- The Strange Case of the Formless Meditations in Early Buddhism
Early Buddhism presents us with a conundrum around the practice of the formless attainments of deep meditation. Namely, are they skillful routes to nirvana, or are they not? We will look at evidence from the early suttas that indicates…
- The "Formless Attainments" of Early Buddhist Meditation
What are the formless attainments of early Buddhist meditation? We'll look at these deep states of absorption. First we'll look at their history, how the Buddha first encountered them and where they appear to have arisen from, then we'll…
- Can Practicing Kindness Bring Us to Nirvana? One Professor's Controversial Claim
Several years ago the eminent scholar and professor Richard Gombrich put forward a controversial thesis: that the Buddha believed practicing kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity could lead us directly to enlightenment. We…
- Buddhism's Non-self: How Do You Know? Looking at a Critique
How do we come to know the truth of non-self in early Buddhism? Do we come to it through deep meditative insight, or by other means? We'll look at a recent critique of the claim that we come to know non-self through deep meditative insight.
- Is Deep Meditative Absorption (Jhana) Necessary for Enlightenment?
Do we need to have achieved the jhānas -- four deep states of meditative absorption -- in order to become enlightened? We'll look at some early texts for clues as to what the Buddha might have thought about this complex and controversial…