Thank you for this excellent summation of the jhanas.🙂🙏

The genius of The Buddha shines in how he was able to diagnose, determine the cause of, open the possibility to cease, and prescribe the medicine for suffering in so cogent a form. Then, he stands back and suggests we don't take his word for it. He must be unique in the world of the great spiritual teachers for this magnificent ability to reduce to essence the complexity involved in the problem of suffering. Thank you Mr. Shankman for these great lectures - I look forward to your series on the 8-fold Path.💐

Namaste

Great to see you sharing videos again.

I was distressed about a lot of the controversies that people are having these days in our society and I was thinking about some things I disagreed with people were saying and then it occurred to me that there was some of that in me and I saw it so clearly I had to accept it and when I did I suddenly accepted everyone and I saw that the traits that are in every one else is in me on some level and when I saw that my sense of self expanded to include every one. I realized that I am in everything and everything is in me and that my true self is purely spiritual and that the whole of existence is reflected within me. I don't know what that is called but it is complete and total contentment. The experience was triggered by a complete and total acceptance of myself and everything else. It is an experience that has never left. Your video has helped me to understand what happened.

I am thankful to have experience up to the 5th jhana and so have been able to review my experiences and see almost all of the enlightenment factors, but the one factor I've never been able to understand from reflecting on my experiences was dhamma-vicaya. I knew from my experience it was a list of progression based on maturity of the previous factor, but I couldn't see how investigation-of-things was represented in my experiences when the other factors were so plainly visible, especially in the context of jhana practice, which is inherently counter to investigating anything at all, since mental activities outside of resting the awareness on the perceptions the meditation object produces reduce samadhi. But your explanation is absolutely spot on. The mind becomes clearer and naturally discerns more deeply and intuitively on the things it checks out, mining unseen data from them. I just had never placed it that this aspect of progress was tied to the investigation factor... Thanks!

Jackson Joseph Walker David Anderson Carol

40 kammatana 1....Alo kasina .... Why a Pannadhikha Bodhisatta Sidharta has always completely with this objek.... Because before enter Parinibbana the Nibbana will suppurated by Alo Kasina, so this kasina is good for everyone every sentinent

Wonderful 😊

Man, this was genuinely useful. A teacher who knows and sees and teaches with an open fist, holding nothing back.

Thank you Richard, you have such a talent -teaching, explaining clearly and with such humility. Very grateful

Such a helpful talk, thank you so much. You have an amazing ability to explain things in a way that is so tangible so accessible and relevant to life. 🙏🙏🙏

This chap is the real deal. I watch and read (too much), so I feel qualified to state that his way of presenting samadhi and Jhana is first rate, authentic. Does he still teach at Spirit Rock-concentration retreat. For example?

Thank you for uploading this series. I would greatly appreciate if you could enable CC or transcript for this video as you do in the other 7 videos!

Please describe how it feels to enter 5 th jhana from personal experience

Man you clearly said you don t know if you experienced jhana … how can you have 50 years of practice ?

Theravada is not Buddha’s teachings but the commentaries written by monks who had no practical experience of meditation . Incredible how many people like to teach but don t really know anything. Readings books is not enough to talk about meditation it s even suite dangerous

Seriously once again don t teach things if you don t understand them - not knowing you Jhana state nor the difference between vipassana jhana and samatha jhana is not beneficial for others .

I just watched this earlier kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y32qfYaLe92Jhc0 video 2 in a retreat from 2013 on a similar topic and posted a call for help after watching 10 min and reading a comment about death. Then this came up in my phone and was like the answer to needing some understanding of what's been happening. Thank you so so much Richard for this video. This was my post from earlier today. @MettaDharma Wow. My mind just stopped in its tracks half way through reading your response about death. Not a ripple. I'm new to Buddhism. Prompted research after noticing my mind would suddenly stops when looking at an object, even trees moving. There is a sense of absorption like I've never had before. A new word I learnt, and deep silence running through all forms and a sense of deep intimacy. Like I'm not separate from what is being seen. And feels like no-one is looking. Just seeing looking effortlessly happening a lot lately. Like when the tv is on mute for ads lately the mind stops and there's absorption with eyes open. This is new. Last 3 months hence looking for an explanation which lead to Buddhism. Everything comes and goes and there's a sense of an invisible sameness running through everything. And there's a serenity and quiet beyond words. As if everything is bathed in this deep Stillness and the subtlest sense of sweetness, a whiff, a scent of a smile as looking happens. Before this began I had a major melt down last year where I felt like my personal will dried up. My capacity to move forward with my career evaporated overnight. And then Wailing into the living room" I'm nothing, I don't know anything." My mind turned to mush for 6 months or more. It felt like I was dying inside and at the some time I felt a closeness to some felt sense of Loving Presence "God" dunno, and it's as if the thinner and weaker thus sense of me became, the bigger and more wider I became inside. More spacious and quiet. After months of this something changed and I was on the floor sobbing in gratitude at the mention of anything or anyone holy. God, Buddha, Christ.. it was so uncontrollable. So much gratitude and I have no idea to who or what but something felt this deep reverance and gratitude to "God" . I had images of lying prostrate Infront of an Immense Space. Like a mammoth Buddha statue without the statue. Just the space where it would have been. . Then the spontaneous absorption started and wanting to be close to people who are deeply immersed in a spiritual path. I was in a weird hermit stage for a year when this was happening. Not wanting to be around anyone. Only went out for a coffee occasionally hiding in corners alone. Now looking for someone who knows what this is. . I can't return to the old me. It's impossible. My mushy brain is clear and yet I am acutely aware that I don't really know anything except my direct experience in the moment. It's been like this for months The mind seems to have lost its arrogance of thinking it knows stuff, and yet a functional thinking is happening when needed .it feels like a different mind is running now. More empty yet clear. Thoughts gurgle along sometimes but there just not engaged with. A new voice emerged in my head recently that says "not my thought not my feeling" when they arise and stick around for a few seconds. Then they dissolve. It's so effortless. Something has taken over the old me it seems, Life is different, calm, uncomplicated. There's just what's here. Right here. . And the moment takes care of everything. Remarkable shift in operating in the world. And there is such a serenity running through all forms. I am still moved to tears by world events, there's feeling and sensation in the moment and then like a wave it subsides in minutes. Then noticing of the next arising. Any help would be deeply received with heartfelt gratitude. Maryam 🙏

@MettaDharma Wow. My mind just stopped in its tracks half way through reading your response about death. Not a ripple. I'm new to Buddhism. Prompted research after noticing my mind would suddenly stops when looking at an object, even trees moving. There is a sense of absorption like I've never had before. A new word I learnt, and deep silence running through all forms and a sense of deep intimacy. Like I'm not separate from what is being seen. And feels like no-one is looking. Just seeing looking effortlessly happening a lot lately. Like when the tv is on mute for ads lately the mind stops and there's absorption with eyes open. This is new. Last 3 months hence looking for an explanation which lead to Buddhism. Everything comes and goes and there's a sense of an invisible sameness running through everything. And there's a serenity and quiet beyond words. As if everything is bathed in this deep Stillness and the subtlest sense of sweetness, a whiff, a scent of a smile as looking happens. Before this began I had a major melt down last year where I felt like my personal will dried up. My capacity to move forward with my career evaporated overnight. And then Wailing into the living room" I'm nothing, I don't know anything." My mind turned to mush for 6 months or more. It felt like I was dying inside and at the some time I felt a closeness to some felt sense of Loving Presence "God" dunno, and it's as if the thinner and weaker thus sense of me became, the bigger and more wider I became inside. More spacious and quiet. After months of this something changed and I was on the floor sobbing in gratitude at the mention of anything or anyone holy. God, Buddha, Christ.. it was so uncontrollable. So much gratitude and I have no idea to who or what but something felt this deep reverance and gratitude to "God" . I had images of lying prostrate Infront of an Immense Space. Like a mammoth Buddha statue without the statue. Just the space where it would have been. . Then the spontaneous absorption started and wanting to be close to people who are deeply immersed in a spiritual path. I was in a weird hermit stage for a year when this was happening. Not wanting to be around anyone. Only went out for a coffee occasionally hiding in corners alone. Now looking for someone who knows what this is. . I can't return to the old me. It's impossible. My mushy brain is clear and yet I am acutely aware that I don't really know anything except my direct experience in the moment. It's been like this for months The mind seems to have lost its arrogance of thinking it knows stuff, and yet a functional thinking is happening when needed .it feels like a different mind is running now. More empty yet clear. Thoughts gurgle along sometimes but there just not engaged with. A new voice emerged in my head recently that says "not my thought not my feeling" when they arise and stick around for a few seconds. Then they dissolve. It's so effortless. Something has taken over the old me it seems, Life is different, calm, uncomplicated. There's just what's here. Right here. . And the moment takes care of everything. Remarkable shift in operating in the world. And there is such a serenity running through all forms. I am still moved to tears by world events, there's feeling and sensation in the moment and then like a wave it subsides in minutes. Then noticing of the next arising. Any help would be deeply received with heartfelt gratitude. Maryam 🙏

I've been rewatching Richard Shankman's talks over and over for years. Very beneficial to revisit them, which let's you see your own progress in understanding. Just priceless thankyou MettaDharma.

24-28”: To sit still in meditation and be with our physical or mental pain (notwithstanding reasonable efforts to mitigate it) is a great training for learning how to co-exist with life’s discomforts and face it’s challenges. In a way, meditation strengthens the more general capacity to let go of the tendency to maladaptively avoid difficult circumstances and/or maladaptive cling to pleasantries. {Me: In fact, we are actually training ourselves to BOTH “Let it come,” AND THEN “Let it go.”}

Ajahn Sumedho is cited … “Let Go” is at the core of the Dharma and much of one’s practice can be pared down to these two words. Also it’s a wonderful antidote to one’s OC tendencies

12” - 15”-ish: There IS a self. Buddha & Suttras have been mischaracterized in translations. Anatta = no permanent soul; but there is not an argument from Buddha that there is an absence of the self, or “I”.

In wrap-up in last few minutes, he encourages meditators to trust their inner wisdom regarding what works for them. Don’t be dismissive toward a path that seems to be effective simply b/c it may not exactly conform to one’s impression of what is the prescribed path.

Many routes toward progress & everyone’s different. He has an admitted predilection toward samadhi, and it can actually facilitate insight (contrary to how other teachers may view it).

Attained 5th infinite space quite easily it unfolds naturally no need for filling your head with commentaries

21”-22” There IS a self apparently (whereas there is not a permanent unchanging soul)

57”-60”: Samadhi can actually help open the heart and lend itself to Brahmavihara practices

53”-56” Samadhi states… foster equanimity and help “purify” the mind (loosens defilements and facilitates the factors of enlightenment)

>=47”-48”: How to move through Samadhi states; doing nothing (just staying with the breathing) vs. actively cultivating more of it (it’s subtle and you gradually let go of the effort)

Intermittently discusses “Inclusive” vs. “exclusive” samadhi; similarities and differences

43”-47: Three qualities that generally characterize Jhanas: 1) undistractedness; 2) effortlessness (concentration feels automatic and self-sustaining-as though the Samadhi is “doing you,” rather than the converse; 3) a striking clarity of mind. Combined, these three aspects of Jhana prepare the mind to make penetrating insights (e.g., about causes and conditions of one’s suffering), and at both the microcosmic and macrocosmic scales

The Fire Sermon: Mindfulness of the six sense-bases enables us to gain insight into how we are relating to our experience (sensorily, affectively, and cognitively), which can empower us to respond more wisely and less reactively. {Meshes well w/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy too}

Much appreciated for sharing.

20”-23” Anatta; there IS a self but it’s a verb not a noun-it doesn’t last-and therefore should not be clung to

40-45” False dichotomy: samadhi vs. insight. Inclusive kind of samadhi increases opportunities to observe anicca, and cultivating samadhi need not lead to the exclusive variety

54”-57” Emphasizing samadhi will bear many fruits including insight (concentrated mind catalyzes insight; difficulties that arise in attaining / sustaining samadhi can lead to problem-solving & insights; & samadhi helps uproot unwholesome qualities or mental habits)

45-55” Samadhi is both a support to (e.g., via equanimity) and a form of insight practice (via stillness, clarity, & enhanced focus)

40”-41” Buddha endorsed the delightful states & experiences associated w/Jhanas

28”-37” Inclusive samadhi: Mind is still, clear, undistracted; attention is open, connected to environment, & akin to Choiceless Awareness … able to observe the flux of phenomena, thus conducive to insight

Exclusive vs. Inclusive Samadhi

19”-23” Concentration is a skill that improves greatly w/practice over time

16”-17” Everything starts w/establishing foundation of mindfulness

9”-11” Liberation through non-clinging

3”-4” Equanimity = key quality to cultivate (& insight into impermanence can foster it)

1’15”: For Buddha, 2nd foundation of Mindfulness has Centrality (Vedana)

1’03”-ish to 1’07”-ish: captures how to pursue concentration/insight balance question, pragmatically

Are you a stream enterer? thanks.

Interesting history. Perhaps you could comment on the idea that a fully enlightened being is "Not born in any realm' after death. I cannot find anywhere that the Buddha says what happens to a Arahat after death, only what DOESN'T happen to him. Does he exist in any way, shape or form at all? Sounds like Nihilism. Thanks for the history.