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

[L.S. Cousins]

Vicente writes:
>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.

I don't think this has anything to do with what this discourse is 
talking about.
Both of the two that you describe would be jhaayins in terms of this discourse.

>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.

That is a different (and complex) issue.

>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.

See Buddhadaasa's book on "Mindfulness with Breathing" for his views 
on these matters.

>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."

Most of what you give here comes from the commentary. There is 
nothing in the original verse to suggest that Mahaanaama had not 
previously attained jhaana.

Lance Cousins