User1249x wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:47 am
I can point out four things;
1. Stages of Insight
2. Re-attainment of Fruition
3. Notion that Sotapanna cannot break five precepts
4. Taking "restlessness in regards to the Dhamma" to mean "Imperfections of Insight"
All of these are questionable as far as i can tell.
In regards to;
#1. This is definitely not in the Sutta and i can't really tell if it is useful or not. It is however tied to #2 on the list.
#2. This is a strange one and i have no means of verifying the existence of this attainment. As far as i know there are no explicit instances of people entering these "Fruition Absorbtions" in the Sutta nor is there any Instruction in the Sutta advising people to develop this re-attainment of fruition upon attaining the Path. As far as i can tell nowhere are the Fruitions referred to as a meditative state to be re-attained at all.
Whereas in the Manual it says that the yogi having attained the path should master the fruition re-attainment before making resolve to attain the higher paths.
Questions arise like why before Parinibbana the Tathagata did not enter Arahataphala fruition when running the Jhanas up and down? Why is this attainment left out from the Sutta Pitaka?
#3. There is no agreement even among commentaries on this and this can certainly not be inferred from the Tipitaka alone. So there is not much to say about this.
#4. I personally can't tell how this was inferred from the Sutta pitaka.
My conclusion;
#1 & #2 are most important here and i personally can't tell if the Mahasi Method is a cookie-cutter system leading to attainment of the Path, if it leads to something else entirely or if it can go both ways dependent on the person.
Some people (ie Vimalaramsi and others (Aya Khema(?)) have criticized the attainment of path in this lineage saying; "Mahasi teaches that Nibbana is "blacking out".
I am not sure if Mahasi Sayadaw himself ever referred to it as a blacking out so i can't say if there is any validity to this or if people have merely misunderstood the teachings of MS.
Either way i am most grateful for Mahasi method because i found aspects of it most useful.