[Buddha-l] Re: there he goes again (samharris)

[Vicente Gonzalez]

L.S. Cousins wrote:

LSC> What it says it is. On the one hand, meditators (jhaayins) i.e. those
LSC> with personal experience of nibbaana and on the other hand 
LSC> researchers into dhamma. To my mind, that would be those developing 
LSC> the abhidhamma teachings.

or maybe this polarity describe two types of approaches and people.
Dhamma devotees would be monks who had Dharma as his meditation.
In that way, the whole reality, mind and life, would be the object of
meditation. Meditators monks would be monks engaged in seated
meditation, who had the own mind as the object of meditation in
applying Dharma teaching to arrive to the same goals.

Discussions with this same polarity appears centuries later in Chinese
Buddhism starting the Sung dinasty and inside the Tsao-Tsung school,
before the seated meditation become the main practice of Zen.
Buddhadasa was coincident with that Dhamma view. And also he was an
strong admirer of the Chinese teaching of Huang-po and others of this
Tang dynasty style.

Inside Pali Cannon there are many episodes of disciples who were
awakened without be in seated meditation. In example, this of the
Theragatha: 

"Mahaanaama Thera, living on a mountain, was thoroughly disgusted with
his life because he was not successful in getting rid of such impure
thoughts as lust, and just at the moment when he was about to commit
suicide by jumping from the top of a rock, he attained arahantship."     


best regards,