Is there sutta basis for the modern bifurcation of jhanas?

The cultivation of calm or tranquility and the development of concentration
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tiltbillings
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Re: Is there sutta basis for the modern bifurcation of jhanas?

Post by tiltbillings »

Ñāṇa wrote:
Sylvester wrote:...
None of this establishes the restrictions that you want to establish.
Opinions seem to vary as to what a text is saying, how it gets gets explained, how words are defined, sentences parsed, and so on and so forth, and thus we get commentaries.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
Nyana
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Re: Is there sutta basis for the modern bifurcation of jhanas?

Post by Nyana »

tiltbillings wrote:Opinions seem to vary and what a text is saying gets explained, words defined, sentences parsed, and so on and so forth, and thus we get commentaries.
Yes, of course. There's really no possible way at arriving at a (hypothetical) original meaning. Thus, I've relied on various commentaries to help clarify and define Pāli terms as well as interpret sutta passages. IMO, sensitivity to the historical development of ancient commentary offers a coherent and pragmatic method of interpretation.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Is there sutta basis for the modern bifurcation of jhanas?

Post by tiltbillings »

Ñāṇa wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:Opinions seem to vary and what a text is saying gets explained, words defined, sentences parsed, and so on and so forth, and thus we get commentaries.
Yes, of course. There's really no possible way at arriving at a (hypothetical) original meaning. Thus, I've relied on various commentaries to help clarify and define Pāli terms as well as interpret sutta passages. IMO, sensitivity to the historical development of ancient commentary offers a coherent and pragmatic method of interpretation.
It does, but it also points to the interesting issues that are very much part of understanding the suttas.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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