Having a generally eclectic appreciation and personal history in Buddhist study and practice, I keep returning to the idea of finding Insight Meditation/Vipassana teachings regarding the Jhanas; I feel this study to be potentially valuable to my evolution. ;) With that aim, Im beginning to research Mahayana/Zen history and approach to the Jhanas and am finding much controversy. Heres an interesting quote: As I mentioned above the early Mahāyāna taught and practised dhyāna [Jhanas]. It is through the experience of dhyāna that the bodhisattva truly cultivates compassion for all beings. One key aspect of this is having personal experience of the ārūpya-dhātu (formless realm). Without a point of reference to understand the subtle suffering of beings in that realm, your compassion for them would only be imagined and estimated based on speculation and the testimony of others. To understand their suffering requires one to actually have experience of that realm, which in turn requires dhyāna (specifically withdrawing from the kāma-dhātu and rūpa-dhātu). This is why merely being mindful or contemplating emptiness on an intellectual level wont cut it. ...... dhammawheel/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=15228 Have any of you studied the Jhanas and incorporated them into your practice? (Im hoping for an open-minded discussion rather than a studied outright rejection of the idea; but wasnt it expectations that killed the Cat? :) )
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 14:18:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015