[Buddha-l] Abdhidharma vindicated once again

[Zelders.YH]

Dan Lusthaus wrote :
> [..] nirodha-samapatti is a (nearly?) comatose state in which the major
> difference -- according to some of the earliest texts -- between someone in
> nirodha-samapatti and a corpse is that nirodha-samapatti still retains
> life-force (jivatendriya) and body heat, while a corpse does not. One has no
> conscious awareness; this is more than blocking pain.

Two questions for Dan

There is the peculiar story of Gautama's grand exit. He is said to have 
risen to a highest  'formless' jhanic state. Ananda then declared that 
the Blessed One had passed away, but Anuruddha denied that and explained 
that the Blessed One had entered the state of "the cessation of 
perception and feeling".  Then Gautama, after having sunk back to first 
jhana, rose again to 4th jhana and passed away.
Could that highest jhanic state be identical to 'nirodha-samapatti' ?

And could this state not also be comparable or identical to the state of 
'tukdam', the inanimate state wherein some Tibetan yogis are said to 
dwell for a short period before passing away ?

Herman Zelders