I have recently begun sticking with the suttas as they seem to be the best roadmap/guide for my meditation. Upon reading the anapanasati sutta (this is the famous breath meditation one that include the frames of reference and the factors of enlightenment), and comparing it to jhana as described in other places in the literature I found what I think is pretty undeniable evidence supporting the framework of Jhana that the GWV supports.
Excellent, science is about repeatability, so for my work to be valid it needs to be validated by others. I urge others to read this sutta in as many translations as you can find
Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118)If one looks closely at the anapanasati sutta (in the breath meditation part) one can see the divisions between the jhanas fairly easily (although they dont seem to occur at the paragraph breaks). This is especially true if one looks at the Culavedalla Sutta's definitions of the different fabrications.
This is what it looks like to me:
Calming of the breath and body+"sensitivity to rapture/pleasure"=1st Jhana, calming mental fabrication/mind and becoming sensitive to mind=2nd Jhana, steadying/releasing/satisfying=3rd Jhana, and fourth jhana=focusing on inconstancy/dispassion/cessation/relinquisment
The non-appearance of the immaterial domains here agrees with the fact that they are said not to be neccesary for enlightenment (release by discernment seems to be mastering four jhanas with strong insight -this arises as a fruit of the path in different amounts for different people-, while release from both sides seems to imply at least some of the immaterial states)
Is this the
Culavedalla Sutta that you were speaking of?
However, Im just hitting the first and second consistently so I could be misinterpreting the rest.
My main point is that by reading the suttas and relying on nothing but reason to determine what the Buddha meant seems to agree with most of the GWV's views on meditation. Patient investigation of the suttas involves never taking a single sutta alone out of the context of the rest. By comparing the use of certain words in different places, one can start to go beyond the errors made by the translators.
Clearly Siddhartha Gautama did not rely upon blind faith, nor did he urge others to do so. And clearly Siddhartha Gautama resorted to logic and critical thinking to express his enlightenment. In fact, I believe the suttas are the first use of the syllogism, which is the basis of logic and critical thinking. So, it is good that you are exercising logic and critical thinking, reading the suttas, and not just taking them out of the larger context, and you are engaging in the contemplative life, and reaping some of its fruit.
I just wish to point out that the 8 stages of samadhi are religious experience, not cognitive states; and the 8 stages of religious experience are intended to lead to liberation from the addictions/sins/fetters/hindrance. Cultivating a fruitful contemplative life requires a radical lifestyle change, because the lifestyle of civilization leads to the addictions/sins/fetters/hindrance. So, if you keep all of this in mind, then you cannot miss it.
