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SN 35.245 part 2: (illustrated) Ajahn Brahm simile would actually look like this, compared to EBT version

 
yesterday, Part 1:
SN 35.245: Ajahn Brahm doesn't know the difference between jhāna, samatha, vipassana

Part 2:

Ajahn Brahm's "stillness" (samatha)  is a brainless warrior




working in conjunction with the wise minister (vipassana/insight) assaulted by 5 hindrances


Samatha is supposed to work seamlessly with vipassana, 
but Ajahn Brahm's samatha is a totally dysfunctional and useless teammate.


When vipassana is pointing out the 5 hindrances and asking samatha to remove them,
Ajahn Brahm's samatha just does this:



And so, in Ajahn Brahm world, jhāna is completely worthless.
The 5 demons (hindrances) overtake vipassana,
and samatha is just standing by idle in the stillness of a frozen stupor.




In the Buddha's genuine EBT samatha, vipassana, jhāna



The four jhāna formula contains both samatha and vipassana.
The samatha aspect is the nutriment of passaddhi (the pacification awakening factor that precedes samādhi in 7 awakening factors),
The vipassana aspect of jhāna is vitakka & vicāra in the first jhāna (verbal thought and exploration),
and sampajāna + upekkha  (pañña wisdom faculty and equanimous observation that leads to awakening) in the latter 3 jhānas.

So when samatha and vipassana work in harmony as part of a single team (jhāna), you get frightened looking demons and a sharp sword of samādhi of a safely protected minister (vipassana).



Alternatively, the disciple is so skilled in jhāna that the warrior and minister are not two different people, but a single warrior sage with 

perfect union of samatha and vipassana

















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