[Buddha-l] Abhidharma vindicated once again

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Op 04-03-11 22:43, Dan Lusthaus schreef:
> 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.
This feat is not limited to Buddhism. I remember having read in Indian 
newspapers reports about sadhus being buried alive and on the side 
http://health.indianetzone.com/yoga/hathyoga/1/scientific_ground_hatha_yoga.htm 
there is this fragment:

/Few of the most impressive, most verified and popular experiments 
carried out on yogis are those in which the subject is confined in an 
airtight or poorly ventilated container for an extended period of time. 
One such experiment was conducted by in which a yogi was wired up to a 
twelve-lead ECG and buried in an earthen pit for over seven days in the 
grounds of the Tagore Medical College and Hospital in Udaipur, India. 
Monitoring the ECG record from a nearby laboratory,it was noted that, 
after twenty-nine hours of confinement, the yogin`s heart rate had 
accelerated to as many as 250 beats per minute. The yogi`s heartbeat 
prior to the experiment was 106 per minute. Suddenly, after thirty 
hours, the ECG from all twelve leads displayed "a straight line with no 
electrical disturbance", and this continued for the next 5 days. Having 
suspected that the leads may have become disconnected, the experimenters 
were amazed when, half an hour before the pit was due to be opened, the 
ECG tracings reappeared, registering a rate of 142 beats per minute.

/So the question is: who was first and what is the liberative value of 
nirodha-samapatti?

erik