I spent the month of May 2006 on retreat at the Forest Refuge with Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw. The following details some extra curricular exploration of the jhanas while more deeply concentrated than described above.
Jhanas at the Forest Refuge
There is no real agreement among Jhana teachers as to what exactly the Jhanic state are! I have written a paper that outlines the various methods that I have heard about:
Interpretations of the Jhanas
One of the most profound and deepest teachings of the Buddha is Dependent Origination. Here's a tenative start to addressing some of my understanding of this most important teaching:
Dependent Origination: The 3 Lives Model - NOT!
A little known sutta in the Sutta Nipāta is probably the earliest teaching on the links of Dependent Origination. A study of it sheds much light on what the Buddha really was teaching when he taught Dependent Origination.
Sutta Nipāta 4.11 - Kalaha-vivada Sutta: Quarrels & Disputes
As the mind moves from that of an unenlightened worlding to that of enlightenment, it passes thru various stages on the path. These are described in the suttas - and in a more detailed form in the commentaries. The following chart shows the classic teaching on these stages:
The Seven Stages of Purification and The Sixteen Insight Knowledges
I encountered some interesting research on Devadatta, the Buddha's so called evil cousin. How much do we really know about this person - and how much is myth and legend created for other purposes?
Devadatta
If you really want an English word to translate dukkha, the best one I know of is "bummer".
Dukkha is A Bummer
The Alayavijnana is the storehouse consciousness of the Yogacara (and Tibetan) schools of Buddhism. It's supposedly where are the "seeds" of unfulfilled kharma are stored. But it ain't what it's popularly thought to be:
The Alayavijnana Is Just Like the Internet
Buddhism has developed into many forms with many teachings. However a close look at the suttas of the Pali Canon reveals the essential teachings of the Buddha. The Essence of what the Buddha Discovered
Just what does Awakening (aka Enlightenment) mean? There are maps of the 4 stages of awakening found in the suttas and other Pali literature. This is a summary of (mostly sutta) descriptions. The 4 Stages of Awakening - various sources
The following essays were written as part of a 1996 class on the
Buddhist Suttas taught by Gil Fronsdal. They are my reactions and responses to
various Suttas from the Digha and Majjhima Nikayas or to scholarly papers
the class read as background for the study of the Suttas.
These are the first papers I'd
written since graduating from college 25 years before. I present them much as
I wrote them, with spelling mistakes, awkward grammar (remember I'm a computer
programmer, not a writer), and sometimes a missing context. Nonetheless
I hope they may be of benefit to you. If you have questions or comments
please feel free to e-mail me at
I've written an anti-Creationism essay entitled The Two Biblical Stories of Creation. Warning: This may rock your Christian faith if you take the Bible literally!
I have a political diary at the dailykos.com blog which you can find here.
A little known sutta in the Sutta Nipāta is probably the earliest teaching on the links of Dependent Origination. A study of it sheds much light on what the Buddha really was teaching when he taught Dependent Origination.
