[Buddha-l] Abhidharma vindicated once again

[Dan Lusthaus]

Tim,

>Now, if you could demonstrate this near deathless
> state more or less on demand, and still come out of it to
> regain your normal state, this must have been quite
> impressive.  You could claim that you had conquered death by
> entering such a state and then dismissing it.

The scenario you paint is quite plausible. Unfortunately the texts frame it 
differently, suggesting, at minimum, that what impressed the textual 
redactors was something else. Since the claim of deathlessness was indeed 
one of the achievements Buddhism in the early texts also promises, had there 
been a clear linkage one imagines they would have exploited it, but they 
don't.

Dan