sharpest blade, shiniest (nimitta) in the world,

but if you never actually practice using the sword to fight against defilements,

it's not worth much.

Too much time mastering samatha,

not enough time swinging the sword (vipassana/insight).

Swing it, brother swing.

Correct EBT translation and interpretation of the Buddha's Jhāna

all factors of noble eightfold path and seven awakening factors developed in unison,

holistically, organically,

according the Buddha's words.

Samatha and Vipassana yoked evenly.

Now this is a sword of samādhi.

Gāthā

It don't mean a thing,
if it ain't got that swing.
Ekaggatā,
Ekaggatā,
Ekodibhāva.

Sequel

sword of samādhi: Buddha's jhāna vs. Vism. and Ajahn Brahm "jhāna"

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AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111: How does Ajahn Brahm and Sujato's "Jhāna" work here?

What these 3 suttas have in common, AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111, is the very interesting feature of explicitly describing doing vipassana, while one is in the jhāna and the first 3 formless attainments. LBT (late buddhist text) apologists, as well as Sujato, Brahm, claim that the suttas describe a jhāna where one enters a disembodied, frozen state, where vipassana is impossible until one emerges from that 'jhāna'. Since Sujato translated all the suttas, let's take a look at what he translated, and how it supports his interpretation of 'jhāna'. AN 9.36: Jhānasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net) ‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’ ‘Paṭhamampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ. That’s what I said, but why did I say it? Kiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ? Take a mendicant who, q uite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskill...

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'Viveka', Sanskrit dictionary Primary meaning is ‘discrimination’. Other meanings: (1) true knowledge, (2) discretion, (3) right judgement, (4) the faculty of distinguishing and classifying things according to their real properties’. Wikipedia (sanskrit dictionary entry 'viveka') Viveka (Sanskrit: विवेक, romanized: viveka) is a Sanskrit and Pali term translated into English as discernment or discrimination.[1] According to Rao and Paranjpe, viveka can be explained more fully as: Sense of discrimination; wisdom; discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the self and the non-self, between the permanent and the impermanent; discriminative inquiry; right intuitive discrimination; ever present discrimination between the transient and the permanent.[2]: 348 The Vivekachudamani is an eighth-century Sanskrit poem in dialogue form that addresses the development of viveka. Within the Vedanta tradition, there is also a concept of vichara which is one t...

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