Someone practicing Dhyana only ?

[Saengnapha]

Hi, most of my question is in the topic, still to clarify

- it is not a question about defining what jhana are
- it is not a question about whether one did attain step 1 or step 2 or step one hundred and sixty...

So, question is really : is there people here who practice what is now known as "Jhana" or "Samatha" and who do not practice Vipassana / whatever?
There might be several reason for so, like "not buddhist i just want to have special moments thanks to this technique" or "buddhist but i think insight comes from jhana". And the interesting part will come from reasons and cases i do not know yet =) so let me know !

I think to make sense, the question has to focus on sitting practice. When one walks or is mindful while eating, working or so, it's not really anymore part of the question.

w/ metta

Exactly. In many parts of the world the primary practice is Samatha Bhavana, particulary those of Sri Lanka or Thai lineage. Its not that vipasanna isn't practiced, but rather that samatha is valued highly. I kind of think of them as two sides of the jhana coin, but it is what it is. Samatha is also the primary sitting practice in certain Chinese Chan schools, Vietnamese Thein schools, and some Tibetan schools, so its not only in Theravada. I hopes this helps, samatha has been my main practice since 1999.

I think in most Buddhist schools across the board, wisdom is regarded to trump tranquility in the sense that mindfulness, being a wisdom factor is what ultimately helps unbind the 5 hindrances of perception and the ending of the dream of existence. Without wisdom, I don't think dispassion can be established. But, without a certain measure of equanimity, tranquility, insight cannot be established. They are partners, mindfulness and samadhi/jhanas.

[pyluyten]

Samatha is also the primary sitting practice in certain Chinese Chan schools, Vietnamese Thein schools, and some Tibetan schools, so its not only in Theravada.

thanks for your input.
regarding Chan, i had more or less this impression, but for me it was difficult to know

[mal4mac]

This group might be worth investigating, especially if you are in the UK:

https://samatha.org

Rupert Gethin recommends them.

[Spiny Norman]

You might find Richard Shankman's The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation helpful. It has been mentioned several times already on these forums. IIRC Shankman says that he only ever does samatha meditation, and that this is all that is needed. There's no need for any separate, so-called "mindfulness" meditation.

I suspect that the qualities of samatha and vipassana are really two sides of the same coin.

[SunWuKong]

You might find Richard Shankman's The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation helpful. It has been mentioned several times already on these forums. IIRC Shankman says that he only ever does samatha meditation, and that this is all that is needed. There's no need for any separate, so-called "mindfulness" meditation.

I suspect that the qualities of samatha and vipassana are really two sides of the same coin.

I posted elsewhere that both of these practices cite the same scriptures in the sutta. I'm not here to say one size fits all, one technique alone. If an archer wants to hit the center of the target he must factor in "windage" as well as "Kentucky windage" - the arrow must fall in flight, the wind carries it, and the arrow has its own peculiar resistance in the air, and the bow itself is a factor as well. Skilled meditators know theres a great deal to learn about taking a raft across the river. Theres a lot of fear and paranoia about "absorption" but lets face it, its a big river and it has a mind of its own. At some point you must enter the main current of the river, and work with it, not against it. I haven't read Shankman but i'll add it to my list

[SunWuKong]

I think in other Traditions than Theravada one will see more of only Samatha training.

If you were to posit that vipassana is, from the perspective of the Sublime Wisdom, to view all passing phenomena through the lens of the Three Marks of Existence (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: trilakṣaṇa) - three characteristics of all existence and beings, namely impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness or suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anattā). I don't think it is unique to Theraveda, but it is the primary meditation technique used in Theraveda schools outside Sri Lanka and Thailand, where Samatha is primary and vipassana follows.

[befriend]

Concentration practices suppresses the hindrances when one takes a hiatus from concentration practice like metta the hindrances storm back a teacher told me a story of a practitioner along time ago who was revered for his accomplishment in concentration he stopped doing it for one reason or another can't recall and the hindrances came back so strong he killed someone out of the power of the defilements. I can imagine this being the case I had practiced metta for 3 hours a day and I stopped altogether on the fourth day my craving greed and irritability were through the roof I was like a heroin junkie looking for anything to satisfy desire which was suppressed. That's why vipassana is so important because it doesn't suppress the hindrances it knows them and sees them as not self.

[Saengnapha]

Concentration practices suppresses the hindrances when one takes a hiatus from concentration practice like metta the hindrances storm back a teacher told me a story of a practitioner along time ago who was revered for his accomplishment in concentration he stopped doing it for one reason or another can't recall and the hindrances came back so strong he killed someone out of the power of the defilements. I can imagine this being the case I had practiced metta for 3 hours a day and I stopped altogether on the fourth day my craving greed and irritability were through the roof I was like a heroin junkie looking for anything to satisfy desire which was suppressed. That's why vipassana is so important because it doesn't suppress the hindrances it knows them and sees them as not self.

This is why some meditation masters tell you not to concentrate. Relaxation and letting go should accompany any meditative practice. Samadhi is not concentration.