MN 115 Bahudhātuka Sutta 12. “But, venerable sir, in what way can a bhikkhu be called skilled in what is possible and what is impossible?” [...] 15. “He understands: ‘It is impossible, it cannot happen that a woman could be an Accomplished One, a Fully Enlightened One — there is no such possibility...

Sure but the question remains, are for example the factors of the Jhanas described by Patanjali? Well, there are teachings like this, some 700-800 years after Buddha, in the Samadhi pada of Yoga Sutras (tr. from "Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali" by Hariharananda Aranya): vitarkavicārānandāsm...

Some old stories tell that Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta were samkhya teachers, and as I understand it, also Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are based on samkhya, but the collection is dated hundreds of years after the time of Kalama/Ramaputta and Buddha. Long time for "cross-pollination" bet...

I once surveyed different relaxation methods and there was something called "Autogenic Training". It's exercise of breathing is described like this: Breathing is partially intentional and partially an autonomous activity. In AT the muscular, vascular, and heart relaxation become immediatel...

Hi folks, :anjali: In vipasana, we are asked to observe bodily sensations, but to what end? I keep observing them, both during and after meditation, but nothing seems to happen. Is something supposed to happen, like insight? Or some specific experience? I feel aimless, just sitting and observing se...

There's some related speculation in these two 20 page articles: Cousins, 1992, Vitakka/vitarka and vicāra - Stages of samādhi in Buddhism and Yoga http://www.academia.edu/1417363/Vitakka_vitarka_and_vic%C4%81ra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Maas, 2009, The So-called Yoga o...

Reading some academic survey might also be useful. Something like Gethin's "The Foundations of Buddhism".

It would have been more beautiful without the "Iron Age" label. JMHO

But sometimes it can be a valid perception, repeatedly experienced by people with clear states of mind. Same as: [...] My intended meaning was that buddhism/buddhists might consider these perceptions as being sometimes non-valid and sometimes valid. Confused thoughts expressed in a foreign language...

There are so many accounts of people experiencing something like "devas" that I assume that both modern science and buddhists agree on "perception of devas" being a real phenomena. Science might say that it isn't a valid perception, in a sense that you for example perceive the ke...

Progressive Muscle Relaxation could be of some help. Progressive Muscle Relaxation teaches you how to relax your muscles through a twostep process. First, you systematically tense particular muscle groups in your body, such as your neck and shoulders. Next, you release the tension and notice how you...

I came across this, perhaps it's useful? Linguistic Ambiguities, the Transmissional Process, and the Earliest Recoverable Language of Buddhism by Bryan Geoffrey Levman PhD thesis 2014 https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/68342/1/Levman_Bryan_G_201406_PhD_thesis.pdf" onclick="w...

Would anyone say that the distinction between an arahant and anything higher than it, was developed later, after the time of the Buddha, and that the distinction is irrelevant or that arahantship is actually the highest distinction originally proposed? Notice how one of the epithets of "The Bu...

I did not realise people who aspire to become Buddha risk even the lowest attainment of Sotapanna. Does this mean none of Mahayana Buddhist attain even Sotapanna state? Does Mahayana teach four stages of sainthood? It seems that these paths are "either-or". Ārya Nāgārjuna’s Bodhisaṃbhāra:...