Spiny O'Norman wrote:tiltbillings wrote: I would simply argue that the practice vipassana meditation does lead to highly refined levels of concentration that could be called jhana.
So in your experience does the experience of vipassana "continue" when jhana is reached?
Spiny
The problem, as always, with a question such as this is what is meant by jhana. If one means something like the vipassana jhanas, yes to your question; if one means the heavy duty absorption of jhana that is described in the Visuddhimagga, then probably not.
There is no definitive answer that I have seen, but there are a lot of varying opinions on both sides and in-between, often well researched and documented. Look at the OP msgs of this thread, which are, of course, well done, but they are certainly not the final word on the subject of jhana in general or even jhana in terms of the Nikayas.
In terms of actual practice, mostly, it is a matter of looking at what is out there, what speaks to you and then working diligently with that. Concerning these issues, I don't think we need to draw hard and fast lines around our various positions, and probably, for any number of reasons, we really should not.